fearless - muke

5; saturday

The following day was a Saturday, and although that would've been a relief for any other teenager, it was frustrating for Michael. He often lost himself in the days, not sure which was which - but one thing he did know was that the office was always closed at the weekends, so he couldn't go up.

And he couldn't see Luke.

Ashton tended to spend the whole day sleeping after a rough Friday night, this having become somewhat of a habit, leaving Michael to do whatever he pleased. But he'd always struggled to come up with inventive ways of spending his time, and usually ended up doing nothing.

Not today, though.

It gave Michael the perfect opportunity to follow through with his idea from the previous day, and that couldn't have excited him any more than it did.

Michael knew he wouldn't be able to think clearly at home, so grabbed his laptop and slipped a denim jacket over his shoulders, leaving a note on his bedroom door just in case Ashton was to break routine.

Without a second thought, he headed to the park on slouched on the first empty wooden bench he found there. Michael pulled up his notes and started typing - anything and everything that came to mind. Once his list was nearly half a page long, his phone buzzed in his front pocket.

From: unknown
Got any plans for today?

Michael read the text with his breath caught in his throat, quick to type out a reply.

Who is this?

From: unknown
It's Luke, hi Michael :)

Michael fought the urge to laugh out loud, closing his laptop as though he'd never been interested in it in the first place and fixing his full attention on the conversation at hand. A conversation he certainly never imagined he'd be having.

How'd u get my number?

From: office guy
I have my ways. So about those plans?

U do realise how creepy that sounds, right? And that's none of ur business

Michael was about to move to a more private spot, growing very conscious of the fact that he was grinning wildly in public, when he received the next text that kept him rooted down in his spot.

From: office guy
You're in the park, I could see you out of my bedroom window

That sounds even creepier

Then, Michael waited impatiently for a response that didn't come. He convinced himself that Luke's phone died, or maybe he was preoccupied and would see the message as soon as he had the time.

"Hey."

Michael lifted his head at the voice, expecting someone to ask him to move from the bench that over the last two hours had become his second home. But, he struggled to contain his excitement when he realised who it was. "Luke! You weren't kidding about seeing me, then."

Luke wasn't dressed for work, having changed his suit for a loose, grey shirt over black skinny jeans. His tousled blond hair hung over his face like he hadn't been out of bed for more than a few hours, and he appeared much more relaxed than usual.

"I live just across the street," he shrugged. "You looked kind of bored, so I thought I'd come say hi."

Michael raised an eyebrow. "Bored?"

"Maybe that wasn't the right word, then. You looked a mixture of excited and scared when I sent you the first text, and then you wouldn't stop grinning. Yeah, okay, that sounds creepy when I say it out loud."

Michael laughed, shaking his head whilst attempting to stay calm. Luke, fairly oblivious of this reaction, continued. "I'm guessing you and your brother live locally, too? And I don't mean to be rude, but do you spend every weekend sat alone?"

"Yeah, Ashton's at home," Michael frowned. "And maybe I like being alone."

Luke nodded understandingly, before pulling a reluctant Michael to his feet. "How about we make a quick stop at the store and buy some bread to feed the ducks? I hear they're very friendly at this time of year."

"Actually," Michael smiled, glancing down at his laptop, "I have some other ideas."

He grabbed Luke's arm with the hand that wasn't gripping onto the laptop, and started to lead him away from the park. The blond kept asking where they were going, but Michael ignored him and simply insisted that they were going to have a lot of fun.

"I haven't been to this part of the city before," Luke noted, chewing on his bottom lip as he attempted to take in every little detail. "I hope you know what you're doing, I don't want to get lost."

"Isn't getting lost the point of exploring?"

Luke flinched. "Uh, not really."

"Of course it is. You can only find yourself if you're lost to start with, and we explore to find ourselves. Therefore, we need to get lost. It's the only way we'll ever be free."

"You sound like you know what you're talking about."

Michael tilted his head to face Luke, his expression hovering somewhere between deep, concentrated thought and a smile. "I've wandered these streets for half of my life. Being lost isn't exactly a new concept to me."

"You don't seem to mind, though," Luke deliberated.

"Why would I? I feel fearless, or most of the time at least. You may have a direction to your life, but would you die happy? Feel like you've taken on the world and lived?"

Luke considered this heavily, repeating the words over and over in his head. He knew what Michael was getting at - and he knew what the little trip of theirs was going to be about - but for some reason the words didn't settle well with him.

Michael was right, of course. There was a lot he'd gotten caught up in, and once you're flying through the days it's hard to stop. He got up, went to work, returned home and went to bed. It'd been like that for years, but taking a big office job had only blurred things a little more.

Luke would just have to hope that maybe, Michael might change something in him. He needed it.

~~~~~~~

A/n: I'll probably mention it at some point later but so it doesn't seem creepy because Michael's only 17, I just want to say that Luke's 20 :)

Sorry for slow updates, I've just started college and I don't have as much time as I used to, but thanks for reading anyway xx