fearless - muke

3; rain

"Rain? Are you kidding me?" Michael grumbled as he slammed the fridge door shut. "I hate the weather."

Ashton trailed slowly into the room just soon enough to hear his brother complaining, definitely sober now but physically exhausted. He never slept well. "Maybe the weather hates you too, grow up and deal with it."

Michael scoffed and rolled his eyes, pouring himself a glass of orange juice and then another for Ashton. He slid it across to the table to where the older boy was sat, but his brother was too dazed to pay any attention and the glass fell right off of the end and smashed on the floor.

Neither reacted at first, Ashton hadn't flinched and Michael was frozen, waiting to be yelled at. However, the reaction he received was not the one he had expected. "Are you planning on clearing that up?"

Michael threw his hands up in defence, taking a step back towards the counter. "What? You were supposed to catch it!"

"Well don't assume things," Ashton rolled his eyes, pointing to a cupboard under the sink. Michael sighed and opened the small door, taking out what he needed and clearing away the mess at his brother's feet.

By then he was desperate to get out, but also reluctant seeing as it would involve him getting wet. Eventfully deciding that the latter was by far the better option, he grabbed his backpack and ran out the front door, ignoring Ashton's shouts and protests.

Michael pulled his hood up over his head, half running and half walking the all too familiar route into the busiest part of the city. It looked beautiful in the rain, or at least more so than he had expected.

Apart from himself, the streets were almost entirely empty. People had chosen to drive or take a taxi to wherever they needed to be that morning, resulting in more traffic than usual - not that he particularly minded.

The chaos was calming.

He entered through the glass doors like he would any other day; nothing felt much different besides the poor weather. Michael didn't bother taking his hood down from covering his face and walked quickly towards the lift, stopping abruptly when he felt a hand on his shoulder. "Where are you going?"

Michael looked up and sighed, rolling his eyes and trying to carry on. But Luke grabbed him by his hood and pulled him back, and the teenager knew he couldn't escape it. "Where do you think?"

"Michael," he frowned, "you'll get soaked. A storm is brewing too, you don't want to be up there if the lightning starts."

"I'm already soaked, and I really don't care."

Luke turned around, handing over a small amount of cash to a woman serving at the counter he was leant against and taking a cup of coffee. He smiled and thanked the woman, motioning for Michael to follow him away.

Deciding he didn't have anything better to do, he shrugged his shoulders and did just that. "Can't you go home, or something? I don't want you getting hurt up there."

Michael froze upon hearing the word home, and temporarily forgot that he was in the middle of a conversation. He stayed silent and looked down at the floor, shaking his head when Luke nudged him for a response.

"Okay," the blond spoke slowly, sensing that Michael wasn't keen on talking about it yet still desperate to help. "Well, I don't have to be in the office for another hour, how about I buy you a coffee and we talk for a while? The weather might be a little better by then."

Michael smiled weakly, surprised that Luke was being so kind considering he hadn't exactly been the nicest to him in return. He bit down on his lower lip and nodded hesitantly, his voice now a whisper. "That would be great, thank you."

He sat down on one of the seats nearby, watching Luke go back to where he had just been to purchase a second drink. Luke smiled apologetically at the woman who had served him before, but she just laughed and told him not to worry about it, beginning to make another coffee.

When Luke returned and placed the cup in front of Michael, the teenager was suddenly nervous. Not that he felt uncomfortable, but he didn't know the man in front of him too well, and he doubted they had much in common. He was grateful, nonetheless. Maybe a normal conversation would help him.

"So," Luke laughed, an oddly attractive sound to Michael. "Why do you even spend all your time on the roof? It's not very interesting up there."

Michael shrugged. "Nothing better to do, I guess."

"You don't go to school, then?"

"Dropped out a couple of years ago," Michael explained. "Wasn't my kind of thing. I didn't have any friends and I sucked at pretty much every subject, so one day I just got up and left."

Luke cringed. "My parents would've killed me if I did that. Did yours not try and stop you?"

"I, uh," Michael stammered, "I don't have any parents."

"Oh, I'm sorry. Do you mind me asking what happened to them?" Luke asked softly, his eyes filled with genuine concern.

Michael couldn't determine why, but he felt able to trust the blond. "My mum died when I was little, I don't really remember her, then dad walked out a couple of years ago. I live with my half-brother, he was the result of my dad having an affair."

"Right," Luke nodded, taking it all in. It was moments like those he felt lucky to have the family he did, even if they didn't get along all of the time. "Is your half-brother nice?"

"No," Michael scoffed.

"I thought you'd say that. So, the roof is your getaway? Makes sense."

Michael nodded and leant forward, taking a sip of his coffee and then placing it back down on the table between him and the blond. "Anyway, how was your first day? You seemed nervous when I saw you."

"It was okay, I guess," Luke stated fairly blankly. "Everyone gets nervous when they start a new job, it was nothing to worry about."

"I didn't say I was worrying."

He laughed. "Of course not, sorry."

"I've seen hundreds of new employees come in and out of this place," Michael frowned. "People deal with things in different ways, I suppose, but I've never seen someone almost pass out at the sight of an office floor."

Luke's mood suddenly shifted dramatically, taking a long drink from his coffee with wide eyes before attempting to hide his shaky hands. "High expectations."

"From who?" Michael asked. "Your family? Friends? You?"

"Everyone."

With that, Luke got up and walked away, leaving Michael both disappointed and confused.

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A/n: these chapters are so repetitive and I haven't updated in ages I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry

Thanks x