Faker | Muke

Chapter Eight

"I don't want to do this." Michael mumbled, sadness seeping through his voice. He rubbed at his face in irritation to stop himself from the possibility of crying for the second time today. "I don't want this situation to become even more real. How am I supposed to act like I don't love him anymore? That what's set up between us is legit? He'll see right through it. Luke is like a mother, he can see through all lies."

Troye sat beside the blubbering boy as their driver drove them to their destination. He was not particularly sure how to comfort Michael right now. Everything that he could possibly say would be wrong and a complete lie. They both knew this would turn out to be a disaster and they weren't prepared for the even bigger storm ahead, waiting for them at the studio.

////

"Hold my hand." Troye said softy. Michael obliged, interlacing their fingers as they stood in front of the studio doors. Michael could hear the thudding of the bass from the outside, the rhythm of the drums following along. He wanted to smile, to have a reassuring feeling flood through him that it's simply his best friends on the other side of the door, but that made him feel even worse. "Jennifer gave me a sticky note with some shitty instructions and things to tell them when they ask questions. I'll answer all of them until you're comfortable." Troye said, giving Michael a reassuring smile and a tight squeeze to his hand before Michael took a deep breath and opened the door, allowing smaller boy to walk ahead of him.

The moment Michael stepped through the entrance the atmosphere around them changed drastically. His three best friends stood there in shock. Michael assumed they weren't expecting him to show up today since he's been MIA since last week.

"Michael?" Luke was the first one to speak, setting his guitar gently to the ground. He inched closer to Michael, not once taking his eyes off his boyfriend until they drifted to the more petite boy who stood clinging to Michael's arm. It sent a bundle of fury through the blonds body and he wanted to rip him away from his Michael.

Michael wanted so badly to throw himself into Luke's arms and tell him this was all some mistake. That he couldn't even fathom cheating on him or simply loving anyone else more than he loves Luke. But, he kept his mouth shut and glanced over to Ashton and Calum. Michael couldn't pinpoint their emotions at that very moment though it was a matter of time before they exploded at him.

Troye squeezed Michael's hand once again before he introduced himself to the trio before him. "Hey guys!" He awkwardly waved. "I'm Troye... Michael has told me so much about you three." The act he put on surprised Michael. Everything he knows about the brunets seemed to shift into a different direction. Suddenly he was a clingy "boyfriend" and is meeting the people who mean most to Michael. Acting oblivious to Luke's gaze on the two or more so Michael.

"Well, Michael hasn't told us anything about you." Calum retorted, sending a quizzical look to Michael and then shifting to see Luke's unreadable expression. They were all protective over Luke–him being the youngest of the four it was always in their best interest to coddle him and make sure he was alright. Except Michael broken that unspoken promise and it's tearing Luke apart inside.

"I remember when we first started going out Michael said he wanted to keep things a bit private. It's understandable with the life you four have. It's all in the spotlight." Troye spoke with such ease and Michael was grateful because his eyes were glued to Luke, silently begging him to understand this wasn't his choice. That everything going on was a lie, but Michael couldn't do that. So he stayed hidden beneath the mask and let everything around him seem to disappear.

Luke shook his head in disbelief. "How long have you two been dating?" Luke spat.

Michael opened his mouth to answer but closed it seconds later. He couldn't bring himself to lie directly to Luke's face. Troye would have to be the one to answer.

"Three weeks today," Troye smiled giddily, elbowing Michael softly to get him to smile along with him. If Michael didn't act the part he was supposed to everything he has is on the line and Troye only wanted to help. "Isn't that right, babe?"

Michael glanced down at the boy attached him and smiled sadly, building up everything inside himself to answer the question. "Yeah, that sounds about right."

"I can't believe it." Ashton glared at his long time best friend from across the room. "Practice is cancelled." Ashton said through gritted teeth, tossing his drumsticks to the ground.

Those words seemed to have dragged Michael back into the harsh reality. "What? Why?" He croaked.

"Take a guess, asshole. I can't even begin to fathom why you'd do this, to us, to Luke!" Michael flinched, cowering into himself. He should've seen it coming, he expected it all. Michael simply hadn't had a way to prepare himself from the hatred spewing from his best friends lips.

"I–I didn't–" Michael stuttered, taking a few steps back and walking into the studio door. He needed to breath and control the panic forcing its way up his throat. "Fuck," Was the last thing he said before he sprinted out of there and collapsed against the side of the building.

"Michael!" Luke's eyes widen at the sight. The automatic instinct to help his lover through the panic taking over him. In that moment he pushed aside the hurtful things Michael has done and rushed after him. Finding his curled into a ball on the side of building. "Hey, breathe for me. In and out. Think of your favorite memory. What the air smelt like around you. What you were doing. Who you were with. Concentrate," Luke mumbled, rubbing soothing circles across Michael's back to help calm him down. "It's all right now." Luke assured.

Michael looked at Luke with tears in his eyes. "Thanks." He mumbled, desperately wanting to crash his lips against the blonds, but Troye appeared besides them asking if Michael was alright.

"Yeah, keep a close eye on him for the rest of the day. This doesn't happen often but when it does you need to talk him through it." Luke informed, pushing himself off from the ground and helping Michael stand up alongside of him.

"Bye bab–" Luke cleared his throat, catching himself from letting the words slip through. "Bye Mike."

Michael stood shakily beside Troye watching the blond round around the corner and back inside. "I can't do this."

////

This was very emotional to write fuck. I wanted to have this one directly after last chapter instead of putting a past memory in between since it'll flow much better for that to be next instead.

Let me know your thoughts they are greatly appreciated and definitely help encourage me to continue writing at the moment since I'm still in a bit of a slump.

Thanks for reading lovelies!😘