When Michael calls Luke a few days later, it goes straight to voicemail. The small boy's eyebrows furrow and he fiddles with his fingers until hesitantly calling again. He holds his breath as he waits, the harsh ringing worsening his anxiety. Luke always picked up, no matter the time.
Once the ringing has stopped, there is a beat of silence before he hears, "What do you want, Michael?"
Michael tugs at the hem of his shirt, voice small as he says, "I just wanted to check up on you and see if your hand was okay. It was all bruised last time I saw--"
"I'm fine," Luke says before he could finish and confusion washes over Michael's face.
"Is this a bad time?" He whispers and Luke sighs.
"Sort of," The blonde murmurs.
"Oh," Michael says, frowning. "I'll go then. Please stay safe and don't smoke, please," The last part is nearly inaudible yet somehow Luke picks it up. He hums on the other line, what sounded like a cross between an "alright" and "I'll try" before the two stammer half-hearted goodbyes.
After the line had gone dead, Michael lays back on Ashton's couch and sighs. Whatever was going on with Luke, he hoped the blonde would be okay. He thinks back to the first time they had met. Luke had gone on about how smoking made the bad things go away. Was whatever Luke was going through what he called the bad things?
The innocent boy sighs again, hoping that wouldn't be the case.
***
Michael sits up with a stretch, and gets up, not sure what to do with himself. First, he straightens up Ashton's place, grateful for letting him stay over once again and just as he's about to sit back down, he hears the front door open. Fear settles into his system before he hears heels clicking on the hardwood floor.
"Hello?" He hears a voice call and he almost instantly recognized it; Clarke, Ashton's girlfriend.
"Oh um, hey Clarke," Michael murmurs, unable to meet her gaze.
"Ashton mentioned something about you crashing at his for a bit. What happened to living with Shawn?"
Michael shrugs his shoulders, the action barely noticeable and says, "Things haven't really been working lately,"
He makes sure to keep his head down and his bruised arm hidden in his sweater sleeves as she sits beside him. "Do you want to talk about it?" She asks and Michael shakes his head, wanting this conversation to end.
"If I do I'll start crying again and I've been doing enough of that lately," The small boy mumbles and the blonde beside him frowns.
"Okay, we don't have to talk about it if you don't want to," Michael smiles gratefully and gives the sweet girl's hand a gentle squeeze.
"Thanks," He whispers. The two sit in silence for a while, Michael resting his head on Clarke's shoulder and Clarke running her fingers through his hair. She didn't know a thing about what Shawn does to Michael and the broken boy didn't want to burden her with the news so makes sure to keep his mouth shut.
"You know when Ashton will be home?" Clarke asks after a few moments of silence and Michael shrugs, shaking his head.
"Sorry I've been such a cockblock," He whispers after a moment of thought and the blonde beside him laughs.
"You're not being a cockblock, Mikey. Whatever is going on your life right now is more important than my and Ashton's sexual relations," The small boy smiles softly at her words with a light laugh and the two then continue in polite conversation until the front door opens once again.
"Oh hey babe," Ashton says with slight surprise at his girlfriend's presence. "Sorry I've been off the radar for so long. Life's just been a bit hectic lately," Clarke nods in understanding and gets up to give her boyfriend a light kiss.
"I came over because I was wondering if you guys would want to go out with me tonight," Ashton nods enthusiastically and Michael doesn't respond for a moment. He figured now would be the perfect time to let the couple do their own thing and make sure he wouldn't intrude. The two look over at the hesitant boy and slowly Michael shakes his head.
"I think I'll just stay here. I'm not really up for going out," He murmurs and the two asks, "Are you sure?" before Michael nods again.
"Of course," The injured boy says. "Have a good time, okay? I'll see you both later,"
The couple nods in afterthought before wishing him a goodbye and once the house is blanketed in silence, Michael gets up and continues to clean Ashton's house. He was used to doing so when he had lived with Shawn. It had meant a beating whenever he hadn't so it seemed almost routine to do so.
Once Michael had finally gotten around to cleaning the living room and had moved onto the kitchen, he hears a knock on the door. With furrowed eyebrows, Michael hovers toward it, unsure if he should answer. Who would be visiting this late at night? With a final moment of doubt, the innocent boy opens the door only to have his blood run cold once he sees Shawn in the doorway. "W-What're you doing here?" He whispers, inching away from his boyfriend as subtly as possible.
"I had a feeling you'd be here. You have no one else but Ashton who cares about you so I came over to come and pick you back up. I've decided to give you a second chance as long as you don't pull anything like you had with that idiotic blonde,"
Michael takes in the bruises lining Shawn's face almost identical to his own and he shakes his head, cowering in fear. "I don't want to come with you," He says, voice incredibly quiet.
"Doesn't seem like you have a choice. Blondie isn't here to protect you this time." Shawn replies, grabbing the boy by the wrist and tugging him toward the doorway.
"Leave me alone, Shawn. I don't want to be with you anymore. I thought that was pretty clear," Michael says, unable to meet his gaze.
The burly boy's eyes flare with anger at his partner's words and he grabs Michael by his chin, grasp rough and unforgiving. "You don't have a say in any of this, Michael. I thought you would've learned that by now,"
Michael winces at both his words and his touch but slowly nods, knowing there wasn't a way out of this. He follows his boyfriend to the car and sits in the passenger's seat without a word, trembling the whole way back to their house.
***
Michael pulls himself out of bed, grimacing when he takes in his naked body in the mirror. Shawn had done the unforgivable to him again, his sinful touch lingering on his skin. Tears fill the ashy blonde's eyes and he slips his clothes on, careful not to wake his boyfriend before leaving the house.
He finds himself at the gas station again, slight limp in his step when he walks inside. The cashier gives him a tired smile given the time of night yet can't help but frown when the boy asks him for a pack of cigarettes. After a concerned glance, he finally asks Michael for his ID before scanning the pack along with a lighter the boy had grabbed last minute and having him pay.
Michael offers him a sad smile before he walks out and sighs when he finds himself under the familiar lamppost of Luke's smoke spot. His small hands are shaking as he unravels the thin plastic from around the carton but as soon as he gets it open, his heartbeat quickens. He knew what cigarettes could do to a person yet all he wanted was to have the bad things to away, just as Luke had promised.
Without another thought, Michael takes out one of the cigarettes and places it between hesitant lips before flicking the lighter and inhaling the harmful toxins.
---
It's been a while since I've updated I feel like and I'm sorry for that. Life has just been crazy lately. I hope you enjoyed nonetheless. Much love.
-Landen xx
Word count: 1385
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Cigarettes *Muke* #Wattys2016
Fanfiction"Y-You should really stop smoking," The voice was soft, harmless and caused Luke to look up, meeting a pair of jade eyes. "Quitting is harder than it looks, sweetheart," Luke mutters, kicking the gravel under his feet. "Why do you do it?" Michael a...
