From Lukey, to Mikey ; muke [completed]

04 | LUKE

I pulled the beanie over my hair and smoothed my Misfits muscle tee. I hopped down the stairs, my overnight bag bouncing off my hips. "Mom! Dad! I'm ready!" I shouted.

My mom, standing in the kitchen on her cell phone, took my breath away. "Mom, you look beautiful!" She smiled at me and pressed her hand to her chest dramatically. Her black dress flattered her figure and her sparkling jewelry was an attention grabber.

"Come on, we don't want to be late." She said, following my dad and I out to the car. In ten short minutes, I was at Michael's house. "Have fun darling. Don't drink and drive, please."

"Yes, mum."

"And use protection, Lucas."

"Mum! I'm hanging out with the lads..." I blushed a bright red and hurried out of the car. "There will be no girls, it's just us. I promise."

"Okay, baby. Go in now." I pecked her cheek hastily and rushed into Michael's unlocked house. I marveled in awe at the multi-colored, hanging lights. His Christmas tree was bright and gave off such a vibrant mood. It really was Christmas.

The TV was on the Christmas music channel. There were special speakers hooked up so it would be louder.

"They're singing deck the halls..." Michael sang as he took the cupcakes out of the oven. He clearly hadn't noticed me yet. "But it's not like Christmas at all... I remember when you were here..."

"And all the fun we had last year!" I finished at the top of my lungs, causing him to jump and nearly drop all of the cupcakes. I doubled over in laughter.

"God damnit Lucas!" He half-shouted, half-cackled. "You almost made me smush all these cupcakes! You would've had to help me make more! And I know you suck at baking."

"Sorry, Mikey." I pouted, dropping my stuff on the couch and walking into the kitchen, gasping. "You're wearing a Christmas apron." It was like one of those ugly Christmas sweaters, but in apron form... so worse.

"Isn't it cute?"

"Oh my god... no, Michael." I gagged. "It's hideous, please let me take it off of you." I spun him around and untied it, then pulled it over his neck and threw it off to the side.

"I have the mistletoe ready for when Cal and Ash show up." He smirked at me, pointing to the doorway into the kitchen. The doorbell suddenly rung and we both knew who that was. "I bet they came together."

I went and got the door - and yes, Michael was right, because Calum and Ashton, both in Santa hats, had arrived. "Ho, ho, ho! Merry Christmas!" Ashton cheered, pushing past me.

"Oh, do I smell cupcakes?" Calum asked curiously, also pushing past me and into the house.

"Wow! Thanks for the jolly holiday greetings." I said sarcastically and shut the door behind me. Ashton, who was oblivious, stood under the mistletoe with the apron in his hands, giggling.

"Cal, you gotta come see this ugly ass apron." Ashton chuckled.

Calum rushed to his side and frowned tightly. "I don't think it's that ugly..."

I glanced at Michael, but he was already staring back at me with a slight smile on his face. "Mistletoe!" We both yelled simultaneously, causing the other two to fall silent.

Their faces turned bright red. No one moved for a few seconds before Ashton leaned over and kissed Calum's cheek, lingering for a second. He pulled away and Calum blushed furiously, shuffling his feet.

"It's ugly, but it'll look cute on you." Ashton grinned broadly and draped the apron over Calum's neck, then double-knotted the strings in the back.

"It really isn't that ugly." Michael protested, adjusting the volume on the music so we could hear each other speak.

"No, it really is." I snapped. He shot me a dirty look and I laughed again. "I'm sorry I'm not as festive as you, Michael."

"We're going to go take a nap in your room, Mikey." Calum explained, holding Ashton's hand. "We want to be able to party all night. We won't do anything bad, I promise."

Michael simply nodded and watched as they bounded up the stairs, talking quietly to each other. He brought the sugar cookies to the couch where I had sat down.

"I love sugar cookies so much." I lit up and stuffed a whole one in my mouth. "Why aren't you eating any? They're your favorite, aren't they?"

"I dunno, I'm just not hungry." Michael mumbled. I could tell he was lying, he wasn't making eye contact and he was speaking low.

I swallowed my second cookie and became serious. "I've noticed that you're becoming very, very skinny. Are you not eating again?"

"What are you talking about, Luke?" Michael scoffed, inching away from me on the couch. "I'm not skinny, I'm fat. Look at me!"

"Don't say that! You're not fat, you were never fat."

"Luke... I'm sorry..." Michael whined, running his fingers through his hair. "Every single time I look at food, I feel fat. I want to puke. I made all this food to make it seem like I was okay... to make it seem like it didn't disgust me. I decorated the house for hours and played music to distract me from the urge to cut."

I didn't hesitate to wrap my arms around him and engulf him in a hug. I gently rocked him back and forth. "Shh, you're going to be okay. We're going to have fun tonight, just the four of us. I won't let anything hurt you, I'll protect you from everything, I swear."

After minutes of serene silence, I gazed up at the garland hanging from the ceiling. He had decorated so nicely. Thinking that he did it just to distract himself from cutting again made me feel sick to my stomach.

Above us hung green, fresh mistletoe. I shook my head, softly chuckling. "Hey Mikey... did you hang a mistletoe above the couch, too?"

"What?" Michael asked, picking his head up. "Oh. I guess I did." He glanced nervously at me.

I leaned down and pressed a kiss to his lips, feeling him smile halfway through.

-

A/N

It's not actually Christmas yet but I listened to Christmas songs while writing this

BUT THIS CHAPTER

IS ADORABLE

Edited July 2019