suddenly | muke

chapter 8

february 8th

michael woke up once more in luke's arms. this time, though, he was being hugged tighter, which didn't help the fact he really had to pee.

"luke, psst."

the blonde boy didn't even budge. michael groaned, wiggling around. this only made luke press him into his chest tighter.

"hemmings, hey. dude..." in all honesty, michael would've liked to just lay there all day and marvel at the peaceful snores escaping from luke's pale lips and-

wait, what?

almost desperately, michael tore himself from the boy's grip, falling to the ground and taking the duvet with him.

"w-wha-?!" luke shot up, heaving in a breath as he looked around his room. his eyes landed on michael, who laid flat against the carpet in a blanket burrito and snorted. "morning, clifford. sleep good?"

"would've slept better if you didn't cuddle me the entire night." michael retorted, standing up.

a blush crept across luke's face, but he still managed to keep a straight face. michael swore a smirk crept across his lips as he too stood. "oh, please. you liked it."

for a minute, the two stared in an awkward silence, mainly because michael was too flustered to one up luke. finally, he cleared his throat. "i-i'm, um... gonna go pee."

after michael did his business and splashed some water on his face, he examined himself in the mirror. god, what was he doing? michael tugged awkwardly on the all time low shirt, a little too big on him since his frame seemed to be smaller than luke's now.

once michael realized he was taking too long and might worry luke (the hell he cared), he slipped out and back into luke's room. strangely, his room was cozier than michael's entire house, and he couldn't quite seem to figure out why. maybe because it was the perfect temperature, or the fan wasn't too loud and when the sun poked through the windows, it illuminated the room in a surreal way.

luke was nowhere to be seen, but it startled michael when liz came in. "hey, michael. luke has an appointment for his leg. i'd hate for you to go home so soon." she lowered her voice to a whisper. "luke said you looked warm this morning. please, feel free to stay here and rest for the day."

michael nodded hesitantly before liz urged him into luke's bed and tucked him in. of course, this offended michael because he was punk rock and punk rock people definitely did NOT get tucked into bed by their enemy's mother!

still, he wanted to be polite. that's it. not because luke's bed was comfortable. "thank you, mrs. hemmings." he mumbled. and with that, she left.

so, michael laid in bed all day, staring out the window like a puppy while he waited for luke to come back.

it was nearly two hours before he and his mom returned, and with a box of pizza too! if michael were in his own home, he would've easily ran out front and snatched the box from his hands. sadly, this was the hemmings' residence, and if michael had to admit, he forgot how to get back to the kitchen from luke's room.

when luke entered the room, michael's eyes widened. "your wheelchair..."

"don't need it anymore." luke said triumphantly, the sound of his crutches clicking as he neared the bed and threw a box of pizza at the black and blonde haired boy. "calum told me you'd feel better if you ate pizza-"

"you told calum i was here?" michael's heart dropped to his stomach and he stood instantly. "dude, he's going to fucking kill m-"

"would you calm down?" luke interrupted rather rudely. still, michael obeyed. "i didn't say anything to him. he just told me that useless information a while back."