Warning: drug abuse
Michael waits for a good ten minutes until he figures Calum just isn't going to show up. He starts his car and drives off, Todd rambling about his gay best friend in Mount. He barely listens, and only thinks, which – in his case – is not very good at all.
Is it him? He thinks. Is Calum embarrassed of him because he's practically at the bottom of the food-chain? Or does Calum not like Michael enough to come out as his boyfriend?
He stops at a street-light and closes his eyes for a second to rest. He opens them a second later, and turns left instead of right. He doesn't listen to Todd – who's yelling at Michael for going the wrong way – and continues driving.
He arrives at Luke's house and gets out. As he walks, he hears Todd follow behind him. "Do me a favour and don't tell Calum about this." He says, and sees Luke just getting out of his own car. "Spa?" he says, and Luke furrows his eyebrows.
"Why?"
"I'll tell you if we have one."
Todd follows behind them, growing increasingly confused as he follows the two, not stupid enough to believe that a spa is just a spa. But, when Luke goes out onto his deck and turns a spa on, the younger boy grows confused. What shouldn't he tell Calum?
It is only when Michael and Luke disappear for a long time, and come back laughing their heads off and smelling of weed that Todd gets it. His face grows hot because how can they be so stupid? He considers walking out, but feels like something bad might happen, so he stays.
"H-Hey, Todd," Michael giggles. "You know I always wanted a brother." He continues, getting in the spa. "Toddy, wody, body," he looks up at the ceiling, closing his eyes. "I told my Mum this around about the same time she was fucking your Dad. 'S weird how I remember that."
Todd feels sick, but he doesn't say anything.
"Do you – Do you think it's fate? Do you think it's weird the way everything happens and works? My Mum fucking your Dad could've been for a completely different reason. Maybe your Dad wanted a child for a long time, maybe he . . ." Michael trails off, and stops talking.
Luke's on the floor, rambling about stars and fate and destiny, eating a bag of chips. Todd starts to walk over to him, but stops when Michael starts to say something.
"I think you're right, Luke. I think we're all made of stars. We're all a destiny in ourselves, and we're constellations, and we're all places other beings haven't found yet. We're all our own universe."
Todd hates this, and wishes Michael was sober, but Michael couldn't feel any more stress-free. And hungry. Fuck, he's hungry.
"But, every planet needs a sun to revolve around." He exhales. "Calum's my sun. God, he's great during sex. God, he did a shitty thing to me, though. I was such a whore because of him, going behind people's backs and his girlfriend's to fuck him."
Todd winces, and pulls his brother out of the spa. He dries him off, and asks Luke where his parents are. The blond replies that they're asleep, and Todd wonders if he can deal with this himself before they wake up.
He googles how to stop being high, and pulls them into the kitchen. The two boys giggle and pretend they're going on a secret mission so they stay quiet. Todd just sighs and puts cold water on their face like it tells them to, and grabs some water for them to drink. He takes them outside, and makes them drink a bottle of water each, along with some pills.
After an hour or two, they seem to be back to normal, but still stink like shit. Seeing that Michael is 75% sober, Todd starts to yell at him. "I'm so fucking angry at you. I can't believe you did that – that shit kills your brain-cells!"
Michael laughs, "Relax, Todd."
Todd crosses his arms. "Drive me home. Now."
"That won't be necessary." Comes a sharp voice from the doorway.
Todd sighs, hoping he doesn't get in trouble for this because he's trying to be a good kid for his new family. The lady in the dressing gown walks over and looks only at Todd. "I'm Liz, Luke's mother. I assume you're Todd." Todd nods. "I'm glad they had someone around. These boys will never get how serious this is."
Todd nods again. "I just didn't want anything bad to happen."
She smiles softly. "Come on, let's drive Michael home."
They walk through the house, passing Luke, who is busy playing his guitar with the speed of a sloth. They get into a small, red car and drive in silence, the window wound down for Michael – who is now biting on the lid of his water bottle. "I'm sorry, Todd."
"I'm so disappointed in you. You knew exactly what you were doing. You knew who it would hurt. And you still did it."
"I just got so stressed, I – "
"Then talk about it." Todd snaps, not bothering to be polite in front of Liz. "Getting high fucks with you, but talking does not."
Michael bites his lip. "He doesn't want to come out with me. I think he's ashamed of me."
"It's because he's scared." Todd says, almost annoyed.
Michael just shakes his head like Todd is the one that doesn't understand, and lies back in his seat. Soon enough, they get to Michael's place, and Todd and Liz drag him to the front door, ringing the doorbell.
"Hello, Daryl. Michael and Luke decided to visit the spa again." She says bitterly. "Let's try to punish them harder, this time."
Daryl sighs, and lets them all in. He can't believe it. Knowing Michael's still a little too high, they conclude that they'll yell at him in the morning and, they send him to bed. Michael grumbles, and goes into his room.
Calum's there, laying in bed like he's high too, and Michael lets the thought linger for a second before realising that the Maori's against drugs. Michael leans against the wall. "Hello," he says, tilting his head. "What are you doing?"
Calum sits up. "Trying to figure out how to tell you something." He says. "I'm so angry with you for smoking weed, but I can't stop you, and that's what scares me." He gets up, and holds Michael's hands.
He looks him in the eyes just to make sure he can comprehend when Calum is saying. "Michael," the Maori says, searching the boy's eyes for any sign of life. "Michael, they're thinking of sending me to Brazil to train for soccer."
Michael blinks. "Did you just say that?"
"Yes."
Michael's stomach drops, "For – For how long?"
"Six months."
End of part one.
thoughts on michael's insecurities?
thoughts on michael getting high? on todd's reaction?
what do you think is going to happen in the next part?
i'm gonna put up a character ask soon to let out your frustrations. pls yell at michael.
