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Michael sat grumpily in the extravagant garden of his mother's palace. His frown-stained chin was resting on his fists as he slouched on a stone bench, blankly mulling over how to get out of the goddamn situation he was in. He rarely wasn't thinking about how much he hated the place, hated his mother, hated his life, and most of all, hated Gavin fucking Free.
The annoying, child-like, palace employee never left him alone, following him everywhere and pretending like he'd only "accidentally" bumped into him and then attempt conversation, but Michael would never have any of it. He didn't want to talk, let alone ever be friends with him, lest the embers of a crush he had on Gavin grew to a raging, lustful fire.
Michael sighed and settled more comfortably into his seat. It was placed in front of a lovely patch of roses that sat exactly in the middle of the gardens. He wasn't exactly hiding from Gavin, since this was a fairly obvious location, but he wasn't really wanting to be found either. Or maybe he did. Then again, he didn't want to give Gavin the satisfaction of finding him. He shouldn't be debating this anyway - this was the most peaceful area on the whole damn grounds, he scolded himself, he should be enjoying every Brit-free second.
Previously, he hadn't associated with his uptight mother, the Queen of Rostevia and owner of these grounds, for a very long time. He chose to live with his uncle so he didn't have to deal with her. His mother believed she was the queen of the world and did whatever she pleased and acted however she pleased. She took no account of others' feelings. Michael would have happily lived with his uncle for the rest of his life until his uncle's untimely death (wasn't that just a goddamn fairytale coincidence), resulting in the spiral of events from there that landed him here, in this shitty garden, associating with his shitty mother. It was pretty shitty.
A sudden rustling to his right caused Michael to jump up, turning towards the noise just in time to see Gavin push his way through a tangle of hedges a few feet away from the real path to the garden.
"Oh, bloody hell! I got lost, I didn't know where you went, Michael!" Gavin squeaked, brushing debris off his fancy blue jacket.
"Maybe because I didn't fucking want you to find me." Michael said haughtily as he crossed his arms.
"Why not? Don't you wanna be friends?" Gavin slowly walked up to Michael, who stood his ground.
"Not in the fucking slightest." Michael spat, eyes narrowed, annoyed that Gavin didn't even seem offended.
"Aw, but Mi-cool--"
"My name isn't Mi-cool, dumbass. It's Michael. Fucking say it right." He snapped, huffing in annoyance.
"Alright, Michael." Gavin smirked, stifling a laugh at Michael's dramatic eye roll.
"Asshole." Michael said, but he found it hard to hide his growing smirk.
Gavin crossed his arms, mirroring Michael, and shifted his weight to the other foot to stand casually in front of him.
"I know why you don't wanna be friends. I also know you don't like Lady Tuggey. It's obvious in which way you, ah, swing." Gavin smirked, savoring the shocked expression on Michael's face.
Gavin turned to walk away and egg him on and Michael fell for it, his indignation sparking.
"Hey! Come back here!" Michael stormed after him furiously. "You can't just say something like that and walk away! I'll have you fucking know I am very fucking attracted to Lindsay!" He followed the British prick in the direction he was walking, around the courtyard and towards the fountain.
"Hah." Gavin scoffed. "Yeah, sure. Obviously." He smirked sarcastically.
"We are fucking perfect for each other. She, uh, she understands me--"
"She understands you, I see. Such passion. Does she understand your sexuality?" Gavin said, giving Michael the most devilish and alluring smile he could. "I didn't hear you mention love, either." He smirked.
"Asshole. You're just fucking jealous." Michael laughed scornfully, walking in front of Gavin casually to roll his eyes at him, almost tripping over the fountain.
Gavin snorted childishly. "Why the hell would I be jealous of Lindsay? She's got to spend the rest of her loveless life married to you."
Michael turned heel at this, giving Gavin an anger-filled glare. He punched Gavin hard in the shoulder, making him squawk like a damn bird.
"I loathe you." He spat viciously.
Gavin gave him an incredulous stare and punched him right back in the shoulder, although not quite as hard.
"I loathe you!" Gavin replied venomously, narrowing his eyes, an evil smirk etched on his face.
"I loathed you first." Michael snarled, leaning in very close to Gavin.
There was a brief, angry pause. The sexual tension broke when Gavin suddenly took Michael's face in his hands and kissed him, eagerly, albeit gently.
Michael stayed paused, shocked by the turn of events, only for moment and then melted into the kiss. He wrapped his arms around Gavin's neck and Gavin snaked his around Michael's waist sweetly.
Their bliss was brief, however, before Michael realized what he was doing and quickly pulled away, again punching Gavin in the shoulder as he did so.
"What the fuck are you doing?! What is wrong with you, you can't just go around kissing people who are engaged, particularly to a goddamn woman!" Michael shouted, backing around the fountain, away from Gavin.
"What, love, do you wanna kiss again?" Gavin smiled, following Michael's retreat.
"Ye-No! Stop fucking confusing me, you prick!"
"What's so confusing about a kiss? Is it your sexuality that's confused? Because we both already knew your mind was made up on that matter."
"You sneaky fuck! You're trying to make me like you so I won't marry Lindsay and ride off into the fucking sunset with you!" He poked him sharply in the chest.
"Maybe I am," Gavin giggled, grabbing Michael's wrists and pulling him closer to his body. "Or maybe I just like kissing you."
Michael gasped, setting his mouth into a cute, angry frown and glaring at Gavin.
"Y-you-you fucking stay away from me--" Michael said harshly with gritted teeth as he struggled against Gavin's surprisingly strong grip.
One loss of footing later and Michael was shouting, "SHIT! NO, FUCK!" as they both tripped together into the fountain that they had progressively gotten closer to.
Gavin's signature screams also followed him into the cold, murky water of the fountain as it splashed and flowed over the sides, ruining both Michael's suit and his dignity.
They gasped for air as they resurfaced from the water, taking huge gulps if breath. They stayed silent for a short moment until Gavin's peals of laughter split the air, and Michael couldn't help smiling at the stupid situation, the anger and resentment washing out of him like the water that dripped off of his sopping hair.
"You fucking moron." He started laughing loudly, following Gavin's lead. He stood up, every inch of him sloshing and soaking wet. He shook the water out of his sleeves and gave Gavin a hand up, who was still giggling through chattering teeth.
Michael chuckled. "You cold?" Gavin nodded, smiling pathetically.
"Why don't I warm you up, then." He grinned, leaning in to give Gavin a sweet, long kiss.
When they parted, they had huge smiles on their faces.
"I never really hated you," Michael admitted, rolling his eyes. "You're just so fucking annoying."
Gavin chuckled slyly. "That's the point."
Michael bumped his shoulder affectionately, muttering, "Asshole."
"You're gonna have to tell Lady Tuggey, you know." Gavin reminded him, his brows knitting together.
"Oh, pshh." Michael waved his hand uncaringly, making a noncommittal noise. "She already knows. We weren't actually together. We needed excuses to make our parents happy and all that shit."
Gavin's eyes suddenly went wide with realization. "So, her and Barb...?"
Michael nodded. "Her and Barbara."
Gavin laughed, little squeaks lacing into the joyous sound. "That bloody sneak! I knew there was something going on!"
"I always fucking catch them coming out of some fucking closet and it's annoying as shit!" Michael said loudly, waving his hands in frustration.
"Maybe we'll have to have her catch us coming out of some closet." Gavin purred, tracing the designs on Michael's soaking wet shirt with his index finger.
"Maybe we will." Michael grinned, taking the hand stroking his shirt and interlocking it in his own.
He leaned close to Gavin, whispering in his ear, "I loathe you."
Gavin smiled happily, giving him a peck on the cheek. "Loathe you too, love."
He tugged Michael's hand eagerly, speeding off in the direction of the castle, giving the fountain a wide berth and taking care not to trip into it again.