Hey, fag!"
Luke's step faltered for a moment and he bristled, his muscles bunching up as his chest grew tight.
'Not again. Please, please not again.'
"Oi, fag! I'm talking to you! Are you fucking deaf?"
"Fuck off, Clifford," Luke mumbled which was just about the worst thing he could have done because, moments later, he found himself pinned against the wall with a dull pain in the back of his head from where he had hit it.
Luke was faced with a snarling teenage boy with messy too-bright purple hair and hate-filled green eyes. Michael Clifford was a good few inches shorter than Luke but, despite this, he seemed to loom over him as his hand fisted in Luke's collar.
"Do you have something to say to me, fag?" He was close enough that Luke felt his spit on his face. All Luke could see was purple.
He opened his mouth but no sound came out and Michael patted him on the cheek, just once, his expression triumphant, even as he pretended to wipe his hand on his jeans afterwards.
"Good," he half-hissed, turning back to his waiting group of friends. "I thought not."
Michael pissed off then, his smug expression sliding from his face a little, and his friends followed him as he walked away down the corridor towards his next class.
One of his friends hovered awkwardly nearby, his brows drawn in concern as Luke slid down the wall and dropped his head into his hands.
Done. He was fucking done.
"Hey, uh... H-Hemmings?" an unfamiliar voice asked and Luke looked up sharply, the movement so quick that his neck actually hurt.
"What do you want?" Luke asked quietly, fiddling with the sleeves of his long-sleeved, soft grey sweatshirt and subtly breathing a sigh of relief when he saw that the scars were still covered. "Because if it's not important then would you kindly do me the honour of pissing off?"
Luke blinked when he processed what he had just said. That had been... combative. He didn't normally retaliate like that.
"Dude, chill," the boy said sharply but his expression was one of guilt. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay."
Luke looked up at him blankly and the indifference on his face was worse than any iciness he could have injected into it. The stranger shivered, chewing on his lip cautiously.
"Sorry, stupid question," the boy sighed and, although he looked like he wanted to come closer, he stayed where he was. The pair were silent for a few moments. "You know, I've tried telling him to lay off. It doesn't seem to do much good."
Luke remained mute, wondering vaguely if that was supposed to earn the stranger brownie points. After all, he still fucking stood there while Michael was publically humiliating him. It didn't earn him anything.
Did it?
He had cared enough to ask Michael to stop, or so he said, although that was arguably what anygood human being would have done in that situation. Luke sighed, conflicted, before he remembered that it was easier to just ignore these feelings. That made everything a whole lot simpler, if not better.
"I'm Calum," the dark-haired boy said suddenly and Luke regarded the hand he was extending towards him with a confusion bordering on wariness. The boy - Calum - quickly retracted it and Luke rose shakily, rubbing the back of his head with one hand.
It came away bloodless, thank god. He hardly needed to explain that to a teacher.
"You better get back to your friends," Luke muttered when it became apparent that Calum was waiting for him to speak. "Wouldn't want them to get angry."
Luke shuddered despite himself and he was already sinking back into the comforting haze that surrounded him most days when he realised that Calum was holding his bag out for him to take.
Luke stared at him with wide blue eyes for a long moment before he accepted it with a mumbled thank you. Calum looked pleased, like he was regarding it as a victory, no matter how small.
"See you around, Hemmings," Calum said with a hesitant smile. He raised his hand in farewell and jogged off in the direction that Michael and his friends had gone in.
Luke watched him go with a pain in his chest.
'I seriously doubt that.'
Notes:
I really hated writing this chapter.
I love Michael so much but I know they hated each other at school so I'm trying to work with that. Not sure how well it's going though...
