temporary bliss ➟ muke ✓

fifteen; your whole life

"go back to bed, luke. i'll talk to you whenever," michael instructed, walking over to luke's side of the bed and brushing back his dark blond waves out of his face. the blond mumbled something that michael didn't catch, because he was too busy leaning down to press a soft kiss against luke's lips.

luke knew that michael would be the type to want to deepen the kiss, but it was just a simple peck before the faux blond straightened up and abruptly walked out of the bedroom. luke watched after him with a slight frown, not understanding why the younger boy seemed to get upset after hearing that luke might not be in town tomorrow.

as michael walked through luke's house, he pulled on his shoes and nearly stumbled on the rugs twice. he yawned briefly before casting his gaze around the living room he was currently standing in, glancing at the photo frames on the coffee table. michael smiled a bit as he picked up one photo of luke, his brothers, and his parents, all five of them smiling happily at the camera.

then michael's smile faded as he thought back to his fucked up family. he didn't have family photos hanging around his house because he and his family never took photos together.

"like what you see?" luke's voice sounded from behind michael, causing the faux blond to jump and turn around to face luke, who was dressed in cotton sweatpants and a plain black tee shirt. the blond stood behind him cockily, his tongue rolling around in his mouth as his navy blue eyes flickered up to meet michael's gaze.

"s-sorry," michael stuttered out, glancing back down to the photo frame in his hand, "um, this is just a nice photo. you and your brothers all look so alike, your mum seems so sweet, and man you're all really fucking tall–"

"whoa, sweetheart, you're rambling," luke pointed out, chuckling a bit as he reached out to take the picture frame from michael's grip. he stared down at it and hummed, "yeah, this was a good day... i really miss my family."

luke noticed when michael glanced down, crossed his arms across his chest, and shuffled his feet. the blond furrowed his eyebrows before stepping closer to set down the photo frame, then he reached out to gently lift up michael's chin. "what's your family like, mike? why don't you talk about them, or have any pictures in your house with them?"

"um, my dad used to be an alcoholic, so he didn't pay much attention to me when i was growing up," michael stated awkwardly, fidgeting with his fingers and tracing over the tattoos on his fingers absentmindedly, "and my mum only cared about getting my dad sober, so she didn't pay any attention to me either. it wasn't until i moved out of their house when my father agreed to go to rehab, and now they're both doing so fucking amazing without me in their lives."

"why have you never told me this?" luke spoke softly, switching his hand up to caress michael's cheek soothingly.

"it's not exactly something i'm willing to share with every single person in my life," michael admitted wearily, "you know how people always say that they learn valuable lessons from their parents? well, the only 'lesson' that i've learned from mine is that people are better off without me in their lives."

"that's not true, doll," luke whispered, cupping the other side of michael's face so that he was holding the faux blond's perfect face in his large hands, "i need you here in my life, ashton needs you in his life, and calum needs you in his life. you can't stand here and try to hint to me that life would be better without you, because it sure as hell wouldn't."