"please let me come home, michael-"
"luke, this is your home." michael said as luke sat on the bed.
"no it's not. you're not gonna be here with me." luke sniffled, and michael shook his head.
"luke, quit. i'm not talking about this anymore." michael said, and luke looked down.
"did we break up?" luke whispered, confused as to what they are.
"yeah. yeah we did."
"michael, why-"
"luke, enough. i'm really good at giving into you, but it can't happen this time." michael said softly.
"you probably wanted to break up anyways." luke stubbornly mumbled.
"yeah, okay, luke. i wanted to break up with you, and push away the person i'm in love with. i wanted to break up with you just so i can explain to my kid why his favorite person in the world can't stay with us anymore. carson is gonna be so mad at me, do you understand that?! i didn't want any of this, and for you to even say that shows how selfish you are!" michael said louder, and luke looked up.
"please don't yell..." he whispered.
"well, it seems like that's the only way you'll listen to me." michael said, and luke looked down, crossing his arms.
"michael, i'm just sorry. how can i fix this?" luke whispered.
"just give me some time to trust you again."
luke's heart broke as michael turned, walking out of the door.
he already missed michael. he missed the feeling of michael holding him, and kissing him, and telling him he loves him.
he misses carson too. he misses smiling as the little boy would sneak into their room in the middle of the night just to lay between them, pulling luke's arm over him.
he already misses it all.
luke stood up, and walked from his room, down the hall to karen's.
"mama c?" luke asked from the open door.
she was sitting in the bed reading a magazine before she looked up to see luke's crying face.
"baby, what's wrong? come here..." she said.
luke ran over, and laid on the bed, his head in her lap.
"michael broke up with me." luke cried, and she ran her hand through his hair.
"luke, what happened?" she whispered.
"i haven't been completely honest since i got home because i thought i had erased everything that happened in perth, but i didn't. michael saw an unknown number texting me and it said some pretty bad stuff." luke said softly, and she nodded, ready to listen.
"when they moved me out of the orphanage i- i couldn't get a real job because i was homeless and nobody would hire me. i started stripping and selling myself, and eventually i started dealing drugs. i never used them, i just distributed them. i just wanted to make enough money to come home, and have enough for a place to stay if you guys didn't want me anymore. i never meant for michael to know or see any of it." luke cried, and karen pulled luke up, holding him like a baby despite how much bigger he was than her.
"luke, you should've known that we would always want you. you didn't have to do that." karen whispered.
"i know, but michael never came and got me like he promised. i know why now, but i thought he just forgot about me, or found somebody new." luke whispered.
"you were hurting..." she whispered, and luke nodded.
"i understand why he doesn't want me around carson right now, but it's killing me already. i love carson, and i would never do anything to put him in danger. living in perth i would get death threats and horrible texts from clients all the time, but it was all just to scare me into giving them what they want. i know michael can't take any chances like that, but i just want them back."
karen shushed luke's sobbing, and rocked him back and forth very slowly like she did when he was just a kid.
"michael's just being cautious. trust me, if anyone who was even the slightest potential danger to you two boys came around, i would protect you with everything in me. things change when you have a kid, but i know you, luke. if you say you're done, you're done, and it's all gonna work out again. michael just needs a little bit of time."
