damaged || muke

{12}

luke's eyes open slowly. his sight is foggy, he blinks a few times to adjust as he awakes from his slumber.

he looks at his surroundings and the couch he is sleeping on. he has a blanket covering his body and a pillow under his head. he hears a noice and quickly jolts up so he is now sitting instead of laying down. he looks over to see calum in the kitchen of his flat.

"shit, sorry. did i wake you?"

luke shakes his head no, "what time is it?"

"it's six in the evening. you slept for about five hours," he informs.

luke rubs his sleepy eyes with the inside of his fist. he is still tired. he felt like he could sleep longer, but now that he was awake all he could think about was seeing michael.

"are you hungry? i ordered some pizza, it should be here soon," calum continues as he makes his way over to luke and takes a seat next to him on the sofa. only then did luke realize that the dark haired boy was shirtless and he had to admit, calum was very, very good looking.

luke, once again, shakes his head. he couldn't think about eating right now, "have you heard anything about mike?"

"no, the nurse said she would call me if anything happened."

luke sighs loudly. he runs his fingers through the greasy, knotty mess of his blonde hair. he flinches slightly when his hand touches the side of his face, remembering that there was a mark there from his mum. he had not one clue of what he was going to do when the day came to an end and it would be time to go home. he didn't know what his mum would do after what he said earlier in the day, and he didn't want tot find out.

"are we still going back to the hospital?" luke asks.

calum smiles slightly, "of course. why don't you go take a shower and clean up a bit? it may help you feel better."

luke didn't know why calum was being so nice to him after he was not so nice to calum. he appreciated the boy more than anything right now, "okay."

calum points in the direction of the bathroom. the flat wasn't very big, so luke has no problem finding it. he turned on the water and let it run down his body. he never thought a shower could feel so good and refreshing. he cried a bit more, washed his hair and body and got out.

he dries off and changes into a pair of clothes that calum let him borrow. he exits the bathroom and sees the tanned boy sitting at the table with a slice of pizza in his hand.

"you look good in my clothes," calum chirps as he sees luke approaching him, a small smile on his lips.

luke rolls his eyes. he too, has the slightest smile on his lips. it may be the first time he has hinted any kind of smile in awhile, "shut up."

calum finishes the slice of pizza quickly, "are you sure you don't want any? you should really eat something."

"i'm fine," he urges.

with that, the two make their way out to calum's car. they are silent for the most part. the faint sound of the radio plays and cal hums along. luke has his head resting against the window. the sun is out and the sky is blue. it was a beautiful day outside, but everything that happened recently made it seem dark and gloomy. at least in luke's eyes.

"so how did you and mike meet?" calum asks the boy sitting next to him.

without lifting his head off the window and keeping his eyes glued to the outside, he replies, "we met when we were kids in school."

"ah, you've known him for awhile then."

"yeah."

calum glances over at luke. he has a blank expression on his face, "you really like him, don't you?"

"he's my best friend," luke mutters.

"i mean more than a friend. you really like him more than just a friend," he clarified.

luke lifts his head up off the window and looks at calum now, "what? no, i mean-," he pauses. he licks over his dry lips. there was no point in denying it, "how do you know?"

"it's obvious," calum lets out a breathy chuckle. he could tell just by the way luke talked about mike that he was infatuated with him.

the blondes shoulders slouch. he watches his fingers play with the hem of the shirt he had on, "apparently not obvious enough."

"mike doesn't know?"

"he doesn't have a clue."

calum pulls into the hospital parking lot. he puts the car in park and shuts off the engine. luke is about ready to get out of the car until he hears calum start speaking, "michael has a lot of baggage that comes along with him, luke. i don't think he's ready to love someone just yet. he has a lot of shit he needs to figure out."

luke's eyebrows furrow together, "how would you know?"

"i know him a lot better than you think," he answers, which only makes luke think more. what did he mean by that? "we should get inside before visiting hours end."

luke opens his mouth to ask more questions, but he's too late as calum is already out of the car. luke makes a mental note to ask more about it later, but for now he decides to follow behind the older boy and go into the hospital. the duo makes their way up to michael's room. this would be the first time that luke was going to be seeing him since the night before. he tries to think about the good times he had with his friend, but it all quickly disappeared as they entered the room.

the body laying on the bed didn't look like michael. this body looked paler than usual. it looked lifeless. he wanted to see his green eyes and contagious smile. he wanted to hear his voice and his laugh. he wanted the entire last day to be erased.

"why would he do this to himself?" luke's voice is weak, feeling as if it took all his might to even speak. he can't seem to tear his eyes away from the boy laying on the bed.

"i don't know," calum answers short.

luke takes his bottom lip between his teeth a bites down harshly, "he deserves so much better than this. he's had so much shit happen to him these last few years."

calum stays silent. he was never one to have no words, but right now, he was speechless. he thought maybe since this is his second time seeing mike today that he might not feel like this. a feeling he has never had before. he didn't know how to describe it, but it wasn't a good feeling. it made his nauseated.

luke's body felt limp. he let himself lean into calum and without even thinking calum wraps his arms around the boy's waist. the only thing luke was sure of in this moment was that he was grateful for calum being here.