the artist → muke

s e v e n

michael woke up to the smell of coffee, and for a second he thought maybe he was back in the coffee shop. he was wrong.

   luke was sitting at a desk in the corner of the room, his hair flat against his forehead, a styrofoam coffee cup in his grip as he (seemingly) sketched. he gave michael a small glance from the corner of his eye before smirking (michael noticed luke did so a lot).

  "jack bassam barakat stole my lunch every day of the week in fifth grade. he called me a fat faggot, and he humiliated me in front of my whole class every day. i lost twenty three pounds in the fifth grade because i starved myself." luke spoke, his eyes not leaving the paper. his wrist flicked furiously with his words, and he watched as the pencil lead broke, and as luke grabbed another pencil from a small container on the desk.

    "melanie martinez's dad had an affair with halsey's mother. it destroyed her whole family, consequently causing me to feel distraught."

   michael didn't know what to say, tears bubbling in his eyes. luke's list kept going.

"taylor swift's dad put my mom's business out of business, forcing us into poverty."

   "cody carson told me to kill myself before he did it himself."

"alex gaskarth broke my only guitar, and burned my notebook of songs."

   "and you," luke shook his head, looking up from his paper chuckling. "you've made me lose my goddamn mind, michael. i'm head over heels in love with you. and that's why you need to die."

   michael's mouth widened again. he was speechless, and even more terrified than he was earlier.

"luke," michael whimpered. "if you love someone, you don't kill them. you hold them tight and cherish them."

   "no," luke shook his head, standing up and walking around the room with his hands fisted in his hair. "if you love someone, you let them go. but i can't let this fucking go. i can't let you go until you're six feet under the dirt. but, oh, will i miss seeing you and your beautiful eyes. that's why i need to paint you."

   "y-you're demented," michael began to shake. he clenched his fists, which were still bound to the chair. he was trapped. he was going to die, for no reason at all.

   luke threw his head back with maniacal laughter. "i get that a lot."

"p-people are g-going to fi-ind out. you'll be i-imprisoned forever. y-your career will b-be over." michael began to let out shaky sobs. the pain felt so distant now. everything felt numb. he didn't want it to end. not yet. not like this.

   luke smiled and walked over to michael. "michael, not to be offensive, but you've made it pretty obvious that no one's going to miss you when you're gone. no one except for me. and even i will move on."

   michael looked away from luke's gaze, his sobs getting harder and harder.

"don't cry, beautiful," luke sighed, grabbing michael's chin and directing his gaze back to luke.

   and luke leaned down and kissed michael. he kissed him like there was no tomorrow, and michael let him. he let luke sit down on his sore legs and wrap his long, strong arms around his neck. he let him slip his tongue into his mouth and fight for dominance.

   "anything if it gives me a chance of living," michael thought to himself, hoping luke would realize his mistakes before it was too late.

   but michael did like the kiss. he liked it a lot, and he was perfectly fine with the fact that luke wasn't quite done with him yet either. it felt good to have luke's hands tugging at the base of his hair, and he knew he'd do the same to luke if only his hands were freed.

   luke pulled away, and michael sighed at the loss of contact. luke's lips were so pink, and it almost made him forget what he had done to michael only moments earlier.

   "god, you're so beautiful." luke traced michael's lips with his pointer finger before lightly tracing the lines he had drawn with his knife, which had sloppily scarred up. michael said nothing, closing his eyes at the intimate contact.

   he wanted luke to stay like this. he wanted him to change his mind. he wanted luke to let him walk home that night. he wanted to see his flat again, and calum. he wanted to say that he was sorry to everyone. he wanted to see ashton order the same drink every day at the coffee shop. he wanted to see his goddamn parents again, and he had earlier never wanted to see them.

    "give me one night," michael whispered. "give me one more night to live. i'll do whatever you want. just let me call my parents and tell them i love them. let me call calum and tell him i love him. before you do it, we... we can get coffee at the coffee shop. i'll pay for it and everything. just let me be ready to say goodbye to this."

    luke looked between michael's eyes and his lips. the deal was a decent one. luke would get what he wanted, and michael what he wanted.

    luke ran a hand through his hair.

"you get two phone calls, and i get to do whatever i want. then, we continue this. this needs to be finished."

    michael smiled wider than he'd ever smiled, and pressed his lips to luke's best he could while tied up.

   he was going to get out of this mess.

•

okay bonjour hi hello this story is almost done (there will be 10 chapters and maybe an epilogue). I don't usually do this, but i literally cried while writing this bc of michael just wanting to say goodbye even to his parents that he hated? like? Idk its emotional for me.

I'll update soon if people actually read this chapter :)

Comment and vote :)