concealing ➸ tomlinson

xxxi

guys we hit 1.3k so godamn quick like slow down i hadn't even started the next chapter and im so happy i

chapter right here we go

| " you've got a warm heart, you've got a beautiful brain, but it's disintegrating from all the medicine " - 'medicine' , daughter |

not less than a day later, michael, still trying to adjust to the new voices, accidentally stumbled across something.

using the term 'accidentally' lightly; he'd been sneaking around for purple hair dye to prank luke with. the first logical place for him to look had been where they'd first been led to to change their appearances. he wasn't exactly a quiet person about it either; the noise getting liam's attention.

liam poked his head in the room. michael, who'd been rummaging through numerous bottles and containers, glanced over his shoulder.

"hi." he smiled in a slightly panicky fashion.

liam rolled his eyes, stepping into the room and closing the door behind him. "if you're going to sneak around, remember the whole 'sneak' bit. i could hear you halfway down the hall."

michael relaxed pretty quickly, giving a short nod and going right back to digging through the bottles.

after a moment, liam exhaled. "what're you looking for?"

"do you know if there's any purple dye lying around?"

it took a moment for that to register. 'uh... i can help you look?'

"thanks."

and that's how liam and michael spent about nine minutes crouched down looking for a bottle they never found.

"is dye really this important?" liam questioned.

michael responded, "yeah, my reputation's at stake."

liam gave him a look. "you've been here for less than a week, what impression have you left on anyone? besides maybe "living furbee"?"

"first of all, that's fucking rude. and second-"

michael cut himself off. he frowned slightly in concentration.

"someone's coming." he said, quieter now.

liam glanced over his shoulder, trying to hear footsteps. after several tense seconds in silence, he shook his head.

"i don't hear anything." he said at a normal volume.

michael had closed his eyes. "they're thinking, you couldn't hear them if you wanted to." he stated.