Beside You *Muke*

Chapter 2

Trigger warning: Abuse

I walk the city streets for long enough to lose track of time, the sound of cars zooming past and the hum of music from my ear buds being the only things heard. I loved the solitude I possessed while walking the streets alone and how music made me forget about my family and how my life crumbling to pieces.

A car brushes past me, tires skidding across a puddle made from last night's rain and I stand there, mouth agape as a wave of the rainwater coats me from head to toe. The driver, of course, doesn't bother to stop once he realizes what he had just done to me, instead, leaves me alone in the cold to shiver and mope.

I sit at that mysterious guitarist's spot by the bakery, feeling the hard grey stone under my fingers from the dormant fountain behind me and curl my arms around me seconds later. "What're you listening to?" I hear someone ask and when I look up, I find the wonderful boy standing in front of me, guitar case clasped in his hands, wearing a curious expression.

"You're not going to comment that I'm s-soaking wet?" I ask as my teeth chatter.

"Figured you didn't want to talk about about it," He shrugs and I force a smile.

"Ed Sheeran," I tell him finally as he sits down next to me, thinking back to the Ed cover that he had done just yesterday.

"You're shivering," He comments as his green eyes flit over my trembling figure and I shrug my shoulders.

"I-I'm fine," I whisper, curling my knees to my chest in the hopes of conserving more body heat. The lavender haired boy shakes his head at me, small smile playing on his lips.

"C'mon, I'll take you to my house, lend you fresh clothes," He suggests and I feel more nerves shoot through my body.

"I don't even know your name and you don't know mine," I mumble into my hands, unable to look up at the unbelievably beautiful human being in front of me.

"You're Luke and I'm Michael," He says easily with a laugh, soon accompanied by a grin and when my eyebrows raise up in surprise, he says, "Your name tag yesterday. How's your ass feel by the way? That fall seemed like a pretty nasty one," 

"it's fine," I tell him, instantly rejecting his offer. "I don't want to inconvenience you, Michael. You should go home where it's warm and just forget all about this," I tell him slowly, hands curled into nervous fists.

"You're not inconveniencing me, mate," He tells me, squeezing my knee reassuringly. "I need a friend and it's too beautiful of a night to be spending alone," He clasps his hand around my shoulders with the same pressure I imagined he gripped the neck of his guitar and I force my feet to move as we near his car. It was a simple SUV, something I imagined his parents passed down to him once he had gotten his license. Once the two of us were inside the car, Michael instantly cranks the heat. "Better?" He asks at a red light when he finds my knees still hugged to my chest.

"Do you always let strangely quiet boys into your car?" I ask him instead of answering, running a hand through my damp hair as the warmth of the car begins to soak into my chilled bones.

"Not usually," He admits with a laugh. "But you seem nice, Luke," Michael smiles, forcing a halfhearted one to flit onto my face. We get to his house and when we walk through the door, Michael shouts, "Mum, I come bearing visitors!" then pauses before saying, "Okay, so my room's just up here. You seem a few sizes smaller than me but my clothes should fit fine," He murmurs, more to himself to me me as the two of us climb up the stairs to his room. He sets his guitar case down on his caramel carpeted floor and kicks off his shoes, giving me a look, motioning for me to do the same. Once I do, he is quick to grab fresh clothes for me, shoving them into my arms and points down the hall to the bathroom.