One Shots » muke

Castle (pt. 2) ~K

I'm sorry if this sucks pls don't hurt me.

"Now my neck is open wide, begging for a fist around it."

-

Luke was nothing but an act. He has mastered his "perfect" personality, only using it for the cameras. His would come to life on stage, never failing to electrify every audience he played for as if he wasn't dying inside.

As soon as he stepped out from behind the lights, though, his demons took over. They scolded him for not being good enough, reminding him that he was alone. Luke was helpless. His walls were falling, and it was only a matter of time before he lost it.

It's been a year since he first saw Michael; the shooting star in his empty sky, the fire that slipped through his fingers. His world stopped being black and white, and instead, painted itself gray. It was endless, clouding Luke's thoughts like sleep. Every time he closed his diamond eyes, Michael was there. The only person on this earth that didn't want him.

And just like that, the demons latched onto Luke's brain, filling it with poisonous words that brought the celebrity to tears. He could barely look in the mirror because he would only see his flaws. Once he lost confidence in himself, the rest of the population did. The hate messages piled up in his notifications. Jokes and rumors spread about him across the internet. His friends abandoned him because he hid himself in his own mind.

Luke didn't mean to shut everyone out, but he couldn't stop the helplessness clawing away at him. He realized he had been used for what he was; a perfect face to sell to the populace. There was only few that genuinely cared for his music, which was the only thing keeping his head above water. Luke was an invincible empire caught in the middle of relentless flames.

Michael witnessed his collapse from the sidelines. After that night so long ago, he watched Luke. He saw the way the blonde's sparkling eyes dulled over time. Each picture contained increasingly forced smiles. He looked at the things around him with less and less interest. It was heart wrenching to see the fall of a king.

But why should Michael care? He met the boy once. Why was it so difficult to tear his eyes away from him? Regardless of the answer, it was painful for Michael to watch Luke, yet that's all he found himself doing. Whether it was watching series of interviews or laughing at his ridiculous twit cams. He also ended up falling asleep to Luke's angelic voice more times than he would like to admit.

Even now as Michael sat in the back of Helen's shop he was scrolling through Luke's Instagram. A sort of peacefulness fell over him by staring at the star's selfies with his lame jokes in the caption. A chuckle would escape his lips as he passed some of his favorite ones.

"Are you obsessing over that boy again, Mr. Clifford?" Helen asked. Michael jumped at the sudden voice and frantically attempted to close the app. But instead, he accidentally opened his camera roll revealing an entire album of Luke.

"I am not obsessed with him." Michael scoffed, his face flaring a deep red.

Helen squinted at the tattooed boy in an attempt to see right through his impassive face. She could see the lie in his emeralds before he could protest much further. She had long since scolded Michael for letting Luke go so easily, and now, she wouldn't let him live it down. She was determined to see Michael fall in love because he deserved it.

"Whatever you say, darlin'." Helen was just about to turn away when she added, "Oh, and by the way. I heard Luke is performing at Madison Square tomorrow. He's flying in tonight." The old lady winked and walked away, leaving Michael's heart pumping a little bit faster.

-

Michael set out through the bustling streets of New York. His eyes swept over every passerby, searching for a familiar face as if his life depended on it. He didn't necessarily mean to seem so frantic, but the thought of seeing Luke again pushed out all of his negativity.