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"I miss you," Luke sighed, flopping down on the couch beside Michael. Michael just raised his eyebrow, turning to face Luke who was lying face down- his long limbs dangling from the edge.
"You're sitting right next to me, idiot. We have been in such close proximity for the past two months, you should miss being away from me," He retorted cheekily, still wearing his fond 'Luke' smile. Luke just sighed in response, sitting up and leaning on Michael's shoulder tiredly. "You okay, bud?" Luke shakes his head, and Michael pouts, running his small hand through Luke's long hair. He frowns at the heat.
"Are you coming down with something?" Michael asks again, finally receiving a reply from the younger blonde.
"I dunno. I feel really tired 'n stuff, so I guess," He shrugged. Michael turns to face Luke, sitting back into the couch and pulling the younger boy with him. Luke smiles slightly, pulling his long legs up to his chest and cuddling into Michael's warmth. "This is what I mean by I miss you." Michael, still ever-so confused, lets out a questioning grunt.
"What do you mean?" Luke giggles and Michael swats his arm. "Don't you dare bring up my tweets to Justin Bieber again, asshole," Luke just laughs harder, throwing his head back as Michael crosses his arms. "Fuck you!" He tries to sound angry but cracks a grin.
"I just meant- like- I don't know, it doesn't matter," Luke flushes, leaning back onto Michael's chest.
"It does matter, tell me."
"Well, all the fans are saying that muke is dead, and like- we're not together, obviously- but I miss our cuddles and our 3am snacks and our talks and our gaming sessions- and- I miss you," Luke rambles, running slightly out of breath and blushing furiously pink.
"Aww, Lukey misses me! I should've recorded that speech, your face is priceless," Luke scowls, sitting back and crossing his arms. Michael lets out a laugh at his expression. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding. I miss our 3am snacks too, I'm always too lazy to go by myself and I get hungry when I can't sleep. God, I love cheese toasties." Michael gazes up to the ceiling, and Luke's laugh brings a smile to his face.
"I'm glad my cheese toastie skills fulfill your needs when we should be sleeping, you idiot," Luke rubs his eyes tiredly, returning to his spot beside Michael. He focuses his attention on the TV, which is playing a movie he's never seen. Soon enough his eyes are feeling too heavy and he lets them close for a few minutes.
~
Luke wakes up to a gentle shaking on his left arm. He remembers falling asleep beside Michael on the couch, so lets out a confused grunt when he realises he's in his bunk. He cracks his eyes open slightly to see a smiley looking Michael at his side and grins gently.
"G'morning, sunshine," Michael greets. Luke sighs heavily, not quite ready to function.
"What time is it?" He croaks out, snuggling into the blanket and resting both hands under his pillow.
"'Bout midday, thought I should get you up before we have to leave for soundcheck and Ash kills me." Michael gently pushes a loose, short curl behind Luke's ear. The blonde closes his eyes, sighing lightly at the feeling and wishing for more sleep time.
"Thanks, Mike," Luke finally opens his eyes, the bright light making him wince. "Could you get me a glass of water while I pee?" Luke asks, voice scratchy.
"Sure. I think you're really coming down with something, though, you should rest your voice for later." Michael replies, opening the curtain of Luke's bunk. Luke nods, watching Michael walk towards the 'kitchen' of the bus.
~
After soundcheck, Luke realises his sore throat is a little worse than he thought. It hurts when he talks and swallows, and he finds it hard to eat.
"Do you think you'll be able to do the show tonight?" Ashton asks, as they sit around the table in one of the dressing rooms backstage. Luke picks up the pen and paper Ash insisted he write his words on, scrawling a quick:
'i should be fine'
"Are you sure, though? I mean, we can take songs off the setlist and stuff if yo-"
"Ash, he's fine." Calum cuts him off with a laugh. Ashton sends a glare in his direction before turning back to Luke and raising an eyebrow. Luke just rolls his eyes and picks his phone back up off the table. He scrolls through twitter, reading tweets about soundcheck and how he was coughing quite a bit. He frowned, he didn't like when the fans worried too much.
Michael walks in the door a few minutes later, ruffling Luke's hair before lying along the couch, placing his legs on top of Luke's longer ones.
Luke picks up the paper and pen, writing a message for the older boy on it.
'those r my legs asshole'
Michael laughs, nudging Luke's shoulder with his boot.
"I know, dork," He replies. Luke just scowls, resting his arms on top of Michael's legs and continuing his twitter browsing.
~
Luke wakes up at 3:27am and decides, after much tossing and turning, that he can't sleep. He knows Michael usually can't sleep either but is afraid to disturb him just in case. So he quietly (well, as quietly as a 6'4" lanky boy in a confined space can) tip-toes out of his bunk and into the makeshift kitchen.
He's surprised to find a blanket-cocooned Michael sitting on one of the chairs, reading a comic he probably found in his suitcase from when they were in Japan. Luke decides to scare him and tries to shout "Boo" but ends up emitting some sort of croaking sound. Michael's head snaps towards the sound anyway, dropping his comic and sighing with relief as he sees Luke.
"You asshole I thought you were trying to kill me," Michael breathes out, pulling his blanket closer to his chin. Luke giggles, padding over and claiming his own chair to sit down on. "You feeling any better?" Michael asks, closing over the comic book and getting comfortable in the chair.
"Sort of, I mean 3am isn't usually a prime time for health," Luke croaks out with a smile, rubbing his eye sleepily. "I woke up and wanted to check if you were awake." Michael nods, watching the blonde with fondness in his eyes.
"You wanna go for a walk? I'm bored," Michael asks and this sparks Luke's interests.
"Sure, let me get a jacket and shoes and I'll meet you outside." Luke croaks out before pulling out his chair and going to find some appropriate clothes.
-
They walk for approximately ten minutes down the deserted road before coming to a park. There's been a light conversation, mainly about shows they've been doing for the past week or so and it's been nice.
"Cal and Ash might be a bit worried when they wake up if we're not there," Luke ponders, walking towards a hill and admiring the beauty around him. The blackness of the sky has faded a small bit into navy, it must be around 4 as the sky is still dark but the stars are starting to fade a smidge. You wouldn't notice unless you were focusing, as the light of the full moon is still there. The late blossoming flowers look distinctly beautiful in this light, budding alongside a small pond in the park. Another thing that looks particularly intriguing in the moonlight is Michael, Luke notices. The bags under his eyes from previous nights' sleep lacking have become a common feature on his pale skin. His skin glows beautifully, almost as if he was made for this time in the early hours of day. Michael's lips have always been Luke's favourite, he remembers looking at them a lot in the past, always wondering how soft they are.
As they reach the top of the hill, Michael notices him staring and offers a tired smile. Luke looks towards the ground as they both sit down simultaneously, leaning against one of the broad trees on top of the hill. They both stare at the dark sky, stars widely arranged although the moon is slowly sinking down for another morning.
"'S pretty," Michael mumbles, tearig his gaze from the night sky to look over at Luke. The younger boy nods, turning to look back at Michael. "You're pretty, too." Michael offers, taking in Luke's sleepy features. His stubble is growing back into his self-proclaimed beard, despite only being shaved a couple of days ago. His eyes- despite the darkness -still shine bright and sparkly although he's ill. His lips are dry and cracked, yet still so endearing to Michael as he suddenly wonders what they'd feel like on his neck and collarbones. As he flicks his eyes back up to Luke's, he notices that he's being studied just as carefully.
"You know I've always wanted to do this with somebody," Luke whispers, despite the fact that they're alone in a park at some time in the early morning, with the birds just beginning to wake up. Michael gestures for him to continue as Luke leans his head on his shoulder. Michael looks down and pulls Luke's hands into his own (for warmth, obviously).
"Watch the sunrise, I've always wanted to. Just didn't think it'd be with you." His voice cracks slightly at the end and Michael gulps, licking his top lip to avoid the sudden urge to kiss Luke's knuckles and pull the younger boy fully onto his lap.
"Why not with me?" Michael asks, focusing on the sky which continually brightens- the moon sunken into the distance and faint orange streaks beginning to appear in the vast dawn sky. He looks down towards Luke, who is still resting on his shoulder. Luke shrugs, leaning up to meet Michael's emerald eyes.
"Never liked you." He mutters, almost unheard. Michael chuckles, removing his hand from Luke's and placing his thumb onto the blonde boy's chin.
"Fuck you." He whispers, before leaning in and finally attaching their lips. Luke's eyes flutter closed, and he moves his knees to either side of Michael's waist so he can comfortably mould their lips together. He places his hands on both sides of Michael's pale face, slightly pulling away for a moment to catch a glimpse of the jade eyes he's fallen for over the past few years.
"I lied," he whispers. "I always imagined it'd be with you." Michael chuckled once again, opening his eyes to look into Luke's.
"I know, you're just so obsessed with me," The sarcasm dripped from his tone. "We're missing the sunrise."
"I don't care, just kiss me you asshole," Luke giggled, sitting fully on Michael's lap and letting him wrap his arms around Luke's small waist. Michael shook his head, why hadn't he done this before?