THERES A LITTLE BONUS PART AT THE END, SORRY IF THIS IS TOO LONG FOR YALL
It was three weeks before Michael had to leave to go back to his senior year in high school, and he was sad that his time with Luke was running out. Luke was clinging to him for dear life half the time, and he didn't exactly blame the boy. Calum and Ashton were over constantly, even sleeping over for a solid three days.
Currently, Michael was holding Luke close to his chest, seeing as they were finally able to catch a private moment, away from Ashton, Calum, and his family.
"Do you have to leave?" Luke asked. Michael nodded.
"I do. I'll see you soon, though, my winter break starts a week earlier than yours," Michael says, nuzzling his head into Luke's neck.
Luke sighed, running his fingers through Michael's hair. Michael leaned into his touch, humming appreciatively. Luke smiled as Michael nestled closer, seeing as he hardly ever let Luke do this. He's pretty sure it's because Michael doesn't want to undermine his whole punk-rock exterior, but he's seen how Michael gets when he doesn't really care about that - he gets childish and cuddly, almost clingy. Luke found it adorable, the rare times he's seen it happen.
They were almost hiding from Ashton and Calum, who were hyper on all the caffeine they've taken in and pestering the couple whenever they saw them. At the moment, they were fooling around in the kitchen while Luke and Michael hid in Luke's room.
Michael pulled his head back to look at Luke, who leaned his head against Michaels, kissing him softly. He kept one hand in his hair, gripping it loosely and letting the other rest on his hip.
They were interrupted by the opening of Luke's door, jumping apart and looking at who it was - Liz.
Michael hadn't really had a chance to meet her, considering she was working almost all day, even staying at her office for weeks at a time. Luke said this didn't happen often, and that she was working a big case at her law firm. Michael understood - his dad was a surgeon. He was gone for days at a time and had maybe two days off, and even then, he went in for overtime a lot.
"Um, h-hi," Michael stuttered, nerves taking over his speech. Luke snickered as his cheeks turned pink, earning him a glare from the shorter boy.
"Hello, who are you?" Liz said sweetly, but still confused, looking to Luke for some sort of explanation.
"I'm - um, I'm Michael," Michael stumbled over his words, giving Liz a small smile. She nodded, still confused. Michael looked to Luke for help, who grinned and calmly took his place behind Michael discreetly placed a hand on his waist to help him calm down a bit.
"Mum, this is Michael, the one I've been talking to for the past few years," Luke said. Liz's eyebrows shot up.
"Oh, I remember now. I'm sorry, Michael, my memory is fried from this case I've been working on," She smiled at Michael, helping to relax him a bit. "You're Luke's best friend, from what I've heard."
Luke snorted, hiding his face in Michaels hair as he giggled quietly into it. Michael flushed red as Luke made no move to help him explain the situation, and Liz looked confused.
"Um - ac-actually, w-we're uh, kind of - kind of a c-couple," Michael said quietly. He struggled to get the words out coherently, making Luke giggle even more as he rubbed the back of his neck and fidgeted with his shirt, definitely in an uncomfortable position.
"I'm sorry, I didn't catch that," Liz said.
Luke saved him from making a fool out of himself and decided to wrap his arms around Michael's waist, resting his head on his shoulder and trying not to smile too much. "He's my boyfriend, mum." Luke summed up, and Liz let out a small 'ah' as she understood. Michael was turning the same shade as his hair, and it made Luke grin and peck his cheek. Michael glared at him and smacked his shoulder, huffing as Luke and Liz laughed.
"Well, get back to having your fun. Use protection," She said, making Michael cover his face and Luke to roll his eyes at his mother's attempt at being funny. She laughed quietly and left them alone, closing the door on her way out of Luke's room.
Michael sighed as Luke turned him around, knowing he was going to make fun of him.
"Aw, look at poor little Mikey, all red and embarrassed," Luke cooed, making Michael hide his face and lightly punch Luke in the arm. "No, no, come here," Luke said, pulling Michael away to face him. Michael narrowed his eyes at Luke, but let his face relax as Luke kissed him softly again.
Michael couldn't help but put his hands on Luke's shoulders, one moving to cup his cheek. Luke kept both hands tangled in his hair as Michael picked up the pace a little, walking Luke backwards until he hit the wall. Michael played with Luke's lip ring with his tongue, earning a smile from Luke.
"Oh, and Luke --" Liz started to say as she opened the door again, peeking in just in time to see the couple's eyes snap open and Luke push Michael off of him. She paused as Michael fell on the floor, wide-eyed and flushing a bright pink again. "Well, I'll leave you two to it then, you seem to be enjoying yourselves."
"Mum," Luke whined as Michael flushed red and scrambled to get back up on his feet. He was not leaving the impression he wanted to have on Liz.
"Alright, alright. I won't come back in until you two stop fooling around," She says, closing the door. Luke gets up and locks it for good measure, though, making Michael smirk a little bit. He raised an eyebrow at the blonde boy in question.
"And why do we need that door locked?" Michael teased Luke, who rolled his eyes.
"Because I'd like to make out with my boyfriend without any interruptions for a while, that's why." Luke says, pushing Michael a little bit, who bit his lip and put his hands on Luke's waist, rubbing circles into his hips as Luke kissed him slowly, making him go just a little crazy. He loved slow kisses, especially from Luke. He stopped himself from going crazy on Luke, though, and pulled away a little bit.
Ashton and Calum then started yelling their names, making the couple groan and go outside, not wanting to deal with their antics, but they've been forced to anyway.
~
Since Michael's school started in early August, he had to leave in two weeks, but he was enjoying his time with Luke, especially considering it was his birthday today.
They had a small gathering, seeing as Luke only had a few friends worthy of inviting to his birthday. Michael spent the entire day before out shopping, before he found something Luke would love - a few things, actually; a guitar, one of his old sweaters he hardly ever wore yet always smelt of him, according to his mum, and he let Luke request any one song for him to sing. (He picked Blink-182's I Miss You. He didn't regret his choice at all.)
They had a reasonably sane party with Luke's parents and Ben around, but once they left, the booze was brought out. His parents allowed him to throw the party, and Ben didn't know. If he did, he'd take half of the booze and throw it out, then hide the rest from them all. He had a wife to attend to anyway.
Michael got Calum drunk as quickly as he could, getting even more photos for blackmail in the future. He limited Luke's intake though, so that he wouldn't have too bad a hangover in the morning, but enough so he wouldn't complain. He himself managed to get a buzz, along with Ashton.
He watched Luke dance, and if he didn't know better, he'd say Luke took lessons at one point - but then again, he'd never even seen Luke dance before now. It was surprisingly good, but he was still clumsy and almost tripped over himself a few times, making Michael laugh. Eventually, Michael was beckoned by the blonde to come dance with him, and he smiled, handing off his drink to Ashton and going to dance with Luke to the familiar band playing over the stereo system - Twenty One Pilots.
"I don't know how to dance, just warning you," Michael said to Luke, who smiled.
"I'll teach you, then. Definitely not tonight though, this is my night." Luke rambled making Michael smile. He took Michael's hand and led him to the cleared area for people to dance - mainly Luke, since he was the only actual dancer there.
He made people give him space for him to dance and started the song again. Michael remembered the title now - Tear In My Heart.
Luke started to move to the opening beat, freezing as it stopped and giving Michael a smile, before spinning around almost automatically and kicking his leg up, earning cheers from everyone. He was flexible, you had to give him that.
As the song went on, he got more into it, and Michael watched as Luke spun, snapped his hips and suddenly froze or slowed down dramatically, bent backwards and jerked himself upright, and Michael couldn't help but wonder how he knew all of this. He looked as if he could actually be a dancer on a stage. He used so many hand movements that captured Michael's attention as he slid them up or down his sides and thighs, even putting them on his hips as they moved, and Michael swore he saw Luke smirk at him when he did that.
As the song slowed, Michael watched Luke snap his hips from side to side, earning whistles from the crowd and a slightly gaping mouth from Michael, before he bit his lip again. He watched as Luke walked over to him with a grin, still snapping his hips at every snap in the song. He bit his lip harder as Luke started to dance right in front of him, before freezing right in front of his face, perfectly in time with the music. In that time, Michael gave him a peck on the lips, making him smile before he stepped back and started spinning.
By the time Luke had finished his performance, Michael was biting his lip a little too hard as Luke looked at him in the eyes, bent backwards and panting quite a bit. Everyone cheered and clapped for him, and Luke returned to his normal position and bowed a little bit too dramatically. Michael smiled anyway, and watched as the blonde boy walked over to him, and he was kind of sweaty and had hair sticking to his forehead, but Michael let him wrap his arms around his neck anyway.
"You, mister," Michael started, raising his eyebrows a bit, "need to do that more often."
"And why's that?" Luke asks, smirking.
"Because that was quite possibly the sexiest thing I've seen in a long time." Michael said, trailing a few finger up Luke's side, smiling as he felt goosebumps follow in his wake. "I didn't know you could dance, either. You're my little dancer." Luke smiled at the nickname.
"I took lessons as a kid from Ashton's cousin. She's a professional dancer now, but every time she comes home, she teaches me new things she's learned from other dancers," Luke says. Michael whistles.
"Damn, so you're almost the equivalent to a pro, baby," Michael mused, making Luke roll his eyes, but the light blush that coated his cheeks showed that he appreciated it anyway.
"Not really, but that's okay. Are you going to kiss me or am I gonna have to wait until later?" Luke asks, making Michael grin and lean in for a slightly gross kiss from Luke's sweat, but he didn't mind too much, considering Luke was kissing him slowly enough to drive him crazy.
Luke was a little surprised when Michael hummed - although he bet that it would've been a moan, had their lips not been locked in a kiss. Once they pulled away, though, he raised an eyebrow at Michael, a smile playing at his lips.
Michael ignored Luke's questioning glance and dove for his neck, his hands going to grip at his hips. Luke's eyes widened as Michael seemingly lost a bit of his control, but he didn't mind too much, seeing as Michael was biting at his neck and fuck, he was a good neck kisser. He let his head roll to the side as he felt Michael nibble at his sweet spot, letting out a huff of air as Michael started to suck just under his ear, undoubtedly leaving a dark mark.
But before they got too excited, Michael pulled away, only to love the look on Luke's face - parted lips and hooded eyes with raised eyebrows looking back at him.
"And you need to do that a lot more often, mister," Luke mimicked Michael from earlier, making the redhead smile.
~
The last full day before Michael had to leave, he kicked Ashton and Calum out of the house, bought a ton of junk food and ice cream, and binge watching Sherlock and Supernatural, with the occasional fifteen minute make-out session in between the times where Netflix started to judge them by asking if they were still watching.
Eventually, they stopped watching the shows and just fucked around with each other for a solid two hours - playing songs, asking questions, and just joking around in general. Neither of them talked about the fact that Michael still had to pack, or that they'd miss each other for a while, until they both calmed down and just sat on Luke's bed.
"It's gonna be weird not waking up to a mound of red hair." Luke said, and Michael snorted.
"You'll get used to not having your personal fire truck around in no time," Michael said, but his smile faltered a little bit, which caught Luke's attention.
"Like hell," He started, sitting up, "you're addicting, Michael Clifford. I'm considering enrolling you into my school just so you can live here." Michael rolled his eyes, but Luke wasn't having it. "Seriously, though. I'll miss you."
"I'll miss you too." Michael said, softer. He grabbed Luke's hand and clutched it tightly, receiving the same tight grip from the blonde boy. They rested their heads together, staying like that for a while - not talking, just enjoying being next to one another. After today, it wouldn't happen for another few months.
"We can figure out a schedule for calls, you know," Luke thought aloud. "It could work out."
"Yeah, I'd love that," Michael smiled at Luke, who grinned back.
Michael knew that he should stop thinking over all the bad things that could go wrong with their relationship, but he couldn't. Luke could find someone better, closer, and not even tell him about it because he's so far away. He could say he couldn't handle the distance and leave him until he can be around more, which would be difficult. There were so many things that could go wrong once he went back to LA.
Luke saw Michael's face fall as he seemed to think about something, and he got worried.
"Mike?" Luke asked, seemingly snapping Michael out of it. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing, it's - it's stupid." Michael sighed, but Luke cocked an eyebrow, not believing him at all.
"Bullshit."
Michael let out a huff of air as Luke pushed him even more.
"Just - there's so many things that could happen," Michael said quietly, fiddling with the blanket underneath them.
"Well, I can tell you that none of those are going to happen, because I am so happy to be with you. Whether that means you being in America or living here with me, I don't care. You shouldn't stress over that." Luke said, poking Michael's nose to get his attention. He smiled at Luke a little bit, before nodding. "Now, let's get you packed, shorty."
"I am literally a few inches shorter than you."
"Doesn't matter."
~
Michael and Luke rode with Ashton and Calum to the airport, all of them singing and talking the entire time there. They didn't want to say goodbye for now - they were saving that until Michael had to board the plane.
Luke was trying to distract Michael from texting Gwen with soft kisses on his neck, making Calum fake gag as he saw them in the rearview mirror. Michael ended up giving in to Luke's needy behavior, giving him a soft kiss on the cheek. Luke cheered and let him text Gwen, but not without resting his head on his shoulder.
After another forty-five minutes, Michael was just waiting for the plane to land, which would be any second now. A sad silence had settled over the four boys, all of them sitting with each other, not doing anything. Nobody wanted to say much.
Over the loudspeaker, Michael's flight was finally called, and they all looked at each other. Michael stood up as Ashton did, leaving his bags for a little bit and giving him a tight hug and saying goodbye.
"You better come back for birthdays," Ashton said, making Michael smile a little bit.
"Wouldn't miss it for the world, Ash." Michael said. Ashton nodded, backing away and letting Calum stand up.
"You better not do anything too damn stupid," Calum joked, "because I will bribe Gwen to borderline stalk your every move and capture every awkward thing you do for blackmail."
"I'd be shocked if you didn't, asshat." Michael giggles, getting glared at by parents and old people alike. Calum shook his head, and Michael could've sworn that there were tears pricking at his eyes. It made his tear up a little. "Fuck you, making me cry like this," Michael joked, wiping at his eyes as Calum laughed, wiping at his own eyes and opening his arms for Michael to hug him. He did, hugging him tightly and listening as he whispered into Michael's ear.
"I'd say that this goodbye is a lot harder than the last," Calum whispered, and Michael choked out a sad, humorless laugh, because it really was. He was going to be leaving his best friend for the second time around.
"I swear to god, if I start crying, I'm going to smack you the next time I come back," Michael threatens, and Calum smiles as he pulls away from the long hug.
Luke watches with amused eyes as they bicker lightly for another moment, before Calum sits back down, and now it's Luke's turn to say goodbye.
Michael sees Luke with a saddened expression, and he opens his arms, letting Luke walk into them as he wraps them around his waist extra-tight. Luke locked his arms around Michael's neck, trying his best not to cry as Michael swayed side to side a little bit.
Michael pulled away just enough to rest their heads together, seeing the two boys on the couch with their phones up, but not exactly caring all that much.
"I'm gonna call you every day, text you every day, and send you random flower deliveries," Michael said, making Luke laugh a little bit, but it didn't do anything to help the tears in his eyes. Michael was close to crying, too, but he held it as long as he could. "I'm gonna miss you, Luke," He whispered, and brought his hands up to Luke's face, wiping at the tear that had started to fall down his cheek. Michael couldn't tell if he himself was crying or not yet, but he didn't care. "I'm gonna miss the fuck out of you."
"Shut up, you're making my cry," Luke giggled, and Michael grinned a little bit. People were staring, and he knew that, but he still didn't care. He kissed Luke slowly and passionately, making sure that the last kiss before he left for school was one of the best Luke's had so far. It was a little salty and wet from their mingled tears, but it was still the best kiss Michael's ever had, honestly.
Luke pulled away after another few seconds, tangling his fingers in Michel's hair and letting him nestle his head in Luke's neck.
"You won't have to worry about me leaving you, Mikey," Luke whispered into his ear for only Michael to hear, "because I don't think I could if I wanted to."
Michael sniffled a little bit and let himself cry a little bit more into Luke's shirt, knowing very well that Luke was doing the same thing from the way his voice cracked a little. He pulled back and let Luke kiss him one last time, before the lady over the loudspeaker was ushering all passengers that haven't gotten to the gates to go now, and forced himself to pull away.
"I'll miss the fuck out of you, too, Michael." Luke whispers, making Michael smile and have tears prick at his eyes again.
"Fuck you, I'm gonna cry," Michael choked out, wiping at his eyes. Luke laughed and let go of Michael, letting him pick up his bags and follow him to the farthest he could go. He watched as Michael boarded the plane, but paused right before he did, pulling his phone out. Luke got a text notification and opened it, seeing Michael smiling. His text popped up seconds later;
mikey: 'til we meet again, Luke xo
He smiled and saved the photo, knowing that it would be best if he didn't reply, considering Michael was on the plane now. He stayed in the same spot until the plane took off, and wiped at his eyes as he turned around, making sure they looked fairly dry. He walked back to Ashton and Calum, who handed him a drink.
"Let's go back home, yeah?" Ashton said. Luke nodded.
~
Christmas Eve (Bonus)
Michael wasn't able to make the trip to Australia for Christmas, and it made Michael sad, because Luke was looking forward to it. He was wearing Michael's old sweater when Michael had to tell him that he couldn't make it for Christmas, but he'd send presents once the post office reopened. Luke was sad, yes, but he figured if Michael couldn't come to him, he'd come to Michael.
So he booked his, Calum, and Ashton's tickets to LA, planning to surprise Michael with them showing up on Christmas Eve. Luke already had a plan in mind, but he didn't tell it to the other two, fearing that it would slip out onto social media. It's happened before.
He was going to wait to see Michael until he fell asleep, then either climb into his bed and have him wake up to Luke's face, or have Ashton and Calum force him to go downstairs and see him there. Either one would be amazing, but he liked the waking up option better.
So when they got to Michael's house, he told the boys to go in and tell him when Michael fell asleep. They were confused for a while, but they agreed anyway. Luke finally was able to go in at about two in the morning, and his eyes were half open.
He walked into Michael's house and admired the place - it was so Christmas-y, it made Luke's house look bland.
There was a giant tree near their fireplace, which smelt like it hadn't been out for long, decorated with garland and ornaments, topped with a bright star and the classic gifts under the tree. Not many, but enough. Their kitchen smelt amazingly of gingerbread and sweets, and there was decorative statues in the windowsill, along with a lit candle. Lights lined every doorway and the railing on their stairs, and there was a giant "M" above one of the doors upstairs. Luke assumed that was Michael's room, and he peeked in to make sure.
Sure enough, Michael's freshly dyed red hair was peeking out of the covers, and light snores coming from his mouth. Luke smiled and took a photo quickly, before slipping out of his jeans and taking one of Michael's pairs of sweatpants, slipping his shirt off and throwing it into his hamper. Luke grinned at the familiar poster-covered, dark grey walls of Michael's bedroom, a closet near his other dressers and a shelf at eye-level filled with what looks to be pictures. He then noticed that there was a cork board above Michael's headboard - it was filled of pictures of his trip to Australia and screenshots of Luke, Calum, and Ashton. There was one photo in the middle that made Luke grin - one that Calum had took. The two of them were asleep on the couch, Michael's arm slung over Luke's waist, with Luke's leg tangled with Michael's. It was obviously Michael's favourite photo of the two of them. Luke took a picture of the board, too, and then decided that he could look around some more in the morning.
He gently pulled the covers back a little bit and slipped under them, getting as close to Michael as possible. Soon, he felt an arm sling over his waist, and he instinctively tangled their legs together as he fell asleep.
~
Michael woke up and instantly knew that something was up, because for once, he wasn't cold. He moved around a little bit, feeling someone's legs intertwined with his and that his arm was across their body. He cracked open an eye, because he was almost sure that he didn't get drunk and fall asleep with his mum last night.
When he saw a mop of blonde hair in his face, he was stunned for a moment before pulling back the sheet and seeing the rest of Luke's sleeping face - the same porcelain white skin, high cheekbones, long lashes, and light pink lips adorned by the lip ring on his lower left side. Michael smiled, saving the image in his mind, before actually taking a photo so he would be sure to print it out and pin it up. He moved his other arm that was underneath Luke's pillow carefully to be able to run his hands through Luke's hair, having missed the feeling of it so much since August.
Luk stirred as he woke up, feeling fingers running through his hair. He smiled, knowing that Michael was awake.
"Hold on, don't move," Michael whispered, and Luke smiled a little bit more as he tried not to move. He heard the sound of a camera while Michael's fingers were in his hair.
Michael set his phone back down and looked back to see Luke staring back at him with a smile on his face. Michael grinned and pushed Luke onto his back, hovering over him and giving him a kiss.
Luke sat up, letting Michael hug him tightly, hugging him just as tight.
"I missed you so fucking much," Michael said.
"You have no idea how hard it was to fall back asleep the first few weeks after you left," Luke countered, making Michael smile. "I slept like a rock last night. Definitely the best sleep I've gotten in the past few months."
Michael pulled away just enough to recast their heads together, still having one hand in Luke's hair. It was so soft, and he wanted to stay like this forever - just the two of them.
"They told me you couldn't make it because of family business," Michael said.
"I told them to. I wanted you to have the best surprise as soon as you woke up," Luke said, knowing that it was true. Michael shook his head at Luke, amused.
"Cocky, are we?"
"You can't deny that I'm right."
Michael laughed at Luke, and Luke smiled. He hadn't heard him laugh for so long.
There were two gentle knocks at the door, and Michael said 'come in' quietly, not bothering to look away from Luke until his name was spoken.
"Michael -- oh, hello," Karen said, her voice gentle as she saw Luke. She gave him a warm smile, and he waved back. "Luke, right?"
"That's me. You have a lovely home, by the way," Luke said, and Michael grinned. He was already charming her.
"Thank you. When did you get here?"
"Last night. I came with Calum and Ashton, but I didn't come in until Michael fell asleep. I hope you don't mind," Luke blushed as Michael leaned his head on Luke's shoulder, discreetly peppering kisses all over his skin.
"No, not at all. Are you staying for a while?" Karen asked, smiling as Michael moved to be behind Luke, his arms wrapping around Luke's waist. They were so happy and adorably clingy to each other.
"Um, I was going to rent a hotel room with the boys --"
"No, he's staying. Don't listen to him." Michael said. "He's definitely staying here."
Karen laughed. "Alright, and I assume you won't be needing one of guest rooms, seeing as there's a koala attached to you." Luke grinned as Michael stuck out his tongue at her. "No funny business, though, Michael."
"Mum, stop," Michael whined. "That was one time." Luke looked at Michael, confused.
"He brought home a guy one time. I stopped them before it got too far, though, don't worry," Karen said as Michael groaned into Luke's shoulder. "Your boyfriend is a virgin."
"Go. Out. Please. Goodbye, mother." Michael said as Luke giggled, smiling as she left them alone.
"Your mum is awesome."
"She's evil. She loves embarrassing me, it's her hobby."
"I think she and I are going to be great at that."
"Not you too," Michael groaned. Luke laughed, leaning his head back and rubbing his nose against Michael's cheek.
"Let's go downstairs and get some Milo," Luke said. Michael looked at him as if he had three heads.
"Some what?"
"Milo, don't you know what Milo is?" Michael shook his head. "It's like, a chocolate powder you mix with milk --"
"That's hot cocoa."
"No, ours is cold."
"What? Why? That's gross, you drink it while it's hot,"
"Americans are weird."
"Australians are weird."
"You're Australian, Michael."
"I was seven when we moved here. I don't remember all of the Australian names for things."
"Doesn't matter, Milo is amazing. But, I'm willing to try hot cocoa."
"You'll like it, promise."
~
Karen brought out the hot cocoa mix she'd made about a month ago and made Michael and herself a mug, whilst Luke was yet to try a sip of Michael's steaming drink.
"Come on, I didn't add anything yet," Michael said, and Luke stared at him.
"Yet? You add things to this?"
"Yeah, like marshmallows, whipped cream, cinnamon, candy canes, stuff like that," Michael explained, shrugging. Luke raised his eyebrows at him. "What? It's good. It's just like your Milo, but hot. Try it."
Luke sighed, taking the warm mug from Michael and taking a small sip from it. It wasn't as bitter like he was thinking it was going to be, and it was sweeter than Milo. He raised his eyebrows and hummed a little bit, making Michael grin.
"Told you you'd like it."
"Yeah, shut up." Michael laughed, and sweetly asked his mother if she could make Luke a cup of cocoa. She did, and Michael got out some whipped cream and cinnamon, adding it to his drink. He let Luke try that, too, and laughed when he got whipped cream on his nose.
"Michael, go wake your father up and get your friends up," Karen said. Michael nodded, racing upstairs to go wake them all up. Luke was on the couch, having stolen Michael's sweater, and it was so long that he had little sweater paws from it. Karen smiled as Luke curled into himself on the couch, finding him endearingly cute.
"Oh, Karen?" Luke called out. Karen peeked out from the kitchen. "Do you know where I can hide a giant present, by any chance?"
"Yeah, just put it behind the tree. There's some space there," Luke nodded, quickly going out to his and the boy's rented car, pulling the giant gift out of the trunk. Karen's eyes widened as she saw Luke carry it in, careful not to hit anything with it as he placed it behind the tree. "What is it?"
Luke turned to her and smiled. "Two guitars - one acoustic, one electric."
"Oh, he'll love that," Karen sighed. "We've never had the chance to get him a guitar, let alone two, with our jobs and all. His dad's a surgeon and I work at a clinic almost every day." Luke nodded.
"Well, now you don't have to worry. I got him two." Karen smiled at him.
"He hid your presents somewhere so that I wouldn't get them confused with anyone else's, so remind him to bring them down instead of taking them to the post office," Luke nodded.
He heard yelling from upstairs, and Karen laughed as Luke jumped.
"He's fine, it's just Daryl being his loud self," Karen said. "He doesn't like Michael waking him up. Michael pinches his cheeks."
Luke giggled, imagining Michael having fun waking up his dad by pinching his cheeks and moving them around.
~
Finally, everyone was settled and in the living room, Luke sprawled out on Michael's chest and legs on the loveseat, Michael's parents sitting on the couch, and Ashton and Calum on the other sofa. Luke saw Michael do a double take at the present behind the tree, confused.
"Good god, who's is that?" Michael asked. Luke smiles a little bit, and Karen pretends not to know as she looks at the tag on the giant box.
"Yours, Mike." She said. Michael raised his eyebrows, before seeing Luke trying not to smile too much.
"What did you do? Is there a corpse in there?" Michael asked Luke, peering at him as he giggled, shaking his head.
"You're opening that one last, that's for damn sure." Luke stated, making Michael pout.
They started with Michael's parent's gifts, and Luke made sure to get his dad a watch, seeing as Michael complained he was always late to things, and his mother some expensive chocolate, which she dearly appreciated. Daryl got Karen a few daisies, which she laughed at for some reason, and two tickets to a ski resort in Colorado. Michael cheered, seeing as he'd finally catch a break from his parents this week, making Karen smack him upside the head and causing the boys to laugh.
Because everything was last-minute for the boys, Calum, Ashton, and Luke only got presents from each other and Michael, but it was fine. Calum got a new football/soccer ball, seeing as he still played for the school's team, a bunch of video games, and a 20%-off discount for all guitars at their local music shop, seeing as he'd wanted a bass guitar for a while now. Ashton got a bandanna from Luke as an inside joke, pitch black drumsticks from Michael, and athletic tape from Calum, seeing as he'd injured his wrists more times than Calum has sprained his ankles. (Which was a lot.)
Luke and Michael didn't open each others presents when it was their turn, seeing as Michael wanted to be cheesy and open the presents last. Luke got customized guitar picks from Calum, and laughed when he saw that there were tiny dicks on the rainbow-coloured picks, along with other things. Ashton gave him a stuffed penguin, and he squealed, making Michael jump.
"I like penguins." Luke explained, not caring to elaborate any further on the matter, making Michael chuckle.
"I'll keep that in mind."
Michael laughed when he saw what Calum had gotten him; a photo from when Calum came to LA when they were fourteen. He was pulling a stupid, derpy-looking face, whilst Calum was in the middle of falling off of a table. His parents got him a set of games he'd been eyeing every time he saw them and a pair of combat boots to replace his old, tattered ones.
"I'm still gonna wear my old boots," Michael said as he tried the new boots on, making his mother groan and his dad laugh.
"See, I told you he'd still wear those ones," Daryl chided.
"Those contain too many memories for me to forget about them. Like when Calum wrote on the heel of them in white sharpie."
"The good old days," Calum sighed, and Michael smiled.
Ashton got him a set of black and white earrings, seeing as Michael said he'd gotten tired of wearing the little dangling ones back in Australia. They weren't anything too fancy, just rubber circles on each side, but Michael grinned when he saw them.
"Alright, lovebirds, get your cheesiness over with," Karen said, making Calum snort.
"Good luck with that."
Michael ignored them and reached for the smaller box that Luke had wrapped in simple red paper, tearing it open. There was a small, black little box that he opened carefully, seeing a simple metal cuff bracelet inside. On the outside, in cursive engraving, it said "'til we meet again," and on the inside, "I'll miss the fuck out of you." Michael cooed, giving Luke a kiss on the cheek and showing his mum when she tried to peek over his shoulder. She was a little irked by the profanity, but she let out an 'aw, that's cute' nonetheless.
Luke handed him a bigger box, and Michael's eyes widened at the surprisingly heavy weight.
"If this is a dumbbell, I'm going to scream." Michael stated, making Luke laugh.
"It's not a dumbbell, idiot." Luke chuckled, and Michel rolled his eyes.
He opened the box once the wrapping paper was off, seeing a bunch of tissue paper and bubble wrap surrounding something. Gently taking it all off, Michael grinned as he saw a glass jar filled with folded paper, almost to the brim. Masking tape covered the top of the lid with Luke's slightly curvy scrawl writing out a message.
Merry Christmas, Mikey. This is a giant jar filled with little notes that I've been writing in English and Maths for the past four months for you, but I didn't really know what to do with them until now. So, here you go. Enjoy my barely legible handwriting.
Michael had a shit-eating grin on his face as he was reading it, and when he looked up at Luke, he could see Luke was blushing a bit. He gave him a peck on his nose, proceeding to carefully open the jar. Instantly, some paper popped up and almost fell out of the jar, making Michael scramble to get them back in. Calum and Ashton laughed as he tried to put them back in the jar, while Luke just shook his head, giggling.
"How did you manage to get it this full?" Michael asked, and Luke shrugged.
"Magic of pure Australian hands." Luke teased. Michael rolled his eyes, before reading a few.
Maths is boring. I'd rather be watching you fail at COD and FIFA.
Calum is flicking my ear. Punish him.
Maybe I should dye my hair black. Should I? I think I'd look hot with black hair.
You should dye your hair blue. Or lilac - Lilac is a pretty colour. A pretty colour for a pretty boy, right? I think that's a great reason to dye your hair lilac.
Michael felt himself blush at the last one, even though he himself had been considering dying his hair lilac.
"Fuck you," Michael whined, and Luke read the note over, grinning.
"Language!" Karen scolded.
Michael ignored her and glared at Luke, who was smiling at Michael cheekily.
Michael was finally able to open the giant, vertical present behind the tree, and once he got it out and onto the floor, he tore the wrapping paper eagerly, ignoring his parents teasing him. He lifted the top part of the strangely shaped black case - instead of it being completely straight, one side was slanted - and gaped, seeing a sleek, glossy, black electric guitar in the black felt. He strummed the guitar once, and saw that it was pre-tuned to how Michael liked it.
"Oh my god," He whispered. "Oh my fucking god."
Luke giggled a little at his boyfriends' face, making him look up at Luke with the same shocked face. He was slightly aware of Ashton and Calum peering over his shoulder, irking him, but he just stared at Luke for another moment.
"Oh my god." Michael said. Luke laughed, seeing as his boyfriend was speechless.
"Look under the box," Luke giggled. Michael carefully lifted the guitar box out of the wrapping paper and seeing another, identical box and lifted the latches on that one to see an acoustic guitar in the black felt, with he same tuning as the electric guitar. Luke fished a bag out of his pocket and threw it into Michael's lap. It was full of bright coloured guitar picks, and one black one with Luke's name engraved at the top. His boyfriend just kept his jaw dropped, almost as if he didn't think that this was for him.
"Oh. My. God." Michael said, his lips finally stretching into an impossibly wide grin that made his cheeks ache. He carefully moved around the guitars, before tackling Luke into the love seat, tipping it a little bit and scaring Luke to death. Michael peppered kisses all over Luke's face, muttering 'thank you' impossibly fast between each one, making everyone else laugh as Luke grinned up at Michael.
Michael finished off his attack by giving Luke a picture-perfect kiss, making Luke swoon. He would've lifted his foot if he had been standing up.
"You're welcome," Luke giggled as Michael pulled away.
"Best," Michael pecked him on the forehead, "boyfriend," on the nose, "ever," and finally on his lips, making Luke grin. Michael looked back at the guitars, pausing, before looking back at Luke. "Jesus, those must've cost a fortune, you didn't have to --"
"Michael. Shut up. I bought you two guitars. Don't worry about my finances, which are perfectly fine, by the way." Luke said, poking him in the side. "I have a job and a brother."
Michael grinned again, pecking him on the lips and handing him a little light blue box with a bow clipped onto it. Luke instantly put the bow on his head with a straight face and stared Michael down, until he smiled at Luke's ridiculous behaviour. He grinned and let Michael and Calum take a picture of him like that, before ripping at the wrapping paper and opening a navy blue box, seeing a silver chain and a wide ring on the end of it. It was simple, but when he looked at the inside, he saw words engraved into it. Looking closer, he saw that it was a repetitive sentence - "my little dancer." He smiled, putting the ring necklace on. It made Michael smile at how he instantly started to adore the simple thing.
Luke reached for a huge, yet thin present. He opened the wrapping paper and studied the collage of pictures - some of Michael, some of beautiful sunsets, some of Luke himself, and one where he and Michael were laughing, dead center.
"I'm gonna hang his up on my door and show it to everyone like a trophy." Luke declared. "That's a fact."
Michael and Calum laughed, and if it weren't for Michael's family being in the same room, Luke would've kissed Michael then and there. He settled for giving him a huge smile, and went to reach for the last present Michael had given him. It looked to be a number of things, though.
He carefully opened the box they were inside, seeing a CD with writing on the top of it in black sharpie, the flannel that Luke stole from Michael almost every day in Australia, and a bunch of pictures in frames - Ashton took most of them. They'd been sitting on the roof in one, silhouettes against the sunset sky, one where Michael mindlessly played with Luke's hair whilst trying to fall asleep, another where Luke had a shit-eating grin on his face as Michael played the guitar and sang, and so many others that filled the box to the top. He felt tears prick at his eyes a bit and cooed at the pictures as he looked over them, remembering the memories as if they were yesterday. He went to read the writing on the CD, smiling as he recognised Michael's small caps.
I want you to dance to these songs, film it, and send them to me. Or do it in person, either one works perfectly fine, my little dancer x
He giggled, looking up at Michael and shuffling to give him a hug and lay on him. The others cooed at their cheesy antics, but the couple decided to ignore it as Michael wrapped his arms around Luke's waist as he turned around and laid on Michael.
It was a great Christmas.