Queer as Muke

1.21.6 Running To Stand Still

"The things my tongue could do to his nipples!" Calum says, as he and his friends track a guy's progress around the bar. "...That is if I were single!" he clarifies.

"I'm right there with you, only I'd go for his abs..." Sam nods appreciatively.

"Well, I'd like to thank you boys for leaving me the most tender delectable morsel..." Corey wets his lips. "Now that Michael's going to be out of the picture, I may actually stand a chance!"

"You don't sound like you're going to miss him?" Calum asks, turning his head reluctantly away from the hot guy.

"I'm certainly not going to miss being told 'I'm gone!' every time some hunk appears!"

"And I'm not going to miss him going on about my age!" Sam declares adamantly.

"I did think his comment about Dead Man Walking was kind of amusing!" Corey laughs as Sam glares at him. "What? I said kind of!"

"Or knowing you're always going to be his Plan B!" Calum muses.

"Or sometimes Plan C!" Corey's more realistic.

"I won't miss spending $300 on a shirt at the Calvin Klein Collection only to have everyone stare at Michael's bare chest!" Sam shakes his head, that was such a bad day.

"Or be forced to wait outside a sex club in the dead of Winter because he needs a ride home!" Calum grins, thinking back to all the times he's shivered in the cold waiting for Michael.

"What I will miss though, is how he never takes shit from anyone," Corey admits quietly.

"Or how he tells you the truth about yourself, even if it is harsh. But you should probably hear it anyway," Sam concedes.

"And how he refuses to let you coast through your life..." Calum adds, knowing that none of them would be where they are now had it not been for Michael's sage advice and counsel, disguised as it was, in wit and sarcasm. "...No I'm not going to miss that at all," he lies, thinking back to all the times he's pushed against Michael who's only been trying to spur him on into doing things he would never normally do.

~~~

Michael's taking a shower when Luke arrives, calling to him that he won't be long. After he's finished, he wraps a towel around his waist, coming out of his bedroom to see Luke on his laptop.

"These are disgusting! Really sick!" Luke comments, clicking the mouse as he grimaces at the screen.

"Are you looking at those hetero porn sites again? I told you, they're going to warp your young mind!"

"It's not porn!" Luke grins up at Michael as he arrives in front of his work desk. "It's apartment rentals in Melbourne, I can't believe what they're charging for this shithole!" Luke turns the screen so Michael can see what he's talking about.

"Hmmm, you know with what they're going to be paying me I can afford three times that?" Michael points out, looking at the price range Luke's put in.

Luke looks flabbergasted, and not only at the very tight small towel that Michael's wearing, "You mean this is cheap?!"

"Yup," Michael turns away, going to answer his mobile that's ringing. "Yup?"

"Michael! It's Rob calling from Seed Dynamic in Melbourne!"

Michael walks away from Luke to take the call, smiling to himself as he goes back into his bedroom, "Oh hey! I've been waiting to hear from you! What's the deal?"

"Er, well, the deal is there is no deal," Rob sounds apologetic, as Michael gets a very bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. "They decided to promote from within. Some twenty five year old hotshot. Look, I'm really sorry about this..."

Michael shakes himself out of his shock and stupor, "Don't worry, to tell you the truth after weighing my options, I've decided to go with someone else..." he lies smoothly, turning his head to look quickly back at Luke, who's still pouring over accommodation options.

"Now I don't feel so bad. Give me a call the next time you're down here, I'd love to hook up again."

"Yeah. Sure." Michael clicks his phone off, looking as if all the wind has been knocked out of him, his eyes darting about the room as he mourns for what wasn't to be, stunned and surprised that his dreams haven't turned into reality like he was assuming they would.

~~~

"You didn't tell me you were coming home tonight!" Calum calls as he runs over to Stephen when the front door opens, hugging him tight before he's even put his bags down.

"Last minute thing!" Stephen laughs as Calum peppers his face with kisses.

"Your face is cold! So how'd it go?"

"Well I convinced Oli not to quit the footie team..."

"That's a start!" Calum picks up Stephen's bags for him so he can get through the door.

"...And he's going to go to see a psychologist..."

"I knew you could help him!"

"...But mostly we sat around, ate pizza and watched the sports channels!" Stephen smiles, knowing Calum would approve of the no schedule approach.

Calum beams, "See that's the most important part! It's not what you say or do, it just being there!"

Stephen's face gets serious as he nods in agreement, "That's why I've got to go back."

"Well you should! Maybe this Summer we could take a trip?"

Shaking his head, Stephen disagrees, "No, I was thinking sooner."

Calum looks at his boyfriend's face, realising that something else is going on, "How much sooner?" he asks in a small voice.

"Right away."

"For how long?"

"I'm not sure," Stephen admits, "All I know is that he needs me and it's important that I'm there."

Calum takes a breath, not really knowing what to say, or how to be supportive. "Well, what about your practice and your friends and the house?"

"I was thinking about that on the way home," Stephen says, sliding onto one of their dining room chairs. Calum doesn't like how their conversation seems to have just turned into a meeting. "I could lease the house for a year, one of my colleagues could take over my practice, his Mum's got some friends who are doctors, they would provide me with referrals..."

Calum blinks, this is more than just some time spent with his son, this is an entire move over to the other side of the country. He slowly sits down in a chair opposite, "So you've practically got this all figured out?"

"Well there is one thing that I don't know what to do with..." Stephen looks at Calum, his expression one of worry and hope mixed together.

"Oh! Well, don't worry about me. I understand, Oliver comes first," Calum says quietly, his thoughts all fuzzy and confused.

"It's not a race Calum, there is no first. You're as important to me as he is. What I was hoping, is that you would come with me."

Calum's eyes widen as Stephen's words sink in, seeing that he's serious.