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It was almost three am when Michael crawled into Luke’s bed, falling down on his side and cuddling up to the taller boy. He wrapped an arm around Luke’s waist and buried his face against the nape of Luke’s neck, breathing in the scent of strawberry shampoo and Luke. It was the same shampoo Luke had used since way before the band had even started. It was a scent that Michael automatically associated with Luke. And no matter how much shit changed, no matter how fast time was moving, how fast the world seemed to be spinning around them, this was always the same. Michael smiled, his lips slightly brushing against Luke’s skin. Luke groaned and shifted in his sleep.
“Why are you sniffing me again, Michael.” Luke grumbled, shoving his face into his pillow.
Michael chuckled softly and teasingly licked a swipe up Luke’s neck causing Luke to whine and rub the spit from his skin. “The fuck do you want Mike, its three in the morning.”
Michael remember what he had came here for in the first place. He snuggled close to Luke, hoping that some affection would help to soften the boy up. “I need your help Lukey. I wanna dye my hair.”
Luke groaned and rolled over toward Michael. “Can’t you do it yourself? I’m exhausted.”
Michael stuck out his bottom lip slightly. He knew his puppy dog face was nothing compared to Calum’s, but he hoped Luke would give in all the same. “Pleaseeee, you know I can’t do it as good as you can. You always help me with my hair Lukey. I can’t do it without you.” Michael lowered his voice to just a whisper at the last sentence.
Luke looked at him for a moment, barely able to make out Michael’s face in the dim light of the bedroom. Then he sighed, dropping his face down against Michael’s chest. His nose dragged lightly across Michael’s collar bone and Michael couldn’t hold back the shiver that rushed through him. “Okay, yeah Mike. I’ll help you.”
Michael let out a cheer and jumped up from the bed, dragging Luke with him toward the bathroom. Luke saw that he had already spread the supplies out on the bathroom counter near the sink. He wandered over and picked up the bottle of hair dye.
“Red!? Are you fucking serious Michael do you know how bat shit crazy the fans are gonna go?”
Michael smirked, raising a pierced eyebrow at Luke. “Yeah, that’s kind of the point Lucas. I wanna drive them fucking crazy.” Then Michael pulled his shirt over his head and dropped it as Luke’s feet.
Luke’s mouth went dry. He tried to keep his eyes from wandering over Michael’s pale flawless skin. Tried not to think about how well the red was going to contrast with his skin. How much it was going to make his perfect red blush lips stand out even more. Tried not to remember how many problems Michael’s hair being red the first time had caused him.
Michael turned around to prepare the dye and Luke shook his head vigorously. This was not the way he needed to be thinking about his best friend. Luke shrugged, blaming it on the sleep even though he knew that was not the reason for the thoughts swirling in his head.
Michael wrapped an old towel around his shoulders like a cape, making a dumb superman joke as Luke carefully spread Vaseline on the skin around Michael’s hair line.
Luke grabbed the bottle of dye and gave it a shake, catching Michael’s eye in the mirror. “You ready?”
Michael’s smile was almost blinding and Luke briefly thought that he was not awake enough to deal with this shit. “Do it.”
Luke spread the dye through Michael’s hair slowly and methodically, taking his time to make sure each strand of hair was evenly covered. Luke couldn’t remember how many times he had been in this exact same position, standing behind Michael in a bathroom and running his fingers through his hair. It was an experience only the two of them shared and Luke cherished every hair color Michael had ever had, because Luke had given it to him.
Michael’s eyes closed and he gave a soft hum. He loved the way Luke’s fingers felt carding through his hair. As far as Michael was concerned, this was the best feeling in the entire world. Luke’s touch was always so careful and caring, almost like he was saying ‘i love you’ with his fingertips. Michael frowned at the thought. Of course that was crazy, something his stupid brain made up to torture him further. Luke would never feel like that about him. But at least in this moment he could pretend. Michael would never admit it, but sometimes he changed his hair just so he could feel Luke touching him like this for half an hour.
When all of the hair dye was in Michael’s hair, Luke covered it with a plastic shower cap and wrapped his arm around Michael’s waist, resting his chin on Michael’s shoulder.
Michael smiled and reached back to pat Luke’s hair. “Go back to sleep kid. It has to sit for an hour; I’ll wake you up when its time to wash it out.”
Luke pouted, his bottom lip poking out, black lip ring glinting in the fluorescent bathroom light. “m’ not a kid Mikey. Hate it when you call me that.”
Michael laughed and turned around, facing Luke and reaching up to flick a finger teasingly at Luke’s lip ring. Luke rubbed a hand over his eyes and grabbed Michael’s hand, tugging him back to the bed. “Watch How I Met Your Mother with me, will you?”
Michael nodded and climbed in bed beside Luke, careful to sit up completely, back against the head board so as not to get any stray dye anywhere. He knew from experience, it was a real bitch to get out once it stained something.
Luke threw a leg over both of Michael’s, resting his head on Michael’s tummy and flicking on the tv. Luke loved laying on Michael like this. Michael was so soft and cuddly, Luke wouldn’t mind staying like this forever.
Two episodes later, it was time to wash the dye out. They both walked back to the bathroom and Michael looked over at Luke and started talking. “ It will be easier to do in the shower instead of fucking up the sink if we accidentally get it everywhere.” But Luke didn’t hear a word Michael said because Michael had pushed his fingers beneath the waist band of his boxers and let them drop to the tile floor.
Michael noticed Luke’s widened eyes and grinned. “What’s a matter Lukey?”
Luke gulped, blushing a little. “I uh, not use to seeing anyone naked but Calum.”
Michael shook his head. “Well I know I don’t have Cal’s body, but our parts are pretty much the same so it’s not that different. C’mon, I gotta get this dye out.”
Michael stepped into the shower, turning the water on cool and bending over to stick his head under. Luke stepped in beside him, opting to keep his own boxers on for the sake of his sanity. He helped Michael wash all the dye from his hair, grumbling slightly about how his hands were going to be stained a light red for days.
After all the dye was gone, Michael toweled off, wrapped the towel around his waist, and sat down on the toilet seat lid. Luke, already knowing what he wanted, grabbed the little hair dryer supplied in all hotel bathrooms and flicked it on. He ran his fingers through Michael’s hair, ruffling it as he dried it. Luke glanced up, looking at Michael in the mirror.
Michael’s eyes were closed again, his lips a dark red, his skin looking so smooth in the light. Luke wanted to touch him, to run his fingertips over Michael’s cheekbones and lips. To places kisses over his eyelids and piercing and maybe a few other places.
Michael let out a yelp, his skin burning a little where Luke had left the dryer pointing at one spot for too long. His eyes snapped open and locked with Luke’s. Neither of them moved, just watched each other in the mirror. Then Michael smiled softly, in that way that he only smiled for Luke, and leaned back into Luke. “Thanks Lukey.” Michael said, then stood and turned slightly, leaning in to place a light peck on the corner of Luke's lips. It was just a barely there brushing of their lips, but it had Luke's heart pounding.
He watched as Michael turned and walked back into the room, collapsing on Luke’s bed, too lazy to walk through the connecting door back to his own room. Luke smiled softly, a weird feeling spreading in his chest, and went to join him.
The next day Michael wore a beanie pushed low on his head, covering his new hair completely. He wouldn’t even show it to the few fans they took pictures with. He said he wanted to keep it a secret for a while. Luke would never admit it, not even to himself, but this made him happier than it should. He was glad that there was a secret that only belonged to him and Michael, even if just for a few hours. Eventually Michael would tweet out a picture of his new doo. But for now, the moment was still theirs.