Tutor / Muke

Chapter seventeen

Luke had his hands over Michael's eyes as he led him outside to his surprise.

"You didn't have to get me anything," Michael said, but deep down, he was excited.

"I wanted to, for all your hard work," Luke said. "And open!"

Michael opened his eyes and in front of him was a vintage bicycle. The frame was light blue and it had a pretty white basket on the front. Michael hurried to it and took a seat. "You got me a bike?"

"As much as I enjoy you riding on my handlebars, it's time for you to ride by my side," Luke said.

Michael hopped off quickly to hug Luke. "Thank you!"

"It's my pleasure."

***

Luke and Michael rode their bikes over to Calum's house to meet up with everyone. Michael was excited because Hannah, Rome and Mackenzie would be there. They had recently gone to the mall together for a day, and it was one of the best days Michael had had in a long time.

They dumped their bikes off in the front yard and walked into the house. Everyone was already in the basement the boys joined them on the couch.

"Help yourself to the pizza!" Ashton said, motioning to the pizza on the coffee table.

Luke took a table and Michael sat down next to Hannah.

"You're wearing the skirt you bought!" He grinned.

"I am! And I feel great in it." She said and got quieter. "And Taylor complimented it, and more than just a quick comment, we held eye contact and I literally felt a spark."

Hannah, Rome and Mackenzie were your typical girly girls but Michael loved to feel included in a group. And he felt wanted as well. It really made him feel like he was worth something now.

"So you guys leave in the morning?" Calum asked.

"Bright and early, and I can't wait," Luke said.

"Where are you two headed?" Ashton asked.

"We actually don't know. We kind of just plan to go where the road takes us," Michael explained.

"That's amazing. Where did you guys even get the money? I wish I could afford to do something like that!" Rome said.

"Well, my mom surprised me and gave me back all the money I made tutoring Luke," Michael grinned.

"And my parents gave me some money as a graduation gift," Luke added.

"That's great, I hope you guys have a good time," Mackenzie said.

"And bring me back a keychain from wherever you end up," Rome giggled.

Michael nodded. He was so excited to spend his summer with Luke and he didn't care where they ended up because the love of his life would be with him. The road he was on was a good one, and he knew that as well as he knew the alphabet.

***

Michael and Luke's summer did go as well as Michael expected. They visited five different states and many different national parks. Basically, they spent the summer exploring the world around them and exploring each other. They had never been closer.

Michael ended up going to Princeton in the fall. He took some business classes as well as focused on going into a fashion career. Luke stuck to his word and followed Michael. They purchased an apartment together close to campus. Michael got a job at a coffee shop on campus to help pay the bills. Luke focused on his music career. He built his following on youtube and played in Michael's coffee shop Wednesday and Friday nights. Luke's parents also helped them pay for their apartment while they got on their feet.

Hannah and Rome also went to Princeton. They shared a dorm but spent a lot of their time hanging out at the coffee shop when Michael was working, or at Michael and Luke's apartment. Taylor followed Hannah to Princeton. He didn't get accepted into the university but just made it into their community college to study education.

Michael and Luke were pretty inseparable. Even though Luke wasn't in school, he walked Michael to most of his classes and walked to pick him up. They were both the happiest they had been in a long time.

In the following year they adopted a dog together. Michael quickly got offered an assistant manager and then manager job at the coffee shop. Luke had met a producer who happened to be getting a coffee one night when he was performing. He helped him release his first and second single. His youtube following grew more and more each month. They no longer needed financial support from Luke's parents. Michael saved enough money to pay for his upcoming years in college.

When Michael graduated in the following years he got a job as an assistant stylist and worked on many different music videos. On the side he started a business creating unisex clothing for people who wanted to dress with a similar taste like his. It took off once people started to find the instagram account for it. Luke had signed with a record label and released his first album.

Luke and Michael bought their first house together at twenty-four. Michael quit his job as an assistant stylist and worked full time on his business, eventually opening a couple stores up around the US. Luke went on his first tour.

Luke proposed to Michael when they were twenty-six. They got married back home in the same park Luke confessed his love for Michael in. At twenty-eight they adopted their first baby girl, Delilah. At twenty-nine they adopted their second baby girl, Leigha. At thirty-one they adopted their final child, a baby boy named Keaton.

Their lives were busy, but they couldn't ask for more.

Luke was thankful he gave his tutor a chance. The most important things he learnt from Michael were the fact that the best tutors teach from the heart and not from the book and education is not the learning of facts, but solely training the mind to think. And he thought that Michael was one of a kind, and all his.

Michael was happy he didn't give up on Luke. He had learnt that the best thing you can do in life is give someone a chance. And taking that chance could even result in something perfect. Which it did.

The best love stories are the ones where you fall in love with the most unexpected person at the most unexpected time.

And in the beautiful words of Luke Hemmings, towards Michael Clifford, on their wedding day:

"You were my tutor, and we were not fucking friends, Michael. We were, and we are, soulmates."

AHHH. I can't believe this is the end. This is so emotional. This story was so fun to write and I hold it so dear my heart. Thank you for putting up with me and the years I took to write it. I appreciate every one of you.

I love this story so much that I think I am going to rewrite it as young adult fiction. My dream in life is to be a writer. But unfortunately our world isn't developed enough to fully support a boyxboy with a femboy story so I will be rewriting it as a boyxgirl story. And hopefully submitting it. I will be adding more to the story, expanding on their career dreams and just extra details and hopefully I will end up submitting it to a publisher. If anyone would like to support it and read it when I follow through with this, let me know.

Once again I love you all and thank you for all your support.