Rich Kids // 5sos

20 | It's About Time

| Luke’s POV |

Michael and I decided to just go and get McDonalds, considering he seems to be a little down lately and the only way I could cheer him up—and hopefully get him to tell me what’s going on with him—and food always makes everyone happy.

I mean, have you ever seen a sad person eating??? Maybe it’s just me. He still hasn’t spoken a word and I was hoping to get at least some information out of him. No matter how big or small the piece of information is, I need to get at least something.

Kindly I open the door for Michael and he mumbles a ‘thank you’ before stepping in and keeping his head low as he joins the back of the medium length line. I was glad it wasn’t too long of a wait because my stomach was just as hungry for the food as my mind is hungry for info from Michael.

I smile weakly and close the door behind me as I join Michael. But then as I breathed, I smelt something all too familiar. Something that was out of place for a place like this. And besides that, I knew the smell too.

I look up and I could recognize who it was from anywhere. Nicole. “It’s nice to see you here.” Nicole’s body suddenly tenses and I could tell that she was contemplating on whether she wanted to turn around or pretend that she never heard me but we are both waiting in line for food and if she tried to escape, she would have to go through me. Eventually she does turn around and I could see—from the corner of my eyes—Michael’s gaze leaving the floor and then up to Nicole.

“Nicole?” He said almost not believing that he was there standing in front of her. Nicole disconnected her sight from me and had the same expression on as Michael. Both of them mirroring each other’s faces. “W-what are you doing here?” He stutters.

“Getting food. You?”

“Luke dragged me here.” He says, pointing at me. Nicole looks back at me and it doesn’t take an idiot to be able to feel the tension between the two of them. It wasn’t the kind of hatred tension it’s just….strange tension that gave you the feeling that there was definitely something going on between the two of them.

In the back of my mind I figured Nicole would’ve wanted to say some sassy ass comment back at me—considering how our last text message went a couple of hours ago—but she did nothing, nothing at all. Few seconds later was when I finally decided to speak up but just as I was going to, the line moved forward. Nicole steps back and then turns to look at Michael and I again.

None of us spoke a single word. I didn’t want to say anything—yet—in case Nicole was going to say something to Michael or Michael wanting to say something to her. Then I notice that Michael’s eyes were fixed onto something on her.

Following his gaze I realize he was staring at the shirt she was wearing: an iron maiden shirt. At first I didn’t think much of it: she may be a fan. But then I looked more at the shirt, the decorations looked all too familiar to me and that was when I stared back at Michael and to her again.

And that was when I pieced it all together. “Why are you wearing Michael’s shirt? Oh wait…..” I grab Michael’s arm and take a step back. “Michael we’re going home….” He didn’t resist at all and just nodded slowly and followed me back out where we made our way quickly back to my house.

Giving my mum a quick greeting before I dragged him upstairs and telling him to sit on my bed. “Nicole’s your ex-girlfriend….isn’t she?” I look at Michael hoping he would answer but all he did was stare down at his fingers as they fiddled with each other. Now that I’m so close to finding out the truth I was nowhere near patient enough to deal with his quietness.

Michael just stayed quiet. Doing nothing. “Michael god damn it just tell me the god damn truth! I have a theory in my head okay but I don’t really want to jump straight into the conclusions but please Michael just—“

“OKAY FINE! YES NICOLE IS MY EX-GIRLFRIEND. HAPPY?!?!” Michael snaps. With the loudness of his voice I was taken aback. Never has Michael ever snapped or yelled or even used that kind of voice at my and I was undoubtedly surprised that he was capable of doing it. Tension poured out into the air quickly and my mind was buzzing with everything that I knew now and was still trying to piece together some of the new information. It was all too much for me.

There was so much that I wanted to say but with everything just becoming a giant pile in my head, I was left speechless and did the one thing I knew all too well to do in situations like this: walk out.

Not because I wanted to avoid him and everything else but because I needed to clear my mind out, to relax it and I was thankful that there was a small park—with a small pond—not too far from my house. This was the one place I knew that I could just sit down and relax and not have to worry about too much.

Eventually I find a desk and sit down, stuffing my hands into the pockets of my jackets as I watched the ducks in the ponds. There’s nothing particularly interesting about them but just watching them gave me some sense of easiness.

It helped me drift my mind off to some other place momentarily until I started to realize the sun was coming down. Once the luminosity of the park changed I knew that it was my cue to get back home.

For all I know Michael has probably already left back to his house—or maybe to Nicole’s house, I don’t know—but I hoped that he was still there in my bedroom because all I wanted to do was talk. To talk and finally get the answers that I have so desperately been needing the past couple of weeks, ever since I got myself involved with Nicole in the first place.

Mum was in the living room watching some TV show and gave me a small greeting, I smile over her way and then rush upstairs and to my bedroom where I slowly open the door and let out a sigh of relief when I see Michael still sitting there. “Hey.” Michael slowly turns around and weakly smiles at me.

“Hey.”

I take a step in and lean against the wall beside the door. “Look I’m sorry…..for pushing you like that.”

“It’s fine….I knew you would’ve figured it out sooner or later.”

A few seconds of awkward silence passed before I asked him. “So does this mean you’re going to tell me everything now?” Michael sighs and pats the seat next to him. I lean off the wall and walk over to my bed where I take a seat. “Are you sure you want to do this?” I ask. Just making sure he was 100% okay with going on with it.

“Yeah. I think it’s about time I tell you the truth.”