start a fight [muke af]

xxi

xxi

Needless to say, Luke was surprised when they let Calum bring his unit out at the same time Luke's unit was. Maybe they didn't realize his unit was out, but it was too late by the time they noticed.

Luke was happy to be back on days. It was November and brisk. Unit 5 was awful, but being a rookie again meant that he was able to stay out of fights.

He noted the difference between the two units. Clifford and Barakat were in the shade together, Clifford had his feet chainedâloose enough he could walk, tight enough he couldn't run.

Calum came up behind Luke, giving him a harsh pat on the back. So harsh that Luke lost breath. "Fucking moron," he swore.

"How're you doing, Buddy?" Calum asked, putting an arm around Luke.

"I saw you this morning at the gym, you know exactly how I'm doing." Luke crossed his arms over his chest as he looking around the courtyard. "Do you think they're gonna fight?" He made a nudge towards Michael and Jack, both unusually calm.

"Probably. Your man has gotta gain his dominance again."

"Don't call him that."

Calum rolled his eyes. "Has he gotten into any fights in the your unit?"

Luke shook his head. "Everyone is so scary there, Dude. I think even Michael is scared of them." He watched the older man, his dirty blonde hair falling over his eyes and he joked about something with the taller inmate.

He knew Clifford and Barakat, they were about to fight. They would go from making penis jokes to trying to break each others arms in less than thirty seconds. Luke was convinced they fought out of boredom more than anything.

"Have you just hid in the corner when anything happens?"

"It's so different. Like, they're all always acting up but they're also always locked up. It's weird." Luke kicked at the dirt around his toes, making circles in the dry mud.

Calum watched both of their units, judging 90 percent of them. "Do you think Barakat and Clifford are about to fuck or fight?"

Luke looked up at them, both of them tensing up and stepping closer every few minutes. "Probably fight."

"Everyone is a little gay in jail. You know what I mean?"

"No."

Cal nudged his work partner, "Yes you do."

"You're bothering me."

He put a hand to his chest. "Wow, I'm hurt right now. I thought we were friends." Calum moved, putting an arm around the younger boy. "Tbh, I totally dig you and Michael."

"Did you just say 'tbh'?"

"You're missing the point here, Rookie."

"We joined at the same time," Luke pointed out.

Cal raised his hand, slapping the back of his headânot hard enough to hurt him. "Stop avoiding the conversation."

"I mean, yeah, he's alright on the eye but he's an asshole." Luke pushed Calum off of him, taking a step away. Calum was a touch-y type of guy: He liked having his hands around Luke while they talked.

Luke didn't really like being touched.

"He gets out soon, right? Are you gonna stay in touch and fuck?"

"Dude," Luke stopped there, not really wanting to continue the situation. He was hoping something would happen, causing them to stop their conversation. Maybe a lighting bolt would come out of the dry sky and set a cactus on fire. Or maybe the floods would come and Luke would need to be Moses and part the sea.

Technically, though, that was just a tide. No one fucking parted a sea. At least that's what Luke theorized.

They did get a distractionâit just wasn't what they wanted.

There's a certain sound of a fist going straight into a face that's truly awful. Luke could feel himself cringe when the familiar sound filled the outside courtyard.

Everything felt slower as he turned to he left, watching Michael deliver another punch to Jack's jaw. The sweat dripping from the back of Luke's neck felt stickier, the feeling in his stomach felt worse.

"It's been ten minutes!" Calum yelled, making his way over to the two inmates.

Luke was quick behind him.

Calum was facing Michael, trying to push him back. Luke took Jack, figuring his height advantage could help while dealing with Barakat. Michael wasn't tall, he couldn't really take Luke.

Michael pushed forward, getting around Calum and trying to bruise his knuckles once more. It was as if Michael liked being in pain. He liked the bruises on his skin, the blood breaking through.

When Jack flinched one way, Luke flinched the other. Flinching to the right put him directly in Michael's pathway. The strong power of his fist that was aimed for the side of Jack's face went directly into Luke's nose.

There was a pause in breath when the buzzing feeling of pain filled the thin bones in Luke's nose.

"Fuck!" He swore, holding at his nose. Luke shoved Jack back, letting another officer hold him as three other pulled Michael against the wired fence. The in-pain blonde didn't have time to figure out where those several officers were seconds ago.

Everything simply happened in seconds, flashes of life.

Luke took his right hand from his nose, globs of dark red blood around his finger tips. He didn't look behind him, he didn't want to see the inmates or the officers. He stormed through the courtyard, trying to figure out where to go to fix his nose.

He shouldn't have left. It was his job to make sure the inmates didn't act up while his back was turned. Luke knew Ashton was going to scold him but the only thing the teenager could think of was his nose and the extreme pain filling his head.

Luke didn't cry, he didn't make a fuss. He just wanted to come out of it all with a cute nose.