"Luke, did you finish eating yet?" Michael asked, coming behind him and wrapping his arms around his waist. Luke nodded, popping the last french fry in his mouth before detangling himself from his fiancee's grip and waving goodbye to Harry who was at the bar that night.

    "Yeah, I'm heading to the office now. See ya Harry," Harry waved an arm, focusing on punching orders in to the computer system.

    Michael followed behind him.

    "Good, I've got all the supply lists out for reorder," Michael opened the door to the office and led Luke inside. "Also can you make the schedule for this week? I told Naba I wouldn't mind, but I'm going to be busy downstairs."

    Luke just nodded. He sort of had to do everything Michael said now, or else there would be consequences.

    "Great. I'll see you later when it's time to leave." He left without another word.

    Luke sighed and got busy.

    Outside the office, Michael got himself a drink. It was tough work being a manager/owner. He had a lot on his plate, but being able to delegate helped him substantially.

    "Hey, Mike!" Michael heard a cheery voice call. He looked over and saw Ashton making his way over.

    "Sup, man!" he gave him a hug and then looked over his shoulder at the two people standing with him. One was tall with curly brown hair dyed blonde at the tips, and the other was short with chocolate brown hair styled up in a quiff. Michael thought they looked vaguely familiar but couldn't really place them. It didn't matter—if they weren't important enough to make an impression, he didn't need to know them.

    "How's it going?" Michael planned to just ignore the two randoms, but Ashton had other ideas.

    "You remember Calum and Niall, Luke's costars, right?" Ashton asked, pointing at each person respectively.

    That's who they were, Michael realized. He'd met them maybe twice, but it had been quick interactions. What were they doing here, in the VIP section no less? And with Ashton?

    "Of course, hey guys." Michael gave them a small smile. "What are you all doing? I was probably going to go downstairs and get some drinks, work on some stuff. I'd love the company if you want to join."

    Niall shrugged, looking at the other two for guidance. Ashton's face was blank while Calum was sporting a little glare. Michael knew that was not someone he wanted to get on the bad side of.

    "We were hoping to see Luke," Calum said in a voice that brooked no argument.

    "Oh, well he's working in the office right now."

    Ashton and Calum shared a look.

    "That's all right, we can wait until he's done."

    Michael held in a sigh. Why were they so insistent?

    "Well, he's actually really busy tonight, I think it might be better if you came back another time."

    "What's he doing?" Niall asked. Michael shot him a glare but quickly stopped when he realized he needed to be nice to them.

    "Just some paperwork and stuff." When the short man kept looking at him expectantly, Michael gave more information. He knew he was going to need to be careful around these guys. "He's reordering a bunch of supplies and making the schedule. Nothing overly difficult, but it takes a lot of focus and it's time consuming. He'll be in there all night. So, let's go downstairs and I'll get you all a drink," Michael tried to guide them, but no one moved.

    "Mike, can we see Luke? We kind of have some questions to ask him."

    "What do you need? Maybe I can help," Michael said.

    Ashton noticed Michael slowly start to shift himself over so he was standing in between them and the office. He didn't think Michael even noticed that he was doing it. It was just one of those unconscious reactions guilty people had.

    "We really just need Luke," Calum said. "It's about the show."

    "Then why is Ashton here?"

    "Well, I mean it's none of your business," Calum said icily, "But Ashton and I happen to be friends and we bumped into him on our way here. So he joined us."

    Michael hmmed.

    He was thinking about how to get out of this.

    "Well, we can't really disturb Luke, he asked me not to bother him all night so he could get it done. You know how he is, he puts himself wholly into everything he does, he doesn't half-ass his work."

    "That's true," Calum agreed. He knew Michael wasn't going to just let this be easy. "Okay, why don't we go get a drink? But can we stay up here? That way in case he comes out we can see him."

    Michael rolled his eyes in his head. They weren't going to make this easy, were they?

    "Well, I had some things to do downstairs, but if we start down there so I can get my stuff done, we can make our way up here earlier. Luke just got in, he won't be taking a break for a while."

    Ashton and Calum shared a look before Calum tipped his head.

    "Okay, sure." Ashton agreed, but he didn't seem too happy about it. Michael wasn't sure what was going on, but he and Luke were going to have a long discussion when they got home.

    They went downstairs and Michael made sure he filled out some papers behind the bar while the other guys were chatting. He'd said he'd be doing some work, so he had to now. His plan had been to just relax that night, but oh well. He could manage doing a little something.

    Every ten seconds, one of them would look towards the door that led upstairs. Michael was starting to get sick of it. Why were they so obsessed with Luke? Was Luke still lying to him? Did he tell them about what was going on?

    "Is it time to go upstairs yet?" Calum asked. "It's been about 2 and a half hours, he should be taking a break soon, right?"

    "Probably," Michael agreed.

    He brought his phone out and called Harry.

    "I'll be two seconds, guys, and then we can go up," Michael told them before walking away far enough that they couldn't hear him.

    "Hey, what's up?"

    "Can you bring Luke a snack and drink?" He asked. "I'm worried he's going to get too focused on his work and forget to eat, you know, like he often does."

    Harry chuckled a bit.

    "Yeah, I'll bring something in to him, no problem. He's been locked in that office all night."

    Michael chuckled dryly.

    "I'm not surprised. Thanks for looking after him."

    "Oh, no worries, man. You know I'd do anything for Lukey,"

    Michael felt the anger rise in his face but forced himself to remain calm.

    Even my bartender? He thought. Who hasn't this slut gotten under his control?

    "Well I appreciate it. I'll be upstairs soon. Everything going okay?"

    "Yep, we're all clear up here. It's a bit busy," there was a pause and the creak of  a door. "LuLu, here's something for you,"

    Luke said something in response and then Harry began speaking again.

    "But yeah, we're all good."

    "Okay, great. See ya."

    Harry hung up but Michael pretended to stay on the phone for a couple minutes longer. He really wanted to make sure that Luke would be stuck in the office and not have a chance to talk to anyone.

    "All right, we can go upstairs now. I'm done with everything I need to do down here,"

    "Great," Calum led the way, very eager to get up there. He was disappointed when Luke wasn't at the bar and the office door was still shut. "Can we see Luke now?"

    "He actually just texted me," Michael said, holding up his phone. "He said he's really busy and he'd rather talk another night."

    "He did?" Ashton asked, trying to peek at the screen.

    "Yeah, he's honestly a blessing," Michael told the other guys. "I don't know what I'd do without him, he does so much for me. I can't wait to marry him,"

    "Aw, that's cute," Niall cooed. "He was showing us all his ring, it's so nice!" Niall was mostly along with Calum and Ashton for the ride. He didn't quite know what was going on.

    Michael smiled proudly.

    "Yeah, I know what my baby likes."

    "What kind of wedding do you want to have?"

    "I'm not really sure, Luke and I haven't had much time to look into stuff yet," Michael recited the line he'd forced Luke to tell everyone. They weren't going to have a big, expensive wedding. They didn't need any of that. He just needed to find the time for them to go to the court house and elope that way. It would be fine.

    "Well, if you ever need any help, let me know. My style is impeccable," Ashton bragged. "I'll make sure your wedding is classy as fuck."

    "I'll keep that in mind, thanks mate."

    They stayed for another couple hours, with Michael making sure no one disturbed Luke. He texted the blonde boy, telling him in no uncertain circumstances was he to leave the office. Luke told him he understood.

    Back in the office, Luke was feeling a bit down. He knew his friends were outside, but he wasn't allowed out. He was hoping to avoid a punishment when he got home if he was good. He really wanted to be good and not disappoint his fiancee. If things were going to get better, he had to be better. If he stopped messing up, then maybe Michael would love him again.

    Every time there was movement outside his door, he perked up, hoping someone would come in and see him.

    Every time, he was disappointed.

    The bar closed and Luke heard everyone leave. Eventually it was silent. He'd just finished his work when the door opened and Michael walked in.

    "Well, I'm exhausted. How much longer do you need? I'm sure you didn't finish yet,"

    "No, I-I am. I'm done. Just finished."

    Michael looked impressed for a moment.

    "Good, good. Then we can go home."

    They walked downstairs together, Luke was desperately looking around, hoping to see one of his friends straggling. No one was there when they got into the limo.

    "H-how was your night?" Luke asked, sitting with his hands in his lap as he looked forward. He didn't want to upset Michael.

    "Fine, Ashton and your friends hung around me all night. I couldn't get them to leave, ugh, it was so annoying. If they ask you about what happens tomorrow, just tell them you had so much work to do and told me not to disturb you. That's what I told them."

    "O-okay,"

    Luke's heart sank. He was truly stuck.

***

Poor baby 😖

I have two words: ✨STARTING LINE✨

That's all. Continue on your merry way ❤️ happy 4th to any Americans out there, stay safe this weekend 🥰

~ashtonfortherwin