fearless - muke

2; complaints

The following morning, Michael stumbled away from the flat and towards the offices much earlier than usual. He hated feeling guilty about leaving Ashton alone again, even if he wasn't the best company to his half-clueless and usually rather drunk brother.

But he always felt so trapped there. He couldn't ever breathe.

When he neared the towering glass building, Michael realised that there was something not quite right about the setting. And after realising what it was, he felt his heart sink deep into his chest.

A police officer stood by the large entrance doors, his arms crossed over his uniform and a stern expression plastered onto his ageing face. A few employees were granted access upon showing the man some form of identification to prove they worked there, and Michael knew his day was about to get dramatically worse.

He tried to play it cool, walking slowly forward and with his eyes fixed on the pavement beneath his feet. Just as he was about to reach out his hand and open the door, Michael felt someone grab his arm and yank him harshly backwards.

Michael yelped at the pain, but was immediately silenced by the officer who stood boldly in front of him, his tattooed knuckles clenched into fists. "Where do you think you're going?"

"The roof?" Michael answered, but what was intended as a statement came out more like a question and the man shook his head.

"You can't go up there, it's dangerous."

"You really think I care?" Michael scoffed as a sudden wave of confidence swept through him, attempting to push past the man but too small in comparison to succeed. "I've been sitting up there nearly every day since I was 14."

"I really don't care, kid," the man growled, rather frustrated by this point. "Go and tell your problems to someone who does."

"Hey! Hey, what's going on here?"

Michael looked around for the source of the second voice, recognising it immediately but not quite remembering where from. Running towards them was the last person he expected. Luke.

"This kid is insisting on going up to the roof," the officer explained, "but it may be unsafe and there have been recent complaints, so the space is now off limits."

"Complaints?" Luke asked, frowning. "I don't think so. I work here, and I don't see a problem with this. Also, I think he's old enough to be able to take care of himself, don't you?"

"But sir, I really thi-"

"Come on," the blond interrupted, grabbing Michael's arm and leading him through the glass doors. The man whose job it was to stop that exact thing happening attempted to call after, but knew it was useless.

Michael stopped in front of the lift, pushing Luke away from himself and raising an eyebrow with a lot of unseeded questions. "You work here? I thought you just had an interview."

"Yep, but I got the job," Luke smirked, clearly proud. "Oh and you're welcome for that, by the way."

"I know."

The blond just rolled his eyes, pushing the button on the lift and standing there slightly impatiently, biting down on his lower lip.

"Let me guess," Michael laughed, "first day and you're late?"

Luke smiled. "Half an hour early, actually."

Michael's mouth fell open and he didn't bother trying to close it; he was finding out more and more about the blond every day. And that was saying something, given he'd only known him for two days.

"You coming in or what?" Luke asked, waving a hand in front of the boy's face. He'd been so fazed that he hadn't heard the lift arrive and the large metal doors clang open, nodding hesitantly and stepping inside. It was a common routine for him - he had to take the lift up to the top floor of the building and then climb the fire exit steps to get to the roof.

The only uncommon factor in the situation was Luke.

Michael went to speak but his throat was suddenly dry, so he coughed nervously and slouched into the corner of the small box. He hated that he was so incapable of acting naturally when he was around Luke, who was in fact a complete stranger to him. It wasn't like he had anything to prove, so what was it?

Luke's new office was also on the top floor, which given everything wasn't really much of a surprise to Michael.

"Well, I guess I'll see you around?" Luke asked, as the lift came to a stop and doors began to open. As soon as he caught a glimpse of the desks he suddenly looked a little paler, and gripped onto the hand rail to support himself.

Michael nodded, not daring to move until he knew Luke was okay to walk out of the metal box. The blond really did have an issue with coping with things, and the list of things he didn't appear to be able to cope with seemed endless.

Eventually, Luke steadied himself and nodded to no one in particular, muttering "you can do this" under his breath. To Michael, it didn't look like he could, but he stayed quiet and watched the blond walk away.

Stepping out just before the lift doors closed on him, he made his way silently towards the fire exit door located on the east side of the building. Michael knew the people there weren't so keen on him wandering around, they may have accepted it when he was younger but by now they were tired of seeing his face every morning, so he kept out of sight.

The weather wasn't as calm as it had been the previous day, a strong gust of wind smacking into his front the minute his foot made contact with the roof. The clouds were different tones of greys and blacks, something he found oddly comforting.

The restlessness of the earth matched his mood, his eyes not quite able to focus and the building seeming further from the ground than normal.

Michael didn't like it. He didn't like the small fragment of fear that was burying itself into his brain, altering everything he was and everything he stood for.

He wasn't afraid of anything, yet he was afraid of everything.

~~~~~~~

A/n: I'm sorry for taking a while with this story, I really am, but I have exams at the moment so obviously didn't plan my time very well :(

Anyway, what are you guys starting to think of Michael's character? What about Luke's?

I hope this was okay, maybe drop a comment if you want? Thank you xx