vacation blues ➟ muke

five

Stepping into Dunkin' Donuts and spotting Michael slumped in one of the seats was like a breath of fresh air to Luke at that point, especially after trying to have breakfast alone for the first time since their breakup. It was so lovely to see Michael again, even if mere days had gone by since the last time they saw each other. Luke learned to cherish all the time he spent with Michael after their breakup.

"Hey," Luke greeted as he slid into the seat across from Michael, not very gracefully might I add. His seat hit the wall, only adding onto his nervousness as he quickly repositioned his seat so that he was as parallel as he could be with Michael's seat.

When Luke looked up to meet Michael's beautiful green eyes, he was greeted with the lid of Michael's Snapback hat, since the older boy was glancing down to his phone in his lap. He was wearing a thick hoodie with the hood pulled over his Snapback, emphasizing the fact that he was clearly groggy and would much rather be in bed.

"Hi," Michael murmured, and the sound of his voice had the heartbreaking words, "Why wouldn't you love me?" replaying through Luke's mind. Michael stole one short look at Luke before he pushed the brown bag on the table towards the blond. "It's a blueberry muffin. Your favorite."

As soon as Luke heard those last two words, he felt the sudden urge to lean over the small, circular table and give Michael a tight hug, but instead he nodded curtly and peered inside of the bag. Just as promised, a muffin sat inside, with specks of sugar decorating its top.

"I can have it?" Luke asked in confirmation, and when Michael nodded, Luke smiled faintly and reached in to take the muffin out of the bag. "Thanks, Mike. How much do I owe you?"

"Nothing. It wasn't expensive; I'll live with that small dent in my bank account." Michael cracked a grin, one that could easily have the world smiling back at him if the entire world could just see it. "So, our phone call last night... I don't remember exactly what was said, but maybe we should just discard whatever we said. It's invalid; I was high."

"I figured you'd say that," Luke mused as he pulled the wrapper away from the muffin and discarded the paper on the table, "So, do you have an actual answer for me?"

"We know each other too well," Michael pointed out randomly without answering Luke's question, the smallest of smiles upon his dark pink lips, "With me knowing what to get for you for breakfast, and you knowing what I'd say. We're still as close as we've ever been, even though we broke up."

"We dated for like, two years, Michael. Of course we know each other. I know everything about you like the back of my hand," Luke replied, his very own smile on his lips before he broke off a piece of the muffin and placed it in his mouth.

Luke desperately wanted to say more, he really did. The words 'I wish we never broke up' were balanced on the tip of his tongue, but he knew if he said that, it would become awkward for the two. To say that he still loved Michael wouldn't be a lie at all.

"I suppose so." Michael sucked in a deep breath as he sat up in his seat and pushed his hood off from his head, but leaving his Snapback to cover his hair, "I have a feeling my answer about Mexico is gonna shock you."

"Okay..." Luke trailed off, not really knowing what to say to that. He popped another piece of muffin in his mouth, even though he was far more interested in what Michael had to say than the muffin. As more and more silence passed over them, Luke began to jiggle a knee up and down anxiously. He had never been one to deal very well with suspense.

A beautiful smile spread across Michael's lips before he leaned back in his seat and crossed his arms across his chest. "Ready to hear it?"

"Michael, stop with the suspense. You know I hate that shit," Luke complained, licking his lips as he didn't dare take his gaze off of his ex-boyfriend. Something about Michael was hypnotizing, like if you took one look at him you were sucked into studying him even further.

"You know I'm just messing with you, Luke." Michael's smile never faded as he continued, "Did you really think I'd let you travel to a foreign country by yourself?"

"That's what I was afraid of," Luke admitted slowly as Michael abruptly sat up in his seat, "So you're... coming?"

Michael reached out to steal a piece of muffin, and as he popped it in his mouth, he spoke through minimal crumbs, "Yeah, dude. I figured, what's the harm? You wouldn't have any fun being there on your own, and I already took off work from when you brought it up months ago. So why not?"

A relieved smile spread across Luke's lips before he finally glanced away from Michael to look out the window. He tried to focus on the passerby so that his smile wouldn't give away how ecstatic he was, but failed miserably as his uncontrollable smile grew by the second. His smile merely made Michael smile as well.

"Thank you," Luke mused after he got his smile under control. He extended his hand out to hesitantly rest on top of Michael's on the table, as if fearing the reaction, but the blond boy just smiled down at their hands. He didn't seem to hate the contact, and maybe that gave Luke just a spark of hope for their relationship.

"Of course. What time is our flight on Monday? If it's an early morning one... I might have to reconsider," Michael said with a teasing smile on his lips, and his serious words mixed with his joking tone made Luke chuckle. Michael being like this, it was like old times. Especially the fact that he was subconsciously talking at his normal pace instead of forcing himself to talk slower.

"It's at nine. I can pick you up and we can drive together," Luke offered, wanting to make it as easy for Michael as possible.

"Yeah, that sounds like a plan. Isn't it a lot of money to keep your car parked at an airport, though? Like, eighty a week or something?" When Luke nodded to confirm, Michael pressed his lips together and pulled his hand out from under Luke's to push his glasses further up the bridge of his nose. "I'll chip in for that eighty. It wouldn't be fair if you pay for all of that."

"With that logic, can't you pay for half of the trip?" Luke joked, but quickly halted when he saw Michael seriously reach into the front pocket of his black skinny jeans for his wallet. "No, I'm just kidding. I would never ask you to do that, baby."

The second that word escaped his mouth, Luke's eyes widened and he was quick to shake his head. "Fuck, I'm sorry... I guess it's just a force of habit."

"No, it's okay. You know how many times I've almost called you 'baby' or anything like that, then I rushed to cover it up with 'man' or 'dude?'" Michael laughed, but it was short-lived and quickly died down. "It's a hard transition; I understand. We're fortunate enough to be on good terms after the breakup, though."

"Very fortunate," Luke agreed, and then the two boys were left in silence as neither of them knew what to say. Eventually, Luke finished eating his muffin and hesitated, "Thanks for the muffin. I should get going."

"Yeah, me, too. I have some Fortnite to play," Michael grinned, and it was so nice to see him acting like his usual self. If Luke didn't know any better, right now reminded him of the way they used to be before the breakup. Carefree, joking, but one key ingredient would be missing; the intimacy that used to be between them.

"It was really nice to see you again. I'll text you," Luke promised, standing up from the seat at the same time as Michael. At first, they awkwardly stood across from each other, until Luke made the first move and stepped forward to pull the older boy into a hug by wrapping his arms around his neck. When Michael's arms securely wrapped by the small of Luke's back, Luke did his best to hide his smile in the crook of Michael's neck.

Their hug was short, but time felt like it went by slower in Michael's arms. So around ten seconds later when they pulled apart, Luke was almost convinced they just spent ten minutes hugging.

"Bye, Luke," Michael smiled, and he seemed hesitant to say his next words, "Or should I say dude?"

"Bye, mate," Luke laughed, giving his ex-boyfriend one final look before he turned around and left the donut shop after chucking the brown bag in the trash can. Content filled his system as he strolled down the sidewalk, and finally for a good reason. Luke was going to Playa del Carmen with Michael Clifford.