"luke, baby i love you so much, but please not right now."
luke frowned, and looked at michael who was sifting through bills.
"okay." luke said quietly, scooting back into his own seat, no longer holding onto michael.
he watched as michael opened envelopes, and frowned as he read over each paper.
"hey, mikey? we don't have to do this tonight. can we just-"
"we kinda do, luke. how much did you make this week?" michael asked softly, adding up all of the money they owed in bills.
"um. i- well $116-"
"$116, luke? baby, what happened to $1100 a week?" michael whispered.
"i got demoted, and i could only work 12 hours this week. they- they brought in an outside hire to run the store so right now i'm just a sales associate. cashier and stuff." luke whispered, looking down a bit.
he didn't want to see how disappointed michael looked.
"luke. why didn't you tell me that? i could've worked over time." michael said, and luke shook his head.
"i don't want you to work overtime. i wanna spend time with you," luke said, and michael sighed.
"well, that's gonna be a little difficult considering we're making $1000 less than before."
"i'll get my job back eventually-"
"eventually. so tell me. what are we gonna do until then, luke?" michael asked, and luke looked up.
"i don't know, i'm sorry. why are you so mad about this?" luke asked.
"i'm pissed off that you didn't tell me you got fucking demoted, luke. didn't you think that would be important information?!" michael said, and luke nodded.
"i should've told you, i'm sorry. it's just- it's embarrassing." luke whispered.
"yeah, but at least i could've worked so we would at least have enough to pay our electric bill. god, luke."
"we do have enough! you make more than this." luke said, pouting as he looked at the paper.
"do you plan on eating this week?" michael asked, and luke just looked down again.
"i'm sorry." luke whispered once more.
michael just shook his head, and left the kitchen, leaving luke with tears in his eyes.
-
michael frowned when he felt the bed moving beside him.
he peeked his eyes open a little, and watched as luke turned on the dim lamp beside their bed.
"hey, come back to bed." michael whispered when he saw luke walk over to their dresser.
"i'm sorry. i didn't wanna wake you up. i have a shift in about an hour." luke said quietly, and michael furrowed his eyebrows.
"you just got off of a shift like 5 hours ago, baby, it's 4 in the morning." michael said softly, and luke shrugged.
"i work mornings at walgreens and afternoons and nights at target." luke said, and michael sat up.
"how long have you had 2 jobs, and why the hell don't you tell me these things?" michael asked quietly.
"can we not do this right now?" luke whispered as he threw on his black polo.
"we're absolutely gonna do this right now. what is going on with you?" michael asked, and luke shook his head.
"i need to go to work-"
"luke, talk to me-"
"i hate it, okay?! i hate that i have to work two jobs just to make half of what you do, and its embarrassing, michael! can you just leave me alone and let me do what i need to do?" luke yelled, and michael furrowed his eyebrows.
"why is that embarrassing, luke?" michael asked softly.
"because i just want to be good enough for you, and i'm not." he whispered, and michael stood up, walking over to luke.
"what makes you think that you're not good enough for me?" michael whispered, holding luke's face so the younger boy couldn't look away.
"you looked so disappointed in me when i said i lost my job. i- i never want you to look at me like that again. i'll work two jobs if it means you'll be proud of me." luke whispered, and michael hated how much pain he saw in luke's red eyes.
"i am not disappointed in you, luke. never..." michael whispered, pressing his lips to luke's forehead. "...i overreacted. we're gonna be just fine, so i want you to call into work and then get your ass back to bed because you need to sleep."
"michael, really, it's alright."
"no it's not. i need you to be happy, and actually get sleep. i want you to quit working until you find something that makes you happy. don't feel like you have to work yourself to death just to make me proud. you make me so proud every day." michael whispered, holding luke, kissing his temple.
"we're gonna be okay?" luke whispered.
"absolutely. we're gonna be okay no matter what as long as we're both happy, right? and right now i have to protect your pretty head, so don't go into work. lay with me, and let's heal for a little bit."
"i would love that." luke whispered, pressing his forehead to michael's.
"i love you, luke. and i'm so proud of you."
