control - muke

Chapter 14

Through the dark patches and blurred colours, which was almost all his vision consisted of from the moment he had the strength to open his eyes, Luke could just about make out his surroundings.

He was in his own bed.

His body was heavy; weighed down to the mattress and too weak for him to try and move himself. For a moment or two his lips parted, wanting to call out for help or ask what the hell was happening to him, but he couldn't find the willpower to say the words.

Luke remembered. He remembered it all and god how he wished he could forget.

"He's awake!" A nearby voice yelled, one that he immediately recognised as his brother. Then the world turned a little dimmer, a small crowd of people surrounding where he lay and blocking out the light from above.

But it proved more useful than Luke had anticipated - without the blinding light staring expectantly down at him, everything was so much clearer. The darkness somehow seemed to pick him up, fixing all of the broken pieces until he until he felt whole again. Or at least, whatever whole meant to him.

When his vision had adjusted and returned to normal, the first thing he saw were green eyes. Not wide and not bright, but a little more hopeful than before. They were still so fearful, and Luke knew that remnants of such an emotion would remain a part of the green ocean for as long as it existed, but they were just so beautiful that he couldn't care for the imperfections.

Michael was just so beautiful.

For so long he'd tried to ignore it, deny it if he had to, but there was something about him that had Luke captivated. Addicted, he supposed, and not an addiction he could imagine himself ever recovering from.

Luke loved him. A broken sort of love, but love nonetheless.

"Hey buddy," Jack asked, shaking him gently. The blond groaned and rubbed his eyes, struggling to forget about the pounding in his head. "You okay there?"

Suddenly gaining the strength he had earlier lacked, Luke rolled on to his side and attempted to push himself up. Thankfully Ben was there to help, lifting him into a sitting position where he could lean against the wooden headboard for support.

Realising he was now the centre of attention and there was no getting out of it, Luke felt nervous. How the hell was he supposed to explain what he just saw?

The five of them all exchanged glances, prompting the others to say something but not wanting to themselves. Luke understood of course, if he'd been in their situation his reaction would have been the same. They didn't want to know the truth, not really, and the blond knew that better than any of them.

Ashton was the first to give in to the pressure, sighing loudly and rubbing his sweaty hands together, an action that Luke easily picked up on. "One minute you were fine, and the next you were on the floor. What happened?"

"I-I did write the note," Luke stammered, desperate to avoid making eye contact. "I was in this white room and s-strapped to a chair, the doctor told me to write it or there'd be c-consequences."

"So you wrote it?" Calum jumped in, asking the question on everyone's mind.

"Not at first. I was frozen and couldn't do a-anything, so he... uh, h-he..."

Luke paused, clenching his eyes shut and trying to get his breathing under control. Only now did he notice the way his hands were trembling, so violently he felt as though he might pass out again.

But Michael sat down beside him on the bed, taking Luke's hands in his own and holding on so tightly to steady them. Eventually it worked, and the lilac haired boy looked sadly up at the blond, already regretful for what he was about to say. "W-what did he d-do?"

"I just remember so much pain. T-there was this shock that went straight through me and I s-swear it was like I was burning alive. You can't let m-me go back, please y-you can't."

Michael leant forward and engulfed him in a hug, allowing for Luke to break down in his arms. He sobbed heavily into the boy's shirt, not caring for the looks of sympathy he was receiving because it just hurt so much.

But it also pained the others to watch, because Luke was always the strong one. From the moment they had left the facility, he had been their safety net and they had grown dependent on the blond to keep them all in one piece, when he himself was in pieces.

Luke had convinced them all that they were safe and never going back, but he couldn't even convince himself anymore.

Jack looked hesitant, but needed to know the answer. Family meant everything to him and Luke was his little brother, it was his job to keep him safe and he had failed time and time again. "Why couldn't you remember it?"

"I don't know," Luke sniffled, still staying close to Michael. "I thought I'd only been gone a couple of months too, I-I think they must have partially wiped my memory."

"That would make sense. When he recognised the feel of the paper after I handed over the note, it all came rushing back," Ben added.

Calum whispered something far too quietly for anyone to understand, but the encouragement of the others was just enough to give him a little more confidence and repeat what he said. "I can't remember much about my life before the facility. I think they wiped some of mine, too."

Attention turned to Ashton, who looked at the floor whilst nodding hesitantly. "Yeah, I can only remember small things."

"They're gonna pay for this," Jack said angrily, fighting the urge to punch a wall. "It's evil, you're all just kids."

As Ben tried to calm his brother down and the room fell into silence, Luke realised that he didn't know everything yet. "Um, Michael? What do you remember?"

The boy flinched slightly, not daring to move from the blond's side. "I-I don't know."

"Who were you before?" Calum asked reassuringly, "you must have been someone."

But Michael sat rigid, unable to comprehend what was being said to him. Luke traced gentle patterns on his skin, trying to help him relax and feel more comfortable with the situation, but nothing seemed to be working.

"I wasn't a-anyone before. I w-was born in the f-facility."

~~~~~~~

A/n: this chapter is probably completely out of the blue but I realised the story is almost half done and muke still haven't risen dammit I just get so distracted with the plot

bUT YAY LUKE LOVES MICHAEL!!

Thanks so much for reading/voting/commenting and getting this to 3k :) it means a lot ily xo