Michael
Michael knew it. Luke was blonde.
He pictured an angel when Luke described what he looked like, the cherub kind with deep dimples and flushed cheeks. The blind man guessed he wasn't too far off in his image. After Luke finished, he'd insisted that Michael describe himself because, "It's only fair!" Michael knew with a pout that sounded that cute, he could never say no. He described himself as best as he could to Luke, reminding the blonde that he didn't know what he was wearing, but it was probably black. Luke laughed.
Michael's smile only widened the longer he listened to Luke talk. He couldn't remember the last time he'd smiled so much. It was well before his accident; he knew that for sure.
"Okay, okay," Michael sighed as he stopped laughing. "I give up, I suppose Juliet is dealing with the trauma from the house fire," It was ridiculous to Michael that he was arguing over his own book, but he loved it. He'd never had someone challenge him like this before.
"Thank you! That's all I've been saying,"
A thump vibrated the wall, and Michael laughed as Luke whispered a quiet 'ow'.
"I mean, how could she not? She literally watched her father burn to death! Talk about daddy issues. No wonder she can't admit her feelings for Nathan yet. Do you think they'll work things out by the next book?"
Michael loved the excitement he heard in Luke's voice.
"I don't know," Michael played with the loose string on the bottom of his sweater as he fought a smile. "We can hope."
He heard Luke sigh.
"I guess so. God, I wish I knew M.G May, I'd write her a letter and ask."
Michael snorted. "How do you know it's a she?"
Luke giggled and Michael's cheeks began to hurt from smiling so much.
"I guess I don't know M.G May is a woman, I just have a feeling, I mean the way they write about love it's just..."
"Love?" Michael's eyebrows furrowed, "What love?"
"Are you kidding me?" Luke screeched, and Michael heard his bed springs squeak as he sat up.
"No? They fuck and they fight... Nothing too romantic about that. It's more tragic than anything else."
"But that's the point, isn't it?"
And okay, now Michael was really confused. "What?"
Luke sighed and shifted around on his side of the wall. "Their love is so much deeper than all the lovey dovey shit Hallmark is always trying to sell, ya'know? They don't even know they're in love because they're not supposed to be in love. They can fuck and fight all they want, because at the end of the day, they understand each other in a way no one else does."
Michael's jaw was on the floor by the time Luke finished his rant. He had really never thought about it like that before. Love was never something Michael wanted to write about, but now he was looking at his books from a whole new perspective.
"Wow... if I didn't know any better, I'd say you were M.G May." Michael teased and his chest tingled as Luke laughed.
"Maybe I am M.G May."
Michael snorted and laid back in his bed. "Wouldn't that be the surprise of a lifetime, living next door to M.G May."
"Oh god, I could only wish. I swear, if I ever did meet them, they'd probably think I'm some sort of obsessive freak."
Michael pulled his sweater down over his hands, the permanent blush he had when talking to Luke was starting to make him feel feverish. "I think whoever they are, they'd think your obsession is cute."
"Oh please, that's such a lie!" Luke laughed and Michael couldn't help but join in. After a couple moments, Luke sighed. "Sometimes I do think about them, ya'know?"
Michael's heart skipped a beat in his chest. Luke thought about him? Well, not him, but his pseudonym... it counted!
"That sounds crazy doesn't it?"
Before Michael could respond, Luke was rambling.
"I just mean, I don't know, I've been reading their books since the first came out and it's become my safe place, you know? Especially after everything I've went through the last few years. I'm just so in love with M.G May's books that sometimes it feels like I'm in love with them and understand them on some sort of deeper level, and I can't help but think about what they must be like." Luke sighed and he could just picture the cute blonde sitting cross-legged on the other side of the wall.
"Calum thinks it's dumb I have a crush on someone I don't know... but I feel like I already know them through their writing and I just fall more and more in love with each book..." Michael heard the hesitation in his voice, even if it was almost blocked out by the pounding of Michael's heart.
The fluttering feeling in Michael's stomach was something he'd never experienced before; it was terrifying and exhilarating all at once.
"You probably think it's stupid," Luke sighed, and Michael realized he'd been so lost in his thoughts of Luke that he forgot to respond.
"No!" Michael cleared his throat, "I-I mean, no I... I get it." It was quiet across the wall.
"So, you don't think I'm crazy for being in love with some random famous person?" Michael could have snorted. Famous? That was a first. Sure, Michael had a small cult following on the internet, but famous? That was a title reserved for the Fitzgerald's and Tolkien's of the world. Michael had three books in the back corner of the mystery section at Barnes & Noble.
"I'm really in no position to judge."
"Oh yeah? You in love?"
Michael knew Luke was teasing, but he also, just maybe, sounded interested? It was Michael's turn to shrug.
"I never thought of it as a possibility," Michael picked at the hangnail on his thumb. He had no idea what made him open up to Luke so easily. It had taken him over a year with a certified therapist to get this far.
"I guess after my accident I just resigned myself to being alone, it was easy."
It was quiet for a moment. Michael loved how Luke took to process and think before speaking.
"It might be easy, but that doesn't mean it will make you happy... You deserve to be happy, Michael."
Michael took in a shaky breath as his heart pumped erratically.
"But you don't really know me. What if I'm a convicted killer or something."
He always had to ease the tension in a room, now was no exception.
Luke laughed and it brought the smile back to Michael's lips. His face was beginning to hurt from all the smiling he'd been doing since he met Luke.
"You could be... But I like to think I know you pretty well, and you don't seem like the murderous type to me."
Michael smiled.
"Oh yeah? And how do I come across to you?"
Luke paused again to think. "Genuine."
Michael liked that answer.
"So, tell me something about you, Luke"
"Like what?" He could hear the smile in the blonde's voice, and it was contagious.
"I don't know," Michael sighed, pulling his blankets up around his body, "tell me something real. Something people wouldn't know by looking at you."
There was a long pause and Michael began to wonder if Luke had fallen asleep, it was nearing 2 am after all.
"I was put in foster care when I was 15." His voice was quieter, more subdued than Michael had ever heard it, and he could tell it took the boy a lot of strength to admit this.
"My birth mom was extremely bipolar and never took her meds." Michael heard Luke clear his throat awkwardly and knew he must not tell this story often. "Anyways, she worked as an escort down off 46th street when she wasn't running off during a manic episode. I picked up shifts here and there bussing tables at Connie's after school to make sure we weren't evicted... again. We were doing okay for a while, but then she left, and I thought it was just another one or two weeklong thing, ya'know? But she never came back."
Michael's heart ached for the blonde boy sitting on the other side of the wall. He couldn't imagine, only 15 years old and waiting for his mom to come home.
"CPS picked me up about two months later after a tip off from one of my teachers. I was a pretty good student, but I'd started skipping school and falling asleep in class because I was trying to get as much work as I could. Near the end of it..." Michael could hear the wobbling in Luke's voice and the deep breath as he pulled himself together. "I was in over my head and short the money for rent, so I called up my mom's handler. He had a few young guys he sold out on Saturday nights and he'd agreed to take me on. I was supposed to meet with him the day after my teacher overheard me talking to my friend about it. At first, I was pissed because I thought I could do it on my own. I was a determined little shit," He forced out a laugh. "I was already so used to being the adult in my house that I figured being completely on my own would be okay... but looking back on it, I'm really glad she did what she did because otherwise I wouldn't have met Liz and Andrew, my foster parents."
Michael could hear the smile in Luke's voice and his own lips quirked up.
"I honestly don't think I'd be alive today if it wasn't for them. So... yeah."
His heart bled for the boy next door. How could God have let one of his little cherub angels suffer so immensely? He wanted to reach out and wrap his arms around him.
"The only people that know the full story are Cal and my parents... and now you." Michael's breath caught in his throat.
"W-why did you tell me then?"
"Because I trust you."
Michael pressed himself closer against the wall. His heart beat wildly in his chest as he worked up the courage to ask what was on his mind.
"Luke," he took a deep breath. The question was on the tip of his tongue. "Would you like to grab a cup of coffee sometime?"
He heard a sharp intake of breath. He shouldn't have asked. He should have kept his mouth shut. Why would someone as perfect as Luke ever want to go out with someone like him?
"Like... a date?"
Luke's voice was guarded. Michael couldn't tell what he was thinking and his heart hammered harder in his chest.
"I... if you want?" If it wasn't obvious, he'd never done this before. He had no idea how to ask a boy on a date and he was sure he was making a fool of himself.
"I..."
Michael held his breath as he awaited Luke's response. "How does six on Friday sound?"
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A/N: Hi everyone, I promise I'm not dead! I'm just busy being an adult and it sucks being busy 24/7. I promise I haven't forgotten about my books! I love this story too much to give up any time soon!
Love you all, please if you're enjoying it keep voting, commenting and sharing!
xoxo Emma