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Chapter Eleven

I'm so sorry this took so long! I wanted to have this written and up for Michael's birthday, but uni work got in the way. Then I wanted it done for Christmas as a present for you guys, but I got so busy with Christmas things. I don't really have an excuse...

But at least it's up for New Year! I'm going to try and get another chapter up for you guys on New Year as well though, how does that sound?

Anyway, this is kind of a filler? I don't even know... Hope you like it anyway!

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Michael sighed as he trudged into school. He was not looking forward to facing the trio today. But maybe if he explained things, Luke would at least forgive Calum. But what would he say? 'Sorry, I pushed him away after we'd already been kissing for a minute'? That definitely would not work.

Michael stared down at his shoes as he walked through the doors, not noticing Ashton heading his way until he had already crashed into him, stumbling back with Ashton grabbing onto his arms to steady him.

"S-sorry!" He stuttered, gripping his bag tightly so it wouldn't fall off his shoulder.

"You should be careful." Ashton said kindly, letting go of him.

Michael smiled awkwardly.

"So, um... How are Luke and Calum?"

Ashton frowned, which made Michael grimace.

"They're still not talking. I've never seen them fight so much."

"I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to... To come between you guys or anything."

Ashton waved his hand dismissively. "It's not your fault. Don't worry about it."

But that was all Michael could do. He bit his lip as he made his way to his locker, Ashton following him.

"Um, you don't have to tell me or anything but... Why wouldn't Calum ever cheat?" Seeing the look on Ashton's face darkening, he quickly added, "Not saying that he should!"

Ashton sighed as he ran a hand through his hair. "It's because of his first boyfriend, two years ago."

"That doesn't sound good."

Ashton shook his head grimly.

"It was the first time Luke and I had ever seen him really happy. He was in love, y'know? And then... One night he came to us, completely broken. It was hours before we could get anything out of him."

"What happened?"

"It was their one year anniversary, and he found his boyfriend in bed with someone else." Ashton replied flatly.

Michael gasped, looking at Ashton with wide eyes. How could someone do that? And to the person they supposedly loved too. That was plain cruel. It was no wonder all the fight had left Calum as soon as Luke had accused him of cheating. Calum knew how devastating that felt, and he definitely would not have kissed Michael if he had been sober. It made Michael feel guilty because technically, it is his fault that this fight is even happening.

"Ashton, I... I let Calum kiss me. For a moment. He did it so suddenly that I didn't register what he was doing until a couple of minutes later."

Ashton smiled at the smaller boy. "It's okay, Mikey. We know you guys didn't mean it. Luke's just... He's sensitive, alright? He has trouble trusting people."

Michael smiled weakly in reply because yeah, he knew what that felt like. He had developed trust issues after all his childhood friendships. But he didn't know what it was about the trio that had made him trust them so easily, so wholeheartedly. And it just made him even guiltier about the whole thing, but he couldn't bring himself to tell the truth, not if it meant losing them.

But not once has he been given the impression that they cared about someone's wealth...

"Ashton, I have something-"

He was cut off from what he was about to say by Luke shouting out Ashton's name to get his attention. They both turned to see the blonde fighting his way through the school crowd to get to them.

"Hi, Luke. You're in a good mood this morning." Ashton teased as Luke managed to reach them, kissing his cheek.

"I got a job!"

"Really? Where?"

Michael smiled somewhat sadly as Luke completely ignored him. He backed away slowly so as not to bring attention to himself, but he shouldn't have worried; Ashton had already forgotten he was there. Michael understood though. Luke is one of Ashton's boyfriends, and he...

Well, he was just a nobody really.