Our flight landed prematurely and no one at the airport was prepared for our arrival so we had to wait for our baggage to be brought out. When we saw it on the conveyer belt we immediately went to grab it. Luke put his suitcase on its wheels and sat on it, spinning in a circle. After watching him spin gleefully for a few minutes I lifted him off of the suitcase like a small child and then handed it to him like an adult. He stood straight and saluted me like a soldier, trying to keep a straight face, I giggled and kissed him, making him lose his military state. I grabbed his hand and began to catch up to Calum and Ashton.
"WELCOME TO TOKYO BOYS," I screamed in their faces when we got out of the airport. "THANKS" Calum screamed back, making me nearly go deaf. The city lights were extremely bright and I could tell they were bothering Luke. I gave him a pair of sunglasses and he grinned at me, his lip ring looking more rainbow than black in the crazy lighting. "It's like fairy lights, but brighter!" Ashton observed, gazing at the brilliant scenery. Calum was looking at something too, well, someone. No matter what country we were in Calum could not take his eyes off Ashton. They were in love, and it showed.
Luke and I were in love too, but we showed it in different ways. Subtle touches in public, small acts of kindness, and mild PDA were the ways we showed love. Recently, Luke had started laying his head on my shoulder a lot. Sometimes he would feel my hair, and other times he would whisper how much he loved me in my ear. It took every ounce of strength I had not to break down when he did that, but at least it was preparing me for "the day".
According to my count, Luke had about 20 days left, plenty of time to get us to Hollywood and back to Australia. But I couldn't think about that right now, I had to think about being in Tokyo. With my love, my life, my Luke. Only minutes after I gave him the sunglasses he had taken them off. Because, after all, that was why we had come here, to see the bright lights. He looked up at the adverts as we walked to where we were staying, pointing out all the things he thought I would find interesting. I didn't find them interesting at all really, I found him interesting. He knew he was dying, he knew he was losing everything, and yet his outlook on life was as cheerful as it was when we were fourteen. I laced his fingers with mine, feeling the warmth of his skin. He laid on my shoulder and his thinning hair tickled my neck. I laughed, and he laughed back at me. Calum and Ashton turned around to see us on the sidewalk, having a laughing fit. They each lifted one of us and carried us to the hotel.
Our room had a wall completely made of glass, and Luke was absolutely speechless.
"Oh... Mikey... it's so... Beautiful," he said softly. He gingerly perched himself on the edge of our bed and I did the same. Calum and Ashton left to go for a "romantic swim" or something so it was just us and the city lights. I spotted an advert for our new album and Luke smiled up at me, his eyes widening when I showed him how big it was. "Michael, people actually like us here," he stated bluntly.
"Oh baby, people like us everywhere, people love you everywhere.the only people who don't love you are ignorant assholes who can't see talent and they deserve to be-" he cut me off with a delicate peck on my lips. "Mikey, I know there are people that don't like me, and I've come to terms with that. I know that you'll always like me, and that , Cal and Ash will always like me, so it's okay that people don't like me. It's okay." I nodded in understanding and pulled him closer to me. "L-Luke, I-I love you," I whispered to him. "I love you too Cliffoconda. Could I ask you something?"
"Anything baby."
"Will you sing to me?" I nodded. I wasn't sure what to sing at first, but then it hit me. I started off by tapping a beat on my thighs, knowing that Luke would know the song, and began to sing.
"Hello there, the angel from my nightmare. The shadow in the background of he morgue, the unsuspecting victim... of darkness in the valley. We can live like Jack and Sally if we want..." I watched him drift to sleep and as soon as I knew he was asleep, I began to cry. It was getting so hard, watching him become so helpless. He was dying and I had to come to terms with it, but I couldn't.
"Oh god, why? Why did this have to be him? Why couldn't it have been me? Luke knows how to cope with things like death. I don't! Oh my god WHY?" I cradled Luke, shaking and sobbing into his soft hair until my eyes could stay open no longer.
