Luke looked in the mirror.

He was nervous about going back to work today. After the...incident with Michael the other day, he let Luke stay home a couple days and relax.

    Michael had been really good to him those couple days, calling him during his breaks, bringing home chocolates and roses for him, asking what he needed and getting it for him so he didn't have to leave the house.

    Luke turned his cheek, running his finger over the fading bruise trying to decide if he was really ready. He picked up the foundation from the bathroom counter and decided to put it on, feeling better once the ugly yellow-purple marks were gone. No one would be able to tell anything was wrong with his face now and that soothed his anxiety.

    "Looking great, baby, very handsome. You ready?" Michael asked, peeking around the corner from the bedroom. He had his work clothes on, but his tie wasn't tied, his shirt was only halfway buttoned and he didn't have socks on.

    "Yeah, are you?" He raised his eyebrows at him, and Michael rolled his eyes.

    "Almost, can you help me?" He asked looking at Luke with fake-innocence shining in his eyes.

    "If I do, will we make it to work on time?" Michael took the tie and looped it around Luke's shoulders, pulling his body closer to him.

    He only winked and led Luke to the bed.

***

    Giggling, Luke and Michael stumbled through the door, having run from their apartment to the bar. Michael had wanted to drive, but Luke grinned and started pulling him down the street.

    "Why?" Michael had asked, not able to say much more through the exertion of running.

    "It'll be fun!" Luke giggled, leading Michael through the busy streets, ignoring the glares they received from angry New Yorkers. Michael shrugged and laughed, going along with his antics.

    "You two are late!" Harry called as they rushed inside and upstairs, still hand in hand. Luke couldn't remember a time when he was this happy, it felt like nothing could bring his mood down.

    Michael helped him take his coat off, kissing his forehead and booping his nose before they both head to check and make sure everything was set up and ready to go.

    "Hey, I was hoping to take you out tonight." Michael said, looking at Luke while he refilled the straw container.

    "Michael, I told you, no more special treatment, it's okay."

    "If I want to take my baby out and treat him like a queen, I'm going to do it," Michael pouted. Luke walked past him to get a towel, but Michael grabbed his waist and crushed him in a hug.

    "Michael,"

    "I love you, Lu." Luke closed his eyes, really remembering this moment. He really, truly believed it. These last few days had been crazy, but he never felt more loved at another moment in his life.

    "I love you, Michael."

    They went about business as normal, hanging out together in the upstairs bar, winking playfully at each other, taking any chance to touch each other, brushing past the others arm, booping a nose, a quick kiss as they passed.

    Luke was taking a break in the office, smiling happily as he played Piano Tiles on his phone when he got a text. He tried to swipe up to get rid of it, but it momentarily distracted him from the game so he lost.

    Groaning, he almost thought about not responding to the message, but curiosity got the best of him and he looked.

    "Hi best friend! Will we see you tomorrow at the audition? Hope you're ready! ~Calum"

    "Michael!" Luke yelled through the door, not even knowing where his boyfriend was, but he needed to talk to him right away.

    How did he not know about an audition? He got direct emails from all of the casting agencies, maybe it got marked as spam?

    He got up, knocking into the office door in his haste as his face was glued to his phone. He stood in the middle of the door frame, still searching for the email.

    "Luke, what's the matter?" Michael appeared at his side, breathless.

    "There's an audition tomorrow and I didn't know about it!" he wailed, still scrolling through old emails looking for it. When he came across it in his inbox, it was already opened. Luke knew he hadn't done that, he would have remembered an audition.

    "Well, seems like it's too late for you to get prepared, maybe you can do the next one." Michael said. "Hey, a couple of my buddies are here, why don't we go hang out with them for a while?"

    "No, I need to figure out why this happened. I can't believe I would forget that. Maybe it opened up in my pocket?"

Luke felt Michael gently lead him back inside the office so they could talk. He felt himself being lowered into a chair and saw Michael sit next to him from the corner of his eyes.

    "I had your phone when you got the email. I accidentally clicked it, marking it as read, and I forgot to tell you about it." Michael admitted, wincing at the disbelief on Luke's face. "But it's okay, Lu, you can just go to the next one."

    "No, I need to go to this one. I have to go to as many as I can. It'll give me a better chance to actually land a good role."

    Michael's eyes softened as he looked at his distressed boyfriend. Michael smoothed back his fringe that had gotten misplaced while he was panicking.

    "Lu, I don't want you to feel like I don't believe in you, but--"

    "No, don't even go there. I know one day, if I keep trying, I'll make it." Luke stood firm in his truth. He knew it, he just had to keep trying. Perseverance was key. "I know I can, I don't need anyone else to."

    "I believe you, baby, I know you'll get it one day." Luke smiled at him. "But does it have to be right now? I mean, you're only 27, you'll have your shot eventually. We've got such a good thing going right now, what will it mean for us when you're rich and famous and don't have time for your sad, lonely, pathetic boyfriend anymore?"

    Luke let his phone drop to his lap and slipped his hands into Michael's warm ones.

    "Hey, I would never ever ever forget you, no matter how busy I am. I will always make time for you. I might not be around as much as I am now, but I won't be a ghost, okay? I promise you, everything else might be different, but we'll still be Michael and Luke, inseparable, cutest couple on the planet."

    Michael chuckled, putting his arms around Luke.

    "What did I do to deserve you?" He gave Luke an eskimo kiss, then a real kiss. "Since you're going to be famous soon and won't have time for me, and since I did so much for you this last week, can we hang out with my friends for a bit?" Michael asked.

    Luke bit his lip. He couldn't believe Michael was finally asking him to be with him and his friends, the one time he couldn't. Usually he gave him things to do so he wasn't there, now he was asking him to? He wished he didn't have to prepare for his audition. "I probably should go home and get ready, I mean it's been a few weeks since I've done this, I need to practice."

    "But what if this is our last night as normal people before you become famous and stuff? Please Lukey?" Michael pouted, jutting his bottom lip out and looking at Luke from under his eyelashes.

    Luke rolled his eyes at Michael's dramatics, but nodded.

    "Okay, fine. That sounds nice."

    Michael grinned and grabbed his hand, helping him up and dragging him to his booth where a couple of his friends were sitting. Luke yelped when Michael pulled him on his lap and had him sit on him. Michael nuzzled his chin in Luke's shoulder, running his lips against the soft skin there and Luke felt his face heat up.

    "Michael, stop. Th-this is—you're embarrassing me."

    "I'm sorry, I'm just trying to show you affection." He scoffed and pushed Luke off of him and onto the seat, but he grabbed Luke's hand under the table instead, smiling to let him know he wasn't mad. Luke felt a little bad that he scolded Michael liked that, but it was making him uncomfortable. He felt like everyone's eyes were on them, even though no one was probably even paying them any attention.

    Luke closed his eyes and leaned his head on Michael, letting himself get lost in the soothing feeling of Michael running his thumb over the back of his hand. He couldn't say how long he just sat there peacefully until he heard his name being called by a voice he'd forgotten about for a while.

    "How are you, Luke?" Ashton asked, now sitting across from him and Michael. Luke wasn't sure when he'd gotten there, or if he'd even been there the whole time, but he felt himself instantly jolted awake and butterflies fill his stomach at Ashton's intense stare. That's what he was doing, staring right at him, not focusing on anything else. Luke felt his face flush, wondering if Ashton could tell he was wearing any makeup.

    "I'm great, really good."

    "Lukey has an audition tomorrow." Michael said proudly, putting his arm around Luke. Luke felt a bit confused as to why he was acting like he was excited, when moments before he'd been trying to convince him not to go. Maybe he realized things wouldn't change too much and was okay with it after all.

    "That's great, Luke. How are you feeling about it?" Ashton asked, interrupting everyone else's congratulations.

    "A bit nervous, I haven't had a long time to prepare, but nothing will come from it anyway, it never does." Luke shrugged, knowing how these things all go, but he was waiting for Michael to step in and defend him. Luke used to sing for Michael all the time, and he used to tell him how amazing he was. He used to say how much he believed in him, and the second Luke started to get down on himself, he'd scold him and make him remember how special he was.

    Michael hadn't done that in years.

    He didn't say anything now, either,  just sipped his drink and turned to the guy on his other side and began a conversation.

    You're an actor. Act like you're fine.

    Luke slipped on a content face and thought about getting to see his friends tomorrow. With how bipolar Michael had been acting lately, he decided not to even mention he'd be seeing them at the audition. He'd respond to Calum later to let him know he'd be there, then he'd delete the texts in case Michael looked at them. He didn't want to make him angry again.

    It was so hard to keep up with all of this. He just wanted them both to be happy, why was that such a challenge?

    Michael needed a drink and Luke wanted to get away from everyone for a moment, so he offered to get it for him, and get one for himself.

    "Another old fashioned and a lemonade please." Luke asked Naba. She was the only person working at the bar tonight, but it was Wednesday, so there weren't many people at the bar.

    She nodded at him, letting him know she heard him before helping a customer.

    Luke leaned against the counter, putting his chin in his hand and wincing when it irritated the bruise he'd forgotten about for a second.

    He felt someone brush against his shoulder and looked over to find Ashton next to him.

    Luke felt his heart flutter and start beating rapidly, probably because he was nervous because he might have rubbed some of the foundation off. What if Ashton noticed his bruise?

    "Luke?"

    "Yes, Ashton?" Luke hid his face, looking forward instead of at the really attractive man next to him.

    "I just wanted to wish you luck tomorrow. I'm confident that you'll get a role. You're kind, funny, cute, and talented. If those scouts can't recognize that, they're the idiots. You'll smash any role you're given."

    Luke was speechless for a moment. Ashton had just said those things?

    "Wow, uhm, thank you--"

    "Don't think for a second that you fooled me back there." Ashton leaned in and whispered in his ear. "You're pretty good, so you can fool someone who isn't looking closely, but I notice you, Luke. I saw your disappointment, and I'll say it until you finally get the message, you deserve someone who isn't going to fake their affection and let you feel down about yourself." He pulled away and gave him a disappointed look which wounded Luke's very soul and made him want to drop to his knees and apologize. "You're just better than that."

    With that, Ashton took his full drink, (when did Naba have the time to fix their drinks? His was full too,) and walked back to the table, leaving Luke to think about his words.

    Did he think Michael wasn't really in love with him?

***

Thoughts?

~ashtonfortherwin