i can't keeping touching you like this if it's just temporary bliss, just temporary bliss, temporary bliss.
when calum and ashton came over to michael's house, the doorbell ringing interrupted luke and michael's cuddling. the faux blond hesitantly tore away from luke on the couch and walked slowly towards the door, careful with his steps since his thighs still hurt with each step.
michael pulled open the door and smiled a bit at the sight of calum and ashton. ashton was holding a cake and two gift boxes, while calum had a bottle of champagne in one hand and his dog misty propped up in the other. misty's barks filled michael's house, but not many of them paid much attention to the dog since all of the attention was on michael.
"happy birthday, mikey!" ashton beamed as he pulled michael into a quick hug, and then whispered in his ear, "i feel awful that i let your birthday slip my mind. i've just had so much shit on my mind and–"
"it's okay," michael replied shyly, pulling out of ashton's embrace and then glancing over to calum. the maori boy smiled before setting the champagne on the kitchen counter and placing misty on the floor, then he collected michael into a tight hug.
"happy birthday, buddy," calum murmured, letting his fingers ruffle through michael's hair before pulling out of their hug. the faux blond just smiled timidly in calum's direction before ushering ashton into the house, then shut the front door. at this point, misty was by his feet and putting her front paws up on michael's calves, scratching and whining to get his attention. michael couldn't help but smile, and then reached down to pick up the australian shepard.
as michael cradled misty in his arms and allowed her to lick his face, luke stood up and smiled widely at the rest of the boys. "who's ready to have a party?"
"i sure as hell am. i've been stuck with this idiot for the past couple of days," ashton pouted over at calum as both of them plopped down on the couch, which made calum playfully toss a pillow in ashton's direction to shut him up. ashton caught it once it bounced from his face to his lap and giggled.
"you love me, baby," calum reminded his boyfriend, scooting closer to ashton. when he was closer, ashton tossed an arm over calum's shoulders as luke grabbed the champagne that calum had left on the counter. he began walking towards the kitchen to grab some glasses, and leaned over to kiss michael's cheek as he walked by.
"oh, mikey, sit in between us," ashton exclaimed when michael lingered behind the couch and absentmindedly kept misty close to his chest. ashton ran some fingers through his hair as michael walked around the couch to stand in front of his two best friends.
"no, wait, i want to sit next to michael," luke called out from the kitchen, easily reaching the top counter to pull out four glasses. he balanced them against his chest and kept the champagne bottle tight in his fist, then placed them all on the coffee table.
luke sat down in the chair beside the couch meant for only one person, but he grasped michael's hips from behind and pulled him into his lap. the faux blond's cheeks burned red as he relaxed into luke's grip and let go of misty, letting her down on the floor only for her to go rushing towards calum, yipping when she reached his feet.
"so, are we going to get drunk, or what?" calum asked playfully as he bent down and pulled misty into his lap. the australian shepherd licked his face and fingers as calum cupped her face and cooed, "hi, baby. you're such a cutie, aren't you? yes, you're so adorable. i love you so much."
ashton leaned over to grab two glasses and the champagne bottle and then stretched over to peck calum's cheek. luke mockingly pressed his own set of lips to michael's cheekbone unexpectedly, causing michael to jump slightly before twisting around to face the blond.
"sorry, princess, i couldn't resist," luke said with a simple shrug, then his darkened blue eyes darted over to calum. "hey, pour michael and i some champagne, too."
"mm, the birthday boy gets the first glass," calum leaned over and snatched the glass from ashton, seeing that he was about to take a sip. ashton huffed at his boyfriend but let calum hand that glass over to michael, then ashton poured everyone else some of the alcohol.
"mikey, open up the presents we got you," ashton said excitedly as luke began to press short kisses to the back of michael's neck, "we stopped by some places before coming here so we could get you presents."
michael couldn't help but smile at that before leaning over to grasp one of the presents on the coffee table. granted, the wrapping was messy and rushed, but michael didn't mind. as he carefully ripped open the wrapping, luke murmured against the back of his ear, "my gift coming your way soon, babe."
"that's okay," michael replied, letting his hand cup one side of luke's face. they got sidetracked as they stared down at each other's lips, then calum whistled and jolted them out of their own little world.
"hey, no," calum frowned as he exchanged a glance with ashton, then took a long sip from his glass. michael timidly smiled at luke before facing the present again and continuing to unwrap it until he had a box in his hands.
all of the boys watched in anticipation as michael opened the box and took out the card that was on top of the tissue paper. he grinned upon seeing his name written down in all caps, which was most likely calum's handwriting. after ripping open the envelope and reading the few words calum wrote in the card, he set it aside and began to carefully tear open the box's wrapping paper. inside was a dark grey beanie and a warm jacket since winter was creeping upon them, so michael spoke his gratitude with a warm smile.
the next gift to open was ashton's, so michael placed the jacket and beanie on the coffee table so he had room to open it. inside of ashton's gift there was gift cards to a couple of michael's favorite stores along with a photo frame of michael, calum, and ashton from a couple years ago. the gesture was endearing, so of course the smile on michael's face was hard to fight back as he looked up to his best friends.
"thank you so much, guys. really, this is all so kind," michael smiled, standing up so that he could go over to the two boys and give them each a short hug.
"now, i know i said this would be a party, but my present to michael is going to take up the rest of the day. i'd like to get a head-start now," luke announced as he stood up from the small couch and stretched his limbs out. at the sound of his voice, michael glanced over at him and furrowed his eyebrows in questioning.
"are you trying to politely kick us out?" calum chuckled as he took a sip from his glass, his fingers scratching behind misty's ear. luke sheepishly shrugged, causing calum to laugh again. "no worries, mate. we'll see you guys around, then."
the couple stood up from the couch, with calum holding misty closely to his chest. ashton shoved his hands into the front pockets of his black jeans and began to follow calum out the door, but paused when he was in front of michael.
"i just wanted to apologize again for being so forgetful... i feel like an awful friend, and since i forgot, i don't want you to get me anything for my birthday next ye-"
"ash, stop. it's seriously okay, and i'm still going to get you a birthday present on... when's your birthday?" michael joked, "just kidding. i know it's july 7th."
"i love you, mike. you'll always be my best friend," ashton mused and pulled michael into another hug. this time michael savored it and hugged him back, feeling so unbelievably grateful to have somebody like ashton as his best friend.
"love you, too, ash." and damn, did it feel amazing for michael to finally say 'too' after saying 'i love you.'
once their hug was over, ashton followed the same path as calum to leave, and then luke and michael were alone. they had been alone numerous amounts of time, but this specific time felt different. it probably had something to do with their very last moment alone, in which luke finally put his feelings out there, the feelings he'd kept denying or hiding due to fear.
"meet me at my house in ten minutes, michael. i need some time to set up, then i'll give you that birthday present i promised." luke took a deep breath in as he stepped up to michael, taking both of his hands in his, "does that sound okay?"
"it does," michael nodded, "and i just wanted to let you know, from what you said earlier... i love you, too."
a slow smile spread across luke's lips, then he leaned in to kiss michael's cheek before leaving the house. now michael was fully alone, but he didn't feel alone in his heart like he used to whenever he was left alone.
—
one last chapter, my friends, and it will be the end of temporary bliss. :,) finally got over my writers block to finish this story, since i know how awful it is to find a book u like but it's not finished. so i'm just tying off loose ends in this book for everyone who has been enjoying this story :-) (btw thx for liking it!!)