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Chapter Text

Monday, the 3rd of January 2019

"Luke!" Michael yelled as he ran up to his best friend that was easily noticeable because he towered over everyone else in the school corridor.

It was the first day back at school after the Christmas holidays and Michael hadn't seen Luke since last week as he'd been visiting family in another state, and he didn't want to admit it, but he had really missed his best friend.

"Hey! How're you doing?" Luke smiled at Michael as he stopped by his side.

"I'm alright, I mean- obviously the first day back at school sucks, but as long as I've got you and the other guys it makes up for it" Michael chuckled as Luke rolled his eyes, a small smile spread across his face.

As they turned the corner of the corridor, Luke noticed a short green blob of hair shuffling through the crowd with his head hung low. His brightly colored vans with customised rainbow laces stood out amongst the black and white shoes worn by the other students.

"Hey, there's your favourite person!" Luke teased as he elbowed Michael in the ribs lightly and raised his arm to point his slim finger at the boy he knew Michael would not be pleased to see, especially on his first day back.

Michael's green tinted eyes flickered over to where his best friend was pointing, only to be met with the sight of the back of his worst enemy's freshly dyed mint hair.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me!" Michael exclaimed as he gritted his teeth roughly. He absolutely despised Awsten Knight. On Christmas Day he had prayed that Awsten had fallen down a well and said that was the only gift he needed this year.

Obviously, whoever is above did not listen.

Luke was laughing his ass off, teasing Michael about Awsten was one of his favourite things to do because he loved the way that his friend reacted.

"It's not funny, Luke. I genuinely hate him so much! Do you remember what he did to me last year?" Michael rambled as he wracked his own brain to find the memory of that one fateful moment in 2018.

——-

It was a normal school day and Michael had just walked into his chemistry class that he unfortunately sat really close to Awsten in.

He could feel Awsten's beady multicolored eyes on his back constantly and all he wanted to do was pick a fight with him, but he knew it would get him kicked out of class, ruining his reputation as one of the best behaved students in the whole school.

It seemed Awsten had other ideas though. He really wanted Michael's attention to the point where he went out of his way to make a paper airplane and throw it at him.

It landed on Michael's desk but he didn't dare interact with it because he knew that if he did, it would mean he had acknowledged Awsten's existence, and that was the last thing he wanted to do.

Awsten was getting irritated that Michael wouldn't even look at him, so he decided to take a more drastic approach.

He took the pencil sharpener that belonged to the boy that had sat next to him and began to wind it around the end of the wood he held in his clammy hands.

He glanced up at the clock. Only 5 minutes until the bell rings. He had to act fast.

Moments later he was out of his seat and creeping up behind the boy with the scraggly hair that he had been watching for the past hour, (and perhaps the whole school year) before lifting the knife-like pencil high into the air and jarring it harshly into Michael's pale collarbone.

To cut a long story short, there was blood everywhere, and perhaps a few passed out teenagers lying on the floor.

Just a normal day at school then.

———-

"I was in the hospital for 6 hours that night, my mom thought I wasn't gonna make it!" Michael reminded Luke who was still chuckling like a stalled blender.

"Okay, I'm sorry. Look, maybe this year you should actually try and get along with him. I mean, how bad can he actually be?" The curly haired boy scratched the back of his neck anxiously. He really hated giving advice, mostly because he didn't trust other people or himself.

Michael just scoffed and kicked Luke's ankle lightly, causing his best friend to stumble a bit. It was a stupid suggestion, Michael and Awsten could never get along, not even if they were the main characters of a dumb Rom-com.

"Whatever, Luke. Just go to your French class and I'll see you later" Michael pretty much mumbled as his focus shifted from Luke to the green haired nuisance that was only a few meters away from him.

Luke sighed and walked off in one direction as his friend went in the other. Sometimes he doesn't even know why he bothers trying with Michael. Sometimes it feels like they don't get along anymore, and that hurts him.

Michael had already forgotten about Luke and was now keeping a close watch on Awsten as he made his way to his own first class of the year, and Michael hoped they didn't have the same one.

The door to the biology classroom grew nearer and nearer, but Awsten was not getting further away. The feeling of dread began to sit in, that Mikey would have to share another hour of each Monday with someone he despised with his whole existence.

"Shit" Michael grumbled to himself as his greatest enemy walked through the door he was so hoping he wouldn't, and took a seat right next to the window that Michael usually sits by.

Soon, the room filled up and there were no chairs left.

All except for one, one placed next to the mint haired boy that had been smirking mockingly from the moment he sat down.

"Michael Clifford, go sit in the seat next to Awsten please" his teacher told him firmly, and he was not the type of person that would ignore an authoritative figure, so he begrudgingly made his way to the cold, lonely seat in the worst spot on earth.

The seat was in hell, or as Michael liked to call it, right next to Awsten Knight.

"Hey" Awsten whispered, he didn't really know what else to say. He knew the taller boy hated him, but the feeling wasn't fully mutual. He mostly liked to mess with Mikey, but he would never go out of his way to cause any type of harm to him.

Well, apart from that one time. But according to Awsten that was justified as he hated being ignored, and that day, all the right buttons were pushed.

"Don't fucking talk to me, got it?" Michael spat back quickly in a hushed voice, hoping his teacher didn't hear the foul language that had just spilled from his mouth.

Awsten just nodded slightly and broke eye contact with Michael before glancing down at the brand new biology book that had been placed on the desk in between him and his tablemate.

He wondered why there was only one book between them. Surely the school had more funds than that, right? So, he stuck his hand up and waited for the teacher to ask what he wanted, and she eventually did.

"Um, why is there only one book between us both?" He asked awkwardly. Speaking in a public space was not his favourite thing, neither was it Michael's so at least they had that in common.

"It's because over the next few months I want you to pair up with the person next to you and work on a project together, here and after school, understood?" The biology teacher, Miss Gale told Awsten and he could almost feel the air seize to move around him as Michael's jaw dropped to the floor instantly.

"What?" Michael blurted out louder than he expected, causing the whole class to look at him which resulted in his face going bright red.

"You got a problem with that, Clifford?" Miss Gale asked Michael and he just frantically shook his head out of pure embarrassment for causing a disruption in the class.

"Well, guess we're partners now!" Awsten awkwardly chuckled as he flipped open the textbook to the first page, well aware that Michael was still glaring at him with a very present side eye.

Michael just groaned and collapsed onto his desk in a pile of exhausted limbs. He told himself this year was going to be one of the best, but it seemed to be turning out to be one of the worst of his entire life.

Chapter Text

Tuesday the 4th of January 2019

Michael lied still in bed that morning for about ten minutes after he had woken up. Today was his first day of working on the biology project with Awsten, and he knew it was going to be one of the worst experiences of his entire life.

When he was pulling on his clothes it was like the world was moving in slow motion. Michael was doing anything to extend the time it would take for him to get to school.

"Get your ass downstairs, you're going to be late!" His mom yelled from the kitchen. Michael's mom could be a little scary sometimes, especially when she got angry.

So, Michael followed his mom's orders and trudged down the stairs at a similar pace to a sloth before making his way to the dining table and plonking himself down on one of the vintage oak chairs that had been passed down through their family over the years.

"Here you go!" His mom smiled as she handed him a bowl of cereal. Fruit loops were his favourite, but they had ran out so this morning it was cornflakes instead. A bit boring, but he knew he could toss a bunch of sugar on them.

"So, why were you so late to come downstairs, you feeling okay?" Karen asked, her arms folded across her chest as she raised a single suspicious eyebrow.

Michael sloshed the soggy cereal around in his bowl as he tried to think of an appropriate answer, but nothing came to mind, so instead of lying, he told her the truth.

"I have to work on a project with this boy I hate for the next couple months or whatever" he refused to make eye contact with his mom while explaining as he didn't want her to see how much it was truly bothering him.

Karen sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose in between her fingers. She understood where he was coming from, I mean, she was a high schooler once herself and I don't think anyone ever truly enjoyed their time there.

"Michael, just try and get along with him for now and if it gets too much I'll talk to your teacher, okay?" She said before walking closer to her slouched over son and patting him softly on the back.

Michael just nodded in response as it's not polite to speak with your mouth full, but he also just didn't know what to say. Awsten was a sore topic for him, and there were a lot of feelings associated with the boy, but none of them were good.

"Alright, well it's getting near eight, so you better get going now" Karen reminded Michael who was now walking over to the sink to place his empty bowl into the murky dishwater.

"See you later mom, love you" he said as he gave his mother one last sweet hug before he made his way to the front door and closed it softly behind him.

————

Awsten was roaming around the corridors looking for Michael. They both needed to arrange a time for when they would work on the project tonight. Yes, neither of them really wanted to do it, but they didn't have much of a choice as the project was worth a lot of their grade.

So, after about twenty minutes of searching Awsten finally spotted Michael walk into the school building through the grand front doors (that he was almost as tall as) with his hood hung over his head and a...

Is he wearing a my little pony backpack?

Okay... anyway...

"Hey Mikey! Come here for a second!" Awsten called out as loud as his prepubescent sounding voice would go, but the taller boy didn't hear, or at least he acted like he didn't.

"Michael!" He shouted once more, and this time his target actually shot a glance in his direction before rolling his eyes in annoyance and walking away once again.

Awsten groaned and began to chase after Michael as fast as his little legs would take him. He wasn't giving up that easily. After all, he did want to pass the class and Mikey wasn't dragging him down with him.

"Stop stropping like a toddler and fucking listen to me!" Awsten yelled one final time as he grabbed onto Michael's long, muscular arm and tugged him backwards, almost causing him to topple onto his back but luckily he caught himself.

Michael turned around and immediately shoved the green haired boy away. He didn't even want to be in the same country as Awsten, never mind being touched by him.

"What do you want? You're acting like a damn mosquito!" Michael finally snapped back at the one who had been following him around since he arrived at school that morning.

"Can you come round my house at eight to work on the project? I get off work at seven so I can't do any time before that" Awsten explained quickly as he was worried Michael would just walk away again, but he didn't.

"Fine, just text me your address" Michael sighed as he fidgeted anxiously. For some reason talking to Awsten didn't just make him angry but it also made him nervous, nobody knew why though, not even himself.

"Wait, I don't have your number" Awsten said out of the blue, reminding Mikey that he would in fact have to hand over his precious phone number to the boy he hated the most in the world and give Awsten the ability to message and harass him at all times.

"it's 3233103790 and don't you dare save me in your contacts as anything other than Michael Clifford" he snapped as Awsten's thumbs worked away on his phone screen.

"Thanks Mikey, see you later!" Awsten smiled, and as he turned around he noticed that Awsten had written a little smiley face next to Michael's name in his contacts.

Michael felt like he needed to grab Awsten's phone and delete it immediately, but the nicer part of him took over in that moment and let the shorter boy walk away peacefully.

Maybe he even smiled a little bit.

There's no proof of that though.

Chapter Text

(Still) Tuesday the 4th of January 2019

Michael was sitting in the cafeteria with Luke by his side and Calum and Ashton opposite them. They were all silently eating their sandwiches, apart from Ashton, who apparently never learned to chew with his mouth closed.

"So, miwchel, cwan we hwang owt toniwght?" Ashton slurred through his mouthfuls of crushed up bread and lettuce. The rest of the table grimaced at the sight and sound.

"No, I've got to do that dumb project with fucking Awsten. You know him, right?" Michael ranted, as usual. He was happy to vent about Awsten to anyone who would listen.

Luke just rolled his eyes and groaned. He was sick to the back teeth of hearing about Awsten. Michael never seemed to shut up about him, which is weird because if you despise someone so much, surely you'd want them off your mind whenever possible.

"What's your problem?" Michael glared at his blonde haired friend who looked guilty he had been caught complaining, but after all it is his fault for audibly suggesting he was upset with the topic of the conversation.

"It's just-  we don't really care about your beef with Awsten. He seems like a nice enough guy. I mean, sure he stabbed you with a pencil last year but it seems like he was just trying to get your attention in a bit of an... obscure way. I don't know, can we just stop talking about him, please?" Luke pleaded with his puppy dog eyes that usually worked on Michael, but not this time.

"Shut up, Luke! You're just being a selfish bastard who doesn't want to help me with my problems! Isn't that what friends are for?" Michael responded, but it was quite manipulative in its way. Sure, you should help your friends with their problems, but sometimes it's something only they can deal with on their own.

"That's not what i'm saying- look, I'm sorry, forget I ever said anything, let's just get back to eating our lunch" Luke replied, grabbing at his best friend's wrist to try and calm him down, but it didn't work. None of his attempts to soothe Michael ever worked. Once he got worked up, he stayed there until he fell asleep and sometimes it would leak into the next day.

"Fuck this. I wanna be alone" Michael mumbled under his breath as he stood up from his seat at the lunch table and grabbed his half-empty tray. The other boys watched in shock as he stomped heavily over to the bins and tossed his litter into them.

His weighted feet dragged him out the cafeteria and into the corridor where he went over to his locker and pulled out his phone.

There was a message from Awsten.

Awsten: hey! Remember that you're coming to my place at eight! See you then :)

Michael huffed like a stroppy six year old and rammed his thumbs against the cold glass as he typed out a lovely text in response.

Michael: ok

He shoved his iPhone six into his trouser pocket before slamming his locker door shut again a lot louder than anticipated, causing the majority of the school population to glance warily in his direction.

His head hung low as he began the walk to his next class, luckily it was English Language and none of his friends or Awsten shared that class with him. Perhaps some time alone to feel sorry for himself would do him some good.

————

Awsten was running up the stairs to his bedroom as fast as his little legs would take him. It was almost eight o'clock and he had only just got through the door. He still needed to change out of his work uniform that was heavily stained with coffee and hot chocolate.

Suddenly, the doorbell rang and he realised he would just have to let Michael see him in an embarrassingly dirty outfit that he was most likely going to laugh at, or at least make some rude comment about.

So, Awsten ran back down the stairs and walked slowly towards the door handle. He slid his hand around the silver key and held it there for a few moments as he let out a shaky breath. He was very nervous about tonight, he wasn't sure why though. Maybe it's just because he knew it probably wasn't going to go very well, or maybe it was something else entirely.

Eventually, he turned the key and tugged the door handle down carefully before swinging the door open and being met with a grumpy looking Michael who seemed to be running on about 4 hours of sleep and an unhealthy amount of caffeine.

"Hey, come in!" Awsten smiled awkwardly as he stepped aside to let Michael walk into his house. Awstens house was small but decorated nicely. The walls had beautiful paintings nailed to them that caught Michael's eye immediately.

"Where did you get those paintings?" He asked curiously. His own mother loved art and it was her birthday soon, so perhaps he could buy her one as a present.

"I actually painted those myself," Awsten replied while fidgeting with the sleeves on his oversized jumper.  He had been making art now for a good portion of his life and he didn't want to be cocky or anything but he liked to admit he was quite good at it and most people he met would agree.

"Oh, well it's nice" Michael quickly shut down the conversation when he realised he might've had to compliment Awsten, and that was well out of his comfort zone for today.

They both stood there in awkward silence, their eyes going anywhere but each other's. To say this was like mental torture for both of them to have a social interaction would be an understatement.

"So, um- wanna come up to my room? I've got the book in there, plus my laptop can help us as well" Awsten broke the silence, but all Michael did in response was nod his head silently. The boy with mint hair chuckled awkwardly and began to walk up the stairs once again with Michael trailing behind him.

Once they arrived in awstens bedroom Michael just froze and looked around in shock. The walls were covered with pictures, posters and paintings of one direction, Taylor Swift, Ariana grande and BTS. He had never seen anything like it in his entire life, other than maybe his twelve year old cousin's room.

The carpet was littered with empty bottles of hair dye, clothes that perhaps needed to be washed and glittery nail polish containers that he honestly wouldn't mind taking for himself. Still, the whole experience was like walking onto an alien planet that's population was a bunch of tween girls who screamed at the sight of shirtless Harry Styles.

"What the fuck?" Michael finally spoke, and Awsten turned around and faced him, his cheeks evidently red. He was hoping that Michael wouldn't notice, but- it was quite hard not to.

"Um, just ignore all that! It's my moms!" He explained, but a dog with two brain cells could tell that he was lying. Michael just rolled his eyes and plopped down onto the surprisingly plush bed that was covered in quite an alarming blanket.

"Why do you sleep under a blanket with Zayn's face all over it?" He asked Awsten who was so red he might as well admit he shared DNA with a tomato.

Awsten grabbed the blanket and tugged  it from underneath Michael before throwing it out the window in a tornado of embarrassment that made him feel like he'd rather throw himself into a volcano than explain why he had so much celebrity merchandise.

"Anyway, just forget about all that! Open the book to page 81, we've gotta do cells!" He rambled before throwing himself on the bed next to Michael who was already flipping through the pages of the scarily obese textbook.

Silence filled the room again as Mikey looked for the right page. Awsten found himself tracing the outline of the boy next to him with the corner of his eye.

Michael had a beautiful face, he couldn't deny that. His cheeks were full and plush, his lips were ones to be jealous over. His bright doe eyes shone under the dim light from the lamp next to him and Awsten was being pulled further into his pupils every second he focused on them.

"What're you looking at?" The taller boy suddenly asked and it snapped Awsten out of his enchanted state. He realized he had accidentally leaned extremely close to Michael's face and they were in a very uncomfortable proximity to each other.

"Sorry, I um- there was something on your face" Awsten blabbed, pulling himself as far away as possible. Trust him to do such a stupid thing that could potentially ruin the very small bond that they had made.

He wasn't lying though, mikey did have a small crumb on his cheek, probably from his dinner. Hopefully that made his excuse far more believable.

Michael raised his hand to his own cheek and rubbed at it roughly. He wasn't quite getting it though, the crumb still sat on his face, but it was only tiny so he couldn't feel whether it was still there or not.

"Did I get it off?" He asked Awsten who shook his head. Michael sighed bitterly and tried to remove the crumb again, but his attempts just weren't working. It was like someone had glued it to his face.

"Just let me do it" Awsten said and before either of them knew it his hand had been placed softly onto Michael's smooth skin, his thumb tracing along Michael's cheekbone in an effort to remove the crumb that eventually came flying off and onto the floor.

He didn't remove his hand though, it stayed there. Their eyes were now locked firmly together and it was like someone had thrown away the key.

Michael felt something ignite within him. It felt like a million bees had been released inside his stomach and they were all flying around inside, begging to be let free.

He had never felt a touch so special before, so soft, so right. It scared him. Why did it have to be awstens touch he felt this way about?

Their faces inches closer and closer together, their breathing becoming audible and irregular and their noses were almost brushing up against each others when-

"AWSTEN! Do you not know how to flush the toilet after you've taken a SHIT?" A woman yelled as she slammed the door open, causing the two boys to jolt away from each other suddenly.

"Sorry mom!" He replied, and this had to take the crown for the most embarrassing moment of his entire life.
Michael was just sat there laughing his ass off, to his this was the most hilarious moment of his entire life.

"It's alright, just flush it next time" his mom said before looking at Michael, nodding her head and winking at her son in an approving manner. Awsten shook his head frantically, his mom always got the wrong idea and he definitely did not want Michael to pick up what she was putting down.

"See you later mom!" Awsten spoke through gritted teeth and she finally got the memo and left the room.

They were alone again, and there was no avoiding the fact they would've kissed if they weren't rudely interrupted.

"I- um- I've gotta go home. See you tomorrow at eight, yeah?" Michael broke the silence and got to his feet quickly before scooping up his my little pony backpack from the floor.

"Y-Yeah, okay, see you!" Awsten replied, and you could just hear the awkwardness in his voice. Maybe it was best that Michael was leaving, then they wouldn't have to talk about the embarrassing almost kiss, at least, not right now.

Michael smiled at the shorter boy one last time before turning and walking out of the bedroom he had walked into less than fifteen minutes ago hating Awsten Knight's guts, but now... he wasn't so sure how to feel anymore.

He couldn't tell if this new feeling was better or worse than hatred.

Chapter Text

Wednesday the 5th of January 2019

Luke was standing next to his locker with his phone in his hand. He had been texting Michael all weekend trying to apologise or at least just speak to him, but nothing worked. He hated himself for choosing such a stubborn best friend.

Michael had just arrived at school and was shuffling down the corridor like a snail, trying not to draw any attention to himself. He had a lot on his mind and didn't really feel like talking to anybody right now.

Luke spotted Mikey and his eyes immediately lit up. This was his chance to mend the broken bond between him and his friend.

"Hey! Talk to me for just a second!" Luke called out across the hallway.

Great, just what Michael wanted.

He turned and faced his best friend who looked extremely desperate to talk to him despite the fact he was purposefully trying to avoid Luke. A groan of disappointment fell from his chapped lips but he walked over to Luke anyway.

"What do you want?" Michael snapped. Luke was taken aback by the sharpness of his voice, but he decided not to let it bother him as mikey was obviously going through something that caused him to act that way.

"I just wanted to apologise. It was wrong of me to ask you to stop ranting about Awsten, if it bothers you then as your friend I should listen to you and give you advice, not shut you down" he said while analysing his best friend's face to try and gauge his reaction.

He looked grateful, but still disheartened. It was obvious to Luke that Michael was struggling with something, and he wanted to know what it was.

"Thanks, I shouldn't have acted like such a dick. You're a great friend, always have been, always will be" Michael smiled dimly and turned to walk away from the conversation but Luke grabbed his arm and pulled him back again.

"Is there something bothering you?" Luke asked. He really wanted to know. He hated it when anyone he loved was upset, whether it was his own family or his friends. He wanted to be there for them, but he couldn't be if he didn't know what was wrong in the first place.

Michael sighed and ran a shaky hand through his messy hair. Telling Luke about his confusing feelings surrounding Awsten seemed like a terrible idea, but in another way it would be helpful to build up the trust with his best friend again that had been dwindling recently.

"I went round Awsten's house to start the project last night and he... he tried to kiss me" he said, and it was true that Awsten had mostly initiated the whole thing but Michael had a choice over whether or not he leaned in.

"What the hell? That's crazy!" Luke exclaimed, slapping his pale hand over his locked open mouth. Little chuckles couldn't help but fall from his lips as he painted a picture in his mind of what that moment probably looked like, and to him it was the funniest thing ever.

"Stop laughing! It's been really messing with me!" Michael scolded Luke who snapped back into reality because he didn't want to piss his friend off again.

"What do you mean by "messing" with you?" Luke raised a curious eyebrow. His thought process was that if Michael genuinely hated Awsten he would've been extremely angry about the attempted smooch, not confused or nervous.

Michael scuffed his shoes against the floor. He couldn't find the words to admit to Luke that he felt his stomach go on a rollercoaster ride every time he thought back to when his face was so close to Awsten's last night.

"I think I wanted us to actually kiss" he finally admitted and it felt like an anvil had been lifted off his chest. At least he could try and work out his feelings now with a bit of help from Luke.

Speaking of Luke, he had started laughing like a hyena again. It was so hilarious to him that only yesterday morning Michael despised Awsten so much he would've probably shoved him in front of a bus if given the chance, and now he suddenly wanted to kiss him.

"Either offer me some solid advice or I'm leaving" Michael spat. Luke let out a heavy, controlled breath and calmed himself down.

Truthfully, he didn't know what to say. Luke had never been in a situation where he'd caught feelings for someone he hated. In fact, he'd never caught feelings for anyone, ever. He definitely wasn't the best person to ask for romance or relationship advice.

"Look, maybe you just need to admit to yourself that you perhaps don't hate Awsten as much as you think you do and go from there" he said, and to be fair that was a pretty solid piece of advice from a guy who was really inexperienced in the love department.

"But I've hated him for so long, I can't just suddenly start liking him. Plus, what if he doesn't even like me? What if he was drunk last night and thought I was someone else? What if he was just trying to sniff me? What if-"

"Michael, You're overthinking it. He's obviously kinda into you. He wouldn't have tried to kiss you otherwise" Luke sighed. Was he the only one who was finding this whole thing really stupid?

"Okay, well I've got to go round his place again tonight, so I'll see if anything similar happens again. See you later!" Michael patted Luke on the back harshly before he jogged off down the now empty corridor.

Luke watched his friend walk away, his my little pony backpack hanging from his hoodie-covered shoulders. He couldn't help but smile. Sure, Michael was sometimes a lot of work, but it was worth it. He loved him.

In a friendship way, of course.

yeah, a friendship way.

Chapter Text

(Still) Wednesday the 5th of January 2019

Michael stood outside of Awsten house for the second time that week. His palms were sweating so much he could drench a towel with them and his legs were shaking so badly he might as well have been standing on a washing machine.

He had already rung the doorbell and was waiting to be greeted by the bubbly boy with the mint green hair. Part of him really wanted to see Awsten again but another part of him knew that when they were alone together the topic of conversation would drift to yesterday's almost kiss and he didn't know whether he was ready to broach that subject yet.

Soon, the door was pulled open and Awsten appeared behind it wearing a fluffy white jumper that was tucked loosely into his dark grey jeans.

Michael thought he looked amazing.

He'd never tell him that though.

"Hey, come in," Awsten said softly. He turned to face the inside of his home before walking slowly towards the staircase. He could hear Michael's jacket brushing against the banister as they both plodded up the steps towards the celebrity shrine of a bedroom.

Awsten made his way over to his bed that was no longer covered by his very embarrassing Zayn Malik blanket and flopped onto it dramatically. Michael followed by sitting on the edge of the mattress and scooping up the biology textbook that laid open next to him.

"So, let's begin. What do you know about cells cuz I've forgotten like half of it" Michael explained as Awsten shot up into a sitting position so he could talk to the taller boy more easily.

"Before we start, can we talk about what happened yesterday?" He said before his own brain could process the words. Maybe it was stupid to bring it up, but it was now or never. It was either they got the conversation over and done with or put up with an uncomfortable tension for the entirety of the time they worked together.

Michael froze. What could he say? "Oh yeah I really wanted to kiss you?" No, he couldn't say that. Not after so many years of openly hating awstens guts. He wasn't going to let his ego down in such an idiotic way.

"It was a mistake, let's just forget about it" he finally replied to the green haired boy whose face seemed to drop in shock or perhaps disappointment.

A wave of guilt washed over him. Maybe he should've just listened to Luke and admitted he didn't hate Awsten as much as he thought he did, but it was too late now. He'd said his piece and was too worried about his self-image to backtrack on it.

"Oh, okay. I just- I thought maybe you liked me..." Awsten's voice was almost a whisper. He felt so dumb for ever believing that something would have happened between him and his classmate.

"Well, then you thought wrong!" Michael spat back and slammed the book shut suddenly, startling Awsten to the point where he almost went into cardiac arrest.

The room fell into a haunting dead silence again. The air seemed to tighten in both of their lungs. You could cut the tension with a knife.

"Let's just start the project" Awsten finally spoke. He grabbed the textbook and opened it to the page about cells. His eyes were scanning the page but his mind wasn't picking up any information as it was somewhere else entirely.

The words on the page all began to blur together and dance around in his vision. His stupid brain wouldn't focus. It was still stuck on the interaction he'd just had with Michael and how horribly it had ended. How the hell was he supposed to work with him for the next few months on this project? All he could think about was the tall fake blonde boy who was messing with his emotions, nevermind focus on dumb cells that could evaporate for all he cared.

"Why do you hate me?" Awsten suddenly blurts out.

Michael turns to look at him. He hasn't actually ever thought that deeply about why he hates Awsten. He knew it was because of something that happened years ago, probably in middle school.

—————

There was a girl named Ella sitting at the front of Michael's English class in 7th grade. She was beautiful and owned long, blonde hair that went down to her stomach. Every single boy in the class has a massive crush on her, including Awsten.

For some reason, the girl really liked Awsten, who at the time had brown hair that swooped over his forehead like an ice cream scoop.

He would bring Ella tiny cupcakes every morning with little love hearts made out of sugar paper placed on top of the swirled pink icing. She would blush and giggle before taking the cupcake and give him a polite kiss on the cheek.

Michael was extremely jealous. In his mind he was way cooler than Awsten. He wore better clothes, stole his dads deodorant and bleached parts of his hair like a rockstar. Surely any girl would pick him over boring and nerdy Awsten, right?

He could remember the moment Awsten asked Ella out like it was yesterday. He got onto one knee in the playground and held out a haribo gummy ring. The girl started screaming out of excitement, but to Michael it sounded like a fork being scraped along glass.

"Will you go out with me, Ella?" He asked and threw the squealing girl an embarrassingly poor wink but she loved it anyway.

"Yes, of course!" She cried out before running into Awsten's arms and tackling him to the floor.

Michael stomped away like an angry troll. Stupid Awsten had stolen his potential future girlfriend! How dare he!? Awsten was dull and spent each lunch break in the library studying, why would any girl want to date such a cardboard guy?

So, from that moment on Michael Clifford decided that he despised Awsten Knight and anything to do with him.

Of course, Awsten and Ella only "dated" for three days before breaking up, but that apparently wasn't enough to get Michael to stop hating the poor boy who hadn't ever truly done anything wrong apart from steal his 7th grade crush.

———

"Are you kidding me? That's what started all of this? Your weird Hangup about me and Ella Smith who moved to Canada in 8th grade?" Awsten was shocked. Who in their right mind would carry on something so stupid for that long?

"Uhm, yeah..." Michael mumbled. Now that someone was pointing it out, it did indeed seem very childish to hate the mint haired boy over something that had happened years ago and wasn't relevant to anyone anymore anyway.

"That's a new level of petty" Awsten chuckled and fell onto the bed again with a loud thump.

"I guess" Michael sighed and collapsed onto his back as well. Both boys laid there staring at the pale ceiling that trapped them inside the room as Awsten kept lightly laughing.

They turned to look at each other. The tension of the day before when they had almost kissed was suddenly back the second their eyes met.

Their hands lightly brushed, sending sparks up both of their arms. They had every opportunity to pull away or stop touching, but this time neither of them wanted to.

Awsten's fingers captured Michael's in a soft hold that caused the taller boy to gasp lightly. Those damn bees in his stomach had started stinging him repeatedly and they just wouldn't stop.

"I think I've been a bit of an idiot" he finally admitted and a wide smile spread across Awsten's blushing face in response.

"I think you have."

Chapter Text

Thursday the 5th of January 2019

It was 10am and Luke and Michael were standing in the corridor of the school, leaning against the lockers.

"So, how did it go with Awsten yesterday?" Luke asked and Michael looked up from his phone with a strange expression that looked like he was holding in a ginormous shit.

"It went pretty good actually. He's growing on me" Mikey smiled and Luke felt his stomach drop.

He should've been happy for his best friend, but recently he found himself becoming extremely jealous whenever Michael would spend time with anyone other than him.

Luke felt like he deserved all of Michael's time. It was selfish and he knew that, but he'd grown up with him, been there for him when things got rough, gave him so much time and so much emotion but it felt like Michael was drifting away.

Even when Mikey was shouting and pissed off about Awsten he was still technically thinking about him, talking about him and focusing so much energy onto him. He never did all of that for Luke. Luke did all of that for him, but that devotion was never returned.

He didn't know why he had started to feel like this, but it definitely felt different. Like there was a long rope wrapped around both of their wrists that constantly pulled Luke towards Michael as he walked further and further away.

"Hey, you there?" The slightly shorter boy waved his lavender scented hand in front Luke's face to try and attract his attention that he never really lost because Luke was still thinking about him, just not about their current interaction.

"Did you put lotion on your hands?" He asked Michael who let out a short chuckle and turned to the side with a present blush on his usually pale cheeks.

"Yeah, Awsten lent me a bottle last night, he told me my skin was really dry" he explained and Luke felt his blood begin to boil.

Fucking Awsten.

Who the fuck would tell someone that?

He would never dream of saying something that rude to Michael. He'd hold his hand and tangle their fingers together and tell him how warm and comforting his hands were, not that his skin was dry.

Wait a second, why was he thinking about holding Michael's hand?

"Did he tell you your breath stank as well?" Luke half joked but you could hear the spitefulness in his tone. Michael raised his eyebrow in suspicion. He knew something was up, Luke usually never acted like that.

"What?"

"Well- I mean- I would be pissed off if someone told me my skin was dry..." Luke mumbled. He folded his arms in front of his torso defensively. There was no way in hell he would tell Mikey why he was actually so angry about it.

"Dude, chill. He wasn't even being that serious. Why are you so bothered over that stupid comment?" Michael rolled his eyes in disgust at his best friend's stupidity. Why was he acting like such a dick towards the mint haired boy? Wasn't he the one kind of standing up for Awsten the other day?

"Whatever man, see you later" Luke huffed heatedly before pushing himself off the locker he was leaning against and stomping off down the corridor with his fists clenched tightly by his sides.

Michael just watched his friend in shock. He was so confused. Why had Luke suddenly started acting so standoffish? Was it something he did? If so, what did he do? God, the whole thing was just so fucking frustrating.

Suddenly, his phone vibrated in his pocket.

It was Awsten.

Awsten: Hey, I can't study tonight, I'm working until eight.

Michael felt weirdly disappointed. He had almost started looking forward to their daily study sessions.

Michael: Okay, see you soon.

He went to put his phone back away, but suddenly it vibrated again.

Awsten: you can come to the cafe and keep me company while I work if you want. I get a bit lonely sometimes.

The bees that lived in Michael's stomach started flying around in a frenzy once again. He couldn't believe that Awsten was asking him to keep him company. It made him feel special.

Michael: Sure, I'll be there.

A massive smile had spread across his usually empty face.

Maybe being friends with Awsten wasn't as bad as he originally thought it was going to be.
—————-

The bell to the cafe door rang out loudly, causing Awsten to look up at the door and spot a flushed looking Michael gasping to catch his breath.

He wore an eye-catching bright green jacket, a pair of elderly looking dark blue jeans and two black combat boots that complimented the dark streaks in his bleached blonde hair perfectly.

"Did you run here?" Awsten chuckled at the sight of his new friend who looked like He'd been blowing up balloons for the past half an hour.

"Yeah, my mom is using the car today. Sorry if I look a bit of a mess" Michael breathed heavily as he made his way over to the counter of the coffee shop that had cupcakes, coffees and teas lining it.

"No, you look lovely!" The mint haired boy blushed. He wasn't really planning on complimenting Michael today but the correct opportunity had presented itself and He'd be an idiot to turn it down.

"Thanks, you do too" Mikey replied and thrived off of the reaction he got from Awsten who couldn't look him in the eye because he was so flustered. He just stood there giggling like a little baby, and Michael found that adorable.

Suddenly, the doorbell rang fiercely again as someone pushed the door to the store open in quite a frustrated manner.

The visitor who stood by the door wore a blue striped t-shirt with a loosely hung unzipped jacket over the top of it. His backpack was hooked over one wide shoulder. His deep grey trousers were a little bit too short for him as they showed a tiny bit of ankle that men and women in the 1800s would've gone crazy for.

"Luke? What're you doing here?" Michael asked. He was quite shocked that his best friend had suddenly and apparently coincidentally showed up at the coffee shop both him and Awsten happened to be inside of.

"Uh, I was just walking by and I saw you both in here" Luke explained but his words were slightly slurred and he swayed from side to side like a metronome.

Michael and Awsten gave each other a knowing look. They'd both admit they had been in Luke's state at some point in their life, albeit not in public but they could still sympathise.

"Dude, are you drunk?" Michael asked and kept his eyes on Luke as he swaggered over to the counter next to the little fairy cakes with the rainbow icing.

"No!" Luke denied but it was easy to tell that he was. In all honesty, he had been trying to drink away his feelings since that morning after he stormed away from Michael and ran out of the school to the nearest corner shop that served under 21s. Who gave a fuck about going to classes when you had stupid teenage drama to deal with?

"Do you want a coffee or anything?" Awsten decided to chime in and save Michael from trying to deal with Luke all by himself, which definitely looked very stressful.

"Yeah, just a small one" the drunk boy replied as he slumped against the counter like a lazy sloth. Awsten nodded and turned away to face the coffee machine and make up the delicious beverage that half of the world's population was addicted to.

What both boys didn't know though was that Luke had a plan. A plan that made perfect sense in his alcohol-fueled brain and would hopefully keep Awsten away from Michael and his friends for good.

"Here you go!" The shortest boy smiled as he handed the scalding hot mug of coffee to Luke who had a mischievous smirk on his pink lips.

"Thank you!" He replied sarcastically but luckily neither Michael or his new friend picked up on that.

Suddenly, he lurched forward and pretended to slip on a non-existent spillage of tea on the hardwood floor. The coffee in the porcelain mug leapt into the air as he "tripped" and it landed partially on the floor and partially all over Awstens bare arms.

"Oops"

Awsten let out an agonising scream that echoed through the shop and bounced into each of their eardrums, nearly shattering them. He immediately started wiping down his arm with a damp cloth before running over to the sink and shoving as much of his body as he could into the cold (and luckily clean) washing up bowl.

Michael stood there, frozen. He never knew what to do in situations like these. He wasn't a fighter or a runner or a hider, he would turn into a statue and watch as chaos ensued around him.

"Your friend is fucking crazy!" Awsten yelled out at Mikey who was still stationary with a blank look on his pale face. His eyes flicked around the room in a frenzy. It was like his brain was yelling at him to move but he just couldn't.

"Luke, you- you need to leave" Michael finally spoke, and he stammered like an idiot but at least it was something. Usually he would just stay as quiet as possible until whatever threat disappeared.

"Whatever. See you around" Luke slurred before turning around like a dramatic Disney supervillain and waltzing out, knocking a few things over in the meantime.

He definitely wasn't proud of himself but that was the only thing his drunken mind could think of doing to try and scare Awsten away from Michael, because wherever Mikey went Luke would follow, and if Awsten got a little too close there would always be another coffee cup nearby.

"I'm so sorry Aws, he never usually acts like that!" Michael desperately tried to explain but it went right over his new friend's head as he was still breathing heavily from the sheer amount of pain he was in.

"Is he mad at me for hanging out with you or something?" Awsten asked through broken breaths that sounded like chokes and were honestly quite terrifying to listen to.

"He might be, but I don't know why" Michael sighed deeply before walking up behind Awsten and placing a comforting hand on his right shoulder, the one that hadn't been scaled by a loose Luke hemmings.

"When you were mad at me for no reason it's because I was dating the girl you fancied" the shorter boy said, implying that Luke was acting off with him because he was spending a lot of time (and perhaps flirting with) Michael and Luke was jealous of that fact and maybe wished he was in Awsten's place.

Michael fell silent once again. There was no way that Luke liked him in that way, right? They had been best friends since childhood and there had never been any feelings there beyond the platonic love they shared.

But, it was weird that now that Mikey had found a new friend and potential love interest Luke had suddenly started acting like a possessive child who didn't want their favourite toy taken away after they'd hit their younger sibling with it multiple times.

Whatever, Hed think about it later. Right now the most important thing was helping Awsten recover from being torched by an innocent beverage.

"That's not important right now, you need to go home. I'll drive your car back to your place and help you heal up, okay?" Michael offered and Awsten nodded in response. He grabbed a pencil and notepad from the counter and scribbled a note to his manager explaining the situation and why he had to leave early, and that was the best he could do to try and prevent getting fired.

Both boys had their arms wrapped around each other tightly as they strolled out to the car park that Awsten's bright blue ford was awaiting them in.

Mikey pulled open the passenger's side door for the mint haired boy who quickly slumped into the seat. He then hurried around to the drivers side and jumped into the welcoming chair that looked like it was made for him to sit on.

"Will you be alright to wear my jacket over your arms until we get to your place?" Michael asked as he peeled his jacket off his t-shirt covered shoulders and held it out towards Awsten who grabbed it hastily and wrapped it around his body that was slightly shivering from shock still.

The jacket looked so big on Awsten. It pooled around his wrists and hung loosely from his torso, but weirdly it looked perfect on him, at least in Michael's opinion it did.

"That hardly fits you!" Michael laughed loudly as he turned the key in the ignition and brought the stationary car to life. The engine roaring almost mimicked the cackles falling from Michael's pink tinted lips.

"Shut up and drive, you idiot" Awsten chuckled under his breath while rolling up the sleeves on the item of clothing so that they wouldn't suffocate his hands. He liked wearing Michael's jacket. It made him feel closer to the taller boy somehow. It also smelled like him, and you can call Awsten a creep but he really liked that.

He liked it almost as much as he liked Michael.

And Michael liked seeing Awsten in his jacket almost as much as he liked Awsten.

Chapter Text

(Still) Thursday the 5th of January 2019

Both boys arrived at Awsten's house around seven o'clock that night. The sunset was dripping down the sky and reflecting off the bonnet of the car and into Michael's eyes, which Awsten found mesmerising.

"Alright, let's get you in" Mikey said as he hopped out of the driver's seat and ran over to help the burnt boy out of the passenger side of the car. They smiled as their arms hooked together tightly before awkwardly waddling towards the front door and unlocking it with the key that Awsten had really struggled to get out of his pocket, causing Michael to laugh as he grew more and more frustrated with his jeans.

They slipped their clammy hands together and Michael pulled Awsten up the stairs towards the bathroom.

"Okay, get ready and I'll run a cold bath for you" He said and Awsten froze in place and stared awkwardly at the floor. He didn't really feel like getting changed anywhere near Michael in case he saw him with no shirt on and thought he was hideous or something.

"Um, can you like- turn around?" The shorter boy mumbled as his face lit up bright red.

"Oh- yeah! Sorry!" Michael stammered nervously. He faced towards the bath and turned the dial on the tap with the blue letter C that indicated it was the cold one.

Part of him wanted to take just a small peek as he heard Awstens shirt rustle when he pulled it off his body and a towel rustle as he wrapped it around his waist, but he knew it would be rude and disturbing to ignore Aws's request for privacy like that.

"Um, you can look now,"  Awsten said quietly. Michael spun around to be met with the sight of the mint haired boy folding his arms across his chest as he tried to hide it, but it was a poor attempt.

Awsten didn't have anything to worry about though, Michael's stomach turned into a washing machine once again the second he laid eyes on him.

"I promise I'm not gonna judge you" He smiled as he tried to gain awstens trust. Eventually, Awsten dropped his arms to his sides and stood there like a statue while he waited for some kind of reaction, whether it be good or bad.

"You're beautiful"

The words slipped out of Michael's mouth before he could even process what he was saying. He quickly slapped a hand over his big mouth and turned a beetroot red color.

Awsten just let out a soft chuckle, but he was so flustered it felt like he was flying. Michael always made him feel like he was flying, and whenever they were together it felt like they could never land.

"Not really. I've got a giant red burn mark across half of my torso" He replied with a massive, dorky smile on his face.

"When I look at you it's like it's not even there" Michael expressed and the room fell into a comfortable silence as they both stared deeply into each other's romantic eyes that were basically begging them to just kiss already.

"I should get in the bath" Awsten reminded the taller boy who took the hint and turned to face the wall as his friend dropped the white bath towel to the floor and immediately sunk straight into the dense bubbles in the bathtub.

He let out a deep sigh as the water encased his entire body. Yes, it was cold but it was also very relaxing. After being burnt badly the last thing you want to do is jump into another hot pool of water.

"Okay, all clear!" Awsten announced like a sports commentator and Michael chuckled as he rotated to face the bathtub. He noted that the burn mark was slightly fading which was quite a relief because he was honestly very worried they'd have to take a late evening trip to the hospital.

"Hey, can you put the shampoo in my hair? I would do it but it hurts to lift my arm that high" Awsten proposed and Michael happily agreed like an eager puppy who had been offered a treat.

Truthfully, Awsten could've washed his own hair perfectly well. He could've used his unharmed arm to rub in the soap, but in reality he just really wanted an excuse to let Michael touch him.

The taller boy reached over and grabbed the shampoo bottle. He flipped open the cap with a sharp snap and squirted some of the blue-ish liquid into his hand.

He pushed his fingers through the colorful strands of Awsten's slightly knotted hair, causing his friend to wince a little bit.

"Are you okay? Sorry if I hurt you" Michael said, feeling really guilty for causing Awsten any more pain tonight than he was already in.

"I'm okay, just being a little overdramatic" he explained and Michael breathed a small sigh of relief before continuing to massage the soap into the light green threads of hair.

For the next two minutes they sat there in silence as Awsten enjoyed being taken care of like he was a child again. He would never let anyone else do this to him, but because it was Mikey it was okay. In fact, it was great.

"Alright, I'm done!" Michael said as he ruffled the mint hair one final time before walking over to the sink to wash his hands off. Awsten dunked his head under the freezing water to wash the shampoo out of his hair. When he came back to the surface, Mikey was already standing there waiting with a towel hung over his right arm.

"I'll go and wait in your bedroom while you dry off and get changed" he stated before handing the towel over to Awsten and excusing himself from the bathroom.

When Michael closed the door to the bedroom he flung himself onto the plush pink bed sheets and laid there as he waited.

There was a wide smile on his face. Yes, in some ways today had been awful, but at least it gave him a chance to spend more time alone with Awsten who he had grown to like a lot over the past few days.

The only thing that was bothering him was the whole situation with Luke. If it was true and Luke had started developing feelings for Michael then it would be the most awkward moment in the entire world when he had to tell his best friend that he didn't feel the same way.

It wasn't the right time to be thinking about that though. He was with Awsten in that moment so the mint haired boy should be the only one on his mind.

The boy with the perfectly sculpted nose, bright multicolored eyes that reflected the moonlight, lips that he so badly wanted to touch and fashion taste so wacky his wardrobe could be used to dress a circus clown, but to Michael it was all so fascinating. Awsten was unique, but in a very attractive way.

The door to the bedroom clicked open and Michael scrambled to sit up at the end of the bed so he could see the entirety of the doorframe and the person walking through it.

Awsten looked refreshed. His hair was still slightly damp and it made it spike up in a weird way, but Mikey found it hilarious. He wore a pair of bright blue striped pyjamas that complimented the sky in his eyes perfectly.

"Thanks for everything you've done for me today" he praised Michael who just shook his head and patted the spot on the bed next to him, informing Awsten he wanted him to sit down fairly nearby.

"don't thank me. I should be thanking you for not going batshtit crazy on Luke" Mikey said as Awsten plopped himself onto the bed next to the other boy before turning to face him.

"Well, I could hardly move so I wouldn't have been able to do anything anyway" he chuckled, making light of the situation. If he could've moved in that moment he would've absolutely gone for Luke though. Just because he's short, doesn't mean he's not mighty.

"Oh, yeah" Michael replied awkwardly.
He had always been quite terrible at keeping conversations up with people, especially people who he was quite nervous around, Awsten being a prime example.

Awsten noticed that the conversation had died so he tried something different. He slipped his hand with slightly wrinkled fingers into Michael's that was sitting on top of his thigh.

The fake blonde's breath stalled in his lungs. They had held hands before, but this time felt different. It felt like there was more meaning behind the action this time, and in some ways it was scary, but in other ways it was extremely exciting.

Awsten took his shot and began to lean forward slowly. This was the moment he had been waiting for since he had first acknowledged Michael's existence about two years ago and realised he was just his type and would do anything to get his attention.

Yes, that did include stabbing him with a pencil, which they both seemed to have forgotten about by the looks of things.

Michael's eyes were glued onto Awsten's as he grew closer and closer every second. The irritating bees in the stomach were back and they were going in for the attack. His whole body almost went numb as his nerves consumed him, but he broke through them and leaned in himself.

Both boy's eyes flickered shut as Awsten snaked his left hand into Michael's scraggly hair and his right around the curve of his "friend's" waist.

Moments later their lips met, and to begin with the kiss was soft and polite, but it gradually shifted into a much more passionate collision with the buildup of years of tension, hatred and eventual romance being expressed throughout it.

Michael grasped Awsten's pyjama shirt fiercely and pulled him even closer than he already was to the point where their torsos were brushing up against each other.

The only thing you could hear was the heavy breathing coming from both boys and the clicking of their lips as they clasped together over and over again.

Eventually, the kiss broke apart as they needed to breathe normally at some point, but suddenly Awsten started giggling like a happy little chipmunk and Michael raised his eyebrows out of confusion and curiosity.

"That was my first kiss" he chuckled and Mikey slapped his hand over his own mouth in shock. He always assumed that Awsten had dated people before, especially considering how striking he was.

"No way! That's crazy!" He exclaimed as Awsten was still laughing nervously.

Michael hoped that he wouldn't get asked the next question, but it was pretty unavoidable, especially after what had just happened.

"Who was your first kiss?" Awsten wondered, but truthfully, Michael didn't want to answer because he knew that the innocent boy sitting opposite him probably wouldn't want to know.

His first kiss was with Luke hemmings.

———

It was at a party the year before on Halloween and everyone in the host's house was as drunk as a sailor. Ashton decided it would be a good idea to play spin the bottle, and of course because they're all stupid high school students, they all agreed.

The first time the bottle was spun by Calum and it landed on a girl sat across from him whose name nobody could remember. They kissed, obviously, and then she spun the bottle and it landed on an unsuspecting Luke.

After Luke gave the girl a really short peck on the lips it was his turn to spin the bottle.

He placed the glass container on the floor and flicked the top of it with his hand, causing it to swirl around quickly.

It began to slow down near Ashton which scared the shit out of Luke because everyone knew that Ashton had thrown up in the bathroom earlier that night and nobody wants to kiss someone who tastes like vomit.

Eventually, the bottle came to a halt. Luke looked up from the floor to be met with the sight of Michael, who looked like he was about to run out of the house, move countries and never talk to anyone ever again.

Luke shuffled over towards his best friend at a normal pace, but to him it felt like he was moving as slow as an elderly tortoise named Johnathan. Everyone who sat nearby turned into a blur as he could only focus on Michael in that moment.

He placed his hands onto Michael's face and nodded at the boy who was practically shaking to try and reassure him. Mikey just smiled awkwardly and closed his eyes in a way that screamed "just get it over and done with."

So, Luke did just that. He leaned in as quickly as possible and softly placed his lips against his childhood friend's. Michael shuddered when he felt the touch of another person's lips for the first time, but it was a somewhat nice feeling, and part of him was glad it was Luke as they both knew and trusted each other very well.

After that day, the kiss was never brought up again, but both Luke and Michael thought about it a lot more often than they probably should have.

———-

"So?" Awsten spoke again to awaken Michael from his recap of that one very regretful Halloween night.

"Urm, it was some girl at a party last year" he lied, but luckily Aws believed him. He felt bad for keeping the truth from the boy he had just taken a first kiss from, but he also knew that Awsten would probably freak out if he told him it was Luke, so maybe it was for the best.

Out of nowhere, Michael's phone pinged. He pulled it out of his pocket and took one look at the Notification Centre before letting out an annoyed sigh.

"Is everything alright?" Awsten asked, slightly worried. He really hated seeing Michael upset.

"Yeah, it's my mom. She wants me to come home" he explained before gently dropping his hand from Awsten's body and hopping off the bed and landing on the carpet that was heavily stained with various different shades of nail polish.

"Okay! I'll see you tomorrow, have a nice evening!" Awsten said as Michael pulled his large black boots onto his feet that were covered by a bright pink pair of... peppa pig socks?

anyway...

"Oh, and by the way, Awsten?" He turned back to face the boy sat cross legged on the bed one last time.

"Yeah?"

"You're a fucking great kisser"

Chapter Text

Friday the 6th of January 2019

It was the last day of a very eventful week of school. Michael came sprinting down the corridor as it was 8:45, meaning he was fifteen minutes late for his first lesson.

As he ran he spotted a very familiar face hunched over near the lockers. His bleached blonde hair looked like it hadn't been washed in days and his clothes appeared to be the same ones he had worn yesterday when tossing a cup of hot coffee over Awsten Knight.

"Luke, what're you doing out here? Aren't you gonna be late?" Michael asked as he approached his friend who looked quite unwell. His eyes were sunken in and dark purple circles lay beneath them. His skin was chapped and dry and his lips looked like a chalkboard.

"I don't feel like going to class. I've got the worst hangover ever" Luke explained before groaning and heavily slumping back against the lockers with a loud thump.

"No shit, I mean, you went absolutely crazy yesterday. Awsten's got a massive burn mark all down his arm and shoulder now. You better be glad he's not called the cops" Michael grumbled. He was trying to make Luke feel guilty. After all, what he did to Awsten yesterday was totally uncalled for and he should feel bad about it.

Luke just rolled his eyes at the sound of the mint haired boy's name. Yes, he felt like a right asshole after what he did to Awsten yesterday, but he was still annoyed that Michael was spending more and more time with him and ignoring the people who he had been friends with for years prior.

"Don't roll your eyes at me! What is your problem with Awsten? One minute you wanted me and him to be friends and now that we are you hate his guts! It's like you're jealous of him because I spend more time with him now than you! Am I right?" Michael exploded. He just wanted to know what was going on with Luke and put an end to all of this unnecessary drama.

The slightly taller boy swallowed heavily. He had a choice at that moment. The choice to either come up with another stupid lie to cover up how he truly felt, or spill the beans and tell Michael he had somewhere, somehow, fallen in love with him.

It felt like a cannonball had been shot into his stomach. He was so nervous it was making him feel like rushing to the bathroom and locking himself in one of the stalls until the day came to an end, but he couldn't do that. He had to grow up and face the music that He'd been muting for so long.

"Michael, I'm in love with you and I have been ever since we kissed at that party last year" Luke blabbed impulsively. He closed his eyes and braced himself for the more than likely rejection he was about to receive.

Michael stood there staring at his childhood friend that had just admitted to being in love with him for a whole year. He had a feeling that was the case, but he didn't want to be correct.

The truth is that Michael had never really stopped thinking about that kiss either and he tried not to admit that to himself or anyone until that moment. Whenever he had a moment alone the first thing on his mind was Luke and his soft, pretty lips that had met his own on that fateful Halloween night.

Maybe the best thing to do would be to admit his feelings had also changed, that way they could both talk about it and figure out what the hell they were gonna do next, as Awsten was still in the picture of course.

"I- I feel a similar way" he stammered like an idiot in response to Luke's confession of love. His best friend's face immediately lit up with excitement. It was a nice sight, especially since he had looked so down for the past few days.

At that moment Awsten was leaving a classroom nearby. He heard voices and directed his attention to the two boys standing near the lockers halfway down the corridor. He immediately recognised both of them as Luke and Michael.

Awsten quickly ran to hide behind the wall and watch their interaction. He was slightly pissed at Mikey for apparently forgiving Luke so soon again after yesterday, but they obviously would get to talking again eventually, especially since they were such close friends.

He noticed that they were both standing very close together, almost too close for comfort. Michael had a strong red blush covering his cheeks and Luke's body language screamed "I'm speaking to somebody I'm madly in love with," even an idiot could figure that out.

Suddenly, Luke brought his hands up to the collar of Michael's pastel blue shirt and tugged him forwards. It happened quickly, Luke placing his lips gently against his best friend's for the second time in their whole lives.

It felt different this time, like there was a whole new set of feelings and emotions being exchanged through the kiss. It was slow and romantic at first, but as usual Luke acted impulsively and backed Michael up against the lockers.

For the slightly shorter boy whose back was now against cold, hard metal this kiss was extremely different from his meaningful but awkward one with Awsten. Luke was hungry, and Michael could feel that as their teeth collided harshly. He'd never seen this side of his childhood friend before, but there was a dark, twisted part of him that really enjoyed it.

That was the moment that Awsten looked away. He couldn't bear to watch the nightmarish scene in front of him anymore. Yes, him and Michael weren't a thing, but they had literally just kissed for the first time last night, surely that meant something to Mikey. It definitely meant the whole world to the mint haired boy who was now trying to blink back tears.

He decided to run down the corridor and crash hastily through the back door of the school before sprinting down to the large parking lot outside where his car had been wating patiently for the past hour.

Sitting in the front seat and moping seemed like Awsten's best bet to work through his feelings and also have a main character moment, which was honestly very well deserved, especially after what had just happened.

After sulking for a little while he just felt confused and angry. He had so many questions. Why would Michael kiss him and then coffee tossing kid the next day? Why did he look so much more into his kiss with Luke? Who would he choose to save if both him and Luke were being held at gunpoint and he could only rescue one of them?

Okay, that's a little bit overdramatic, even for Awstens standards, but he did know that when Michael came over to work on the project later that evening he would interrogate him thoroughly. He wanted answers, and he felt like he deserved them.

——

It was 8:30 now and Awsten was sitting waiting on his living room couch for the doorbell to ring. It was unlike Michael to be late, especially for their project sessions.

The mint haired boy decided to pull out his phone and message Mikey to see where he was because even though he was upset with him he still cared about him and worried about him.

Awsten: Hey, are you alright? It's getting late

He slammed his phone down on the couch next to him and took a lap around the room while waiting for a reply.

Three minutes later the screen lit up. Awsten ran back over to his mobile and frantically typed in the passcode to read the message.

Michael 🙂: I'll be there soon, with Luke rn

"OH MY GOD!" He yelled frustratedly. Of course Mikey was late because of stupid little Luke Hemings with his stupid little perfect face and his stupid little bright blue eyes. They'd probably been eating each other's faces since that whole school corridor moment in the morning.

Awsten: okay! Just make sure you don't get here too late because I go to bed pretty early

Michael 🙂: yeah, give me like 10 minutes

Awsten just groaned and sent a thumbs up emoji back. He had been planning out his conversation with Michael since his car depression session and now he might not even have enough time to say what he needed to say.

Whatever. As long as Mikey stuck to his word and arrived in 10 minutes then hopefully they'd still have enough time to talk.

——-

Michael did not arrive for another hour.
All of the clocks around the Knight household displayed the taunting time of 9:30pm.

He rang the doorbell anxiously and stood there in silence as he waited for someone to answer the door. He knew that Awsten would probably be annoyed, but what he didn't know was that Awsten was annoyed about a lot more than just him being late.

Soon, the door cracked open and a dull-faced toothpaste haired boy appeared. He refused to make eye contact with Michael which was unusual for him as they both usually loved looking into each other's inviting eyes.

"Come in." His voice was no more than a whisper. Michael gulped down his nerves and stepped through the door frame. He noticed that all of the lights in the house were either off or extremely dimmed. The vibe of the home seemed to replicate the melancholy mood that Awsten was experiencing.

Instead of going upstairs to the iconic celebrity church they slowly trudged towards the living room which was unfamiliar to Michael.

It had dark brown carpet that threaded through your toes if you weren't wearing shoes, ageing white floral wallpaper that was peeling in the corners and a tiny 24 inch television placed on a wooden table in the corner.

"Aren't we going up to your room?" Mikey asked. For some reason the vibe in the living room felt a lot more serious and intimidating than the one in Awsten's bright and cheery bedroom.

"No, I want us to stay down here today" The shorter boy mumbled. He had his hands shoved into the pockets of his dark grey jacket and wore a slouch that could only compete with a camel.

The room fell into an intense silence. Something was off and they both knew it. They used to get on like a house on fire, but now they got on like the few dying embers leftover from an inferno.

"So, where were you?" Awsten finally broke the ice. He wanted to see whether Michael would admit everything to him or try to hold back part of the truth.

"With Luke, I told you in my message" he replied, his voice shaking a little bit. He had a feeling that Awsten was somewhat onto him, but didn't want to believe he had been sussed so easily.

"What were you doing with Luke?"

Gulp.

"Just hanging out..."

"Bullshit!" Awsten shouted and his hands collided with Michael's chest to try and push him backwards, but he hardly moved so it was an embarrassing attempt.

"What are you talking about?" Michael tried to play innocent as he grabbed ahold of the smaller boy's wrists and held them firmly in place, halfway through the air.

"I saw you fucking kissing him in the corridor this morning, and you looked far more into it than your kiss with me!" Awsten cried out. He felt tears begin to brim in his eyes but he blinked them away. He couldn't let Mikey know how insecure the whole ordeal had made him feel.

I mean, How would it make you feel if you finally kissed your crush that you had been chasing for so long and then the next day he went and swapped saliva with the boy who had given you second degree burns the night before.

Not great, right?

"I'm so sorry, Awsten" Michael said as a pathetic attempt at an apology. Awsten shook his wrists away from Mikey's unsurprisingly strong grip and glared at him with nothing but disgust in his dull, bored eyes.

"So, do you like him?" The mossy haired boy asked. He already knew the answer, but he just wanted to hear it come out of Michael's usually untrustworthy mouth.

"Yes," Mikey replied. He could feel his palms begin to turn into waterfalls.

"Do you like him more than me?" Awsten pushed. It was definitely a very difficult question to answer.

Michael hesitated to reply. No matter what he said he knew he would be lying to either himself or the person stood in front of him.

"Pick one, either me or Luke" Awsten spat. He knew Michael would say Luke, otherwise he wouldn't have hesitated, but it still really fucking hurt.

For Michael it was a truly difficult decision. He had known Luke since his first day of school and since that day they had gone everywhere and done everything together. When he was struggling Luke was always there to help pull him through the darkness and get him to the light again. They made each other laugh, made each other cry, made each other so furious you'd think they hated each other, but every time their friendship grew stale it would be back to normal again a day or two later.

On the other hand you had Awsten who Michael had despised for the majority of the time he had known the boy, but when they got close, they got really close. There was something so special about Awsten. He had this constant aura of positivity and approachability that radiated off of him that Michael absolutely adored. It was like Awstens bubbly personality perfectly balanced out Michael's reserved one.

But, at the end of the day, he thought it would be stupid to choose someone he had only been "friends"with for less than a week over someone who he had been friends with for years and knew like the back of his hand.

"Maybe- maybe I should see how things go with Luke" Michael finally replied and Awsten's heart immediately shattered into a million pieces and fell into his stomach. It was the answer he expected but it still hurt almost the same as the coffee incident the day before.

He had been burnt, but in two very different ways.

"Get out"

"What?"

"I said get out!" Awsten yelled at the top of his lungs. He stormed over to the front door of his house and flung it open so harshly it slammed into the wall beside it. Michael followed behind him feeling extremely guilty, but this was the consequence of him choosing Luke.

"I'm really sorry" Michael mumbled for the final time before stepping out of the now haunted house. The door was quickly slammed behind him and he winced at the eardrum shattering noise it made.

Awsten trudged back to the living room with tears now streaming down his no-longer blushing cheeks. They fell to the wooden floorboards with small splashes to match the rain that had suddenly started pouring down outside.

He flopped onto the couch dramatically and just sobbed obnoxiously into one of his mother's designer cushions. She would probably come home later and wonder who spilled water all over it, but that was not important to Awsten in that moment.

One thing was for sure though, he was certain that sooner or later Luke and Michael's "relationship" would go horribly wrong and Mikey would come running back to him like a stupid cat that wouldn't stop chasing its own tail.

The question was whether Awsten would give Michael another chance or send him away with his tail between his legs.

Chapter Text

Saturday the 7th of January 2019

It was 10:30am and Michael was laying on his bed staring up at the ceiling with the curtains shut like a vampire. He had a lot to think about, but mostly he was just excited about the idea of Luke and him being together.

Of course Awsten was on his mind as well, but he tried to push away the thoughts and feelings of extreme guilt and perhaps some regret to save his own sanity.

Suddenly, his phone lit up the dark room and vibrated violently on his bedside table. This had to be one of the scariest moments of Michael's entire life. It was either going to be a text from Awsten cussing him out or Luke asking him to go on a date. Both made him extremely nervous.

He slowly stretched his arm out and grabbed a hold of the mobile containing a message that was either going to be from an angry Awsten or a Loving Luke. 50/50 chance.

Luke: hey ❤️

If I told you Michael didn't squeal like a little girl, I'd be lying.

Michael: heyyy what's up? 🙃

Mikey knew that Luke wanted to ask him on a date because they'd spoken about it after their concerningly long kiss yesterday by the lockers. Luke had told him that once he spoke to Awsten he'd take him to the lovely Italian restaurant that they'd both gone to on their middle school graduation day for a little celebration.

Luke: did you talk to coffee boy

Michael rolled his eyes. Calling Awsten "coffee boy" was definitely a choice.

Michael: yeah, I told him I wanted to give us a try

Luke: ok u know what I'm gonna ask now

Mikey began kicking his feet excitedly. He had been waiting for Luke to ask him this since the Halloween party that he was now very grateful for. It would also be the first time anyone had ever asked him out properly.

Luke: Will you go on a date with me to our favourite Italian restaurant? 🌹

The whole room was immediately filled with the ear-piercing sound of Michael screaming as high pitched as a dog whistle. The neighbour's chihuahua even started barking slightly.

"Are you alright in there?" His mom's voice came through the wall. She probably thought something terrible had happened like Lady Gaga announcing her retirement.

"Yeah, just Luke asking me on a date!" He yelled back with a massive smile on his face. Michael was lucky, he could tell his mother anything and she'd respond like a best friend who lived for gossip and drama.

"Luke Hemmings?" She gasped while kicking open the door to her son's grayscale bedroom. It was a shock to her. She knew Luke was Michael's best friend but had absolutely no idea they were into each other.

"Yeah!" The fake blonde chucked before turning back to his phone and waiting for Luke to finish typing out his new message which was currently just 3 dots bouncing back and forth in a speech bubble.

"Good luck, from what I've seen you guys are perfect for eachother" Karen beamed as she turned around to walk out of the room again. The second the door shut behind her Michael hopped up off his bed and began to pace
anxiously around the room.

Moments later his mobile buzzed again. Michael had never before ran to his phone as fast as he did at that moment.

Luke: so, what do you say?

His thumbs rammed onto the digital keyboard at the speed of light as he typed out the best, most beautiful response to ever exist.

Michael: FUCKKK YEAHHHHHHH

Luke: Okay, I'll pick u up tonight at eight. Wear that shirt u know I like 😙

Michael just replied with an adorable "okay!" Before scrambling to his feet and digging through his closet to look for that one item of clothing that he knew Luke loved as he always stared at him for far too long when he wore it.

"Gotcha!" Mikey cheered as he pulled out the dark green shirt that was a little bit tight on him but he supposed that's why Luke liked it so much. It had a black and white print of the Starbucks logo slapped on the front, which did look a bit tacky but Luke didn't mind so neither did Michael.

He stripped off his plain grey pyjama top and replaced it with his date's favourite t-shirt. He then swapped his hot chocolate stained pyjama pants with a pair of light blue jeans that hung loosely around his long legs.

Looking in the mirror was often a chore for Michael, but today he jumped at the chance. His outfit looked wonderful and he could already hear Luke calling him every pet name under the sun.

This evening was going to be wonderful.

(Or was it?)

—————

At eight o'clock on the dot Luke pulled up outside of the Clifford's Household in his beaten up 1990's jeep that had once belonged to his dad. He jumped out of the driver's seat and breathed so heavily you would think he was carrying a ton of bricks on his back.

Before his finger could even reach the glowing button on the doorbell Michael had swung the front door of his house open so fast it could've probably knocked someone out if they walked too close to it.

"Were you watching me walk up your driveway through the window?" Luke chuckled. He knew Michael a bit too well.

"Um, no..." Mikey tried to lie but he just ended up bursting into a fit of embarrassed laughter. He had actually been watching Luke out of the window since his jeep arrived at the top of the street earlier. When Luke got out of his car, that's when Michael ran down the stairs and pulled open the front door before his date could even ring the bell.

"So, are you ready to go?" The taller boy asked as he leaned down and held his hand out to Michael. He placed a soft kiss onto Michael's cheek as their fingers intertwined, leaving the shorter boy blushing like a strawberry.

"Yep!" Mikey chirped before glancing back at the living room window and spotting his mom inside holding her thumbs up in an approving manner. He waved goodbye to her while being pulled towards Luke's very unpleasant looking car.

"Do you need to wash your jeep soon?" Michael wondered as he hopped into the front passenger seat that was wrapped in a flashy fake red leather. It was definitely very representative of Luke's style.

"None of your business" Luke suddenly spat. He pulled open the Driver's side door and slumped back into the chair like a stroppy toddler. Michael just sat there in shock.

"Oh, okay..." he mumbled. He wanted to give Luke the benefit of the doubt. Maybe He'd had a bad day or hadn't eaten in a while or maybe he couldn't afford to go to a car wash. Surely one of those had to be the reason why Luke suddenly lashed out.

The drive to the restaurant was awkward after that. They only said a few words to each other which were: "can you open a window?" and then "okay" which definitely doesn't scream "I'm going on my first date with my potential future boyfriend and I'm super excited about it"

When they arrived at the building Luke didn't bother opening the car door for his date, he just waited for Michael to realise he was going to have to open the door on his own.

When Mikey finally got the message he pushed the door open and closed it quietly behind himself. Suddenly the mood between him and Luke had changed quite drastically from the cheery, romantic mood displayed earlier that evening.

"Let's go, we're almost late" Luke commanded but Michael just stood by the car and didn't move an inch. It's not that he didn't want to move, but that his brain was yelling at his body to not follow Luke into the restaurant. It was like deep down he knew something bad was going to happen, but he didn't know how or what it was going to be.

"Stop being a fucking baby and just come with me!" The taller, stronger boy suddenly yelled at Michael. He grabbed his date's arm and tugged him harshly forward and into the building. People in the car park shot dirty or pitiful looks at the couple which made everything seem ten times worse for the shorter boy.

The waitress standing at the front desk had a puzzled look on her face as she witnessed an eighteen year old get dragged into her restaurant by a scarily tall Fake Blonde that towered over even the two fake indoor trees she called Bertrude and Gertrude.

"Reservation for Luke Hemmings" His voice boomed throughout the front of the restaurant. The waitress just smiled nervously and handed him a piece of paper with their table number doodled onto it.

Eventually, they made it to their table which was a little booth near the back of the restaurant that luckily was out of view from the rest of the customers. It had rich, velvety purple seats that would've been a luxury to relax on, but neither of the boys were anywhere near relaxed. Luke was uptight and frustrated and Michael was as nervous as a mouse and felt like he was going to piss himself.

After they had sat in the booth for a little while a beautiful girl about their age with dark brown hair that was the length of her torso and bright blue eyes approached their table with a little notepad in her left hand and a rainbow themed pen in her right.

"Hello, I'm Anna! What can I get for you both today?" She chirped brightly. Michael immediately looked at Luke who was staring at the girl very intensely. He snuck a sly wink at her but his date still saw.

Michael reached over the table and placed his hand into Luke's to try and remind him and explain to the server that they were supposed to be together, but the taller boy just shook his grasp away.

"You can get me your number," Luke chuckled. Anna just stared blankly at him before returning an awkward laugh and turning to look at Michael who had gone bright red out of second hand embarrassment.

"Surely you have your boyfriend here to call whenever you want, right?" The girl pointed at Mikey but she had a sympathetic look on her face that just rubbed the whole situation in even more.

"He knows I'm just messing, right?" Luke joked, but everyone knew he wasn't just "messing." Anna rolled her eyes in annoyance and pulled two pieces of card with writing printed on both sides out of the front of her apron. She began to scribble onto one before handing them to the boys.

"Here's some menus, call me back when you're ready to order properly" she snapped like a crocodile as she began to walk over to another table on the other side of the restaurant.

Michael just stared directly down at the menu he had been given. There was a note on there that Anna had just written to him, and it took him by surprise but shook him awake.

The note read: "hey, ur bf seems rlly toxic. Leave while u still can!! U can do 100x better than him!"

All of a sudden Mikey got to his feet and began to sprint out of the restaurant. He didn't care that he'd left Luke at the table all by himself or that he'd left his coat hooked over his chair. All he cared about was running away, and like Anna said, while he still could.

Maybe Luke would run after him, maybe he wouldn't, but he didn't care. In that moment the only thing finally back on Michael's mind was the kind hearted mint haired boy that had slammed the door in his face yesterday evening.

Mikey didn't have a car or any mode of transport but he was determined to get to Awsten's house and pour his heart out to him and tell him how truly sorry he was for everything or just kiss him till they both couldn't breathe anymore.

He pulled out his phone to figure out the best route to Awsten's house via walkways, but suddenly the whole entire sky was filled with ricocheting raindrops and was drenching his mobile, so he had to put it away and just trust his instincts.

"Michael! What the fuck are you doing?" A loud, frustrated voice suddenly sounded behind him. Mikey's stomach dipped with anxiety. He didn't want to deal with Luke anymore, he just wanted to run back to Awsten, the one who didn't make him feel like he was constantly walking on eggshells.

Michael just ran and ran and ran, but apparently that wasn't enough to outrun Luke. He caught the slightly shorter boy's arm in a tight grip and pulled him backwards harshly, causing them both to stumble awkwardly.

"Why did you just run out like that? Did you have one of your panic attack things?" Luke asked, but what he didn't know (or didn't want to admit) was that Michael had sprinted out of the restaurant just to get away from him.

"I can't talk to you now, I need to get to Awsten. Don't follow me, I've had enough of you for one night!" Michael spat and before Luke even had a chance to respond Mikey shook off his tight grip and jetted off up the street again, leaving a dumbfounded fake blonde standing by himself in the pouring rain.

———

Awsten was sitting on his living room couch in a hunched over sloth position watching old "one direction best moments" videos when his doorbell rang randomly at 8:45pm.

He was very confused about why someone would be at his house unannounced, so he plopped his feet onto the hardwood floor of his living room and walked slowly over to the door that was now disturbing his idea of a perfect evening.

He snaked his pale hand around the doorknob and twisted his front door open, only to be met with a panting, soaking wet Michael Clifford with a desperate look on his beautiful face.

Awsten raised a confused eyebrow. He had so many questions. Why was Michael here? Wasn't he supposed to be with Luke? Did he run here in the pouring rain?

All of those queries were soon silenced by the feeling of Michael grabbing Awstens face and slamming their lips together unexpectedly.

They both stumbled back into the house slowly, tripping over their own feet as Mikey raised his leg slightly to kick the door shut behind himself.

Jackets were slipped off shoulders and shoes were flung into the corners of the hallway. Lights were accidentally switched off when Michael pushed Awsten against the wall,  shoving him against the light switch as he did so.

Awsten's hands snuck into Michael's hair and his fingers threaded through the strands of his extremely wet locks as the taller boy began to creep his palms down to his "friend's" clothed hips, causing Awsten to let out a short gasp in between their lips meeting over and over again.

Michael slid his hands under Awsten's dark green jumper and squeezed the burning hot bare skin of his waist. The feeling of being touched like that was foreign to the shorter boy, but he really loved it, in fact, he was thriving off of it and he was so glad Mikey was the one making him feel that way.

Soon, their lips had parted, but only because Michael had started kissing slowly up and down Awsten's embarrassingly blushed jawline. His tongue traced the sharp bone buried under the layers of skin softly, leaving the mint haired boy in a state of pure bliss.

Michael began to push his hands even further down on Awsten's smaller body. He laced his fingers around the waistband of the grey ripped jeans that the squirming boy was wearing and-

"Hey I'm home- WHAT THE FUCK?"

Both boys immediately pulled away from each other and stood awkwardly in the middle of the dark corridor. Awsten's mother was standing in the doorway with a bag full of groceries hanging off of her arm which she then decided to drop to the floor in utter shock.

"Um, hi mom" Awsten mumbled. There's not really much you can say to your parents when they walk through the front door and catch you making out with the guy you swore you weren't interested in at all.

"Well, what a lovely surprise! I was beginning to wonder if my son would be alone forever!" Ginny beamed before walking over to Michael and giving him a ginormous hug. He just laughed nervously and patted her back gratefully.

"Mom!" Awsten gritted his teeth angrily. Of course his mother would say something embarrassing like that. She seemed to have a checklist of ways to irritate her son, and apparently one of them was to show him up in front of the guy he liked.

"Alright, I'll leave you to it! Have fun, but not too much!" She chucked while scooping up her bag of shopping that was resting peacefully on the floor and brushing past the two boys to get to her lovely modern kitchen.

Michael and Awsten just stared at each other for a moment before bursting into a fit of laughter. It seemed like every time they were getting up to something a slight bit intimate they were interrupted, and usually by Awsten's very nosy mother.

"So, What happened to Luke?" The mint haired boy smirked about the fact that the coffee tossing guy was nowhere to be seen. Michael sighed loudly and slapped a hand over his face in exhaustion.

"I'll tell you tomorrow if you come to my place around midday" He replied and Awsten happily nodded. He'd give his left kidney to spend even thirty seconds with Michael at this point. Also, he didn't mind waiting to find out about what happened with Luke because if it was something terrible then at least it wouldn't ruin his current night.

"See you then" Michael smiled like a happy little puppy before leaning down and placing one last soft kiss onto Awsten's pale pink lips that were slightly puffy from their previous activities.

"Can't wait" Awsten replied as Michael raced around to pull his scattered shoes and jacket back onto his body just like they were when he first arrived earlier that evening.

He waved politely at his friend and his mother who seemed to have emerged from the kitchen again to say goodbye.

As the door closed behind Mikey he placed his fingers onto his lips and smiled widely at the memory of the wonderful kisses he had just shared with Awsten and the kisses that were pretty much guaranteed to happen when they saw each other the next day.

He felt a type of happiness he hadn't felt in a very long time. Maybe there was a specific word for that type of happiness, but he didn't want to think that deeply about it.

All that mattered is that things were finally going well for him and Awsten and nothing could come between them now.

Chapter Text

Sunday the 8th of January 2019

It was almost midday and Michael was running around his house cleaning frantically in preparation for Awsten's visit. It would be his worst nightmare for the boy he liked to walk into his house and notice the crumbs from chips and random odd socks hanging off of every single piece of furniture.

His mother Karen was standing by the television just watching her son tidy the house more than he ever had before. It was quite impressive what Michael could do when the worry of embarrassing himself in front of his crush was present.

"I don't think your friend will care too much if the house is a little bit messy," Karen chucked. Mikey just turned towards her and shook his head quickly before getting right back to throwing bundles of dirty underwear into the washing machine.

"Everything has to be perfect, because he is perfect, okay?" Michael declared. His mother just rolled her eyes before mysteriously disappearing into the front garden.

She came back a few moments later with a bundle of flowers in her hand. Two matched the color of Awsten's eyes, another matched the color of his hair and the others were a bright red that represented Michael's feelings towards Awsten perfectly.

Karen tied them together with a short string and handed them to her son who was standing there with a massive, grateful smile on his face.

"Thank you mom" he beamed as he leaned down to give her a massive, tight hug. Nothing in the world could ever replace her, she would always be his number one.

Moments later, the doorbell sounded. Michael let go of his mother and sprinted to the door like he was trying to compete with a cheetah.

He pulled the front door of his house open and was met with the sight of an Awsten Knight. His minty hair dye was beginning to fade and the bright blue polish on his fingernails was chipping around the sides.

"Hey! Come in!" Michael said cheerily as Awsten stepped into his home.

Karen was standing at the end of the hallway watching Awsten's every move. When Michael told her about what happened with Luke the night before she was in disbelief, and in that moment she promised herself that whoever her son bought home she would observe thoroughly before deciding whether or not they were suitable for Mikey.

So far though, she liked Awsten. He seemed kind and calm, the exact opposite of Luke. She also adored his green hair, it gave the boy even more personality than he already had.

So far, she would say that Awsten was potentially a perfect fit for her son.

"Oh my goodness, you got me flowers? Thank you!" Awsten gasped as Michael held out the bouquet of roses and daffodils towards him. They were breathtakingly beautiful and according to Mikey, they looked exactly like the boy stood in front of him.

"It's no problem! Urm, do you want to come up to my room?" Michael asked awkwardly. Awsten had never seen his bedroom before. It was nothing exciting, just a bed, wardrobe, desk and washing basket all in very monochrome colors, but there was still something very anxiety-inducing about the guy he fancied seeing his bat cave for the first time.

"Yeah, sure!" Awsten replied. They both walked over to the stairs and began to climb them, but they couldn't reach the top without Karen saying one final thing to try and protect her son.

"Be careful boys! Don't want anyone getting pregnant!" She chuckled. Michael went bright red whereas Awsten started absolutely pissing himself laughing.

"Mom! We can't even get pregnant! We're both guys!" Her son yelled back to her but she was too busy wheezing to listen to him. Michael just rolled his eyes and grabbed Awsten's wrist, pulling him quickly to the top of the stairs.

When they arrived outside of Mikey's bedroom he took in a deep breath before pulling the door handle down and revealing his secret lair to the boy who was standing beside him.

Awsten stepped through the doorframe and placed his feet onto the soft grey carpet underneath his shoes. Michael ran to the window and frantically pulled the curtains open so that the natural light could flood his room.

"I'm so sorry about my room! I know it's so boring and dumb and stupid and I hate it and you probably-

Awsten silenced Michael by pressing their lips together.

It took the taller boy by surprise, but the kiss was very welcome. In fact, he often dreamed about the meeting of their lips again, and when it actually happened it was always like a fairy godmother had made all of his greatest dreams materialise.

Although it was only a short kiss, it was still a very wonderful one. Both boys had bright red blushes creeping up their cheeks as their lips parted. They chuckled lightly before Michael pulled Awsten by his hands to sit on the dark grey duvet covering his mattress.

"So, tell me what happened with Luke yesterday," Awsten chirped. He was very curious and honestly, he was also looking for any reason he could to justify having an extreme dislike for Luke (aside from the fact that Luke threw boiling hot coffee onto him and then stole the boy he liked.)

"Well, he picked me up and was acting all cute and shit, but when we got to his car I said he might want to wash it soon, then he just told me to mind my own business before slamming his door like a madman!" Michael explained. Awsten nodded along, a surprised expression on his face, but in reality he wasn't all that shocked. He could tell that Luke had a temper on him like an active volcano that was ready to blow.

"And then what happened?"

"So, we got to our date and he was shouting at me in the car park, then when we were in the restaurant he tried hitting on our waitress. She was an angel and left me a note telling me to run away, so that's what I did. Then I literally sprinted all the way to your house" Michael finished explaining and Awsten just reached forward and grabbed the taller boy's hands. He didn't deserve to be treated like that, nobody did. Luke was a massive asshole and he was just glad that Michael was away from him now.

"Let me take you on a proper date. We can go to the Italian restaurant and get you the food you missed out on yesterday. Plus I quite fancy some spaghetti!" Awsten offered. Michael hesitated for a moment. His last date obviously was a disaster, and he didn't want that to happen again.

"Are you sure?" He asked the shorter boy who smiled happily back at him. Awsten suddenly placed his hands gently onto the sides of Michael's face and leaned in to plant a small kiss on his rosy red cheek.

"I would never do to you what Luke did to you" he promised. He wasn't lying either, treating Michael like he was a piece of chewed, slimy gum on the bottom of his shoe was not marked on his calendar for anytime soon.

Mikey breathed out shakily. He loved the idea of going on a date with Awsten and he felt it would be stupid to let that opportunity go just because Luke had treated him badly.

Just because one person had treated him so horribly, doesn't mean that everyone would.

"Okay, I'll do it!" Michael declared. Awsten cheered excitedly and grabbed the taller boy's wrists to tug him off the bed and towards the door of his dreary bedroom.

They ran down the stairs like two massive elephants and Karen emerged from the kitchen to see what all the noise was. She walked over to the two boys who were pulling their shoes on as fast as they possibly could.

"Where are you guys going?" She asked out of pure curiosity. She had never seen her antisocial son so excited to leave the house before. It was a welcome sight though.

"Just out together. You don't mind, do you?" Michael asked. He knew his mother might be a little overprotective of him at that moment, especially after what had happened with Luke the day before, so maybe it was best to ask her for permission first.

"I don't mind. Have fun, but be back by nine!" She replied, patting her son on the back reassuringly before turning around and sauntering back to the kitchen to eat her lunch.

Awsten walked over to the front door and pulled down the handle. The midday light crept through the door frame as he pulled the wooden board towards himself slowly.

Michael slipped out of the house first but waited patiently in the front garden as Awsten locked the door behind both of them.

They decided to lock their arms together like a knotted ribbon before setting off down the walkway with hope to arrive at the restaurant as soon as they possibly could.

——-

Awsten's wristwatch displayed the welcoming time of 12:45 pm. It was the perfect moment of the day to have a beautifully large bowl of spaghetti carbonara. Plus, he hadn't eaten since 8 o'clock that morning and his stomach was rumbling so loud his date was looking around to see if it was starting to thunder.

They walked into the restaurant hand in hand, ignoring the dirty looks they received from old, judgemental people.
The woman at the front desk was the same lady from yesterday, the one with the two trees named Bertrude and Gertrude.

Her face lit up when she recognised Michael. After witnessing Luke dragging him into the restaurant quite angrily the day before she had become quite worried about the stranger. She was also happy that he seemed to be with a much sweeter boy that held his hand softly instead of trying to snap it off.

"Hi, can we please get a table for two?" Awsten politely asked the tree lady. She smiled kindly at the two boys before reaching under her desk and pulling out a wooden block with the number "27" printed onto it.

"Here you go! Enjoy your food!" She exclaimed. Michael and Awsten waved goodbye to her and began to stroll over towards table twenty-seven, a round wooden table with two seats on either side and a cute, flickering candle placed in the middle. It was very romantic, obviously the lady at the front desk knew why they were there.

They settled into their seats and kept their hands clasped together across the table. Now that they were together they didn't want to let eachother go.

A little while later another familiar face appeared. It was Anna, the girl with the rainbow pen who had an extreme dislike for Luke. She gasped when she saw Michael again, and this time with a different boy who she could already tell treated him much better than his previous date.

"Hi! What can I get you today?" She asked the two boys who were still staring intensely into each other's breathtakingly beautiful eyes. Anna smiled to herself. She was pleased to see Michael looking a lot more comfortable than the day before.

"Can I get a pepperoni pizza?" He asked like an excited little kid. Nothing or no one could ever beat his love for pepperoni pizza.

Well, maybe one person could.

"I'll get the spaghetti carbonara please!"
Said person announced loudly. All the customers in the restaurant swung their heads around to try and spot the commotion, but they only looked away and sighed dismissively when they realised it was just two teenage boys being idiots.

"Sure, I'll be right back!" Anna replied before walking off to the large blue double doors that led to the restaurant's massive industrial kitchen.

"Actually, I wanted to ask you something," Michael suddenly stated. It took Awsten by surprise, but he was all ears. He nodded his head reassuringly and gripped Mikey's hands tighter to let him know it was alright to ask whatever question he wanted.

"When did you first know you liked me?" Michael inquired. He had wondered about that for a while. He knew that Awsten had been watching him from afar for at least two years, but he couldn't pinpoint the exact date it started or the exact reason why.

Awsten chucked slightly, his cheeks flushing a rosy pink to match the color of the vintage themed table cloth in front of him. He never thought he would be asked that question, but it was hardly a long story. A quite normal one really.

"So, it was about two years ago on the first day of tenth grade. You walked in with a brand new haircut that you had dyed an electric shade of blue. I'd never really noticed you before, but after that you were immediately on my radar. Plus, I also thought you were really cute" Awsten explained, stopping to giggle every now and again. The memory of that day was still fresh in his mind, especially now since he thought about Michael almost constantly, how could he ever forget about it?

"No way! I hated that haircut as well! I guess it was just a blessing in disguise" Michael chuckled, squeezing Awsten's hands happily across the dark brown oak table.

Anna returned a few moments later with two full dishes of food in her possession. She carefully lowered the plate of pizza to the placemat in front of Michael and the large bowl filled to the brim with spaghetti carbonara in front of Awsten who was practically slobbering like a dog over the food at that point.

"Enjoy boys!" She smiled and offered a supportive thumbs up to the blonde boy who graciously accepted it. Everyone he had ever introduced Awsten to instantly took a liking to him, and he could understand why. The green haired boy was one of the most lovely people he had ever had the pleasure of meeting and he felt so lucky that they were together now, especially as more than friends.

Anna made her way back to the kitchen, leaving the two lovebirds alone to enjoy their food and each other's company. Michael was taking enormous bites out of his juicy, cheesy pepperoni pizza while Awsten was slurping down forkfuls of creamy, steaming hot spaghetti.

"So, if you liked me so much, why did you stab me with that pencil?" Mikey asked quite out of the blue, causing Awsten to almost choke on his food. That was perhaps one of the not-so -good memories he had with Michael.

"Okay, so I was really desperate for your attention and you would never acknowledge me properly, so I was a bit of an idiot and decided the best way to get you to notice me would be to stab you with graphite. Not one of my best ideas, right?" Awsten grimaced as he tried to explain his thought process during that infamous moment last year, but now that he replayed the scene in his mind he realised just how dumb he had been back then.

Michael just placed his head gently on the table while laughing his socks off. He found it hilarious that he had spent hours in the emergency room and scared his mother half to death just because the boy he was currently on a date with wanted his attention.

"You could've gotten my attention in any other way, like maybe leaving a note in my locker or something" Mikey suggested and Awsten just slapped a sweaty palm over his own face. He didn't know why he hadn't thought of that, it would've solved a lot of problems a lot sooner instead of creating a crap ton more.

"Next time, I'll leave you a note" Awsten smirked as he reached for a spare menu that was resting on the edge of the table. He slowly pulled a pen out of his pocket and brought it to the paper before carefully writing out a question he was both terrified and excited to ask.

He pushed the menu across the table towards Michael who was very confused. He slipped his fingers under the paper and brought it closer to his face as his eyes scanned Awsten's chicken scrawl handwriting.

"Will you be my boyfriend?" The note read and Michael's eyes immediately widened and his mouth dropped open in shock. He never thought that anyone would ever ask him a question like that, but here he was, sitting across from the cutest, sweetest boy in the whole world who had just asked him to be his.

"Of course! I'd love to be your boyfriend!" Michael beamed. Anna had just come out of the kitchen and witnessed the whole moment, so she stood clapping and cheering for the adorable new couple visiting her restaurant.

Awsten leaned across the table and placed a gentle, romantic kiss onto boyfriend's strawberry red cheeks. They both had forgotten about their food at that point, but it didn't matter.

All that mattered in that moment was each other.

——

Chapter Text

Monday the 1st of march 2019

(2 months later)

“That went really well!” Awsten cheered as he walked out of the biology classroom, his boyfriend right next to him holding the door open.

They had just finished presenting the science project that had started it all, and in some ways it was a relief that after two months of work it was all finally over, but it was also quite upsetting that they had to now leave that part of their life behind.

“Oh, look at this!” Michael gasped before running over to the bulletin board opposite the classroom they had just left.

It had a bright, colorful poster announcing the end of high school prom for the students in their final year of school, and Michael and Awsten slotted into that category perfectly.

“That's exciting!” Awsten beamed, a joyous smile on his face. At that moment he had already started brewing ideas on how he would ask his wonderful boyfriend to prom, and the second he got home he would start throwing them together.

Michael wrapped his arm around the shorter boy and gave him a gentle squeeze. He loved seeing Awsten happy, he derived a lot of his own joy from it. Maybe that was a little unhealthy, but he didn’t notice or seem to care.

“Right, let’s go to lunch, I'm absolutely starving!” Calum suddenly announced, appearing behind the couple, startling them a little bit. Michael reluctantly let go of Awsten as they began to follow their friend to the cafeteria.

When they arrived in the lunch hall, Michael immediately accidentally locked eyes with Luke Hemmings. He quickly turned away, not wanting to acknowledge the boy who had played with his feelings and took him on such an awful date.

Truthfully, it had been almost two months since he had last spoken to Luke. It was so painful that the one he used to call his childhood friend was now nothing but a shadow.

Ashton sat opposite Luke chewing as loud as a bloated cow while attempting to sing in a funny voice. He was obviously trying to cheer his pal up, but the taller boy looked like he was on the brink of depression.

His eyes were sunken with large purple circles tracing the edges, his hair was messy and greasy and his roots were coming back in full force. His clothes were the same ones he had worn for the past few days, and quite frankly he stank from not showering regularly.

It was a difficult sight for Michael. He somewhat felt like it was his fault, that if he stayed with Luke maybe the boy would’ve been happy, but he knew that if he had remained with his old friend he would’ve been dragged down with him.

“Michael, what do you want for lunch?” Awsten’s kind voice snapped him out of his trance. The mint haired boy knew what had happened, it was hard not to notice his boyfriend staring at the one person he feared could still take Michael back.

“Oh, just a burger please” he replied, smiling awkwardly. Awsten returned a slightly sadder smile before getting to his feet and trudging over to the long, winding lunch line to pick up food for him and his boyfriend, who he was starting to doubt.

————

That night when Awsten got home he dug out all of his old arts and crafts supplies. Glitter gel pens, crinkle cut scissors and watery glue that he hadn’t touched since he was about twelve.

It was time to make the coolest promposal poster anyone had ever seen.

He sketched out in pencil the words “will you go to prom with me?” Onto a large pink piece of card he had stolen from his sister’s bedroom, before coating the letters in sticky craft glue and tossing a bunch of green glitter over it.

He knew Michael loved the color green, that's why he was so obsessed with his boyfriend’s hair. In fact, Awsten had gotten quite sick of looking like a blade of grass, but he kept his hair the same just because he knew his favourite person liked it that way.

After the glittery glue had dried, Awsten dragged the card towards his window and shook off all the excess sparkle over the bushes in his front garden. If anyone glanced up from the sidewalk at that moment they would probably think a unicorn had died in his bedroom.

Awsten brought his creation back to the carpeted floor of his bedroom. He picked out a neon orange gel pen to doodle little flowers and love hearts in the corners of the pink poster.

After Awsten had finished his doodling he proudly stood the poster up by his door and decided that at around eight o’clock in the evening, he would make the trek over to Michael’s house and ask his favourite boy to prom.

———

Michael was sitting in his living room when he heard an obnoxiously loud knock on his front door. He wasn’t expecting any visitors, so whoever was there could either be a murderer, robber, kidnapper or a stranger. None of them were really that great.

He hopped off his couch and cautiously staggered towards the front of his house. In the process he somehow slipped up on a wet patch of floor and fell flat on his face. If there really was a home invader they’d sure be aware someone was at home now.

Michael scrambled to his feet again, clutching his nose that had smacked against the wooden floor. He gulped nervously as he wrapped his spare hand around the silver door handle he was terrified to pull down.

Eventually, he swung the door open and was met with the unwelcome sight of an exhausted looking Luke Hemmings in a surprisingly smart outfit, standing on his doorstep.

“Luke? What are you doing here?” Michael asked. He was shocked by the sight of the boy. He thought they’d never speak to each other again, but here he was, rose in hand, tears in his eyes and something on his mind that he was desperate to convey.

“I'm sorry for turning up like this, urm, I just really wanted to talk to you. Can I come in?” Luke blubbered like a baby. He had a lost look in his eyes that was hard to ignore, and Michael still felt a lot of sympathy for his childhood friend, so he opened the door further and gestured for Luke to enter his home.

What the boys didn't notice was that Awsten was standing across the street, pink sparkly poster in hand, and a massive, painful pit in his stomach.

They both sauntered back to Michael’s living room in dead silence. There’s not really much you can say when you’re staring at the back of your ex best friend's head.

“So, what’s up?” Michael inquired as he flopped back onto his couch, Luke sitting down gently right next to him. There was something weird about having Luke close to him once again after not interacting with him at all for almost two months.

“I just wanted to come and apologise to you. When I saw you in the lunch hall today I just felt so shitty. i'm really sorry for everything, Mikey” Luke mumbled as a stray teardrop slipped from the corner of his eye. It was pulling on Michael’s heart strings badly. Yes, he still resented Luke for that horrible date and the coffee incident, but he knew that deep down his childhood friend was just the same boy he had met all those years ago, the one who would scream anxiously when his mother left him at the school gate, but now in an adult’s body.

“Don’t cry, it’s okay” Michael said softly before pulling Luke into a tight embrace. The taller boy hesitated for a moment, but he soon wrapped his arms around Michael’s body and began to sob loudly into his shoulder.

“I’ve been such an idiot. I’ve missed you so much, I was just so jealous of you and Awsten and I started to lash out, and then when we were on that date I was being so selfish, and- and- embarrassing and-“

“Luke, I get it. You don’t need to try and explain yourself to me” Michael reassured him, their bodies still pressed against each other, Luke’s sobs shaking his figure every now and again. It was a very harsh sight for Mikey, watching the boy who he was so used to seeing as such a strong person crumble in his arms.

“I- I just missed you so much because I’m still in love with you” Luke choked out. He pulled his face away from Mikey’s shoulder and looked him dead in the eyes to try and decipher what he was feeling, but he just sat there silently, his mouth opening and closing quickly as he tried to think of something to say.

Luke leaned forward slightly, his nose attempting to brush against Michael’s. Their warm breaths tangled together in the air like Luke’s hand in the shorter boy’s hair. Their lips gently grazed against each other’s before Michael pulled away, putting a firm hand onto Luke’s chest to keep him at bay.

“Luke, we can’t keep doing this. You’re fucking addictive sometimes and we’re so damn toxic together. Plus, I have a boyfriend. I wouldn’t dare cheat on Awsten. I would never forgive myself if I did” Michael stated, his voice firm and commanding. Luke just pushed his palms up to his eyes and pressed them into his skin harshly.

“I'm sorry! God, I keep messing up so badly!” Luke cried, his long blonde hair falling over his face and hiding his scrunched up features. Michael just watched the blubbering boy in front of him, unsure of what to do. Luke seemed extremely inconsolable at that moment, and Mikey definitely was not a therapist by any stretch.

After a few moments of just listening to excruciating sobs fall from Luke’s mouth, the shorter boy grabbed one of his hands gently. Their palms grazed against each other’s, the soft but meaningful touch sent waves of pain through both of them.

Michael knew that deep down, after everything, he still loved Luke. He could never stop loving someone he had spent almost every single moment of his life with, but he had someone else to love now. A beautiful human with a kind soul and fantastic green hair that he was proud to call his own.

“I think it’s time you go home, Luke,” He said faintly. It was an extremely difficult thing to say, especially to someone crying their eyes out right in front of you, but it had to be done. Otherwise, he knew that he would’ve stayed seated there for an eternity trying to calm the other boy down.

Luke looked up, slightly shocked by Michael’s sudden directness, but eventually he reluctantly nodded his head, forcing a sad smile onto his face. He got to his feet, stumbling slightly and wiping his eyes with his jacket sleeve before turning and walking towards the living room door of Michael’s home.

“I’ll see you around, bro” he chuckled at the cringey nickname he usually called his best friend. That’s what they were now, only friends, nothing more. Maybe it was time for that to finally sink in.

“Goodnight, Luke” Michael returned the small smile and watched as the taller boy disappeared behind the thin wooden door. He waited and listened for the sound of his front door slamming, and once it eventually closed he let out a loud sigh of relief.

He didn’t have much time to himself though, as moments later his phone lit up on the coffee table, Awstens contact name illuminating the screen.

Michael reached for his phone curiously, but he winced when he read the furious message from his obviously very pissed off boyfriend.

“Why the fuck is Luke at your house?”

“Oh, for Christ’s sake” Michael groaned, throwing his mobile back onto the coffee table before collapsing back onto the couch and slamming his eyes shut.

He’d deal with that later. 

Chapter Text

Monday the 1st of march 2019

Michael woke up on the couch, his shirt sticking to his sweaty body. The extremely bright early morning sun was bursting through the gap in his living room curtains and assaulting his eyes.

“Shit…” He groaned when he realised he’d fallen asleep after Luke had left, and also ignored his boyfriend’s furious texts about Luke’s unannounced visit.

He picked up his phone slowly and tapped the screen to check for any new notifications.

As expected, Awsten had messaged another five times.

“Hello?”

“What’s going on?”

“What does he want?”

“Did he kiss you again?”

“Michael, do you love him more than me?”

Michael’s stomach dropped when he read that last message. That was so far from the truth, he could never have  loved anyone as much as he loved Awsten.

He felt so guilty for not responding last night. He could just visualise Awsten in his bedroom, pacing around, biting his nails like he does when he’s anxious and checking his phone every five seconds to see if his boyfriend had replied, only to be met with a cold silence.

“I'm so sorry, I fell asleep. Everything’s fine, I told him to leave after a while. I’ll see you at school babe x” Michael typed out in the message box of his phone and hit send, hoping for a reply from Awsten almost immediately, but it was stupid to want that. Plus, it was 5 o’clock in the morning, he was probably the only person in the city awake.

But, the hours slowly ticked by, and in the time that it took for Michael to brush his teeth, shower, change his clothes and make breakfast, a reply from his boyfriend was nowhere to be seen.

The clock displayed the disappointing time of 7:30am, meaning it was the moment he knew to give up on getting a reply from Awsten and head to school to face the wrath of the short bundle of green hair.

Michael said goodbye to his mother who was sat in the living room before walking out of his house and into the quiet residential street he lived on to begin his short walk to the torture chamber.

———

Awsten was stood by his locker, phone in hand, staring at the text message his boyfriend had sent at an unusually early hour of the morning for him. It was sweet, sure, but Awsten still didn’t forgive him for not replying last night.

He glanced up from his phone a few moments later and spotted a weirdly happy Luke Hemmings walking with his friend who Awsten didn’t know the name of. It looked like the taller boy had slightly flushed cheeks, but maybe he had just been running, or perhaps he had been on the phone with Michael and they had been flirting! Or…

“Stop!” Awsten commanded at his own brain. He thought he’d said it in his mind, but the amount of students turning and giving him death glares told him otherwise.

After he had recovered from the embarrassment of talking to himself out loud, his eyes darted to the front doors of the school just as Michael walked through them.

He looked as beautiful as ever, his hair framed his model-like face spectacularly and his long, fluttering eyelashes curtained the windows into his soul that shone a bright green. It was hard for Awsten to stay mad at someone who looked so perfect and took his breath away, but he wasn’t  backing down this time. He wanted answers, and he was going to get them.

“Hey Awsten!” Michael yelled across the corridor as he ran up to his boyfriend that childishly refused to make eye contact with him. He just stared at the floor like it was the most interesting thing in the world.

“Why didn’t you reply to me last night?” He snapped, finally turning towards Michael and glaring straight into his irises. It was hard to look at him though. He had this innocent puppy dog look in his eyes that made Awsten just want to grab his face and kiss him senseless in the middle of a bustling school corridor, which was the complete opposite of what he needed to do at that moment.

“I fell asleep on my couch after Luke left, I’m so sorry” Michael said, sticking out his bottom lip in a saddened but also exaggerated pout to play on his boyfriend’s emotions even more. He knew Awsten was a sucker for the sorries paired with puppy dog eyes and soppy bottom lips.

“So, you guys just… talked?” Awsten questioned. He knew what Luke was like, desperate to lock lips with Michael at any given chance.  Although, he also didn’t fully trust Michael not to return the kiss, which was even more troubling.

“I promise you, that’s all we did. I think I got it through to him now that we’re just friends” Michael smiled and placed a reassuring hand on Awstens slumped shoulder. He wasn’t necessarily lying, but he did keep back the information about the moment where he and Luke found themselves very close to each other once again.

Life finally began to spring back into Awsten’s face. He let a small smile spread across his features before he eventually leaned forward and wrapped his arms around Michael in a scarily tight bear hug.

“I'm sorry for doubting you, I just know that you and Luke have history and- it was getting to me”  He mumbled into his boyfriend’s wide shoulder as a familiar hand snuck around his waist to pull him closer, which it would be safe to say he enjoyed the feeling of.

“I get it, okay? Look, why don’t we go to the mall later and get some suits for prom. That's only if you want to come with me, of course!” Michael proposed and Awsten let out a little laugh as he thought back to his disastrous promposal plan yesterday evening.

“Of course I’ll go to prom with you. I was actually planning on being the one to ask” He beamed, pulling away from his boyfriend’s shoulder and tangling their fingers together. They swung their hands happily up and down as they began their slow journey to the history classroom.

As they walked along, Calum joined the party and wrapped his arms around both of his friends' shoulders. Awsten and Michael just laughed at the interruption and began listening to the blabbering boy that was Calum Hood.

————

“Right, let’s go get some snazzy suits, babe!” Michael cheered as his car came grinding to a halt in the car park of the medium sized mall plonked right in the middle of the town. Crowds of people were entering and exiting, most of them teenage girls and boys buying outfits for their end of year dances.

Michael ran round to the passenger’s side and pulled open Awsten’s door for him, earning a little kiss on the cheek as a thank you. They joined their hands together, (this time without Calum to interrupt them), and made their way to the large glass double doors of the mall.

As they both entered the massive building, Awsten immediately recognised one of the other visitors. He was dressed in a dark purple jacket paired with black skinny jeans so ripped he might as well have just worn shorts. His bleached blonde hair fell just above his shoulders and little curls tangled around his ears like they were trying to hug them. He had another boy with him, but Awsten didn’t know him well enough to be able to name him, he just knew it was the boy Luke was holding hands with at school earlier that day.

“Oh god, Luke’s here” he groaned before tugging Michael off to the side to hide behind an extravagant water feature in the middle of the mall. He probably looked like an idiot, but he would also rather throw himself into a lake of hungry alligators than have Luke Hemmings notice them and come over and try to talk to them.

“He’s only with Ashton. They’re probably getting lunch together or something” Michael explained before trying to walk away, but his boyfriend just dragged him back to where he had started.

A few moments later, Ashton leaned up to Luke and placed his lips gently onto the taller boy’s sharp cheekbone.

Michael’s mouth dropped open as Awsten tried not to burst out laughing. Mikey couldn’t believe that Luke had been at his house the night before sobbing his eyes out and confessing his undying love for him, only for him to be seemingly in a relationship with Ashton the next day.

“Well, he sure moves on fast!” Awsten giggled, but he earnt a harsh glare from Mikey. They continued to watch the new couple as they disappeared into one of the shops, hands locked together like they’d been superglued.

“I just can’t believe it. Never in a million years did I think Ashton and Luke would be a thing. Plus, I thought ash was as straight as a ruler!” Michael exclaimed as he finally managed to pull his boyfriend out from behind the water fountain and begin their journey to the nearest clothing store.

“More like a bendy ruler” Awsten smirked, earning another glare from Mikey. Awsten found the whole thing very amusing, but also quite relieving because that meant Luke was officially off the market and would hopefully stop trying to hit on Michael.

“I’ll have to call him later, but for now, we need to go and look at suits” the taller boy explained as he pointed in the direction of a row of clothing shops, all full to the brim with teenage girls and boys picking up their favourite dress or suit from the hangers.

“I bet you’re gonna look really cute in a suit” Michael whispered cheekily into Awsten’s ear as they entered the least crowded store. Awsten’s cheeks glowed bright red and he slapped his boyfriend’s hand away in protest. He hated getting embarrassed, especially in public.

Michael soon spotted a suit that interested him. It was a dark, navy blue ensemble with a matching criss-cross patterned tie. It looked well made and pretty durable, but he soon found out why.

“Two hundred dollars?!” He gasped when he read the price on the tag he had pulled out from the inside of the suit. The most money he had ever spent on anything was when he had bought his boyfriend a massive bouquet of flowers on Valentine’s Day for 50 dollars (which fully emptied his bank account), so that seemed like a hell of a lot.

“Do you want me to pay? I have quite a bit saved up from last summer when I had that dog walking job” Awsten volunteered to sacrifice his hard earned money, but Michael just immediately shook his head in refusal.

“No way am I letting you pay for my suit. I’ll just have to cough up the cash, it’s fine. I mean, you wouldn’t want me showing up to prom in jeans and a T-shirt, would you?” Michael joked to try and make light of the bank account draining purchase he was about to make. Awsten responded by pretending to think about it for a second, but he just ended up bursting out laughing.

“Okay, I gotta find one for myself now. I'm thinking… maybe grey?” He commented but Michael shut it down the second those words left his boyfriend’s mouth. Grey was boring, the exact opposite of awsten’s physical appearance and personality. He had a better idea.

“How about a nice green one? Like, maybe even just a darker shade?” He proposed, and Awsten just rolled his eyes with a little smile on his face. Michael sure loved to see him in green, but that time he was going to put up a fight. Grey was the color he wanted and that was the one he was going to get.

“Not this time! I really want a grey one, it’s not too flashy and I won’t stand out in a crowd” he explained while snatching a small monochrome suit from the clothing rail next to him. Michael responded by flashing his signature pout once again, but that time it didn’t work, so he eventually gave up on trying.

Awsten wrapped his hand around his boyfriend's wrist and began to drag him over to the nearest checkout. The worker was turned towards the back of the wall when they approached the counter, but when they spun around with a cheeky smile on their face both boys couldn’t believe who it was.

“Hey guys! Fancy seeing you here!” Calum chuckled as he set up the till to scan the suits his friends were holding tightly in their hands. He was wearing a plain black uniform that was extremely loose on him and his hair was tied up in a silly little knot on the top of his head.

“I didn’t know you worked here! It’s a nice surprise” Michael beamed as he placed his suit onto the counter, Awsten copying his actions a moment later. Calum picked up and glanced at the tags on both of their suits and winced a little bit before scanning them.

“Damn, these are really expensive! He blurted out as a sneaky smirk snuck onto his face while typing in an unknown code onto the till. There was an audible “ping!” Before he held out the card reader, holding his hand over the screen to try and hide it from the cameras in the corner of the store.

“Dude, what? You’ve just taken 50 bucks off of my suit!” Michael whisper-shouted when he read the total on the card reader. Calum just winked and told him to pay before anyone noticed.

Once Michael had paid his entire life’s savings for one suit, it was Awsten’s turn. He stepped up to the counter excitedly, preparing to get a ton of money knocked off of his own suit. So, when Calum turned the screen of the card reader back to his customer and waited for him to pay, the mint haired boy wasn’t exactly happy.

“What the fuck? Why do I only get 10 bucks off my suit when he gets 50?”
Awsten raged and tapped his fingers on the counter furiously as Calum just held his hands up in defense.

“Listen, my manager will get suspicious if I do it twice. Plus, I’ve known Mikey longer so I care about him more than you” He shrugged and Awsten just mumbled something rude under his breath before shoving his card into the reader and typing in his code.

“Purchase complete! Thanks for shopping with us!” Calum said like a robot before printing off two winding receipts and shoving them into the couple’s hands. Awsten still had a face like thunder, but it slowly turned into a slight storm when his boyfriend slid their hands together comfortingly.

“How are you going to get away with this? Won’t your manager ask you why you’re missing money from the end-of-day total or something? Michael inquired out of curiosity, also hoping that this whole thing wouldn’t get his friend fired.

“It’s okay, I’ll just tell her I knocked a few dollars off the original price of the suite cuz they were torn or something. She’ll believe me, I'm a pretty good liar!” Calum bragged, but his heroic moment didn't last for long before fuming footsteps could be heard rumbling across the store.

“CALUM HOOD!” A loud, female voice boomed and it quickly grew closer and closer and closer and you could see the panic begin to brew in Calum’s honey brown eyes.

“That's my manager! Quick, run!” He yelled at Michael and Awsten who kind of just froze and stood there staring blankly at each other. They finally moved, though when Calum ran forward and began to literally shove them out of the store with all of his might.

“Good luck, sounds like you’ll need it!” Awsten jeered. He was still pissed off about only getting ten bucks off of his suit. Michael just rolled his eyes and grabbed his boyfriend’s hand, dragging him further away from the store. They could hear Calum’s manager ranting her head off loudly in the background and Awsten found that hilarious for an obvious reason.

“Okay, let’s get home and try these on!” Mikey declared as they approached his car. He couldn’t wait to see Awsten in his suit, then kiss his stupid face for hours afterwards while telling him just how perfect he looked as his Awsten would try hard not to blush, but his whole face would go bright red anyway.

“I bet you’ll look really fucking good in that suit” Awsten smirked as the crude words left his mouth. It was unlike him to ever say anything like that, especially in public, but Michael definitely was not mad. In fact, he found it quite attractive.

“Don’t say that in public, people are staring. Wait until we get home!” Michael chuckled as he pulled his boyfriend out of the mall, avoiding eye contact with the very concerned grandma sitting on a bench outside who seemed to be shocked by the uncouth behaviours of today's youth.

“You don’t have to tell me twice,” Awsten replied, a cheeky smile on his face as he tickled Michael’s waist teasingly, causing him to let out a girly squeal.

He certainly had no problem waiting to talk about how hot his boyfriend was, especially if they were going to be home alone.

—————

Chapter Text

(A week later)

It was the day of the highly anticipated prom. Michael and Awsten sat in the Clifford household at the vintage dining table eating bowls of Cheerios.

Awsten had stayed over the night before, that's why he was there so early in the morning. Him and his boyfriend were awake all night just talking, then kissing, then singing like drunken idiots until they eventually fell asleep on Mikey's bed, holding each other as tightly as they possibly could.

Michael's mum had found them together when she went to wake her son up. She noticed how cozy and comfortable they looked, so she left them alone for another half an hour so they could enjoy their sweet embrace a little bit longer.

"It's so funny to me, because I remember ranting about working with you on a school project to my mom while I was sitting at this table, and now you're eating breakfast on it after sleeping over" Michael chuckled at the memory. They had come a long way since January in the best way possible. Even if they were offered a billion dollars neither of them would dare to turn back the clock.

"I still can't believe that the reason you hated me all those years was because I "dated" your middle school crush for like two days" Awsten reminisced, but Michael raised his eyebrows and cleared his throat to get his boyfriend's attention. There was something he was forgetting.

"And the fact that you stabbed me with a pencil. The graphite is still in my shoulder by the way" He chuckled and pulled the collar of his shirt down to reveal the greyish hue underneath a small part of his skin. Awsten gasped and quickly traced his finger over the healed wound he had inflicted on his boyfriend over a year ago now.

"No way! Oh my gosh, I am so sorry!" Awsten apologised, but he quickly got back into Michael's good books when he pressed a little kiss onto the scar he felt an unhealthy amount of regret over. Michael just let out a breathy laugh and pulled his boyfriend's face away from his shoulder before connecting their lips in a short, forgiving kiss because it was stupid to hold a grudge against someone he now loved so much.

"You can kiss it better later, but for now I think we need to brush our teeth because we have really bad morning breath" Mikey winced as their lips pulled apart. Awsten just rolled his eyes with a small smile on his face and went to reply, but the doorbell rang, interrupting him.

"I'll answer that, you go and brush your teeth first" The taller boy told Awsten who nodded his head in response and slammed his spoon into his bowl before sprinting out of the kitchen and up the stairs to the bathroom as Michel made his way to the front door, unsure of who was behind it.

He turned the key in the lock before pulling down on the handle and bringing the door towards himself. He was met with two very familiar faces, both dressed in their very sophisticated suits for prom already. They each had matching roses in their pockets and their brown and dirty blonde hair were styled in a very similar way.

"Hi, we're sorry to bother you" Ashton said as he gestured towards Luke who looked quite nervous. "We just wanted to come by and ask you if you and your boyfriend wanted to come to prom with us, y'know, in like- a group" Ashton continued, but he was very hesitant to ask as it was very obviously a sore subject for the four of them.

Michael was in two minds. He really wanted to try and fully repair his friendships with Luke and Ashton, but he also knew that Awsten would be really pissed off if he had to go to prom alongside Luke, who in his eyes was still a predator and Michael was the prey.

"Um, I'll wait for Awsten to come downstairs. He'll will probably want me to say no. I think He's still worried about me and you, to be honest" Michael explained as he pointed at Luke who let a saddened smile spread on his face. He felt horrible that he couldn't get along with Awsten, but it was his fault at the end of the day. You can't expect to be forgiven that easily after you throw coffee onto someone and then try and steal their boyfriend twice.

"Tell him not to worry, and that I'd never leave Ashton, especially not for you" Luke chuckled. Of course he was kinda lying through his teeth, but the two other boys who were standing around the door didn't need to know that.

"Actually, now that I think about it, how did you guys get together?" Michael asked, successfully changing the subject as he could tell the atmosphere was getting mostly awkward. Plus, he was actually curious how one night Luke was round his house trying to push their lips together again and then the next he was locking hands with Ashton.

"Well, I went to Ashton's house after yours that night, still crying and stuff. He told me that he had liked me for a little while but didn't want to say anything because he still thought you were a problem, but I told him you weren't, and then... we kissed!" Luke blushed like an idiot as he recalled the really embarrassing but adorable moment that had happened just one week ago.

Ever since then he had spent every second of his life with Ashton. They'd go on little dates, study together, watch movies tighter and wake up in each other's arms after staying over at one of their houses. It was perfect, and they seemed to get along a lot better in a relationship then Michael and Luke ever did.

"That's so sweet! Now what the fuck are you doing here?" Awsten snapped as he stood at the bottom of the staircase, glaring at the new couple standing on Michael's front porch. The two boys nervously glanced at each other before gulping down the lumps in their throats.

Despite the fact that Awsten was really short, he was actually weirdly intimidating.

"We were just wondering if you and Michael wanted to come to prom with us, like, as a group?" Ashton said, his hand slipping into his boyfriend's to reinforce his confidence because Awsten's harsh glare had knocked quite a lot out of him.

"I'd rather die. Goodbye!" Awsten spat as he ran up to the front door and took the handle off of Michael before using it to slam the door shut as loud as he possibly could. Michael just stood there in shock, watching as steam practically poured out of his boyfriend's ears.

"C'mon Aws, there was no need to act like that. They're just trying to be nice" Michael sighed, placing a firm hand onto Awstens shoulder, which he soon shook off before turning to stomp like a miniature troll all the way to the kitchen.

Once something had got him started, it was hard to get him to stop unless you held him really tightly. That was the only way Michael knew how to relax Awsten, but it still worked every time.

"Be nice? My ass. Luke never does anything good unless he wants something in return, I thought you would've noticed that by now!" Awsten ranted as he scooped up his half eaten bowl of cereal and slammed it harshly into the sink.

He froze like a human statue when he felt two warm arms wrap around his waist from behind, followed by a smooth chin being placed gently onto his shoulder.

"Babe, let's just forget about this for now and go try on our suits for the final time, Kay?" Michael mumbled soothingly into his boyfriend's ear to try and calm him down, and as always, it worked. Awsten immediately relaxed into Michael's hold and nodded his head slowly.

He loved being held by the taller boy. Would he ever admit that? No, but Mikey knew anyway. He could tell by the way Awsten would always turn into a limp noodle whenever he was squeezed tightly by his favourite person.

"Okay..." Awsten grumbled and slipped out of Michael's grasp. He gently took the taller boy's hand and pulled him through the house and up the stairs again until they got to his bedroom.

Their suits were laid out neatly onto Mikey's bed, Awsten's suit almost blending in with the dark grey blanket covering the mattress. He picked up his outfit and turned around to walk to the bathroom so he could get changed without Michael seeing what was underneath the pajamas he was still wearing from this morning.

"You don't have to get dressed in the bathroom if you don't want to" Michael winked at the green haired boy who immediately turned as red as a tiny tomato. Mikey was a terror for making little flirty comments like that, but he did it because he knew they always got a reaction out of Awsten, which he absolutely lived for.

"You'll have to wait a lot longer to see anywhere past what you saw that day I was burnt, babe" Awsten replied as he sassily swayed out of the room, closing the door with a firm slam behind him. Michael just stood there staring at the door, his arms folded and small chuckles falling from his mouth.

God, he loved that boy.

———

It was 8pm and the school was bustling with students in their last year of high school arriving for their prom. Girls wore long, flowy dresses with their hair pulled into tight updos and shoes that looked so uncomfortable you'd wonder how they walked in them. Boys sported smart outfits for once in their lives, their hair excessively gelled back and their ridiculously patterned ties they had more than likely stolen from their dad's closet hung loosely around their necks.

Awsten and Michael were standing at the entrance of the school building, their hands clasped together as usual. They each took a deep breath one last time to calm their nerves. Michael took the lead and began walking into the school, Awsten following closely behind him.

The sports hall had been completely flipped from a sweaty, testosterone filled room to a glistening, sparkly extravaganza. Extremely loud music was blasting from the oversized speakers, but it was one direction so of course Awsten didn't mind. There were tables decked out with small snacks and numerous cups of punch and water, but everyone knew to stay away from food and drinks at a high school party.

"I love what makes you beautiful!" Awsten cheered as he dragged his startled (and non-directioner) boyfriend to the middle of the dance floor so they could enjoy the song Awsten had been listening to and dreaming about dancing to at his prom since he was a young boy.

He grabbed Michael's wrists and jumped up and down with him so chaotically you'd think he was drunk. Groups of students around them looked over at the duo extremely perplexed, but soon went back to minding their own business as they themselves were there to have fun.

A little while later, Luke and Ashton entered the hall. Awsten spotted them over his boyfriend's shoulder and immediately began to childishly glare at Luke who had noticed the eyes on him and started to sweat buckets. Ashton noticed and leaned up to give him a soft kiss on the cheek, which seemed to relax him a lot.

"Look who's here" Awsten spat, and Michael turned around as the other couple began to approach them. Unlike the mint haired boy, Michael didn't have much of a problem with the two other guys, so he was happy to see them.

"Hey, it's nice to see you" Ashton said first, breaking the ice but still feeling the chills from Awsten's cold scowls. Michael squeezed his boyfriend's hand tightly as a way to say "stop being such a dick" but Awsten never really seemed to get the message.

"Why are you over here anyway?" He asked, looking the couple up and down then pulling a face as if he were judging them for what they were wearing. He actually quite liked their suits, but he wouldn't let them know that. He never planned on saying anything nice to Luke or Ashton.

"We just wanted to come and say hi" Ashton mumbled, feeling a little intimidated, but he wasn't one to back down very easily, especially when someone was trying to poke at his boyfriend. He was very protective of Luke, especially after witnessing him breaking down so badly that night after he went to Michael's.

"Why'd you have to bring him?" Awsten snapped, pointing a rude finger to Luke, who looked like he wanted to rush out of the building and cry under his comforter for the next three days. Michael squeezed his boyfriend's hand firmly again, but this time Awsten just snatched it away. He'd had enough of being told to calm down all the time, especially when it came to Luke.

"Dude, what the fuck is your problem?" Ashton fought back, going fully into defence mode. He wasn't going to let anyone speak to Luke like that, especially not a tiny blade of grass with a stinky attitude.

"I'll tell you my problem! He- he-" Awsten began, but his voice trailed off as the memories came flooding back. The night that Luke had burnt him so badly he was sure he needed to go to a hospital. He was in so much pain but the only thing that could relieve it was being close to Michael.

Then, he stole his boyfriend the night after they had shared their first kiss. What kind of villain does that? Luke Hemmings, that's who. And Awsten would rather have his natural hair color than ever forgive the boy for what he had done to him.

"I can't do this. I'm going home" Awsten choked as rage filled tears began to pool in his eyes. Michael tried to grab his wrist to stop him, but he just shook off the grasp and walked as quickly as he could towards the exit.

"I'm going after him, I have to apologise for everything, or at least try" Luke announced to the other boys who were standing there in shock. Before either of them could interject, he took off running through the hall to try and catch Awsten before it was too late.

"Wait up!" Luke yelled down the corridor of the school after bursting through the double doors of the gym. He could see the shorter boy turn the corner, his sleeve up to his eyes as he wiped them.

Awsten was a fast runner, but Luke with his weirdly long legs managed to catch up with him almost immediately. He wrapped his hand around Awsten's arm and pulled him to a stop, which maybe wasn't the best idea as that earned him a harsh slap in the face.

"Don't fucking touch me! Just leave me alone, you asshole!" Awsten yelled at the top of his lungs, but his voice was cracking as he spoke, and you could tell that he had been crying from the bright red rims surrounding his eyes. To him it felt like the room was spinning, he was trapped and he just wanted to run and run and run until he got home.

"I just want to tell you how sorry I am. What I did to you, it was so wrong and I should honestly be glad you didn't press charges about the coffee, but I've tried so hard to change, and I think that I have. I will be so grateful if you give me a chance, please?" Luke asked, reaching out his arm towards the shorter boy to initiate a handshake, but he was met with nothing but distance.

"I still have a scar from that coffee. I bet you didn't know that" Awsten replied, folding his arms like a grumpy old man. To be fair, Michael was the only one who knew about the scar, but he felt like making Luke feel a little bit more guilty.

"Oh god, I- I didn't know. Listen, you can still tell the cops if you want and I'll admit everything. I deserve it" Luke rambled, retracting his hand and fidgeting with his fingers anxiously as he spoke. Awsten just sighed deeply and rolled his eyes before suddenly unfolding his arms and holding out his hand for the taller boy to shake.

"Look, this isn't me forgiving you. More like a peace treaty, okay?" Awsten explained as Luke frantically shook his hand with his own very sweaty one.

Awsten had realised that Luke was genuinely very sorry, and even though he still absolutely hated him, he was willing to put up with his presence for one night, even if it was just to please his boyfriend who seemed to really want them to get along.

"Thank you, I promise I won't ever try and start shit with you again" Luke chuckled awkwardly as their clammy palms parted. Awsten responded with nothing but a neutral face, which gave the taller boy the message they were not yet on joking terms. Got it.

"C'mon then, let's go back to the hall. My Michael probably wants to dance with me" He finally spoke and spun around to make his way back to the gym. He knew his boyfriend would be happy to see him again, especially walking in with Luke without trying to murder him.

The blasting music from the speakers increased in volume as both boys approached the gym. As Awsten shoved the door open the song changed to a slow one. All of Me by John Legend. It was one of Mikey's favourite songs of all time, so when Awsten heard the first few notes of the melody he immediately sprinted across the hall and threaded himself into his boyfriend's arms.

"Hey, look who came back!" Michael cheered quietly as the beautiful song continued to play in the background. He had placed his hands firmly onto Awsten's waist and was enjoying the feeling of the smaller boy's arms wrapped around his shoulders.

"I think I can put up with Luke for now" Awsten whispered, a small smile on his face. Michael responded by placing a passionate kiss to his boyfriend's lips as their bodies slowly swayed to the music. The room was dimly lit, so you couldn't really see the blush splashed across both of their cheeks, but it was definitely there.

As the song continued, their lips parted and Awsten went to rest his head onto Michael's perfectly strong shoulder. It was the best pillow he could ever have asked for.

Out of the corner of his eye he noticed Luke and Ashton in a very similar position, their lips lightly touching every now and again as they spun very slowly. Awsten found himself smiling at the sight. Maybe it was because he enjoyed observing other people in love, or maybe because he knew that Luke was 100% no longer a threat. Either way, he was smiling, and that's all that mattered.

"Hey, can you smell that?" Michael suddenly blurted out. The shorter boy inhaled heavily, his nostrils met with a smell he unfortunately was very familiar with. His poor toaster.

"Yeah, it smells like... burning..."He replied, picking his head up off of Michael's shoulder to glance around the room, trying to spot the source of the smell. He couldn't see anything though, so stupidly, he just went back to what he was doing before, which was dancing with his boyfriend.

They were soon rudely interrupted by absolutely ear-piercing fire alarms overpowering the sweet tune of All of Me. The lights flicked on in the hall, and they were soon followed by the automatic sprinkler system activating, resulting in the entire student body getting absolutely drenched, ruining their prom outfits, and probably their whole night.

"What the hell?" Awsten yelled as he unsuccessfully tried to shake the water off his suit. Teachers were running back and forth through the hall telling everyone to leave, so the students followed their instructions and waded through the flood towards the exit that Awsten had only just ran through.

"I wonder what happened" Michael pondered as he and his boyfriend made their way through the long, winding corridor towards the front double doors of the school. When they left the building they soon noticed It was extremely cold outside, causing the smaller boy to start shivering. Michael reacted quickly and pulled his blazer off to wrap it around Awsten's arms before tugging him into a tight hold.

"CALUM HOOD!" A loud male voice Mikey recognised as the principal echoed around the school's courtyard. He was stomping around the students, trying to find the boy who apparently had hidden himself very well.

"Hey guys, don't tell anyone I'm here" Calum whispered as he popped up behind Michael and Awsten. He was breathing very heavily, so he had obviously been running quite fast to hide from the principal, but the boys still didn't know why he would need to do that, so they asked.

"Why is Mr Clark so angry at you? Michael inquired, still holding his boyfriend in his arms, trying to warm his shivering body up. He hated seeing Awsten like that, so the second they were done talking to Calum he would take him straight to the toasty car and drive them home.

"I tried to light a cigarette in the gym, but as you can tell it kinda backfired" Calum awkwardly chuckled, but he was met with an annoyed eye roll from the couple standing in front of him. Michael suddenly raised his arm and started frantically waving it around to get someone's attention.

"He's over here, Mr Clark!" He shouted across the courtyard, alerting the principal to Calum's whereabouts. Yes, Cal was his friend, but he had ruined everybody's night and deserved the consequences that came with it.

"Thank you, boys! Right, let's get you dealt with" Mr Clark grumbled as he grabbed Calum's arm and dragged him back into the school, likely towards his office. You could hear the troublemaking boy yelling "Nooooo! My mom is going to kill me!" But Michael and Awsten just laughed at the comedy sketch playing out in front of them.

"Right, how about we go to my place, dry off and watch a movie?" Michael proposed his idea and Awsten nodded along happily. They fell out of their embrace but kept their hands glued firmly together as they began the short walk to Mikey's car that sat waiting in its favourite parking space.

"Y'know, maybe I could take that wet suit off of you tonight" Michael chirped, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively. He earned himself a small slap on the back and an embarrassed glare from his boyfriend.

"In your dreams, Clifford"

———————-

The end

———————-

Chapter Text

Hey guys!

I just want to say a massive thank you for reading "Break me"! I can't believe it's done as well as it has lol!!

Also, would now be a good time to mention that i am British haha so it was a bit weird trying to write everything with the American school system and all that but I think I did it 😅😅😅😅😅😅

So, I have another book coming soon. I was going to enter it for the contest but I Just couldn't get it under 1k words so I thought I'd do a whole story from it 😙if you're interested the first chapter will be up soon, ive just gonna plan it all out first 😏😏😏

See you guys soon, and once again thank you so much!!!