Please Take Me Home

Not Now

Please Take Me Home

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Chapter Twenty-Nine

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I'm Lost Without You

*Flash-forward*

The clouds mixed together with a fusion of dark greys and blacks, the occasional crack of lightning illuminating the room every once in awhile. The rain pelted at their bedroom window and Luke felt indifferent; he was more than happy to be sitting in bed, watching the heavy rain and thunderstorms, but also, the storm set him on edge.

It was late and Luke was waiting for Michael to get back and join him, but the other boy had chosen to visit his older cousin who he hadn't visited in a while. The last time Michael had seen Jesse, Luke went with him, and it wasn't hard to see how much Jesse meant to Michael.

Luke sighed, Michael wasn't normally one for being late and Luke was starting to worry about him. It wasn't like Luke was obsessed with Michael's safety and was strict about when he had to come home; just Luke didn't want any harm to come to Michael, ever.

He eventually turned the light off, settled into his side of the bed and started to aimlessly open and close various apps on his phone, closing them after he tended to their set notification. It wasn't until he was going to reply to a text from his mum that he heard the front door open and close loudly, and footsteps come closer to the bedroom, that he realised Michael was finally home.

Luke locked his phone and the room was momentarily immersed into darkness, given the flash of lighting, that he couldn't see Michael come towards him from behind. He jumped a little when Michael's strong arms wrapped around him, but he relaxed and turned to face Michael, who was mirroring his lying down position, under the covers.

"Hey, you." Luke said and pressed a kiss to Michael's lips, which lit up when the lightning went off again. Luke could see the slight smile that washed over Michael's face and then the room was in darkness again.

Michael didn't have any piercings anymore, he had chosen to take them all out after the incident and the hospital, and he explained to Luke that it was his way with starting anew.

"Hey." Michael replied, snuggling into the taller of the two and then burying his face into Luke's chest. Luke could feel Michael's shoulders release the tension of the whole day, and instantly relax into his own embrace.

Luke let Michael have a few minutes to relax before he asked the other how his day went. Luke knew that whenever Michael went to visit his cousin, it always made him feel guilty and he never felt good about himself after coming home. Luke intended to make him feel better.

"How's Jesse?" Luke murmured into Michael's hair, as he was close enough that he didn't have to talk loudly, "Is he holding up okay?"

Michael took his time to answer and rolled out of Luke's embrace to sit up on the bed and take off his shoes, socks, and jeans. "Yeah, he's okay, it just he is finding settling back into normal life hard and he's always paranoid." Michael let out a deep breath. "He's stronger than he looks, but isn't handling it as well as he pretends to be." Michael finished his sentence and Luke could tell that he didn't want to talk about it anymore.

Luke saw a glimpse of Michael getting back under the covers and then heard the crack of lightning that followed. He loved the effect of the thunder and lighting at night, especially since the two of them had moved into their own apartment in the city, which had a huge bedroom window that they always kept the curtains open so they could look at the city surrounding them.

Michael was silent and oddly still next to him. On most nights Michael would cuddle into the back of Luke, but tonight he was lying on his back and looking up at the ceiling.