Take It Out On Me [Malum AU]

Chapter 15

Dedication: everythingididsay. Sex will come, just be patient.

I have a schedule up in my bio now, and this isn't a day for this story to be published, but oh well. I wanted to publish this Tuesday, but I obviously didn't. The day before my birthday (Saturday) I spilled boiling water on my hands and burned my left one pretty badly, so it hasn't exactly been pleasant to type, or do anything really.

They're so adorable. Calum has that certain smile he only directs at Michael.

Michael couldn't focus very well.

He was walking to the lunchroom, and he was honestly scared to see his friends. They hadn't tried to contact him all weekend, and since his dad fucking cut him, he was worried. His friends didn't text him to ask if he was okay, they didn't call him to ask any questions. Maybe they were just giving him space. That's what he wanted to believe, at least.

Ashton had only given him timid smiles in the classes they shared, and in gym, Irina hadn't looked at him at all. When he got to the lunchroom, he saw that she was already sitting down at their table. Michael wondered where she had gone after gym, since she hadn't been waiting for him.

He sat down next to Irina, at his usual spot, and she actually flinched.

"Um, hey," he said, smiling tightly. "How was your weekend?"

"Fine," she replied. She was looking down at her sandwich instead of at him. "How's your arm?"

"Do you care?"

At this, she looked up at him. "Of course I do."

"Irina," Luke said, him and Ashton sitting down at their usual spots. Both Michael and Irina looked at Luke, who subtly shook his head.

"Wow," Michael said, standing from the table. "You guys are really fucking awesome friends."

"Michael," Luke said. "Sit."

"Why? So you can judge me?"

"We want your side of the story."

"No," the pale boy said, glaring at Luke, but he slowly sat back down. "You want to know if what my dad said was true. Oh, and thanks for checking up on me this weekend. My arm is fucking great. Did you guys have some little pact to not talk to me?"

"It's not like that," Luke said softly, and Michael hated how soft he was being.

"Then please, tell me what it's like."

Luke sighed. "We just all agreed to give you some space, and we wanted to wait to talk to you together."

"Where's Calum?" Michael would have felt less ambushed if Calum was with him.

Luke looked around, then shrugged. "I don't know, actually. Anyway, please, tell us your side of the story."

"All I'm willing to tell you is that my dad isn't a good guy. He never was, and he says whatever he knows will hurt someone." Again, Michael stood from the table.

"Okay, but was he right in what he said?"

"It depends on what specifically you're asking. He said a lot."

"Are you a masochist?"

Michael didn't know how to answer that, and his mind went blank, so he just turned and walked away, his hands trembling and everything in him telling him to go back to his friends. But he just kept walking.

-

It was now almost the end of the school day, and Michael was sitting in class, staring at his jacket-covered arm and not at all paying attention to the teacher droning on about something to do with cells. Every time he shifted his arm just slightly, the jacket would rub against the burn and make him wince. He didn't put a bandage over it, because he knew that wounds heal faster without bandages covering them.