LUKE

Michael stands in the center of our brand new living room, his small hands positioned on his hips as he surveys the room with an analytical gaze. "I think we should paint it blue."

"Blue?" I repeat, feigning shock as I step behind him, slowly wrapping my arms around his waist as I rest my chin on his shoulder. "That's pretty bold."

Michael shakes his head, little red flurries of hair drifting in the action. "Not that kind of blue. Like a light blue. Like the sky."

"The sky, huh." I smile, pressing my lips against the side of his neck. Michael's eyes close slightly, relaxing under my embrace. He nods, humming. "We could put greeneries all around the room. Make it nature themed."

The kitten boy turns excitedly in my arms, his nose now centimeters from mine. "Could we? Please?"

I quickly lean in and catch his lips on mine, kissing him briefly before pulling away and nodding my head. "Of course. Anything for you."

It took a full two months after we rescued Michael from the facility for us to decide it's time for the two of us to move out of my mum's house. Not that my mum minded us staying-- she adored having us both home, especially since Jack and Ben were constantly away. But I think she had gotten tired of coming home every day from work to find us snuggled up on her couch and snacking on all her food. Besides, Michael loved going house shopping. It was adorable to watch.

Michael's been even clingier than he was before he was captured, which is saying something. He's always clinging onto me in some sort of way, wrapped up on my arm or pressed up against my side, but I don't mind. I blame it on how isolated and ignored he was at the facility, at how abused and lost he became. He's always been dependent on people. It's part of his personality, and the facility crushed that to pieces with an unforgiving fist. So I've learned not to care when I find him cuddling up against my chest at random points of the day, because I know he just needs the affection. He needs the healing, mentally at least, after all the hell he has been through. And I'm certainly not one to complain.

Plus, it's cute. Almost as cute as how Michael looks when he's planning out our new home together.

He loves it, the planning. It didn't take long for me to notice how he wants it-- brightly colored with tons of plants. He says it reminds him of his home when he lived in the woods with his parents. He loves nature more than anything, and I am more than willing to bring that into our house if that would make him happy. Lately I've been finding myself doing anything I can do bring a smile to his pink lips which, thankfully, isn't too difficult.  He's naturally a very smiley person.

"I'm kind of tired." Michael says to me, his mouth stretching into a yawn. I watch as he rubs his eyes sleepily, his tips of his ears drooping like they always do when he loses energy. Michael scoots closer to me, wrapping his arms loosely around me and resting his head on my chest. I run a hand through his hair, causing him to close his eyes happily.

"We can rest if you'd like." I offer, and Michael nods slightly. "We've been working for a while."  By a while, I mean only a few hours, but Michael gets drained of energy fairly quickly. I nearly forgot how many naps he likes to take during the day.

I lead Michael to the couch we have positioned in the corner of the room, a few boxes scattered across the floor. We still have loads of unpacking to do and even more things to buy. I didn't want to take everything from my mum's house, and Michael has nothing of his own possession ever since the detectives took away his blue blanket, so we are left with very little supplies to fill our house with. It's okay though, because Michael thoroughly enjoys shopping. Which is good, because I thoroughly despise it.

Michael and I sit down on the couch, and he instantly curls his legs up to his chest, laying his head down on my lap as his eyes close, sighing contently. I let one hand rest on his side to give him a sense of comfort while he rests, and I watch him as he falls asleep.

Having Michael back in my arms has got to be one of the best feelings in the world. I don't think I even realized how much I needed him with me until he was gone, and it was a harsh reality check. It's like being blind without a white stick, stumbling around and begging for stability that won't be received. I lived that way for far too long, and now that I have Michael back in my arms, I want him safe and happy. Which is one of the reasons why we decided to buy a house together at all.

I don't want to think about what could have happened to Michael if I hadn't found him in the clearing that day. It was only a few days before the search in Sydney came into place, and one of the first places they searched was the woods. Michael couldn't have escaped them, hundreds of boots stomping on dead leaves and snapping twigs with guns grasped in their hands. He would have been terrified I'm sure, huddled up against a tree and shaking like a leaf.

I protectively tighten my embrace around the sleeping boy at just the thought.

Deciding that I need to get my mind off the torturous imaginations, I reach into my pocket and pull out my phone, dialing the very familiar number with ease.

"Ashton." I say once my friend's voice filters through the speakers. I can hear Ashton smile from through his voice.

"Luke! I heard you and Michael bought a house together. That's insane. Makes me feel old." Ashton jokes cheerfully, and I find myself missing his voice. He moved to Adelaide recently, due to his newfound passion for computer engineering, to attend a college there. He loves it and is just about the happiest I've ever seen him, but I miss him. He went through so much of the same shit I did when Michael was captured-- from providing us shelter to fighting detectives to save the boy. It feels somewhat wrong having him so far away.

"Yeah, yeah. We did. It's awesome. Michael loves it." I say, glancing down at the boy in my lap. He stirs slightly in his sleep.

"I'm sure." says Ashton. There's a slight pause, and then he speaks again, his voice softer, more precise. "He's lucky to have you, you know. You care about him more than I've ever seen you care for anything."

My chest heats up a bit in reaction to his words. I never actually thought I would be in this position right now: sitting on a couch in a brand new house with the loveliest boy I could ever imagine asleep in my lap. It seems unreal. Months and months ago, I wouldn't believe myself if I said this is where I would be right now. I would have thought I'd be in my boxers playing video games in the corner of my room. And this, right here, right now, is so much better than I could have ever dreamed of.

Ashton and I talk a bit more, planning out a day he can come down and visit us and see the new house, before I reluctantly hang up the phone and place it on the hardwood flooring of the living room, due to the nearest table being three rooms away. We still haven't actually figured out where to put everything yet.

Michael shifts slightly, his fingers reaching out groggily to grab onto the fabric of my t-shirt, fisting it in his clenched hand before his eyes open slowly, green eyes looking beautiful under the dim lighting of the room. He looks up at me, a smile finding his lips when he does. I quickly lean down and kiss the top of his head, right in between his ears like he prefers it.

"How was your nap, love?" I ask softly.

Michael hums gently under his breath as he stretches, sitting up with a ruffled hairstyle that makes him look even cuter. "Good."

I watch him for a moment as he takes a deep breath, a small pink tongue flitting out to lick his red lips. "You know, the real estate agent told me we have a beautiful view from our patio."

This catches Michael's attention. "Really?"

I nod and swiftly stand up, offering my outstretched hand towards him. "Would you like to see?" Michael quickly nods, placing his smooth hand in mine and letting me help him up. He stumbles slightly, falling into me a bit and staying there as we make our way towards the patio that sits on the back of our house. I open up the door that leads out onto the porch and help Michael step out onto the patio, thankful for the tall fence guarding anybody from leaning over too far. Michael's too curious of a person to have low gates. He'll climb right over them or lean precariously far before even thinking about the consequences.

Michael peeks through the bars of the gate while I close the door, stepping beside him quietly. Michael takes a sharp intake of breath as his eyes widen in awe at the sight in front of him. I smile when I look up. It is indeed beautiful.

There is a long stretch of land in front of us, mountains upon mountains covering every acre of land. Woods and forests cover the acreage, creating a vivid green scenery against the bright blue sky.

I look down at Michael as his lips form a smile. "It's beautiful." He breathes out.

My heart swells. It's not nearly as beautiful as him, I want to say, but instead I turn to him, my eyes taking in every single inch of perfection that makes up Michael Clifford. I reach over and take his small hand in my own, feeling his soft skin against mine and not wanting to ever let go.

Michael and I are finally home.

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A/N THE END FUCK

This is the end of Cutie.

I've really enjoyed writing this and I hope you guys enjoyed reading it just as much. This book means a lot to me and I feel like I've developed a lot as a writer through the book and I just hope you guys are happy with the ending and happy with the story.

I don't even know what to say other than thank you so much and I love you more than you know.

Feel free to ask me any questions if you have any, and message me any time you want to. I'm not intimidating, I promise. I'm really very nice and I like talking about 5sos for hours on end.

If you want to read any of my other stories, I have plenty up at the moment and many more to come.

Thanks for everything guys. I love you so much. I'll see you in my other stories, thank you thank you thank you again.

bye :)

p.s. thank you to whoever drew that fan art at the side. i can't remember who drew it but it's amazing and thank you so much.