Work Text:
calum met a boy with fire red hair and a heart the polar opposite. the boy had green eyes and the word perfect on the inside of his pale wrists. it took calum days to find out the boys name: michael.
michael sat in the library where calum studied every day. they sat beside each other but rarely ever spoke. michael stared at his math text book with blank eyes. michael stared at everything with blank eyes.
calum wanted to give michael emotion. he wanted michael to smile. he wanted michael to laugh. michael didnt want to and calum tried his best to respect that. he really did.
one day, the word pathetic appeared on michaels wrist. it was the opposite of perfect and left calum feeling cold all day. they didnt talk about it. not that the talked about much in the first place.
michael smiled at calum three weeks after they met. calum smiled back and didnt stop smiling for the rest of the day.
they went from having no conversations to conversations every day. michael still looked dead in the eyes but when he talked about music, those dead eyes lit up. those were calums favourite conversations.
it became routine. after class, calum and michael would meet at the library. sometimes they would study in silence, and sometimes all they would do is talk about everything and nothing.
michael smiled every day now. calum thought michaels heart was finally thawing. he couldnt help but be pleased. it wasnt even anything to do with himself anymore. no one deserved to be as empty as michael had been.
six weeks after they met, calum kissed michael. or maybe michael kissed calum. they werent sure. it just kind of happened. michael smiled wider than calum had ever seen him smile. calum resolved to kiss him every day if michael would smile like that.
and he did. calum kissed michael in the library every day. when he sat down, and when he left. he always left before michael. they had never seen each other outside of the library.
michael never stopped smiling anymore. calum loved it. michael looked so beautiful when he smiled, his red, red lips stretched over his white teeth.
eventually, calum convinced michael to meet him out of the library. they went to a coffee shop. it wasnt that big of a change, but they ended up at michaels apartment afterwards. calum pretended not to notice how bare it was. instead, he focused on the milky white skin against his.
calum didnt show up to the library the next day. or the day after that. or the day after that. michael stopped smiling. michael didnt stop showing up to the library, though, hoping, hoping, hoping.
a week later, michael found last weeks newspaper. calums death was announced on the back page. car crash.
michael didnt smile again as long as he was alive. it wasnt that long a time anyway.