the boxer // lrh au

thirty nine ; michael and i

"act like i'm not here!" i shout, covering myself up with his blanket. though it was merely a phone call and not a facetime, i still felt weird being able to see michael converse with luke. 

"hey luke, what's up?" michael sounded nervous. he was never good at lying or getting himself out of situations. 

"speaker," i whisper, feeling around for michael's body so i could hit him. 

"...hungover." i hear luke's voice say from the other line. 

it was weird to hear luke's voice. it feels like i haven't genuinely heard his voice in months even though i heard it just hours before.  

"hungover? man it's seven in the evening." michael knew that luke was drunk earlier but he was doing a pretty good job of making it seem like this was the first he had heard of luke today. 

"i know mike, but i couldn't get her off of my mind. you have to listen to me man, my mom told me that she had to come over today because she couldn't calm me down and that i kept calling out for bella. not to sound like a wuss but my mom has never had trouble before calming me down before." luke's voice was raspy but he sounded almost sad in a way. 

it seems like just as much as i'm changing him for the better, i was also making him sadder, and even angrier. 

"luke, i know you've never done or felt anything like this before but this is what happens when you feel something deep and intense for someone. let me ask you something. is bella all you can think about?"

"yes." i hear luke say on the other line. 

"does she make you happy?"

"honestly, yeah. she's so innocent, almost pure. she's like the sun in darkness. i don't know how to explain it exactly but ever since i have met her, she's only seen me as luke. not many treat me like that mike."

"okay, shakespeare. whatever you say. how about this, does she make you laugh?"

"yeah, but mike, where is this going?" luke sighs. 

"just trust me. are you planning on breaking her heart luke?" michael asks. 

michael was holding my hand through the cover, comforting me. it's like he knew i was scared for the answer. 

luke takes a few seconds to answer but he finally does. 

"fuck no michael. you should know that. i don't know what i'd do if i ever played her or treated her like i have to other girls in the past. she's not the same mike, she's just not." 

a wide smile appears on my face and i close my eyes. he likes me. he actually does. and although he's cocky and even infuriating at times, i like him too. he's all pros, no cons. 

"then ask her out luke. i know you've never done anything like that but i'll help you plan it out and everything." there was always as much hope in michael's voice as there was in me. 

"but what about tyler? i can't lose my friends michael. they're the only ones i have aside from now you." luke sounded desperate, almost like he needed michael to solve the problem for him. 

"once they see you've changed luke, and that you're making bella happy, they won't care about any of that. and as for that matter luke, you'll always have me. if you make bella happy, then i approve." michael squeezes my hand through the sheet and i wanted to come up from the cover to hug him but i was hopelessly crying at michael's words.  

though i liked luke, i know that if i have michael, everything will be okay. 

"thank you michael. i'll talk to her soon. i've been stressing about this for so long. if i had known that you had all the answers man, i would have called you days ago."

"i always have all the answers. bye luke." michael finally says, hanging up on him.

michael instantly pulls the cover from my head and excitedly shakes me. he stops once he sees my face. 

"oh my god, you were crying weren't you?" he asks, moving from shaking me to hugging me. 

"i love you mikey. you're the best," i say, finally done with crying. 

"aww, i love you bells. anything for my best friend."

michael and i stay like that for a while. we always end up in situations like this. 

"i can't believe i basically just helped you get your first official boyfriend," michael says, pulling away from me. 

"oh my god!" i shriek. "my first official boyfriend! mikey! tyler doesn't even let a boy touch me with a stick! now this sex god takes a liking in me and i have zero experience!"

"woah buddy, let's take it down a notch. may i remind you that i am your best friend so i will give luke a stern talking to about the no sex before marriage rule," mikey says, shoving me lightly to make room for him on the bed. 

"well, i'll have the talk with tyler about shoving a dick up his ass," i mutter, moving over. 

i hear michael gasp and cringe. he definitely was not supposed to hear that.

"how dare you?! i would obvioulsly bottom!" he laughs, taking a pillow and hitting me across the head with it. 

"ew, ew, ew." i mumble in return, getting off the bed as if it was lava. too much information. not to mention, i have only seen tyler bring girls back to his place and never a boy. the last thing i wanted to imagine was my brother fucking my best friend. 

yeah, no thanks. 

michael just giggles in return and leans his head against the bed frame. 

wow, all these years and i never knew that my best friend was gay. either he was really good at hiding it or i genuinely am daft. 

"hey, come here," michael says, breaking me from my thoughts.

i sit back down onto the bed and situate myself between michael to face the t.v. screen. he had put on how i met your mother in the time that i was thinking about him and now we were going to do what we did every other night. 

sit down, with my back to his chest, and do absolutely nothing. even after this roller coaster of a day, learning that my best friend of so many years is gay, and that a world-known boxer who originally seemed annoyed with me actually liked me, michael and i didn't change. 

we never could. 

a/n

uwu as u can tell i'm in my michael feels aka my cheat lane.