The next day Michael had promised to go with Luke to get a new phone. It was about time, Luke finally conceded, he'd had his phone for as long as he could remember, and even though he knew there was no way for Liam to contact him anymore, a new phone would be a new start. A fresh beginning where he controlled who could get in touch with him. It felt like a breath of fresh air, and Luke was equal parts anxious and relieved. Relieved for obvious reasons and anxious because, well, Luke barely had two cents to his name and with the hospital bills coming... he didn't even want to think about the amount of debt he was about to be in. He had to scrounge his dollars and ask Lauraline for an advance on a future paycheck just to be able to afford a new phone, heaven only knew what he'd do when he received his first hospital bill...
"Any idea what kind of phone you want?" Michael asked as they browsed the aisles. Luke shrugged, letting his eyes immediately stray away from the latest models and to the older ones collecting dust at the end.
"I just need something that works," Luke laughed, picking up a refurbished iPhone from 2017. It looked to be in okay condition, with only a few scratches along the back and sides, and for only $140 it was a steal.
"What about the fourteen?" Michael asked, holding up the latest iPhone model. "I heard the three cameras are good if you like to take photos, which you do."
Luke blushed, remembering the way Michael had caught him snapping a photo of him the other day because his volume was on. He shook his head.
"No, no I don't need that."
Michael quirked his head, seeming to see right through Luke's excuse.
"But would you want it?"
Luke hesitated, checking out the latest phone. He'd never had something new before, something entirely his own. The thought was enticing, and Michael sensed his hesitation before he said no.
"Because if you wanted it, I'd get it for you."
Luke's head whipped around to face Michael again.
"What? Michael no." Luke shook his head. "I could never accept that."
Michael shrugged, a smile dancing on his lips as he wrapped his arms around Luke's stomach, leaning his chin over Luke's shoulder.
"I'd be more than happy to help you pay for it if it's something you'd want and use."
Luke sighed, shaking his head. He knew Michael didn't mean it as a handout, but that's how he felt anytime anyone offered him help; that he was just some poor kid from the streets who depended on others to get by. He'd gotten this far on his own, he wouldn't accept it now.
"No, it's okay, really," Luke grabbed the iPhone 8 and started to make his way towards the front of the store, Michael in tow. "I appreciate the thought but I'd never be able to pay you back for that and I just can't-" he shook his head, "I'm not good at accepting help, if you can't already tell," Michael quirked up his lip but Luke kept going, "and I'd feel indebted to you for it until I paid you back in full, and that's not what a relationship should be based on."
The quirk of Michael's lip dipped down now, his eyebrows pulling together in thought.
"What? What's wrong?" Luke asked, smoothing his fingers over Michael's brow.
Michael shook his head, plastering a smile on his face. "Nothing, Angel. I understand." He squeezed Luke's hand and they walked up to the check out hand in hand.
"I don't mean for this to sound bad," Luke started as the cashier checked them out, wincing as he slid his debit card for a total of $155.75. "But the new iPhone... it's a lot of money, and you didn't even flinch at the thought.. How can you, I mean I know you publish stories but-"
"How can I afford it?" Michael laughed, grabbing the bag and carrying it for Luke as they left the store. "I've found some success with certain... stories." He shrugged, "I've been paid well for my writing in the past and have investments here and there, plus the money from my accident settlement..." Michael trailed off, letting the reality sink in between them that Michael was well off. At least, far better off than Luke could ever wish to be.
"I didn't realize your stories were so big." Luke saw their Uber waiting a couple cars down and guided Michael to it. "Maybe one day I can read them?"
Michael smiled, pressing a kiss to Luke's hand as they settled into the Uber to head back to their complex. "One day."
***
Michael had promised Luke he'd spend the night. Luke still wasn't comfortable sleeping alone in his apartment and since Michael didn't have an early meeting the next day he'd jumped at the opportunity to sleep over at Luke's.
They spent the afternoon eating Thai takeout from down the street and watching Seinfeld reruns on Luke's old laptop. By the time the sun was beginning to dip below the horizon, Luke was antsy. He'd been curled up in Michael's lap all afternoon, the length of his torso pressed against the older boy's and his leg thrown over his waist. The warmth from their bodies was caccooning them in a blanket of sleepy, sensual energy and Luke found himself unintentionally pressing his hips further into Michael's side.
He let out a low hum of satisfaction as Michael turned to him, a smile on his face and leaned in for a kiss. The kiss was soft, nothing more than a gentle press of lips, but Luke wanted more. It was a taste of possibility, a taste of what could be if he just leaned in a bit harder, pressed his body a bit tighter against Michael's.
Michael groaned as Luke ran the tip of his tongue along the seam of his lips and pressed up onto his knees to straddle the older boy.
Luke pressed down, letting his weight fall into Michael's lap gently and hearing the hiss of an inhale beneath him.
"Fuck, Lu." Michael groaned, gripping his hips a bit tighter and kissing him a bit harder.
Michael tasted like summer. Like sunshine and warm rain and ice cold lemonade after a day outside. It was the most refreshing thing Luke had felt in a long time and he wanted more. Needed more.
"Luke," Michael whispered against his lips as Luke pressed down in his lap. "Luke," Michael's hands ran to Luke's shoulders, pressing slightly back as Luke began to rotate his hips. "Luke, hold on just a sec."
And that got Luke's attention, stilling his motion in Michael's lap.
"Is everything okay?" Luke bit his lip, dread filling his stomach at the thought of being rejected by Michael.
"It's fine, more than fine," Michael breathed, his hands squeezing Luke's hips, "but are you sure this is a good idea so soon?"
Luke's eyebrows furrowed. "I gave you a blowjob yesterday?"
"I know," Michael sighed, his gaze lowering to where his thumbs brushed across Luke's hip bones. "And I know we've talked about it before like it's no big deal, but now there's nothing getting in our way of going further and... well, you just went through a pretty traumatic physical assault. I don't mean to tell you how to feel, but are you sure you're ready for this type of intimacy so soon?"
Luke's heart clenched in his chest, stomach throbbing with both the painful reminder and considerate worry of his boyfriend. He grabbed one of Michael's hands, playing with the few rings garnishing his fingers.
"Look," He bit his lip, debating the best way to word his thoughts, "I know i'm just some hopeless romantic and I tend to dive right into relationships and that's gotten me into trouble in the past, but like, something about this feels different, don't you think?" He brought Michael's hand up, slotting his fingers between Michael's larger ones.
Michael smiled, his other hand sliding around from Luke's waist to hold his lower back sweetly. "Yeah, you're right. There was never really a beginning here was there? It always felt so natural."
"So let it naturally progress then," Luke grinned wolfishly before diving right in, kissing along the column of Michael's neck. Michael let out a shaky breath but let his head fall back against the back of the futon, hands returning to Luke's hips.
"You're gorgeous," Michael breathed as his hands skimmed across every inch of Luke's body, traveling from his hips to his stomach to his chest, shoulders and down to his thighs. Luke couldn't get enough of his touch, those hot fingertips leaving burning trails wherever they touched his bare skin.
"I'll never get sick of kissing you." Luke panted as he pulled away from Michael's neck and returned to his mouth, suctioning his lips around Michael's bottom one. He rolled his hips in time with his mouth, pulling a deep moan from Michael who was squeezing Luke's hips even tighter now, hands tentatively sliding to rest in Luke's back pockets and pressing their groins together.
"Fuck, Luke." Michael lifted his hands up, allowing Luke to remove his tshirt before returning his hands to Luke's bum and pressing them even tighter together. Luke was rock hard in his jeans now, feeling overly sensitive as his length rubbed against the seam of his jeans. He wasted no time, throwing off his own sweater and diving right back into Michael's mouth. Their bare skin touched, causing a ripple of pleasure to roll down Luke's spine and he pressed in closer, yet not close enough to Michael. Michael's hands roamed once again over Luke's body, up his hips, across his pecks, up to his shoulders and down, down his arms until-
Michael froze.
"Luke, what- what's that?" Michael's fingers gently grazed over the scar on Luke's arm and the younger boy flinched. Panic bubbled up in his chest as he tries to rip his arm away and hide it behind his back, but Michael halted his movement.
"Lu-" he says on a harsh exhale, fingers gently wrapping around Luke's wrist as tears gather in the younger boy's eyes.
"I-" Luke started but stopped just as abruptly, unsure of what to say. How does one even begin to explain the expletive now carved into his flesh?
Michael's fingers shakily ran over each raised letter, feeling every centimeter of stitched skin and by the time he made it to the "T" he had to stop.
"Please tell me this doesn't say what I think it does." His hand was hovering over the scar as if shielding it from the world. Luke suddenly can't remember how to breathe. His throat has closed up to the size of a straw and his lungs are nothing more than water balloons as he tries to gulp down air.
"I'm sorry," He gasped, clawing at his throat, his chest, his arm. "I'm sorry I never wanted you to see-" If only he could rip it off. Tear into the old stitches and pull the skin away from the bone. His nails caused fine red lines to slash across each letter.
"Luke," Michael's panicking himself, that much is clear by the tears running down his cheeks, but he takes a deep breath and works to begin calming Luke down. He lets his palm cover the majority of the jagged scar, not allowing Luke to claw at it like he was trying to do, shielding it away once again from the world, from Luke. "Hey, take a deep breath for me, will you?" His other hand comes up to rest on Luke's chest, palm against his heart.
Luke can feel his heart thud in his chest, right up against Michael's palm. His tears are nearly the size of marbles as they cascade down his cheeks, blurring his vision and causing pools of salt to collect at the seam of his lips. He lets Michael guide his breathing, focusing on the flutter of his nostrils on each inhale and the shape of his mouth on each exhale. The curve of his lips as he shapes words, telling Luke how good he is, how special he is, how cared for he is. He tries to match his breathing to Michael's, a slow calm strength that feels so wrong when his own is so erratic.
Michael doesn't say anything for a moment, just lets his palm rest against the marred skin as Luke's breathing slowly begins to return to some sense of normalcy, only a slight hiccuping left in the wake of the anxious storm.
"Are you okay?" Michael's voice finally reaches his ringing ears and Luke can only shake his head.
"I forgot all about it- I'm sorry."
Michael cocked his head, letting his hand that was on Luke's chest return to wrap around his waist. "But you have nothing to be sorry about."
"It's just, it's so ugly and it ruined the moment and-" Michael shuts Luke up by kissing him. Hard. His hand squeezes Luke's hip and Luke is breathless as he pants into Michael's mouth.
"It didn't ruin anything. Please don't think that it did. I was just shocked, s'all." His fingers hesitantly traced over the jagged letters once again. "I'm sorry he did this to you." It was said on barely more than a breath of air, so light and so quiet that it caused Luke's heart to lurch in his chest.
"It's so ugly," The sobs worked their way back up Luke's chest and Michael shook his head, pulling Luke's arm up and kissing along the scar.
"No part of you could ever be ugly. Not to me."
Luke was about to protest when Michael reached up, taking his sunglasses off. Luke inhaled at the sight of Michael without his glasses. He'd never before asked Michael why he always kept his glasses on, knowing he had his reasons. But seeing him without them-
The whites of his eyes stood out against the bright red vessels running through them and across where his pupils were clouded over. Thin white lines bisected each eyelid and a small scattering of white circular scars dotted underneath.
It was the most vulnerable Luke had ever seen him and he didn't know what to say.
"I don't know why I didn't want you to see before now, probably for the same reason you didn't want me to feel your scar. But everyone has physical scars," Michael started, voice shaking and Luke could tell this was new to him too, to be this exposed in front of another person, this raw, "It's okay though. We're stronger than them, clearly." He smiled, tapping Luke's wrist and Luke carefully took Michael's glasses from between shaking fingers, setting them on the side table before not so gracefully throwing himself at Michael.
Lips and tongues and teeth clashed in the messiest kiss either boy had ever had, throwing everything they had behind it. Tears rolled down Luke's cheeks, mixing with Michael's own as they embraced, the sorrow of two becoming one.
Michael's grip on Luke's wrist tightened, his palm warm against the scar, skin pressing against skin, a sign that he wasn't going anywhere. His palm ghosted over the scabbed skin, sending a shiver down Luke's spine. He pressed himself impossibly closer to the older boy, his crotch pressing against Michael's stomach as he ground his ass down against Michael's growing erection.
"I think I love you,"
Michael gasped, his head thrown back and hands squeezing Luke's hips who now stilled in his lap. .
"You..." Luke gulped, his heart now pooling in his stomach and even more tears threatening to fall down his cheeks as he looked at the beautiful boy beneath him. For the first time in his adult life he felt nothing but safety and happiness. No fear or trepidation or unsuredness when he took in his boyfriend, just pure love. "Fuck Michael, I love you too. I love you so much."
Michael wasted no time, gripping Luke's hips and flipping them over so that he was now hovering on top. He nosed at Luke's neck, his warm breath cascading over the goosebumps that rose along Luke's skin.
"Let me make love to you?"
It wasn't even a question. Luke breathed out a quiet "Please," in response, and Michael kissed down his neck, smile never leaving his lips as they quickly undressed, wasting no time.
"Beautiful," Michael whispered out against Luke's exposed stomach. All insecurities Luke might have felt in that moment disappeared with every kiss to his bare skin, every ghost of Michael's lips over an old cigarette burn or scar that Liam inflicted.
Luke arched up into Michael's mouth as his lips dipped down to kiss along his hips. "Please, Michael. Need you."
Michael smiled against Luke's skin, snapping Luke's briefs against his skin. "Patience is a virtue, Angel."
"A virtue I don't have right now," Luke panted, grabbing at Michael's shoulders and bringing him back up so that they were face to face. "Want you."
He kissed him harshly, letting his tongue run over Michael's teeth and around his mouth, inspecting every inch of space as he pushed Michael's briefs down with his feet. As soon as they were around the older boy's ankles, he removed his own.
"Need you to touch me, Michael." Luke moaned as Michael went back to kissing down the length of his neck.
"Luke, I...." Michael trailed off, cheeks reddening as he turned his head towards the bed below. "You need to know that I haven't exactly slept with anyone since my accident." Luke could see the embarrassment on Michael's face, "I want this to be good for you, but I-"
"-Hey," Luke interrupted, grabbing Michael's hands and pressing them against his heart. "This is going to be great for me, and you know why? Because I love you."
Michael gulped, letting his forehead fall against Luke's. "I love you too." He dipped down, taking Luke's breath away with his kiss.
They lost themselves in the kiss, in each other, taking what they needed and leaving thoughts of everything else behind. Slowly, Luke flipped them over, removing his briefs and climbing into Michael's lap.
They made love like that, Luke sprawled across Michael's lap, riding him like his life depended on it as Michael's nails bit crescent shaped marks into his hips. It was slow and passionate like Luke had never experienced before; every nerve ending firing up as Michael matched every bounce with his own upwards thrust, promising forever with every breath. The intensity brought tears to Luke's eyes again, dripping down over his chin and Michael's chest as they both eventually reached climax, roaring with relief and a sense of security only the other could provide.
It was hours later when Michael was curled around Luke fast asleep that Luke finally realized that maybe the home he'd been missing all these years wasn't a foster house with too many siblings or even a shitty apartment with paper thin walls , but right here in Michael's embrace.
______________________________
A/N: Long time no see! Sorry for the delay life's gotten a bit crazy lately and I haven't had the motivation to write but as I said before I'm finishing this story no matter what because I love them too much to quit :')
Hope you enjoyed! As always please please vote, comment, & share! xoxo -Emma