start a fight [muke af]

epilogue part i

epilogue part i

FIVE YEARS SINCE MICHAEL'S RELEASE

"I said cross!" Michael yelled, pushing Luke back once more. "Breathe! Breathing!"

Luke's lungs felt as if they were being ripped out of his body as he threw another hit to the gloves on Michael's fists. He watched the tattooed skin—the very few pale spots left—turn shades of vermillion as he, too, sweated out buckets.

"On your two, on your two," Michael yelled once more, pushing Luke back again. "Bend your knees, rotate your fist."

Luke collapsed onto the mat like a starfish. He kept his eyes closed as he tried to catch his breath. He slowly opened his eyelids to see his lover staring down at him, his hands on his hips.

"Really? Again?"

"Not made for this," Luke said, his breath staggered.

Mike reached down a hand, connecting their fingers and pulling Luke up again. He rested his hands on the broad shoulders of the younger blonde, their sweaty foreheads slowly pressing together.

Their breathing was in heaves as they simply stared at each other with matching eyes. "You good?" Michael asked.

Luke leant in, pecking at his lips. "I am now." He jumped back, stripping off his tank top and throwing it over the boxing ropes.

"Are you up for some cardio training?"

Luke looked back at him, giving him a look that said no fucking way.

"Okay! Okay! Just asking!" Michael defended. "Wanna go home now?"

"Duh." Luke jumped over the ropes of the boxing ring. He grabbed his shirt, placing it over his bare shoulder. "Did you book the venue for our wedding this morning like I asked you to?"

The boxing studio was empty as it was after hours. Luke changed back into his lazy clothes next to the mat as Michael jumped over the ropes, getting his own work out bag unzipped.

"Uh, yeah."

"You didn't," Luke stated, "I called them at lunch."

Michael sighed. "You know I hate calling people. This isn't 1804, Twink."

Luke threw his work out bag on top of his left shoulder, pulling out his phone and checking up on notifications. "First of all, they didn't have phones in 1804. Second, I'm your fiancé, not twink. Third, if we wanna get married this summer then we have to get our shit together."

Mike wrapped his arm around Luke's waist, pulling him closer to his side. Their bodies were dripping with sweat, but it was a normal thing to them. "We could get married at a trashy bar and I'd be okay with it."

Luke waited by the door for Michael to set their alarm system and check everything was locked up and ready for the night.

Michael opened his 'legal fight club'—aka a boxing studio—four and a half years ago. Now, there are over one hundred stores around the west coast of the United States. Five years makes a change. Mike got off probation and hasn't been in any trouble since.

He and Luke began seeing each other the day after Michael's release. They were an exclusive couple a few weeks later. Fourteen months went by until Luke proposed the idea of moving in together.

Michael was living with his mother and Luke was living with his parents at the time. They were growing older and closer. They knew that they were going to get married one day.

Michael proposed to Luke exactly four years after his release. They were already low-key celebrating with Michael's mother, so Mike found it to be the right time.

"Okay, we have 30 seconds before it goes off," Michael said, jogging back towards Luke. He held open the door for his lover, letting him out first. Mike locked the front door behind them as he turned around to grab Luke's hand.

"The ballroom fits about fifty people, so it'll be a nice-sized wedding." Luke gave Mike his work out bag, letting him throw it into their backseat.

"Should we invite Ashton?"

"He's still my boss," Luke said with a laugh, "We probably will." He hopped up in the passenger seat, letting Mike drive home.

Michael turned on they ignition, pulling out of the empty parking lot and onto the dark country roads. "We should let him make a speech, a nice toast."

Luke laughed as he put his feet up on the dashboard. "That's a terrible idea."

"Why? His ex-prisoner and current employee getting it on, isn't that some fanfic fairy tale?" Michael rested his left hand on top of the steering wheel, reaching over to rest his right hand on Luke's outstretched leg.

"That's terrible, Michael."

"Are you gonna wear a dress?"

"No."

"Why? You'd look really hot."

Luke rolled his eyes. "I wore that thong for you because you asked and it was your birthday. It's not happening again."

Mike sighed. "Fine. What are we wearing, though? Like, tuxes? I don't think I've ever worn a tux." He pulled onto their street, all the houses dark as it was an hour past midnight.

"You're not wearing skinny jeans to our wedding."

"I wasn't able to wear skinny jeans for ten years, Lucas." Michael opened up their garage, pulling next to Luke's parked car. "Do you work tomorrow?"

Luke nodded as he pulled out his heavy bag. "I work in six hours, actually."

"Call off, I wanna go to Waffle House."

Luke rolled his eyes and hopped from the car. "That's not happening tonight, sorry."

Michael whined as he got his own bag and followed Luke into the house, complaining about his need for waffles. "What about this weekend?"

"I have to go in for evaluation on Saturday, but I'll be back by 3."

"But I work at the store from noon to closing." Michael dumped his bag on top of Luke's, knowing it annoyed him. He followed his almost-husband up the stairs, running the last few steps to grab him and throw him over his shoulders.

Even though Luke was at his peak in muscle density, he was still so small compared to Michael. Mike would constantly pick him up like a rag doll simply to bother him.

The blonde accepted it, letting him carry him to their bedroom. "We can go after our own training session, it's open all night."

"We can skip training and eat instead." Michael threw Luke down on their unmade bedsheets, smiling when the younger boy giggled. He stripped off his sweats and jumped next to the blonde.

"Okay, sounds like a date." Luke curled up to Michael's side, pressing his lips to the older man's cheek.

Lots can change in five years.

There were still problems, there would always be problems. Sometimes Michael would get angry, sometimes Luke would get sad. Sometimes, Michael would wake up screaming because nightmares involving his father simply wouldn't rid his head.

Michael wanted a big family like Calum's, but Mike knew that he was getting older every day. Even though Luke is a decade younger than him and could pop out kids for another few years, Mike didn't want to do that to the kids. He didn't want his kids having an old father who couldn't run around with them or really be there for them.

They had a long time to figure out the rest of their lives, though. 

(a/n) I DECIDED TO MAKE IT FOUR PART EPILOGUE BECAUSE I LOVE YOU