fear not [muke]

twenty - eight

'mike, he can't live like this. we have to figure this all out. he's more miserable now that he saw you last week.' michael sighed as he stared out the sliding door that led to his backyard. his hand racked through his hair anxiously as he watched a few bunnies run through the yard.

'i know, everything fucking sucks right now.' it stressed michael out to know how bad luke was struggling. he felt like everything was his fault and he still couldn't control anything.

meanwhile, ashton was cuddling with luke after his second tantrum that day. calum had tried to calm him down, but ashton seemed to be the only one who could get him calm enough to lie down. they were watching winnie the pooh on calum's couch, the theme song playing quietly through the house. luke's eyes were droopy, as his body had used up most of his energy to cry and scream about michael. ashton held luke's hand and rubbed the back of it as luke fell asleep.

when ashton had decided that luke was out cold, he sat up slowly and made his way to calum's room to see if it were okay to lie luke down in bed. when he walked in, calum was lying in bed on the phone. ashton smiled and laid down next him, kissing his cheek and letting his lips linger for a moment before pulling away.

'thank you, baby.' calum mouthed before answering whoever he was on the phone with. ashton giggled to himself, proud that he could make his dominant happy.

their phone call wrapped up a few minutes later, though calum just placed the phone onto his bedside table and sighed, rubbing a hand over his face.

'you okay?' ashton asked, resting his hand on the boy's back. he knew that calum was stressed about the little currently on his couch.

'yeah, it was michael. he's having a hard time with all of this.' ashton nodded and let out a quiet breath. he noticed how harshly calum was pushing the balls of his hands into his eyes.

'well, i think you're doing a really great thing by letting luke stay here.' calum smiled a little at that, letting ashton crawl up into his lap and snuggle up into him. they heard a small pattering down the hallway before the bedroom door creaked open.

luke sniffled as he walked in.

'lu, you wanna take a little nap in here?' luke nodded and climbed up onto the bed with the pair. ashton moved out of calum's lap and sat next to his boyfriend, holding luke in his arms as the boy fell back to sleep.

'we'll figure it out, calum, i promise. i'll be right here with you.' ashton spoke, one hand rubbing luke's back while the other held onto calum's.

'yeah, cally, and then i'll leave you alone and go and live with mikey again and we can all have a cuddle party!' luke exclaimed, rubbing his eye with the back of his hand. ashton giggled.

'yeah, lu, we'll have a big party together.'

-

'michael i know, you don't have to keep apologizing to me. i understand it.' max spoke softly to the crying man in front of him. he was currently packing a bag so that, in the morning, max could get dropped off at the classification center. it was the last thing michael wanted to do, especially since this would not be the first time he tested the system, but he didn't love maxwell like he loved luke. and he wanted the young boy to get settled with the best person for him.

'i'm just really sorry that this has to happen and involve you. you're an extremely well-behaved little, and an amazing friend of mine, but-'

'mike, it's okay. you don't need to explain yourself. tomorrow when we go in, we'll just explain to them what's wrong and they'll sort it out. they already know about luke, so they should understand.' michael thought back to what calum had already been told and how this was not the first time he was bringing a little back. michael figured something must be seriously wrong with him. the caregiver wiped his eyes and helped max zip up the suitcase, placing it by the bedroom door.

'thank you, max. i'm just really stressed out.' max smiled as he looked up at his friend.

'i know, just take a breather and remember that no matter what, you've got so many people rooting for you and luke. it'll work itself out.' and at that point, michael could only hope.