not broken, just bent

chapter one // therapy

This has brief mentions of self harm, an eating disorder and suicide.

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Michael didn't know why he was here, sitting a circle with a bunch of strangers sharing problems. He had no idea why his mom thought it would be a good idea for him to go to this therapy session. It's not like Michael had any problems. Just because he had anger issues sometimes and wanted to die most of the time, didn't mean he needed to get help.

Michael sat quietly next to a blue haired girl, and a brown haired boy. He listened to a girl explain why she was here, but the girl was interrupted when someone walked in the brightly lit room.

Michael looked up to see a blonde haired boy walk quietly to the circle, the boy's head was down and he looked like he wanted to disappear. Everyone was staring at him, and the boy probably knew it. He quickly sat down at the only available seat and kept his head down. 

"I'm glad you came Luke, we were just listening to Quinn share why she was here" The counselor said and Michael watched as the boy lifted his head and nodded. Michael almost gasped when he saw Luke's face. Luke looked beautiful. Broken, but beautiful.

Quinn finished sharing why she was here, and the person beside her shared why they were here but Michael wasn't listening. He couldn't pull his attention away from Luke. Luke captivated him, and he had no idea why. Michael watched as Luke played with the sleeves on his sweater nervously and bit his lip, playing with his piercing. Luke looked anxious, and all Michael wanted to do was calm him down.

Before Michael knew it, it was his turn to share. He hadn't realized they'd gone through half the people already, probably because he was too busy staring at Luke. But nevertheless, it was his turn. Michael tore his gaze away from Luke and looked around the room. Everyone was looking at him, and he suddenly felt nervous with all the eyes on him.

"I'm Michael and I'm here because my mom thinks I'm suicidal and I have some anger issues sometimes" Michael said, embarrassed. His problems sounded so dumb, and little compared to everyone else's.

It was the blue haired girl's turn now, and Michael turned his attention back to Luke. He didn't know why he kept staring, he didn't know this boy was making his heart race. Luke looked up at Michael, and Michael felt his cheeks heat. He quickly looked down, and silently cursed himself.

Michael kept his head down while the next few people shared why they were here, until it was finally Luke's turn. Michael had been waiting for Luke to share why he was here since he first walked in. Michael wanted to know why such a beautiful boy would be here, in fact he wanted to know everything about this boy.

"I'm Luke" Luke said quietly, his voice surprisingly deep. "I-I'm here because I have an eating disorder, I self harm and I've attempted suicide twice" he said and didn't look up.

Michael looked at Luke and frowned, he wanted to run over to Luke and hug him. He wanted to make all of Luke's sadness disappear.

Luke was biting his lip and it looked like he was holding back tears. Michael felt his heart break. He didn't know why this boy was having such an affect on him, but he was and there was nothing Michael could do about it. Michael wasn't sure that he'd even want to do something about it if he could.

As the rest of the circle shared their problems and the counselor gave another speech, Michael kept his gaze on Luke. There was something special about this boy, Michael could tell.

Far too fast, the session had come to an end. Michael found himself surprisingly disappointed as he got up from his seat. He didn't want it to end, he'd probably never see Luke again.

Most of the people rushed out of the door, but Michael took his time. He was debating if he should say something to Luke or not. He didn't know why he felt the urge to talk to Luke, but it seemed like he didn't know a lot of things today.

Luke was still sitting in his seat, and everyone else had left. The counselor had left the room to go talk to someone, now would be the perfect time to talk to Luke.

Minutes later, Michael found himself making his way towards Luke. He didn't even know what he was going to say to Luke, but he knew he wanted to say something.

"Hi" Michael said softly as he said down on the seat next to Luke's.

Luke looked up at Michael. "hi"

Michael's heart was racing, and he didn't know what to say or do. All of this felt like some kind of crazy dream.

"I just wanted to tell you that I um, I think you're beautiful and you shouldn't hurt yourself ever because you're worth a lot more than you think you are" Michael said without thinking. "shit, I sound creepy now but I-" Michael rambled.

"you think I'm beautiful?" Luke asked quietly, interrupting Michael.

"very" Michael admitted. There was no sense in denying it now.

Michael watched as Luke's cheeks turned pink, and he bit his lip. He was holding back a smile.

"you can smile you know, I'm sure your smile is wonderful" Michael told him.

Luke's cheeks turned a darker shade of pink, and this time he broke out into a smile. Michael knew he'd do anything to see that smile again.

"Can I walk you home?" Michael asked, not even thinking. He was basically a stranger to Luke, why would he let Michael walk him home?

But for some reason Luke did and during their walk, Luke slipped his hand into Michael's.

They acted like it was a normal thing they did, and maybe one day it would be.