I'm Supposed To Hate You ||Malum AU||

Chapter 27

Michael was lying on a camp bed that had been set up in Luke's room, staring at the ceiling as he went over the day's events in his head. He had finally got the truth out of Calum, but it didn't come with the satisfaction he had expected. He had then been punched by Calum and threatened in the middle of IceDream, all in the space of a few hours.

Luke was scrolling through Instagram on his phone, the silence in the room only being interrupted by occasional sighs from Michael.

"Are you going to tell me why Calum gave you a black eye?" Luke asked, beginning to get fed up with Michael's repetitive sighing.

"I can't Luke." Michael told him, pushing himself up into a sitting position.

"Why not?"

"Because you saw how mad he got Luke, if he found out I'd told someone-"

"You don't have to tell me every single little detail, just a vague picture." Luke said, locking his phone.

"I-i pressured him into telling me something, something he didn't want anyone to know. I don't even think Ashton knows and- I was just curious." Michael spoke to his knees, his voice low in shame.

"Curiosity killed the cat." Luke stated, unlocking his phone again. He went back into Instagram and continued scrolling. "I'm sure he'll forgive you soon Mikey, as long as you don't tell anyone whatever it was."

"Trust me, I'm not saying a word to anyone. If he gave me a black eye for being curious, I don't want to see what he does if I start spreading it."

"Who are you and what have you done with Michael?" Luke laughed, attempting to lighten the mood with some humour.

"A week ago I would have used this against him, but I can't do that to him. I'm not that mean. He's still a sassy little shit who is obviously on steroids with the strength of that punch, but it's his secret."

Luke's response was interrupted by Michael's ringtone filling the room, indicating he had a incoming FaceTime from his mum. He hesitated for a minute before accepting the call. His mother's face filled his screen, beaming up at him from his phone.

"Hey Michael!" Karen exclaimed, waving at him. The picture glitched slightly, but Michael was too glad to see his mother to care.

"Hey Mum, how's the holiday going?"

"Great, how are things at Calum's?" Luke cleared his throat loudly, earning a glare from Michael. "I'll take that input from Luke and the fact that you're staying at Luke's as a not great then."

"I think the black eye might be a clue too." Michael added, smiling awkwardly at his mum.

"I didn't even notice that." Karen admitted, squinting at her son through the screen. "It's pretty impressive."

"He almost gave me another one." Michael told her, looking down at his lap ashamed. "Luke had to kick him out of the building, I think he deserves Employee of the Month again."

"What did you do to make him so mad this time Michael?"

Michael averted his eyes, becoming extremely interested in the poster on the wall and Luke began to whistle awkwardly.

"That bad Mikey." Karen groaned. "What did I tell you before I left?

Michael raised his eyebrow, keeping his eyes on the wall as he heard Luke start to laugh beside him.

"Michael."

"Don't annoy him and be nice." Michael mumbled, glaring at his mother. Luke snorted, hiding his face in his hand. He bit his lip to muffle the sound, returning his attention to his phone.

"Did you even listen to me?"

"In all fairness Mum, he hasn't been the nicest to me either." Michael argued.

"Does he have a black eye?"

"Well no, but that's only because I don't get angry as quickly as he does and I'm against violence."

Karen let out a short, loud laugh.

"Really Michael, you're against violence. You play Call Of Duty religiously and have been in more fights with Calum than I can count."

"He starts them!"

"Okay, okay calm down Mikey. We've gone off topic. What did you do that made him so mad?"

"I might have made him- tell me, something that he really wanted to keep a secret." Michael muttered, burning red in embarrassment because he knew his mum was giving him that look. Everyone's mother has one.

"Michael you didn't. Please tell me you didn't." She pleaded, still giving Michael "the look".

"You know?" Michael asked surprised.

"I'm Joy's best friend, of course I know. She told me a year after they moved here."

"That makes me feel worse." Michael groaned, throwing his head back. "I was only curious and then it turned out to be..well that, and- I deserve this black eye." He concluded defeatedly.

"I can't argue with you there Michael, but you need to stop beating yourself up about it." Karen sighed.

"Yeah Calum is doing that for me."

Michael had forgotten Luke was still in the room until he let out a giggle. He looked up from his phone, made eye contact with Michael and started laughing harder. Michael was unable to keep a straight face as he listened to his best friend laugh hysterically.

Not long after both of them were doubled over, neither of them noticing Karen end the FaceTime, shaking her head at their actions. It wasn't even that funny, but sometime it's good to just laugh at nothing with your friend.

"Oh, she's gone." Michael said once they'd calmed down. "That wasn't a long chat."

"Well at least she took your black eye better than my mum did." Luke replied, taking a deep breath to calm his breathing. "Oh my god Michael, what did you do? Does it hurt, are you okay? Have you been fighting again?"

"I thought she was going to ground me when she found out I'd technically been fighting in IceDream." Michael laughed, wiping away a tear. He flinched as his finger brushed his bruise. "She's not as bad as Joy though. Joy is terrifying when she yells."

"That's probably where Cal gets it from."

"I've never thought about that before. You're a genius Lukey."

Sorry this updated is slightly late and it's slightly shit. I hope you enjoyed it anyway.

I've just published a Cake story I've been working on for a while now, if you would like to check it out that would be great.

#shamelessselfpromo😄