Luke was used to sitting around in the sidelines watching as other people's lives went on. It wasn't something he had chosen for himself: being short, skinny, pale and gay wasn't exactly what made someone popular at Saint Stephen's Catholic College for boys. Luke was definitely not in the popular spectrum, but he sure as hell didn't go unnoticed. If only the attention he got consisted of anything other than being pointed out that the only thing that would tell Luke apart from the fourteen-year-old Year 9's was his leaver's jacket, Luke would've been happy. Except life seemed to never work in Luke Hemmings's advantage. That was just how Luke had learned to look at things.

He kept his eyes focused on his feet as he pulled himself up onto the brick fencing around his school. It wasn't very high, only enough for Luke's feet to come off the floor and allow them to dangle around a little bit. That was what his waits at the bus stop usually consisted of. He could hear the other boys from his year and the years below talking excitedly about their summer stories. After all, that seemed to be the only thing first days of school were good for: catching everyone up on the adventures you had been on all summer. It was times like those that made Luke wish he had a friend, someone he could spill everything out too. It only took another split second for Luke to realise he wouldn't be able to tell anyone about his summer stories because nearly half of them included his thirty-two year old boyfriend. 

He sighed heavily as he thought of Michael. He hadn't seen his lover in two painfully long weeks, making Luke hate the fact his boyfriend had to work for a living. Michael's business trips only meant one thing for Luke: a tub of vanilla ice cream and Netflix movies. That was all the small blond could do. After all, he didn't have any friends to do anything with and it wasn't like his parents weren't busy enough to notice Luke was always at home. It was just as well his parents never really bothered for details whenever Luke shockingly told them he was going out, because with no friends and no boyfriend of a decent age, Luke was sure his parents wouldn't allow him outside of the house to meet up with a thirty-two year old who got in his pants more often than not. That was the only time in Luke's life that his parents' busy schedules had worked in his favour.

Luke could see from the corner of his eye as someone took a seat next to him, but the blond didn't bother to look up and see who it was. He was tired and stressed; all he wanted was for Michael to come home already so that Luke could cuddle up to him and be reminded that he had what he needed and that was all that mattered. Just one more year and then he'd be done with school forever and none of it would matter anymore. He'd have his family, his boyfriend and a high school diploma. The stress would be worth it in the end if he could only keep his head down and ignore confrontation.

"Hey, Luke!" He said excitedly. Luke didn't even need to look up from his feet to know who it was that had sat down next to him. Calum Hood was the only Year 12 that seemed to give the slightest shit about Luke and his feelings, and although the two of them weren't friends, Luke appreciated Calum's efforts. He knew, however, that it would never be anything more than a wave as they climbed onto the bus or Calum offering Luke a piece of his sandwich at lunch. Calum was friends with the popular crowd and Luke, once again, just wanted to keep his distance. "How was your summer?"

"It was good." He nodded with a soft smile. He let his eyes wander up so he could look at the tall brunet, surprised as he saw all of Calum's floppy brown curls were gone and were now replaced with a short buzzcut. Luke almost found himself letting it slip that he had spent most of his time with Michael or watching TV shows, but stopped himself just in time. He smiled wider. "I like your haircut, by the way. How was yours?"

He could see the Kiwi's face light up, eyes flickering over to where his friends stood calling him over. Luke looked away, knowing that Calum's smile had dropped as he shouted back at his friends to wait a minute because he'd be right there. Luke didn't know why it suddenly made him feel so low, considering it normally didn't, but the one thing on his mind was that having someone next to him after two weeks of being alone was good. It was nice and Luke wished it would last longer.

"My summer was good." Calum spoke, letting his words tumble out of his mouth in a rushed manner. "Are you okay? You seem sad."

Luke opened his mouth to reply, being stopped by the buzzing of his phone indicating he had received a new text. Luke had always been clingy, that was no news to Michael, but whenever the black haired man was away, Luke was extra quick with the replies. He pulled his phone out of his pocket as if his life depended on it, heart feeling like it had come up to his mouth as he saw a text from Michael saying he was parked just around the corner. He quickly jumped down from the fence, picking up his school bag and tossing it over his shoulder. He could see Calum was frowning slightly, watching as Luke stuffed his phone back into his pocket and smiled at him.

"Sorry, I gotta go. I'll see you tomorrow."

The tiny blond didn't wait for the brunet's response before he was sprinting down the road to where he knew Michael was parked. It wasn't usual for Michael to pick him up at school like that, but after a year of sneaking around, they had come to an agreement that Michael was always to park by the sports centre if he ever were to meet Luke at school. They had settled upon that for most places Luke went to (which weren't many to begin with). He could feel his heart banging in his chest as he rushed around the corner, nearly tripping over as he spotted the white Jeep and the black haired man sitting inside with his head down, looking at his phone.

Luke was quick to yank the car door open, desperate to climb inside Michael's fancy car and breathe the same air as his lover again. The thirty-two year old looked up in surprise as his boyfriend clambered onto the passenger seat, smiling sweetly at him. Seeing Luke in his school uniform was yet another slap across Michael's face telling him that what he was doing was wrong, but the black haired man couldn't help it. His boyfriend was looking at him with his sparkly blue eyes and pink lips stretched out into one of the smiles Luke only flashed when he was around Michael. Michael was everything to Luke and he knew that. He loved knowing that.

"Hey baby." Michael smiled, tearing his eyes away from the blond that shifted comfortably on the passenger seat and pulled his seatbelt on. Michael fought against his will to kiss Luke right there, knowing that some other students were still walking around and would most definitely see the two of them sharing a kiss. If only Michael knew that no one really cared about Luke or what he did. "How was your first day?"

He smiled to himself as he pulled away , seeing Luke already kick off his school shoes and place his feet up on the dashboard of his car. The blond was tapping his hand to his knee along to the pop song that played on the radio. And just like that, Luke wasn't even the slightest bit bothered anymore. Everything that had made him feel sad earlier that day had now turned to dust, simply because of Michael's presence.

"It was alright." He hummed, seeing they were driving away from school and quickly reaching over to grab Michael's free hand and place it on his lap. "How come you came home today, though? I thought you were only coming back on Wednesday."

Luke turned over to give his boyfriend's face another close look. He could see Michael's face was red with a sunburn, meaning he had done quite a bit of work outside on this last trip. He could see the ghost of a smirk gracing Michael's cherry red lips as he grew aware of Luke's heavy stare. He liked the way Luke looked at him, it boosted his confidence and made him feel like the most cared for person in the world. Luke could tell Michael always grew a little flustered when he looked at him for too long. That's why Luke loved doing it.

"I was." Michael shrugged. "But I managed to finish early and decided to come home. I missed you too much." There was a short silence as Michael drove round a roundabout. It would soon come to the intersection that decided if Luke was heading towards his mother's house or his father's, meaning Michael was about to ask the question. Luke didn't bother replying to Michael's statement, he knew Michael was aware Luke missed him too. "Mum or Dad?"

"Um," Luke bit his lower lip thoughtfully. "Ben is at Mum's today, so, Dad's."

Michael nodded, hand sliding in between Luke's lanky legs and holding onto the inside of his thigh tightly. Luke looked up at him curiously, seeing his boyfriend's lips twitch into a smirk as his bright green eyes remained focused on the road ahead. "Can't wait to touch you all over, baby." He whispered. That was how Luke knew his awful day at school had paid off.

~~~

1k fam, what the hell, thank uuu

i start school tomorrow so updates will probs be kinda slow.

pls pls pls comment what you think so far!! i know there's not much to comment on but you can always tell me what you're expecting to happen or what you hope will happen or whatever!! i love getting insight on these types of things!!