on the other side • muke

t h i r t y - four.

so i think, that, i'm going to publish the rest of this story sooooooo ye

+

i woke up to the sound of a lighter flicking on.

"michael?" i asked, blinking my eyes open. i was in my room, michael on the edge of my bed with a pack of cigarettes by his side. "you never told me you smoke, or drank, or cut." he spoke softly, and i noticed the small blunt in his hands.

"i- i stopped." i lied, michael catching on and just shaking his head at me. "you really shouldn't do that."

"i know." i said quietly, watching michael carefully as he flicked the lighter on. "what are you doing?"

instead of replying, i watched as he placed the cigarette between his lips and light it, inhaling deeples and pulling it away from his lips. he breathed the smoke out in front of him and turned to me. "here."

i parted my lips as he put the cigarette between my lips, his two fingers still holding onto it. as i went to inhale though, michael quickly pulled it away and pressed his lips to mine.

his lips tasted like an ash tray as he moved them against mine. i quickly pulled away, my face scrunching up in disgust at the taste. "that's horrible."

"exactly," michael said. "and everytime i kiss you, that's what i taste. and if the flavor tastes bad on my lips then why does it taste good on this?" he questioned, holding the cigarette up to my face.

at first, i touched my lips, frowning because michael never told me i tasted like a chimney. "i don't know."

michael sighed, running a hand through his bed head and crawling over to me. he threw the cigarette on the floor and stepped on it, not caring that he probably ruined my floors. "and you need to lock your doors, don't come to me when someone breaks in."

i nodded, my hands playing with his hair as his head rested on my chest. "sing me something." i smiled, an idea coming into my head.

"what?"

"sing for me."

"what do you want me to sing?"

i slowly pushed michael off of me, holding up a finger telling him to stay as i walked out of the bedroom. i pulled out the box under my couch and and retreated back to the bedroom, seeing michael with a confused look on his face as i set the box in his lap. "open it."

the pale boy carefully lifted the lid off, biting his bottom lip when seeing all the little pieces of paper. "you took these?"

i nodded.

i lifted four stacks of paper that were clipped together. "these i put together, but they're probably wrong."

michael took one from me and undid the paper clip, going through all of them and i walked over to my closet. "i thought i was just singing." he said quietly as i walked over with a guitar. abbie had gotten it for me for my birthday no matter how many times i had told her not to. "too bad."

i watched as he rolled his eyes and took the guitar from me, sitting back against the head board to get comfortable. i sat down in front of him, watching him strum something a little too familiar. [some of the lyrics are switched but it's supposed to be like that k bye]

six weeks since you've been away/ and now you're saying everything has changed/ and i'm afraid that i might be losing you/ now every night that i spend alone/ kills me thinking of you on your own/ and i wish you were back home next to me

oh everyday/ you feel a little bit further away/ and i don't know what to say/ are we wasting time/ talking on a broken line/ telling you i haven't seen your face in ages/ it feels like we're as close as strangers

i won't give up/ even though this hurts so much/ every night i'm loosing you in a thousand places/ now it feels like we're as close as strangers

after that it was another verse and then back to the chorus, michael slowling down as the song came to an end. "i wrote it when i first moved here." he moved the guitar out of his lap and onto the floor. "god i missed you so much."

michael looked at me for a reaction. "i missed you too."

i felt my heart drop at my own words. did i really miss him? i spent most of this time hating him and ignoring him, doing everything i could not to think about him. something felt like it wasn't me, though.

"luke?" michael lifted my chin up, the other hand pulling me closer. "you know i love you right? to the moon and back?"

i nodded slowly.

"say it."

i brought my gaze up to michael, seeing his cheeks start to flush. "i love you."

"i love you too."

"y-you don't, do you?" michael asked, letting go of my chin. a watched as he blinked away tears. "you've always said 'to the moon', and i know you, luke."

"you- you never even missed me either huh? since you worked so hard to get away from me isn't that right?"

i looked at him in disbelief, shoving him back onto the bed. "i love you, michael, i do. and there are a hell of a lot of planets that i could love you to, hell, i love you to pluto, michael."

"pluto isn't a planet." he mumbled and i rolled my eyes before pressing my lips to his. i took his bottom lip between my own and gently sucked, earning a moan from the boy under me. i pulled away, "i love you so much."

"to pluto?"

"to pluto." i chuckled, pressing my lips firmly against his again.