Sanctimonious Sex Acts

If it wasn’t Calum’s birthday, he would be confronting him about being friends with queers, and asking why he would even invite Michael out if they were there.

I will be updating the tags as more chapters are released, but I did tag it as non-con immediately because if you know me you know I'll be heavy on that, so there's no point reading this if you don't like it. If you have any triggers, be wary of the tags as chapters are released.

Chapter Text

Michael lounged on the bed fully dressed while he waited for Crystal to finish up. He was used to waiting by now. It was the price he paid for a beautiful wife who always made sure to look her best. She was in the en suite again, always flitting from the bedroom to the bathroom. God knows what she was doing, and why she couldn’t just finish up in the bedroom before moving to the bathroom or vice versa. Michael never asked. He never cared enough.

Stretching out his legs to the end of the bed, Michael checked his phone to make sure he hadn’t misread the time he was meeting Calum for his birthday.

Calum: Yeah 10pm
Calum: As in 10 in the evening

Michael: I know what 10pm means

Calum: You’ve mixed it up before
Calum: It’s just gunna be you and crystal and my friend Ashton and his fiancé
Calum: I don’t have many friends

Michael: Me neither
Michael: The only friends I have are technically my colleagues

Calum: This guy is my colleague...

Michael: Oh ahaha
Michael: Are you not friends with his fiancé?

Calum: This is my first time meeting his fiancé

“Ready to go?” Crystal asked, hurriedly putting on earrings that Michael had sworn she’d put on already.

Michael pocketed his phone, and left the house with his wife.

It had been so long since Michael had gone clubbing. There was no reason for it other than he felt like he was getting a little too old. He didn’t have any kids to take care of that would stop him from going on a debaucherous night out like he’d done in his early twenties. Calum had told him it had been a while for him too despite being single. He wanted to relive his youth on his thirtieth birthday – or maybe he just wanted everyone to pay for his drinks all night while he got fucked.

Michael had forgotten that, most of the time, bouncers ID’d everyone who came in, and gloated to Crystal about looking young for too long before she reminded him of that fact. When his face fell in embarrassment, she assured him that he was very youthful and boyish, which made him grin.

Michael got himself and Crystal a drink each after reading that Calum was in the smoking area.

“Did you make sure it’s non-alcoholic?” Crystal asked him.

Michael’s eyes widened. “What?”

“I’m joking,” she laughed.

“Fucking better be,” he muttered, making his way to what he presumed was the smoking area.

“You know I wouldn’t,” she assured him.

The nightclub wasn’t anything like what was normal in LA. It was relatively dingy, but in a way that seemed to be purposeful. Painted brick and concrete stairs that led up to an indoor smoking area. The room was absolutely flooded with smoke. Obviously, the four vents on the walls were doing very little to clear it. Michael, somehow, found in charming.

Michael spotted Calum through the fog. He’d managed to nab himself a booth to fit everyone. Michael and Crystal squeezed in beside him. Across from them was two guys.

“This is Ashton,” Calum pointed to the one with curly brown hair and a sleeveless top, “and Luke.” He gestured to the one with black hair and a leather jacket.

“Michael,” he said to the guys, “and this is my wife, Crystal.”

“I’ve heard a lot about you,” Ashton said playfully, lifting his pint to his lips.

“Where’s your fiancée, Ashton?” Michael asked.

Ashton faltered for a moment, and, then, pointed to the guy beside him.

“Oh,” Michael said.

He tried to hide his displeasure at this announcement. If it wasn’t Calum’s birthday, he would be confronting him about being friends with queers, and asking why he would even invite Michael out if they were there. He bit his tongue, and looked to Crystal, who was much better at hiding it than he was.

The men noticed his discomfort. He could see it on their face, but they didn’t say a word to avoid conflict.

“Is it not gonna be suspicious that we both called in sick for tomorrow?” Ashton asked.

“I don’t care,” Calum said. “I don’t ever do this, and the principal loves me. He’ll let this one slide. Did you call in sick as well, Luke?”

“His shift starts late tomorrow,” Ashton said. “It’s a night shift, so.”

Luke wasn’t acknowledging the fact that they were talking about him. Michael wasn’t even sure if he was aware of it with how intently he stared at him. The way he slowly lifted his cigarette to his lips with his eyes fixed on Michael almost felt taunting. The stoic expression and the studying gaze like he was trying to work him out, and Michael was afraid he would.

“Michael makes his own timetable,” Calum said.

“Oh, do you do – like – freelance work or?” Ashton asked.

Michael shrugged. “Something like that.”

“He’s a Twitch streamer,” Calum clarified.

Michael shot him a glare. His job was objectively embarrassing despite the success it brought him. He knew he made the most out of the four of them, which made it worse somehow.

“Oh, no way,” Ashton said. “How long have you been doing that, then?”

“A few years,” Michael replied.

“What do you stream?” Ashton asked.

“Videogames,” Michael said.

“What kinds?”

Michael shrugged again. “All of them.”

Ashton was visibly put off by his dryness, so he gave up on trying to make conversation with him. Michael would rather not prolong his conversation with them.

When the group went downstairs to dance, Michael and Crystal quietly devised a plan for how they’d leave early. Previously, Michael had assured Calum that he was ready to dance and drink all night long, so it was difficult to come up with a valid excuse.

This was the worst place for Michael to be with a gay couple. He didn’t want to see them touch. He didn’t want to see them dance up on each other. He didn’t want to see them kiss. The idea of seeing two bearded lips touch made his beer rise in his gullet.

Michael and Crystal decided that, all of a sudden, she couldn’t stomach vodka anymore despite that always being her drink of choice. They planned for Crystal to disappear to the bathroom for a while before returning to tell everyone she had to go home, because she was throwing up so bad.

After he subtly made it known to Calum that Crystal was in the bathroom, Michael stood to the side against a wall to avoid seeing the gays in the crowd of grinding dancers as he worried at the straw of Crystal’s vodka cranberry between his lips.

“Do you have a problem with us?”

Michael was so lost in his own thought that he jolted when spoken to. He didn’t recognise Luke’s voice because this was the first time he’d heard it. It was deeper than he’d expected it to be. Standing next to him, Luke was also a lot taller than he’d expected. He must have been something like six-foot-six. Michael wasn’t used to someone being so much taller than him.

“What’re you talking about?” Michael grumbled, casting his eyes down to the floor. He was relieved to see that Luke was not, in fact, six-foot-six. His boots had a relatively high heel.

“Okay, I’ll rephrase,” Luke said. “What’s your problem with us?”

Michael rolled his eyes. “What the fuck do you think my problem is?”

“You tell me.”

“You smoke what you are,” Michael responded.

“Cigarette.”

“Sure,” Michael muttered.

“And what are you?” Luke asked.

“Straight,” Michael replied viciously. “What do I look like?”

Luke shrugged his mouth, but didn’t reply.

“Now, can you back up before you give me AIDS?” Michael snapped.

Luke stepped closer to him.

Michael shoved him back roughly. “I don’t know why Calum associates himself with fags. Maybe, he’s just desperate for friends. You people are fucking vile and unnatural. I don’t want anything to do with you. Just like you wouldn’t want anything to do with me, so fuck off, and leave me alone.”

Luke’s lips made an ‘o’ shape with squinted eyes in mock-offense. “I like you. You’re weird.”

Michael grimaced dramatically. “God, I feel fucking nauseous now.”

When Crystal returned, they made a big deal out of how sick she was, and how she’d been throwing up the whole time, and still felt sick. They apologised repeatedly to Calum as they left while he assured them that it was perfectly fine, and to take care of themselves.

The couple went home. Admittedly, they were disappointed that they had to leave, and guilty for leaving Calum on his birthday. Especially, when he was alone with those faggots. Who knew what they’d do to him? But Michael knew he would just cause conflict if he brought it up. He was smart enough not to express his hatred for the community with certain people, or the public.

According to Michael’s fans on Twitch, he had no negative opinion on the gays. He didn’t say anything positive about them, but he certainly didn’t say anything negative. Because of that, people assumed he was supportive of that lifestyle. Some of his fans were even gay. They would mention it to him in the chat, or in their donations. Sometimes, they would tell him that he was their gay awakening, and he would have to force a smile and a laugh. After all, these people were the ones paying him. He would never make a verbal judgement on their lifestyle, but he also would never associate himself like that in his personal life.

“You can never escape them nowadays,” Crystal griped, slipping out of her heels. “They’re everywhere, and everyone acts like it’s fucking okay.”

“It’s horrible,” Michael agreed.

“I spent so long getting ready just to end up hanging out with those people,” Crystal went on.

“We’ll have our own night out with Calum another day,” Michael said, pressing a kiss to her forehead.

“What if he wants to invite them again?” She asked.

“I mean, if I tell him that I just want it to be the three of us, he won’t,” Michael said. “But, maybe, I’ll come up with a reason for not liking them other than the obvious reason.”

“What’s the reason?”

Michael hummed. “It won’t be a full lie.”

Ashton sat across from Calum in the staff room, mixing his steaming meal in the lunchbox. Calum peered down at it curiously. It was very different from the meals he usually made himself for work. Either he was going through some kind of mental breakdown, or he’d really fucked up.

“That’s an interesting lunch,” Calum remarked.

Ashton hummed in begrudging agreement. “My fiancé made it for me. I don’t really know how to tell him to never cook for me again.”

Calum burst out laughing. “Why is there so much going on, and so little at the same time?”

All the food in the lunchbox was the same colour, beige, despite it appearing to have a lot of different aspects to it. Somehow, even the carrots were beige. At least, Calum thought they were carrots. It was hard to tell.

“He’s a terrible cook, but I love him, so,” Ashton shrugged. “I have to put up with it sometimes.”

“Speaking of him,” Calum said cautiously, “I hate to be the one to bring this up, but I was chatting with Michael recently, and he told me Luke was – I don’t know – getting a little too friendly with him.”

He didn’t tell Ashton the full truth, which was that Michael told him he didn’t feel fully comfortable with hanging out with them again because of Luke’s behaviour towards him.

“Was he?” Ashton said, unfazed.

“Yeah, I mean, I would take that with a grain of salt,” Calum said. “Michael might have misread something, you know?”

Ashton shrugged. “I don’t mind if he did. Did it bother Michael?”

“Well, Michael is married,” Calum said, “and straight. He wasn’t the most appreciative of it.”

“I’ll let him know,” Ashton said.

“So,” Calum said unsurely, “you don’t mind Luke flirting with other guys?”

Ashton smiled in a kind of private way, like he was being caught for something. “Me and Luke aren’t the most – uh – monogamous couple, you know? We’re not – like – polyamorous or anything like that. I don’t have an interest in bringing someone into our relationship, but what he does – mm – recreationally outside our relationship is not really my business?”

“Oh, really?”

Ashton nodded. “This isn’t the most school appropriate conversation. I would say more over a few drinks, but all you have to know is we’re very secure with each other.”

“That’s interesting,” Calum muttered. “Good to know.”

Chapter 2 Chapter Text

Michael was doing relatively well for himself on Twitch. He had over million followers on Twitch with a few thousand subscribers in different tiers. Crystal didn’t have to work a day in her life if she didn’t want to. She took advantage of that when she wanted to, but she enjoyed the lifestyle of an influencer, thriving off the attention she received in the same way Michael thrived off his Twitch viewers.

It wasn’t a huge surprise when Michael received a large donation. He’d gotten it a lot in the past. To this day, he couldn’t believe there were people in the world that would give that much to a streamer, because he certainly would never give anything close to the sum he often received.

Naturally, Michael had to pay attention to the large donations, even when he’d stopped acknowledging the smaller ones. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to thank every donator and every subscriber, but, if he did, he would spend ninety percent of the stream just thanking people. In early days, he did, but it just wasn’t feasible with the sheer volume of donations that came through.

“Ten thousand bits,” Michael announced gratefully as he paused the game.

Admittedly, he’d been wanting to take a short break from the game, so he was relieved to have an excuse for it. He leaned back in his chair to stretch out his spine.

“Lucy one-nine-nine-six,” Michael said, “thank you. ‘Everyone in the chat is talking about how sexy Leon is, but I’m too busy looking at you’.” He laughed. “I appreciate it, Lucy. Thanks.”

He glanced to the general chat, stretching his arms over the back of the chair. It was filled with people informing Lucy that he was married.

“It’s okay, chat,” Michael assured them. “She’s allowed to compliment me even if I’m married. She’s not trying to get in my pants.”

Lucy’s message caught his eye in the general chat. ‘You look sexy with your arms up like that. You look like you’re tied up’.

Michael lowered his hands from the back of the chair, vaguely disconcerted by the message, but he didn’t make a comment on it. The few people in chat that saw her message told her she was gross, and to leave him alone.

lucy1996: Want more money big boy?

Michael couldn’t help but laugh at that message. “You can keep your money. It’s okay.”

He spotted another notification telling him that Lucy had bought a tier three subscription.

“Or don’t,” he muttered mirthfully.

lucy1996: What’s a mod and can I be one?

“Wow, so you’re completely new here,” Michael chuckled. “If you’re good, Lucy, I can make you a mod someday.”

lucy1996: I’ll be such a good girl for you

Michael smiled, and lifted his left hand to show his wedding ring to the camera without a word. Then, he resumed the game. He was at a tough part of the game that made him feel stupid. His chat were not helping with the feeling either. Apparently, Einstein’s clones were in the chat.

Lucy didn’t seem to have anything else to say until five minutes later. She sent more bits to get his attention with the message ‘Why did you put me in time out?’

“I didn’t time you out,” Michael said. “One of my mods must have.”

Michael wasn’t afraid to time out a chatter who was being particularly inappropriate. He’d done it before countless times. It usually shut people up pretty quickly since time outs added up to a ban, scaring them out of their behaviour. He didn’t know why he didn’t time Lucy out himself, and he didn’t know why he indulged her.

Of course, that wasn’t the last Michael heard of Lucy. Every time he streamed, she was in the chat. She didn’t engage with the other chatters like most people did. She only spoke directly with him. Either in the general chat, or through bits. He watched her learn the ropes of Twitch, and he enjoyed teaching her. It felt wrong. It felt like emotional cheating, and he was afraid his wife may see a clip somewhere, and think the same.

Luke sat with his feet propped up on the coffee table as he watched TV. They were particularly sore after his last shift, which was busier than usual. A needy patient and an even needier student. This was why he preferred nightshifts. More money, less standing.

Ashton was on the other side of the couch, lazily scrolling on his phone with one hand and scratching at the label on the beer bottle in his other hand.

Luke’s phone buzzed between them.

Ashton took a nosy glance at the notification. “How long have you had Twitch?” He asked.

Luke picked up his phone eagerly, but the app was just notifying him about streamer he’d never heard of. “Since we met Michael.”

Ashton raised a brow at him.

“He’s hot,” Luke clarified.

“And married,” Ashton reminded him.

Luke shrugged. “And?”

Ashton grinned in amusement. “You only pursue people you shouldn’t.”

Luke tossed his phone down again, and returned his gaze to the TV. “Be grateful. That’s how we got together.”

Ashton fondly recalled the memory. It felt wrong and private and taboo.

Ashton had recently moved to LA, and already got himself injured. He got too excited on his first night out in the City of Angels, too drunk, and fell down a flight of stairs. He’d injured his spine enough to paralyse him in the moment, and he was sure he wouldn’t walk again.

In the hospital, he was thrilled to find he had an Aussie nurse, because he’d started to get a bit homesick. Not only was he Aussie, but he was sexy too. And, clearly, he felt the same way about Ashton. He hung out in Ashton’s room when he shouldn’t. They talked throughout his nightshifts when he wasn’t busy with other patients. It made the hospital stay a lot more bearable.

What also improved the stay was the time Luke was ‘making sure the important stuff still worked’, and rode him right on the hospital bed. Ashton fell in love instantly. Luke was reckless, dangerous and depraved – just like him.

Michael panted between his wife’s legs with a thumb on her clit to speed things up. He’d already cum a minute ago, but she was yet to finish. Whenever Michael felt insecure that he wasn’t enough for her, he reminded himself how other men didn’t finish off their partners, so, at least, she was lucky to have him in some sense.

“Fuck, Mike,” she gasped. “Please, knock me up. Please.”

Michael’s head dropped to her shoulder, weakened by the plea, as his hips sped up excitedly. He nipped at her neck. “God, I want to. So bad.”

Crystal’s arms tightened around him. Her legs trembled with the intensity of her orgasm. He rubbed her through it slowly. It was second nature to him now. He knew exactly what pace to use when she was cumming, and when to stop.

Her body relaxed. She dabbed at her face with the tissues by their bed, drying the sweat. Michael flopped down beside her, and brushed his wet fringe off his forehead.

“Mikey?”

“Mm?”

She rolled onto her side, draping her arms over his chest. “Do you mean it?”

“Mean what?”

“Do you wanna have a baby?” She asked. “Or are you just getting caught up in it?”

Michael paused for a moment. Truthfully, he had been caught up in the moment, aroused by her pleas for him to impregnate her, but he’d thought about children a lot, especially since he’d turned thirty. At his age, his mother already had a ten-year-old boy, and, while she repeatedly warned him not to have kids at a young age like her, he felt like he was definitely getting to the age that he should start planning for children if he wanted them.

“A bit of both, I guess,” Michael admitted.

“Really?” Crystal’s face lit up. “You want a baby too?”

Michael nodded.

“I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately,” she said. “I’ve been hyping myself up to ask you. I just didn’t know if that was something you were ready for. I know you want kids at some point, but I didn’t know when.”

“I think I’m ready,” he said. “Everything’s—you know – everything’s put together. We’ve got the money, we’ve got the relationship. I think we’re ready for a baby.”

Crystal lifted herself to press a tender kiss to his lips. “I love you, Michael.”

He wrapped his arms around her waist. “I love you too.”

He thought he’d be afraid for this day when they would plan for the rest of their lives. He thought it would make him nervous to the point of wanting to chicken out, but he was excited. Maybe, it wasn’t really dawning on him how much his life would change, but he was so happy that he felt like he might cry.

Chapter 3 Chapter Text

Ashton chewed on the end of his pen as he looked over Luke’s shoulder on his laptop. They were searching for venues for their wedding. Absolutely nothing was set in stone just yet. They’d been engaged for over a year now, and they’d only just gotten started on planning – as if they’d completely forgotten that the next step from engagement was marriage.

Luke drummed his fingers on the edge of the laptop. “Are we doing in here, or somewhere else?”

“Or back home,” Ashton suggested, “so our families don’t have to travel as far.”

“That’s a good idea,” Luke said. “Or we could do it in a whole different country like in Europe or something. That could be fun.”

Ashton hummed doubtfully. “That’s further for our families. It’s – like – twenty hours from Sydney to most places in Europe.”

“What about Japan?”

“Gay marriage is illegal in Japan,” Ashton said.

“Still?” Luke frowned.

Ashton nodded.

“Fuckin’ hell.”

“If we want a summer wedding, we’ll have more time to plan it if we do it in Australia,” Ashton explained.

Luke pursed his lips thoughtfully. “Or we could just have the wedding the following summer here.”

“You don’t want to have the wedding at home, do you?” Ashton asked.

“Home as in here, or—?”

“Home as in Australia, Luke,” Ashton said.

“It’s not that,” Luke argued. “I just think even this summer will be too soon for the wedding. There’s a lot that goes into planning weddings, you know?”

“Okay, first, look up if it’s cheaper to have a ceremony here or Australia,” Ashton told him.

“Australia,” Luke answered without looking it up. “Definitely.”

“Then, it’s sorted.”

“You’re really gonna decide on a venue based on what’s cheaper?” Luke said.

“We have a budget.”

“What’s our budget?”

Ashton faltered. “I don’t know. What should our budget be?”

“A grand,” Luke suggested.

“Okay, then, prepare to marry me in a fucking barn. What the fuck do you mean ‘a grand’?” Ashton said.

“Is that not enough?”

“Not even close, Luke,” Ashton said. “A wedding is the price of a car sometimes.”

“Brilliant,” Luke said. “Let’s get married in a car, then.”

“Let’s flip a coin for LA or Sydney,” Ashton said.

“We don’t have to do in LA,” Luke pointed out. “I don’t really want it in LA. Somewhere in California, sure, but not LA. I feel like all the venues will be – you know – Los Angeles-esque.”

“No shit, Luke. We’re in Los Angeles,” Ashton said. “Okay, where in California?”

“Maui,” Luke said.

Ashton rubbed both hands over his face in exasperation. “That’s not California.”

“I never said it had to be California either,” Luke defended.

“Look up a wheel spinner. We’ll put all our ideas into it, and choose that way,” Ashton said.

“I don’t want to do it that way,” Luke said.

“I’m going to eat this fucking notebook,” Ashton groaned. “If you actually made up your mind, then we wouldn’t have to put them on a spinner.”

“I’m not picky,” Luke said. “You decide.”

“Australia, then,” Ashton said, scribbling it down on his notebook. “Where in Aus?”

“Las Vegas,” Luke replied.

Ashton looked at him. “Sometimes, I want to take the side of domestic abusers.”

“I’m fucking joking,” Luke laughed. “We’ll do it at home. Sydney.”

“Finally,” Ashton sighed. “Look up venues in Sydney, and we’ll see if we like any of them.”

Luke typed into the search bar. “Sydney isn’t really a wedding place, I think.”

“Then, why are you looking it up?”

“Because you told me to.”

Ashton put the corner of his notebook in his mouth, and bit down out of pure frustration at Luke’s uncertainty. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“I am,” Luke said. “I can’t believe you think I’m that stupid.”

Ashton grumbled noncommittally. “Sometimes, I wonder.”

Michael was not in the mood to play Resident Evil 9. He was almost finished the game, but it was beginning to get stressful. He was particularly tired today after staying up the night before playing a different game that he enjoyed in private. He didn’t think that game was all that entertaining for people to watch, so he kept it to himself despite his chat assuring him they’d watch him play anything. He preferred to keep things somewhat entertaining in some regard.

This time, he played Drawy, which may have been almost as frustrating as Resident Evil. At least, the frustration was entirely mutual as his chat got worked up. He would almost fall off his chair laughing at the absolute outrage of the viewers when his drawing was beyond indecipherable. Sometimes, he did it purposefully. Most of the time, he was just not very good at drawing.

lucy1996: Sorry I’m late I was washing my toes

Michael spotted the message, and stifled a laugh. He tried not to acknowledge Lucy’s messages every time he saw them, but he did make sure he saw them every time.

lucy1996: What did I miss?

Michael let the chat catch her up while he finished his drawing of a parrot that the entire chat were insisting was a desk. Just before the timer ran out, Lucy guessed it correctly. He slumped back in his chair with a sigh, chuckling at the storm of heated messages.

lucy1996: Oh I was only joking

“See, guys, there’s the beak,” Michael said, tracing over his drawing with the mouse. “The wings are stretched out.”

lucy1996: I see it now daddy

Michael held in his laugh, and said, “You guys just have to be on my wavelength. Get in my brain.”

Michael moved onto the next drawing. This one was easy. It was a mug. He spent one minute drawing it, and, somehow, it still took the chat inconceivably long to guess it. At this point, Michael was sure they’d all had something to drink or smoke before tuning in.

lucy1996: Stop putting me in time out

Michael laughed out loud this time. “I never timed you out. It’s my mods. Stop calling me Daddy, and they’ll stop timing you out.”

lucy1996: Sorry daddy

Michael rolled his eyes playfully. “You know, if you’re timed out more than twenty-five times, you’ll get banned from the chat.”

lucy1996: Sorry I’ll be good

“Good,” Michael smiled.

lucy1996: You always seem to see my messages. You were ignoring them earlier but I know you saw them

Michael shrugged, unwilling to give her the real reason. “I guess, they just stand out to me.”

In reality, Michael had highlighted Lucy’s username in the chat so that he would spot her in the sea of messages. Lucy was part of the reason Michael had been streaming a lot more lately. She made him laugh, even if he tried to contain it sometimes. The only reason he hadn’t really tried to talk to her was because she was a bit inappropriate towards him. He didn’t want to talk to someone like that. It would feel like cheating. But he couldn’t help himself from highlighting her messages.

The more Michael and Crystal thought about having kids, the more they realised how much planning was involved in it. The longer Michael spent in the house, the more he thought that this wasn’t the best place to raise a child. The house didn’t appear baby-proof at all. Michael feared that, once the child started walking, they would fracture their skull on something.

On top of that, their area was somewhat urban. It was verging on suburban, but not quite as quiet or safe. The traffic outside was sure to disturb a baby’s sensitive ears, and just the thought of taking a child out on these streets made Michael feel like he was about to have a panic attack.

So, before anything else, the couple wanted to secure a home for their future family.

“How many kids do you want?” Michael asked.

“Two or three,” Crystal replied. “I don’t really mind as long as they’re not an only child.”

“What’s wrong with only children?” Michael said.

Crystal cast a glance at him. “Oh, nothing.”

“I turned out fine,” Michael insisted.

Crystal hummed. “You have your quirks. Anyways, how many do you want?”

“Two,” Michael said. “I don’t want an only child either.”

Crystal laughed.

“So, will I look for three bedrooms or four?” Michael asked, clicking on the option to filter results for the houses they were looking at.

“Four,” Crystal said. “Even if we decide we’ve had enough after two, we can just use that bedroom as a spare, or a place for you to sleep when you’ve pissed me off.”

“Good idea,” Michael agreed.

He filtered the result, and began to scroll down through the houses. He’d lived in this same house for eight years now. He got it when he moved to LA, and never wanted to move away until now. He didn’t realise just how much the prices for housing had gone up, or, maybe, he’d just forgotten.

“They’re all ugly,” Crystal muttered. “Why don’t we just build our own house?”

Michael turned to her. “I’m not gonna have a baby until I’m forty at that rate.”

“I’m kidding,” Crystal assured him. “I just wish these houses looked a little nicer.”

“Maybe, if I filter by area,” Michael suggested.

Crystal nodded. “Try that.”

“What’s a good area?” Michael asked.

“Don’t ask me. I know as much as you do,” Crystal said.

“But you’re American,” Michael pointed out.

“Yeah, born and raised on the other side of the fucking country,” Crystal argued. “Look on Reddit.”

“We’re gonna base the future of our family on a Reddit post,” Michael said.

“Yes, we are,” Crystal said.

Michael opened a new tab to search for what Crystal had told him. The two of them leaned into the screen to read the posts together in silence.

“Ooh, San Marino,” Michael said.

“Are you familiar with it?” Crystal asked hopefully.

“No, I just like the name.”

“Now, we’re gonna base the future of our family on how the name sounds,” Crystal argued back.

“Yep,” Michael said as he filtered the houses by San Marino.

He scrolled down through the suggested homes while Crystal absent-mindedly played with the hair on the back of his head. The feeling of her acrylics scraping off his scalp sent goosebumps down his arms, but he didn’t mind.

“I like this house,” Michael said.

“Are you joking?”

Michael frowned. “No, why?”

“Look at the fucking rating,” Crystal said, aggressively tapping the screen with her nail.

“Oh,” Michael murmured, “you’re right.”

“Keep scrolling.”

“We need to find somewhere within walking distance of a school,” Michael said.

“Walking?” Crystal snorted. “Not in this fucking, fat-ass country.”

Michael scrolled a little further. Then, slumped back in his chair with a sigh. “There must be a better way of doing this than scrolling through a website like it’s a dating app.”

“This gives us a good idea of what we’re working with either way,” Crystal pointed out.

Michael nodded defeatedly, and returned his hand to the mouse.

Crystal leaned her head on his shoulder, which soothed his exasperation to some degree. If he was going to be stressing over housing, at least, he was doing it with her. He knew every step of this process would be worth it in the end.

Chapter 4 Chapter Text

Alternative to popular belief from his fans, Michael did plan his streams sometimes. When he felt like it, he would sit in his office with a pen and paper, and check out the suggestions on his Discord. Some of them were games, some of them were just a bit of fun. He might come up with creative ways to incorporate the suggestions into one stream. When people suggested small games, he would see which of them he could play in one stream, turning it into a compilation of games. It all depended on the genre of game. It would be a little disorienting to switch of an FPS game to a simulator.

Sometimes, Crystal would help him with organising everything. She knew how to use Notion. He may be able to work it out if he was organised enough. She would categorise his games by genre, rating and game-time. She didn’t know all the ins and outs of how he, himself, would prefer to play them, but it was helpful for him to have those folders. She was like his assistant in a way.

He scrolled through the suggestions channel, skimming over all the ideas. His mods struggled to control the people who used this channel as a space for chatting, but he kind of enjoyed reading snippets of people’s arguments before the mods timed them out for misuse of the channel.

lucy1996: Do a stream with no shirt on. That’s my suggestion

whaleotter: not lucy again...

Michael chuckled at the messages.

The door to the office clicked as Crystal poked her head in. “Are you streaming?” She asked.

Michael rolled his chair back from his desk, and turned to face her. “No, just planning.”

“Great,” she said, stepping into the room with her own iPad in hand. “I’ve got something else for you to plan.”

Michael smiled. “What is it?”

Crystal took a seat on the couch by Michael’s desk. “House rules.”

He laughed. “Do we really need to make house rules right now before the baby is even here? He won’t need rules until he’s old enough to understand them.”

“He? She’s gonna be a girl,” Crystal bit back.

“Sorry, she.”

“I just wanna make sure we’ve covered all bases while we wait,” Crystal explained. “I’m just excited, Mike.”

Michael nodded. “Okay, we’ll set out some rules.”

“Okay, homework is done at the table,” Crystal said.

“We’re thinking about homework already?” Michael laughed.

“What else?”

“Swearing?” Michael said.

“Well, fucking obviously,” Crystal griped. “They’re not allowed to swear.”

“No – like – us,” Michael said. “You know I swear like a sailor. When should I stop swearing?”

“Now,” Crystal said. “Start immediately, and then it won’t be so hard when the baby is here.”

“First thing’s first,” Michael said, leaning forward. “What about roles in the house? Like – chores. We have our chores set out without babies, but, obviously, we need to divide the responsibilities for the baby as well.”

“You’re doing diapers,” Crystal said immediately.

“No,” Michael pleaded. “Why me?”

“I do the most around the house,” Crystal pointed out. “I cook, I clean, I do the grocery shopping. What do you do?”

“I clean,” Michael said. “I vacuum the floors and take out the trash.”

“You do not vacuum,” Crystal argued. “I do most of the vacuuming.”

“That is just not true. I literally vacuumed today.”

“Because I fucking asked you to, because I’ve been doing it the last few weeks.”

“You swore.”

“Oh, shut up.”

“We should get a swear jar,” Michael suggested.

“Yeah, I’ll be rich then,” Crystal said.

“As if you don’t spend all my money already,” Michael muttered.

“What’s that?” Crystal said in a threatening tone.

“Nothing.”

“Thought so.”

“Fine, I’ll change the diapers,” Michael relented. “You’re obviously doing the feeding.”

“Mhm,” Crystal hummed, typing into her iPad.

“Uhh.” Michael contemplated. “Is there anything else babies need?”

“Are you fucking serious?”

“No,” Michael lied fearfully. “They need – um – love.”

“Baths, tummy time, nap time,” Crystal listed.

“If they’re smelly, bathe them,” Michael said. “We can both do tummy time, and put them down to nap when they’re sleepy.”

“I’m gonna buy you a few books to read,” Crystal said. “You’re fucking hopeless.”

“You’ve sworn way more than I have just now,” Michael remarked.

“Whatever,” Crystal muttered. “I’ll plan the routine by myself.”

“No,” Michael whined, “I wanna help. We can plan it together after I’ve read the books.”

“Okay,” she said. “I’ll get the book now. Also, you need to call that real estate guy today.”

Michael nodded. “I tried to call him at eleven, but he was busy. I’ll call him again in – like – an hour.”

Crystal checked the time. “Did you not leave a message for him to call you back?”

“I did,” Michael said. “No word. You know how he is. He never calls back even though his voicemail says he will.”

“Oh,” Crystal hummed, scrolling absently on her iPad. Then, she found something. “I forgot to show you my Pinterest board for the nursery.”

“Ooh, show me,” Michael said excitedly, even though he didn’t really care how the nursery looked. If the baby had a place to sleep and get her nappy changed, that was all that mattered.

Crystal placed her iPad down onto his desk to scroll through the pins on the board. The aesthetic suited her. It was the aesthetic of their house since Michael had no opinion on interior design. Whatever she wanted, she would put into the house, and Michael would admire her taste despite having no idea if it was nice or not. They tended to get compliments on their house all the time, so he assumed she had a good eye.

Michael was streaming a lot both to get more money for their new house, and to see Lucy’s chats. It was mostly for the money, but Lucy was a nice perk to the increased workload anyway. He was playing any game he could – even if he thought he wouldn’t like it – just to get some money. It seemed like his viewers were enjoying his misery in the games he would definitely not play if given the choice, which did earn him more money – but at what cost.

For the past few streams, Michael hadn’t spotted Lucy’s messages in the chat. He knew he wasn’t missing them since he did highlight them, and, when he was playing those shitty games, he did have to take a lot of breaks to talk to the chat, and soothe himself. Maybe, she was just lurking, but he doubted it. From the little he knew about her nature, she was here to get his attention – not to enjoy his stream. But she was giving him money at the end of the day, so he didn’t care how she consumed his content.

Finally, after over a week, Lucy’s name popped up in chat.

lucy1996: Your hair looks nice today

Michael leaned back in his chair to acknowledge the chat. “Thanks, Lucy. I haven’t seen you in a while.”

lucy1996: Work was busy

“Oh, good, you work,” Michael said. “I was afraid you were a teenage girl, but I assumed that’s your birthyear, right?”

lucy1996: It’s my mum’s birthyear

“Yeah, right,” Michael laughed. “Your mum is not the same age as me with a kid that works.”

lucy1996: She had me young

“When she was ten? Sure, she did,” Michael said. “What do you work as? My streams are usually in the evening.”

lucy1996: Not everyone lives in LA

Michael smiled. “You’re right, but, in Europe, it’s usually the middle of the night when I stream.”

lucy1996: Not everyone lives in Europe

Michael narrowed his eyes, taking in the information he was getting about her. He didn’t know why he wanted to find out more about her in the first place. He didn’t care who his viewers were at all. As long as they liked him, that was all that mattered. He shouldn’t care about their occupation or their nationality.

“You Aussie?” He asked.

lucy1996: You know three countries

“I’m a little geographically handicapped,” Michael agreed.

lucy1996: You gonna talk to me all day or are you gonna play the game? Everyone’s begging you to just play

Michael noticed the other chatters telling him they were getting unbearably bored watching him chat specifically to one viewer instead of doing what they were paying him to do.

lucy1996: I don’t mind but you need to do your job

Michael resumed the game without another word to her. He was getting caught up in his conversation with her. That was bad. Everyone was watching him pay special attention to one person, and it was surely getting suspicious now.

Luke had just gotten home from work, and Ashton was drinking his coffee at the kitchen island while he graded schoolwork. It was relatively early in the morning, but Ashton had gotten into the habit of getting up early so that he could spend more time with Luke when he got home from work. Luke usually got home around half past six, which gave Ashton two hours to hang out with him before he had to be out the door.

Ashton woke up at six to have time to shower and get dressed so that he didn’t have to do any of that when Luke was home. He was more of a morning person than Luke anyway, so it wasn’t that big a deal.

“Morning,” Luke said.

“There’s leftover spaghetti in the fridge,” Ashton told him.

Luke grabbed the little lunchbox Ashton had stored away from him, and removed the lid. “It was a slow day today, so I had a lot of time to think about our wedding.”

“Mhm?” Ashton said, writing something down on one of the students’ exams.

“Are you listening?” Luke asked as he turned on the microwave.

Ashton placed the pen down, and interlaced his fingers to give Luke his attention. “I am now.”

“We’ve got a few options for music,” Luke said. “An orchestra, a band, or a DJ. I was talking to one of my colleagues, and she had an actual band play the music.”

“Did the band play covers, or their own music?” Ashton asked.

“Covers,” Luke said. “Like – you’re not gonna get a famous band to perform at your wedding, but you can get people who know how to play that will play good music.”

Ashton shrugged. “Or we could just do it ourselves. I can play the guitar and drums, and you can sing. You’ve got a great voice.”

“I can also play guitar,” Luke pointed out. “I don’t think you can drum and play guitar at the same time, Ash.”

“Don’t doubt me.”

“Anyways, we’re not gonna be the live entertainment at our own wedding,” Luke said, waving a dismissive hand.

The microwave beeped, and he grabbed his dinner from it and a fork from the drawer. He leaned on the island, across from Ashton, while he ate.

“So, when you’re walking down the aisle in your wedding dress,” Ashton said, “do you want a band, an orchestra or a DJ?”

“Wedding dress?”

“You’re not wearing a wedding dress?” Ashton frowned.

Luke blinked at him, and decided to ignore him. “We could also have an orchestra for the ceremony, and a band or DJ for the reception. Is that what the party after is called? Reception?”

“That’s a better idea,” Ashton said. “So, basically, band or DJ.”

“If the orchestra can pull out some electric guitars and basses and a drumkit, that would be even better,” Luke said. “A good orchestra can play any instrument.”

“A DJ would be fun,” Ashton said.

“It’d feel like a nightclub. We can get smoke machines too,” Luke said. “Doesn’t your friend, Calum, know a DJ?”

“Calum knows a guy who DJ’d once,” Ashton said.

“They don’t have to be good,” Luke told him. “Everyone’s going to be hammered anyway.”

“Yeah, but that guy is Michael,” Ashton explained, “and I don’t think Michael is going to come to a gay wedding to DJ for us.”

Luke smiled impishly. “You could ask. If we pay him enough, he might come.”

“Luke, I don’t care how sexy you think he is. I don’t want a homophobe at my gay wedding,” Ashton argued.

“A bit of drama,” Luke said teasingly. “That’s always fun.”

“You’re a funny guy, Luke,” Ashton said. “Besides, you’re meant to be looking at your husband, not the sexy DJ.”

“If our DJ’s sexy, he might have to be our first threesome of our marriage,” Luke pointed out.

Ashton rolled his eyes playfully. “You’re such a fucking slut, Luke.”

“I’m joking,” Luke laughed. “I’ll give all my slut attention to you.”

“Speaking of which,” Ashton said, “there’s a girl in my AA that I wanna fuck.”

“Oh, and I’m the deranged one,” Luke remarked.

“It’s not like that,” Ashton defended. “She was flirting with me after the session, but she’s got kids, so she wouldn’t be available much.”

“So?” Luke said. “She can come here. I always have night shifts.”

“No one’s able to take care of her kids for long enough,” Ashton said. “Her sister takes care of them during the meetings, or they’re at afterschool, but she wouldn’t have enough time.”

Luke shrugged his mouth. “That’s a shame. No partner?”

Ashton shook his head. “Her husband died of alcoholism. She said that was her wake-up call.”

“Died of alcoholism,” Luke echoed.

“Don’t get all medical on me. That’s what she told me. I didn’t pry into exactly what he died of, but it was alcohol related,” Ashton explained.

“What was your wake-up call?” Luke asked.

“You know what my wake-up call was,” Ashton muttered, unwilling to get into the specifics.

“Your spinal injury?”

Ashton shook his head. “It’s too early in the morning for this conversation, Luke.”

Luke pushed his spaghetti around thoughtfully. “Okay, so, band or DJ for the reception.”

“I like the idea of a DJ,” Ashton said. “We can look into it on Friday. That’s when you’re off next, right?”

“Yeah,” Luke said. “I’ll check out what I can.”

“We can’t really decide exactly who since we haven’t found a venue yet,” Ashton pointed out.

“I mean, the three that we’re planning to check out soon seem to be pretty close to each other,” Luke said. “Anyways, we’re figuring what not who.”

“Maybe, I’ll research a little while my ninth-graders are doing their pop quiz I made after that fucking cunt, Nick, threw a pen at my head,” Ashton said.

Chapter 5 Chapter Text

After the school day, Calum showed up to Ashton’s classroom as the last of his students were leaving the room. Ashton was trying to be quick with leaving the school, but he couldn’t deny a chat with Calum.

“I heard, through the grapevine, that you’ll be out next week,” Calum said.

Ashton nodded happily. “Yeah, I’ve been meaning to tell you.”

“What’s the occasion?” Calum asked. Then, his face dropped. “Wait, did someone die?”

Ashton laughed. “No, worse.”

“What happened?”

“Me and Luke are checking out wedding venues in New South Wales,” Ashton said.

Calum beamed. “Oh, no, you’re getting married? I’m so sorry for your loss.”

“I appreciate your condolences,” Ashton said.

“So, when’s the wedding?” Calum asked.

“We’re hoping for November,” Ashton said, “but it’ll probably be next November.”

Calum grinned broadly, bouncing slightly on the balls of his feet. “That’s so exciting. Will there be an open bar?”

Ashton scoffed. “You know me, Cal.”

“That is – if I’m invited,” Calum said cautiously.

Ashton shot him a look. “You really think I wouldn’t invite my best friend in the world?”

Calum smiled, endeared by the slight sarcasm.

“I wanted to ask you this closer to the date, but I can’t keep it to myself,” Ashton said. “I want you to be my best man.”

Calum pursed his lips thoughtfully. “Only if you get down on one knee to ask me.”

“What if I do it on both knees with my mouth full?” Ashton suggested.

“That works too,” Calum said, pretending to reach for his belt.

Ashton peered belatedly at the classroom door to ensure to students were in earshot for that. “So, will you be my best man or?”

“Of course, I will,” Calum said.

“Will you wear a kilt?” Ashton asked.

“Only if you want me to,” Calum replied.

Michael was getting sick of the shitty games he was playing. They were causing unnecessary stress in his life when he was already preparing for a massive change. Instead, he streamed in the ‘Just Chatting’ category. It wouldn’t get him as many viewers or money, but it was better than nothing.

The upside to this was that Michael could spend more time responding to Lucy’s chats while also paying attention to other people to avoid suspicion. Although, he was still spending noticeably longer on Lucy since her chats were highlighted.

lucy1996: Tell them to stop putting me in time out

Michael giggled. “They’re doing that because you’re violating TOS.”

lucy1996: What the fuck is TOS

“Terms of service,” Michael clarified.

lucy1996: Can you put another mod in time out

“No,” Michael said. “Only I can do that.”

lucy1996: Then mod me. You said you would if I was a good girl and I’ve been suuuuuch a good girl

Michael smiled. “If you’re getting timed out constantly, I don’t think you’re a very good girl.”

lucy1996: You don’t want me to get banned do you Michael

Michael sighed through his nose. He spotted another chat message that mentioned how bare his room looked, and said, “Yeah, I’m actually in the process of moving out, guys. So, I’ll have a shitty background for a bit while I set up my new office.”

After the stream, Michael modded Lucy.

Soon after Michael and Crystal moved into their new house, Michael invited Calum over to give him a tour, and boast the nice area they’d chosen. They were so glad to get this house. They’d viewed multiple houses in different areas of LA, but this is the one they’d truly fallen in love with.

It was close to a good school, within walking distance of a Whole Foods, and easy to get to Downtown LA. The layout was perfect. The stairs were carpeted. The kitchen was big, and the garage could fit two cars. Crystal wanted to get a bigger car so that she could carpool their future child’s friends, but that wasn’t a priority until the child was old enough to have those friends. She was excited to mingle with the other new mothers.

Michael led Calum through the house. Calum matched his excitement as he admired the house. Michael showed him his and Crystal’s bedroom, and the three other bedrooms in the house. Calum didn’t comment on the excessive number of bedrooms, but Michael could see the slight bewilderment in his expression.

After the tour, Crystal made them both coffee, and they sat in the new living room. It was a little bare, but Michael was very pleased with the new couches Crystal had picked out for the room. They were so comfortable that, on the first day, Michael had conked out on one. Granted, he was exhausted from unpacking, but it was one of the best naps of his life.

“You really sink into these, don’t you?” Calum commented, bouncing himself on the cushions.

Michael relaxed into it with a contented sigh. “You really do.”

Crystal walked in with three cups of coffee in hand. Michael sat forward to take two of the mugs, and hand one to Calum before immediately melting back into the couch.

“The house is huge,” Calum said. “Could you not find a smaller one, or did you want it to be this big?”

“It’s a bit bigger than we were planning for,” Michael said vaguely, “but it’s still perfect. That way, we should have a spare bedroom for family and friends, you know? Crystal loves her little sleepovers.”

Crystal chuckled, clasping her hands around her mug.

“A spare bedroom?” Calum repeated. “Just one? Dude, you have three.”

Michael smiled when Calum fell for his bait. “We’re planning to only have one spare bedroom.”

Calum appeared to be catching on a little. There was an eager glint in his eyes, but he didn’t want to jump to conclusions just yet. “How are you gonna do that?”

Crystal grinned.

“We’re starting a family,” Michael said, and his heart felt like it was about to jump out of his chest.

Calum reacted so enthusiastically that he almost spilt his coffee all over the new couch. “Seriously?”

Michael nodded proudly.

Calum carefully placed down his coffee before throwing his arms around Michael. “That’s fucking brilliant news. How long have you been keeping this a secret?”

“About two months now,” Michael said, “right, Crystal?”

“Two or three, yeah,” Crystal said.

“Oh, my God,” Calum giggled. “I’m so excited. I’m gonna be an uncle.”

“Uncle Cal!” Michael cheered.

“Daddy Michael,” Calum said, pulling away to grab his coffee again.

“Oh,” Michael said.

Such a phrase should have been heartwarming to him. He was going to be a father, a daddy. He was ‘Daddy Michael’. But, instead, he was reminded of Lucy. Guilt rooted itself in his stomach. She shouldn’t have been on his mind like this just at the mention of the word ‘Daddy’.

“And, most importantly, Mommy Crystal,” Calum added.

She laughed.

“I’m so excited I’m gonna scream,” Calum said. “So much is happening right now. I’m gonna be an uncle and a best man.”

“Someone’s getting married?” Michael asked.

“Yeah, my friend, Ashton,” Calum said. “He asked me to be his best man last week. They’re looking at venues in New South Wales at the moment.”

Michael nodded, suddenly extremely disinterested by the news.

Calum clocked his change in demeanour. “Listen, man, I told him about his fiancé flirting with you. They’re in an open relationship, but he’s told him to cut it out now. He didn’t know it was making you uncomfortable.”

“Do you really associate yourself with those kinds of people?” Michael said.

“I know he made a bad first impression,” Calum said. “I know for a fact that Ashton isn’t like that. I’ve talked to Luke a few times after that, and I think he was just drunk or something. He apologised for it.”

“That’s not what I mean.”

“What do you mean?”

Michael shook his head with a sigh.

“What kinds of people, Mike?” Calum pressed.

“Queers,” Michael mumbled, knowing he was going to get shit for it.

Calum was visibly taken aback. “What?”

“They’re not good people, Cal,” Michael said. “They might seem normal, but they’re not. A man who sleeps with another man is not normal.”

Calum frowned, and looked to Crystal as if she would disagree. “What are you talking about, Michael? They’re just gay. They’re not mass murderers.”

“They’re not right in the head,” Michael pressed. “It’s sexual deviancy.”

“Where’d you hear that? Bible school?” Calum said.

“Open relationship? They’re whores,” Michael said. “This isn’t about religion. It’s just not right. They’ll never start a family, and, if they do, it’s fucking dangerous. No child should be raised by people like that, exposed to that fucking gross shit. You may as well sit your baby down in front of a porno. If you talk to them too much, they could brainwash you into thinking that’s right.”

Calum paused for a moment to take everything in. This felt like a fever dream. He never would have thought Michael felt this way. “Being gay isn’t obscene, and, if I was brainwashed into being gay, that would mean I was gay to begin with. You can’t just change who you’re attracted to.”

“Gay men are not attracted to each other in the same way that a man and a woman are,” Michael continued. “They’re just not. They crave each other like drugs. It’s not healthy. It’s not natural. It’s fucking disgusting.”

“They are,” Calum said. “Luke and Ashton are in love with each other. You would know that if you spoke to them. They have chemistry.”

Michael shook his head. “Like you have chemistry with tobacco, Cal?”

“And what if I was gay?” Calum argued irritably. “What if I was? Would you stop talking to me? I’m the same person as I was before.”

“You’re my friend,” Michael said. “If you killed someone, I would try to see your point of view, but I would never associate with a murderer myself if I had the choice.”

“Don’t compare being gay to murder.”

“Yeah, it’s worse, because, for some reason, everyone thinks it’s okay to plague the fucking earth with that depraved behaviour,” Michael said. “What next? We’re gonna teach little girls to become porn-stars.”

“That is not the fucking same thing,” Calum argued. “I don’t even—I don’t wanna talk about this with you. Ashton is not brainwashing me.”

“It’s unnatural,” Michael mumbled.

Calum leaned forward assertively. “Remember who you fucking are, Michael.”

“Fuck you,” Michael spat.

Chapter 6 Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Luke and Ashton stayed at Luke’s parents’ house for two days before setting off further west to look at venues. It turned out that they didn’t like any of the venues in Sydney, but there were a few outside of it that caught their eye. They were all within an hour or two of each other, so it wasn’t much travelling for them to view all of them.

They visited one of Luke’s brothers on their way to their hotel. Ashton got along with Jack better than anyone else in Luke’s family. Sometimes, with the way they talked, Luke felt like he was going to be replaced by his own brother. Ashton and Jack didn’t talk much, but, when they did, it was difficult to pry them away from each other – even when it was ten in the evening and the couple had another two hours to drive.

Viewing venues was a lot more tiring than the two of them thought. By the third venue, they were absolutely knackered. They even considered cancelling the fourth and final viewing, but they decided to brave it. That was what this trip was for anyway.

“I like the one with the horses,” Ashton said as they lay, star-fished, on their bed with the TV on.

“That one’s really nice,” Luke agreed.

“Which one’s your favourite?” Ashton asked.

Luke hummed thoughtfully. “The one with the big garden, I think.”

Ashton nodded. “That was Jack’s favourite as well.”

Luke frowned at him. “How do you know that?”

“Because he said it when we were showing him the venues,” Ashton said.

“Oh,” Luke murmured, “that was so long ago, I don’t remember.”

“It was – like – four days ago,” Ashton said.

“I have a lot going on right now,” Luke said.

“I’m sure you do,” Ashton chuckled. “Like catfishing Michael.”

Luke smirked, pleased with himself.

“You’re fucking crazy,” Ashton said.

“You’re marrying me,” Luke pointed out.

“Maybe, I’m also crazy,” Ashton said.

“Maybe?” Luke snorted. “You mean definitely. You made me crazier by giving me drugs and shit.”

“It was coke and shrooms, Luke,” Ashton scoffed. “Not heroin.”

“I’m a healthcare professional,” Luke said. “I shouldn’t be taking drugs.”

“You took shrooms once,” Ashton argued, “and you do coke – like – once a year.”

Luke grimaced. “It gives me nosebleeds and stuffs me up for days.”

“Your nose is sensitive,” Ashton said. “The only time it gave me nosebleeds was when I was using it heavily in my early twenties.”

Luke reached for the bottle of water on the bedside table. “I like the venue with the horses as well, so we can do it in that one if you prefer it.”

“I don’t mind,” Ashton said. “I liked the one with the garden as well. I just forgot about it.”

“It’s beautiful,” Luke said.

“Yeah, imagine fucking in the flowerbeds,” Ashton remarked.

Luke laughed. “That would make a beautiful wedding photo. You with your suit trousers around your knees. My mouth is watering at the thought of it.”

“Yeah, and your wedding dress pulled up,” Ashton said.

“If you keep saying that, I’m gonna think you wish I was wearing a dress,” Luke said.

“I don’t,” Ashton smiled. “You look sexy in a suit.”

Luke hummed. “I do.”

Ashton chuckled. He loved the sarcasm Luke used when he was pretending to be full of himself when he knew damn well that he was gorgeous. There was no way he didn’t know. He was humble about his looks by being sarcastic about something that was true. He didn’t deny it to fish for compliments, but he also refused to say it outright.

It was late at night, and Michael wasn’t tired. He was bored out of his mind. Crystal was visiting her family because her mother was sick. He could go to his office, and, maybe, do a late-night stream for a bit of extra money, but he didn’t feel like it. He could just play a game for fun, but he was so comfortable in bed. Tiktok was beginning to get boring.

Lucy’s friend request had been sitting in his inbox for months, ever since she joined the Discord. He ignored it, but it was always in the back of his mind. All the times he had to pry himself away from chatting with her during the streams. If it was in private, there would be nothing motivate him to stop. That was dangerous.

Today, he gave in, and accepted it just to see what would happen. He didn’t send a message or a sticker. He just accepted it, and went on Twitter to see how soon she would message him.

It took ten minutes.

lucy1996: Haii !!

michaelclifford: hai

lucy1996: I’ve been waiting for you

michaelclifford: creeeepy lol

lucy1996: Are you creeped out?

michaelclifford: no lol

lucy1996: You’re up late

michaelclifford: ik im bored
michaelclifford: my wife is away :(
michaelclifford: ur up late too

lucy1996: I’m not lol
lucy1996: It’s 5pm

michaelclifford: where are u from?

lucy1996: Not telling

michaelclifford: aw come on u know so much about me and i know nothing about u

lucy1996: I’m abroad right now
lucy1996: You might be able to work it out from the time difference

michaelclifford: my first instinct is aus but that’s because im from their and my family r their so ik the time

lucy1996: I’m in Australia yes

michaelclifford: are u on vacation

lucy1996: Yeah
lucy1996: You’ve been americanised Michael

michaelclifford: wdym

lucy1996: You said vacation

michaelclifford: my wife is american sorryyyyy i have to americanise my language so she understands me

lucy1996: Lol

michaelclifford: where in aus r u

lucy1996: NSW

michaelclifford: where

lucy1996: Not telling
lucy1996: Internet safety

michaelclifford: sydney?

lucy1996: Kangaroo valley

michaelclifford: oh
michaelclifford: ive never been lol
michaelclifford: are you going canoing

lucy1996: I don’t like getting wet
lucy1996: Unless

michaelclifford: watch it
michaelclifford: so if ur on holiday now then where r u from originally

lucy1996: Your relentless
lucy1996: You really wanna know?

michaelclifford: plz

lucy1996: Sydney

michaelclifford: sydney australia???

lucy1996: Yeah
lucy1996: But I live on the Pacific coast of America

michaelclifford: ur just like me

lucy1996: I know that’s why I like you

michaelclifford: i like u more now

lucy1996: I’m blushing

michaelclifford: shh

lucy1996: Hehe
lucy1996: Why have you been streaming so much?
lucy1996: Low on money?

michaelclifford: it’s not that
michaelclifford: just trying to make more

lucy1996: Is there a reason?

michaelclifford: yes

lucy1996: ?

michaelclifford: it’s a secret

lucy1996: You can trust me you know I won’t tell anyyyyyone

michaelclifford: i dont even know what u look like i cant tell u that

lucy1996: You wanna see me that bad big boy?

michaelclifford: dont make it weird

lucy1996: I’m insecure
lucy1996: What if you think I’m ugly and stop talking to me :(

michaelclifford: if i thought u were ugly it wouldnt matter cuz we’re just friends
michaelclifford: i have plenty of ugly friends

lucy1996: I’m still insecure

michaelclifford: that’s ok
michaelclifford: im insecure too

lucy1996: Okay fine

Michael hated how his heart jumped in excitement at that. It wasn’t because he really wanted to see her. It was just so he knew who he was talking to.

The picture didn’t reveal much about her looks. It was a pair of bare thighs, pressed together as she lay on her side, with a man’s hand resting between them. The last bit sparked a bit of intrigue. Before he replied, he reverse-searched the image, but it didn’t appear anywhere else on the internet.

michaelclifford: whos that

lucy1996: My boyfriend

michaelclifford: boyfriend?

lucy1996: Shhh
lucy1996: I’m telling you I can keep secrets so

michaelclifford: ok
michaelclifford: im saving up for a baby
michaelclifford: me and my wife are planning for one

lucy1996: Are you trying?

michaelclifford: yeah

lucy1996: If you need advice I can give you some

michaelclifford: u have kids?

lucy1996: No but I’m a girl so
lucy1996: It helps for your wife to orgasm as well
lucy1996: The contractions help guide the semen inside
lucy1996: Sorry is this weird?

michaelclifford: maybe it is
michaelclifford: i appreciate the advice tho

lucy1996: If you can even make your wife orgasm anyway
lucy1996: No judgement if you can’t most men can’t

michaelclifford: every time

lucy1996: Yeah?
lucy1996: You sure she’s not faking it?

michaelclifford: certain
michaelclifford: i know what it looks like when its real or when its fake

lucy1996: You’re confident
lucy1996: Your wife is one lucky lady

michaelclifford: meh
michaelclifford: its one of the few things i exel at

lucy1996: Still very important

michaelclifford: can your boyfriend?
michaelclifford: nevermind forget i asked that
michaelclifford: im sorry that was weird lets talk about something else

lucy1996: He can
lucy1996: Do you put a pillow under her back

michaelclifford: enoughhhh of this conversation
michaelclifford: what do u do for work

lucy1996: OBGYN
lucy1996: So that’s why I’m qualified to give you advice ahaha

michaelclifford: oh no way thatd b rlly helpful
michaelclifford: how do i know ur not just saying that

lucy1996: I’m abroad so I don’t have my certificate so you’ll have to take my word for it

michaelclifford: ok
michaelclifford: if ur based in la could u be our obgyn

lucy1996: I never said I was based in LA
lucy1996: Anyway that would violate HIPAA
lucy1996: I think
lucy1996: I don’t know I just do my job I’ve never had anyone ask me to be their OBGYN

michaelclifford: yeah ig one of my fans who is attracted to me looking at my wifes lady bits would be a bit weird
michaelclifford: im just a bit stressed and confused
michaelclifford: this shit is so confuuuusing

lucy1996: I’m here to help

Michael was beyond relieved to find out what Lucy did for a living. Not only would it be helpful to him and Crystal in the future, but it also gave him an excuse to talk to her privately, and for Crystal not to be too suspicious about it. Maybe, he shouldn’t have considered that an upside, and he felt guilty for thinking that, but that did spring to mind.

Michael had just started his second baby book. Some of the aspects of the books didn’t suit him and Crystal, but they were useful to know regardless. A lot of them were about milestones and dealing with difficulties like teething and colic. Some of it scared Michael a lot. Whenever he had any concerns or didn’t understand something, he would shoot Lucy a quick text. He trusted her qualifications since she appeared to know what she was talking about whenever he did message her.

Michael wasn’t the biggest reader. He didn’t read books. He didn’t really like them. He preferred to watch the movie even if people said the book was better. So, he made himself cosy in bed with a nice cup of coffee to make the books more enjoyable.

Crystal was getting ready for their parenting class later that day, but Michael wasn’t too worried about getting ready right now. It took him ten minutes maximum, but Crystal would spend half an hour. He always knew that, whenever she was brushing her hair, that was his time to get dressed. It was a routine that had been engrained in him after years of marriage.

“Who’s Lucy?” Crystal asked as she patted on her makeup at the vanity.

Michael lifted his eyes from the book as his heart dropped. He hoped the anxiety didn’t show on his face. “What do you mean?”

Crystal looked over her shoulder at him. Her expression was light-hearted. There was a slight smile on her lips. She wasn’t upset or jealous in any regard. “I just saw a Tiktok edit of you and one of your chatters. It seems like she’s well-known in your fanbase.”

Michael laughed. “We have a running joke, I guess.”

“Running joke of her calling you Daddy?” Crystal said.

“Yeah,” Michael said. “If it—if it bothers you, I can stop replying to her, and demod her.”

“Oh, she’s a mod too?” Crystal said. “No, it doesn’t bother me at all. Don’t worry. I think it’s funny.”

“You sure?” Michael pressed. “It’s no problem for me to just demod her. I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.”

“Seriously, I don’t mind,” Crystal assured him. “I’m very secure in our relationship.”

“I’ve been private messaging her on Discord,” Michael admitted just to get it off his chest. “It’s nothing like what you see on stream. That’s literally just a gag, you know?”

She frowned slightly.

“Please, don’t be mad, okay?” Michael said. “But she’s an OBGYN, and I’ve been asking her for advice.”

“You told her we’re planning for a baby?” Crystal said.

“Yeah,” Michael said guiltily. “She doesn’t interact with the rest of the fanbase. She’s old enough to be trustworthy. She’s my age. She’s actually been really helpful. You know how stupid I am with this shit.”

Crystal nodded. She was visibly irritated by it, but she tried to see it through Michael’s perspective. She returned her gaze to the vanity. “If this gets public before I’m ready, I’m gonna kill you.”

“I know, I know,” Michael said. “I promise it won’t. She’s good.”

“Honestly, anything to get you more knowledgeable about this,” Crystal laughed.

Notes:

iwl this reminiscent of how jerma985 got with his current girlfriend (cheated on his girlfriend with one of his mods and has now been dating her for 5/6 years now) but no one talks about it bc he soooooo perfect he would neeeeeever. his ex is now married to a woman. i could name another cheater whose ex is now a lesbian......

Chapter 7 Chapter Text

Crystal’s mother was still sick. It wasn’t anything too serious, but the family were still worried about her. She came and went from her family home to spend time with her mother, but Michael didn’t go with her as not to overwhelm the household with more people.

Michael had selfish reasons for wanting her mother to recover – on top of simply caring about his mother-in-law. Between the stress of her ill mother and planning for the baby, Crystal was in no mood for sex. Michael had a high sex drive, which was usually fine. Crystal matched his appetite under normal circumstances, but, right now, Michael was in a drought. Every morning, he woke up with an insatiable ache in his crotch. He didn’t want to initiate anything for fear of aggravating his wife, even on days that she seemed to be in a good mood. If Crystal didn’t initiate, he didn’t dare.

When Crystal was away, Michael would masturbate multiple times a day. Over and over and over. It was like his sex drive was higher than ever.

He didn’t know why he was avoiding speaking with Lucy during this time. He could talk to Calum just fine. He could talk to his family. Lucy would be no different. There was no temptation there that could possibly be worsened by his parched condition. Even seeing her texts on his screen made his heartrate spike.

lucy1996: Any luck yet?

This was just about help with conception, which was innocent. It was okay. It wouldn’t give Michael any inappropriate thoughts or feelings.

michaelclifford: theres some person shit goin on so its on pause ig

lucy1996: Would you mind if I ask how old your wife is?

michaelclifford: thats personal

lucy1996: I was thinking if her age could be making it more difficult to conceive

michaelclifford: its fine
michaelclifford: shes older than me but its not her age
michaelclifford: anyway were not trying too hard until weve got everything sorted out yk

lucy1996: Oh that’s okay then
lucy1996: I should probably go

michaelclifford: why?

He should have let her go. He should have just said goodbye, and found something better to do with his time. He was in no state to be talking to a girl online who had a thing for him – not when he was desperate for attention.

lucy1996: I’m on my period sooooo...
lucy1996: Idk if you know what that means

michaelclifford: i know

That really should have been his sign to leave. He could do anything else. Clean the house, read his book, play guitar, watch a movie. There were countless things he could do to distract his mind – even at the same time to completely drag himself away from his bodily urges.

lucy1996: And obviously my boyfriend doesn’t want to you know
lucy1996: Cuz its gross

michaelclifford: i would
michaelclifford: i mean with my wife
michaelclifford: i do
michaelclifford: it doesnt gross me out

lucy1996: Feminist

michaelclifford: lol
michaelclifford: i get u rn
michaelclifford: its been a while

lucy1996: Oh that sucks

michaelclifford: yeah
michaelclifford: i need to go the house is a mess

lucy1996: Talking to you always gets me feeling
lucy1996: You know...
lucy1996: So it doesn’t help that I’m so horny right now

michaelclifford: always?

lucy1996: You know I like you

michaelclifford: but weve been talking for a few weeks now so i didnt think it still made you feel like that

lucy1996: Your hot
lucy1996: Like really hot

michaelclifford: i dont think so
michaelclifford: maybe ur bf is ugly

lucy1996: He’s not
lucy1996: There’s always girls drooling over him
lucy1996: But compared to you

michaelclifford: idk im rlly not like that hot

lucy1996: I’m alone right now

michaelclifford: yh same im bored

Michael was trying, with all his might, to sway the conversation in a subtle manner. But he didn’t need to be subtle. He could simply tell her ‘I’m not comfortable talking like this’, and she would likely change the topic. He asked himself why he was being subtle, and pretended not to know the answer.

He was in agony. The idea of this girl, whose face he’d never seen, alone in her house, starving for him. He was starved for anything, and it was killing him to know that feeling was mutual.

lucy1996: I don’t think it’s such a big deal

michaelclifford: what isnt?

lucy1996: Us talking
lucy1996: Especially you
lucy1996: Men have needs and if your wife isn’t there she should understand
lucy1996: It’s not cheating cuz you still love your wife

michaelclifford: no lucy
michaelclifford: thats not ok

lucy1996: I’m sorry I think I’m just riled up

michaelclifford: me too
michaelclifford: i shudnt b talking to u

lucy1996: I know I’m sorry I’ll leave you alone

michaelclifford: i love my wife
michaelclifford: ur killing me
michaelclifford: im so horny

Michael deleted the message as soon as he sent it, but it was too late. He knew Lucy would have seen it already. His mind was fuzzy with hormones and drive. He wasn’t thinking straight. He wasn’t in control of his own hands.

lucy1996: Me too

Then, Lucy sent two pictures with the caption ‘I feel bad leaving you too much in the dark’. Neither picture had her whole face in it, which Michael was guiltily disappointed by. The first one was a mirror selfie. She was sitting down in either a jacket or a dress – he couldn’t tell – with thigh high leather boots on. Michael caught a glimpse of a tattoo just above her knee, which didn’t help his case. The second photo was just her eyes. Wide, bright blue, with gold eye shadow making the colour stand out even more. The most he could see of her hair was curly, blond bangs hanging in front of her eyes.

michaelclifford: why did u do that

lucy1996: Cuz I know what you look like
lucy1996: I feel bad that you have no idea what I look like
lucy1996: I’m still so insecure I’m sorry

michaelclifford: ur defintly not ugly from what i can see
michaelclifford: u look rlly tall

lucy1996: Stooooop
lucy1996: I’m so insecure about my height
lucy1996: I feel huge

michaelclifford: how tall r u?

lucy1996: Too tall

michaelclifford: its ok ur probly not taller than me

lucy1996: Yeah you look really tall
lucy1996: If you fold me over maybe I’ll look smaller

michaelclifford: stop

lucy1996: I’m so wet thinking about you Michael
lucy1996: You need a woman your age in your life?

michaelclifford: no

lucy1996: I could be your surrogate if you need one
lucy1996: Natural insemination is the best way to do it

michaelclifford: im fine

lucy1996: I’d let you knock me up
lucy1996: How big are you?

michaelclifford: non of ur busimess

lucy1996: I’m sorry I’m going crazy here
lucy1996: I should stop

michaelclifford: yeah

He said it as if he wasn’t already touching himself. He typed that out with one hand as if his hips weren’t rolling against his own hand. He thought about her. Long slim legs wrapped around his waist. Those eyes that gave him déjà-vu that he couldn’t wrap his head around. He tried to drag his mind to his wife. His breath-takingly beautiful wife. But it always returned to this girl he didn’t know.

Michael hit ‘call’ before he knew what he was doing. Despite actively pleasuring himself, despite the heavy breaths that escaped his lips. He didn’t think she would pick up, which was part of the reason why he called in the first place.

He froze when the call was accepted.

“I’m sick of typing with one hand,” he said.

She giggled.

Michael rolled his head on his shoulder at the sound of her voice. It was so cute. Light and airy in a way that made her sound younger than she said she was. But, by the way she typed, Michael could tell she was the same age as him.

“I must be fucking crazy,” Michael breathed.

“I’m soaked,” she said.

Michael groaned softly.

“You sound sexy,” she told him.

“You’re cute.”

She giggled again. “Stop.”

Michael knew the kind of people with voices like this, but he didn’t mind. A girl was a girl. A woman was a woman. And that was all he needed right now.

“Lucy,” he breathed, “you’re a good girl. You’ll keep this between us.”

“Of course, Daddy,” she replied.

Michael’s hand flew up to clasp over his mouth.

Luke played the call in his head over and over. He wanted Michael before, but he needed him now. He was amazed by how sexy Michael could sound when he was jerking off. In his arousal, it was difficult for Luke to keep his voice high, soft and feminine. He was lucky he’d been a singer while he was in university to help pay for everything, taking on gigs whenever he had the chance.

The voice training came in handy when he needed it. He also worked closely with voice therapists in the trauma ward, who told him all about the assets of the voice. It was usually his party trick, but, this time, it was his mask.

“You need to fuck him bad,” Ashton remarked when Luke had zoned out once again.

“How’d you know I was thinking about him?” Luke laughed.

Ashton tapped his cheekbone. “You looked like you were gonna pounce on the coffee table, and eat it.”

“I’m working on it,” Luke shrugged. “I don’t know how I’ll get a homophobe between my legs, but those are always the best catches, aren’t they?”

“I don’t know,” Ashton said. “I like my catches easy. I’m lazy like that.”

“Or people throwing themselves at you.”

“I’m easy too,” Ashton added. “Homophobes are usually just angry fags anyway, so it shouldn’t be too hard. Anyway, do you think four months is enough to plan the rest of our wedding?”

Luke hummed thoughtfully. He stretched his legs out to lay them across Ashton’s lap. “I think so. It’s not gonna be too big, so I don’t think there’s much more to plan once we get the venue.”

“Cool,” Ashton said, “‘cause the venue is offering us a few dates in November and early December. There’s also two in January as well. They have more free spaces next year if that’s easier.”

“What are the dates in November?” Luke asked.

“Thursday fifth. Saturday fourteenth, Sunday fifteenth and Monday sixteenth. Friday twentieth and Saturday twenty-first. And Wednesday twenty-fifth,” Ashton listed.

“That’s a good few days,” Luke said. “Maybe, we can contact them once we make sure everyone is free around that time, and find the best day.”

Ashton nodded. “Yeah, but we have to be quick about it.”

“Easy,” Luke said. “Michael’s the DJ.”

“Okay, if you really want to hire Michael as the DJ,” Ashton said, “I can ask Calum if he’d be willing to do it if he gets paid.”

Luke considered it deeper. He’d been half-joking up until now, but, maybe, it would be cool if he said yes. “I’ll look into other DJs, but ask Calum anyway.”

Ashton pulled out his phone, and found Calum’s contact to call him. “Don’t get your hopes up.”

“I know,” Luke said. “I doubt it.”

“Hello?” Calum said down the phone.

Ashton switched the phone on speaker. “Hey, Cal. I’ve got a really random question for you.”

Calum chuckled. “Okay?”

“Would your friend, Michael, be willing to DJ at our wedding?” Ashton asked.

Calum was silent. Not a sound came through the phone.

“Big ask. I know. He’s not actually a DJ, but we’ll pay him like one,” Ashton added.

“Um,” Calum murmured, “I don’t think—uh.”

“We know he’s homophobic,” Ashton said, “but, if he’s being paid, he doesn’t have to like the people getting married.”

“You know?” Calum said.

“We could tell when we met him,” Ashton said.

“Yeah, I don’t think it’s a good idea,” Calum muttered. “I also don’t think he’ll say yes, but, maybe, he’d do it for money. I’ll ask him. How much do you think you’d offer him.”

“Three, four grand,” Ashton said. “We’ll pay him as much as an LA DJ.”

Calum let out a low whistle. “If I were him, I’d take you up on that, so I’ll ask him.”

“Thanks, man.”

“No promises.”

“We know.”

Chapter 8 Chapter Text

One of the suggestions for a stream was just completing random personality quizzes. He understood the sentiment of wanting to get closer to your favourite streamer by seeing how they answer questions, but he wasn’t always entirely honest in these, because, naturally, he didn’t want his viewers to get close with him at all. He wanted them to feel like they knew him, but he didn’t want them to actually know him. If people actually knew who or what he was, he likely wouldn’t have as many fans as he did.

It was lazy stream, which he appreciated. All just making up stories, and answering questions while getting distracted by chat. With the volume of streams he was pumping out, it was difficult for him to find new games to play. He could revisit, but he was so lazy lately.

“This fucking sucks, guys,” Michael muttered, staring at the sixth question of the ‘what is your love language’ quiz. “‘How long do you last in bed?’ I really don’t think that’s gonna tell me whether I like getting presents or going to the movies.”

electricrat: answer the fricking question
leonstickysockk: We want to know
jellyfishbubble: it will OMEGALUL

Michael returned his eyes to the quiz. “Why is four hours not an option?”

leopardleotard: all night Is an optiOn

“Yeah, but I don’t last all night,” Michael said. “I don’t have fucking—what’s it called when you can’t cum?” He chuckled at his own words. “Mods, is this violating TOS? Should I turn off this quiz?”

lucy1996: You’re good

“Of course, you would say that,” Michael muttered. “Okay, I’ll say – hm – half an hour.”

lucy1996: That’s a stretch

Michael saw the message, but ignored it. It gave too much away. “Next question, ‘are you in or would you like to try an open relationship?’” He sighed deeply. He usually kept his strong opinions to himself, but this one was too strong. “If you want to fuck a hundred other people besides your partner, do you really love them at all? You know what I mean guys?”

fancamisole: what about poly

Michael shook his head. “Polyamory too. Like – just say you’re a fucking—never mind. If you’re not ready to settle down, then you’re not ready to be in a relationship, you know? Be a slut all you like, but don’t put that on your partner, you get me?”

leonstickysockk: Based
gone4thenight: I don’t like this take
blushingblade: no mike

“No? Maybe, you guys are too young,” Michael said. “Listen, chat, I’m thirty. I passed my early twenties, hook-ups phase. I know what it’s like. You want everything when you’re young, but that doesn’t mean you deserve everything. If you’re still thinking like that at my age, you really need to relax.”

jellyfishbubble: OLD OMEGALUL

“I know these—well, I don’t know them,” Michael said hesitantly. He paused. “No one clip this. I don’t think they’ll see it, but—there’s these guys I met a few months back, and they’re my age in an open relationship. Honestly, just grow up, you know?” He scanned the chat for negative reactions, but found nothing too strong. “And just because you’re in an open relationship doesn’t mean everyone else is. One of them, Luke – he knew damn fucking well that I’m married. Crystal was there, and he was flirting with me, and getting too close. It’s fucked up really.”

fancamisole: ye thats weird

“Right? Thank you,” Michael said. “Whatever, it’s not my life. Do what you want. I’m just saying how I feel about it. But when you start trying to involve me in it, I think I’m allowed to express myself.”

blushingblade: don’t expose them lol

“I’m not, I’m not,” Michael insisted. “They want me to DJ at their fucking wedding now. You know, I thought about it, but the money is just not worth them trying to get me in their bed, because they can’t respect a real fucking marriage. I know that’s the only reason they want me to DJ, ‘cause I’m not a DJ.”

leopardleotard: mAybe theyre saVing money

“No, they offered me a lot of money, guys,” Michael said. “It feels more like sex work than a DJ gig. The guy, Luke, is a nurse too. I wouldn’t want someone like that taking care of me. Shit, I think I’ve said too much.” He laughed. “It’s fine. He’s not gonna lose his job over that. Mods, did I say too much?”

leonstickysockk: maybe a bit

Michael laughed again. “Shit, sorry, guys. Don’t sue me, please. Lucy, you know all about saying too much. Did I say too much?”

lucy1996: yeah

“Fuck, well, if Lucy thinks I said too much, I must have really fucked up,” he giggled. “Okay, okay. I got side-tracked. Let me finish this fucked up quiz.”

Luke was a private person. Sure, he often hooked up with a lot of different men, but it wasn’t like the men knew anything about him apart from his name and what his cock looked like. He had an Instagram with fifty followers, which were just family, friends and coworkers. It was shallow, purely there for looks. He posted his accomplishments and milestones like a LinkedIn. He used it to communicate with people, because he did not want to give out his number.

It bothered him when Michael spoke about him publicly, and even used his name. It wasn’t that big a deal, but the reason he was so private was to make sure as few people spoke about him as possible. His business was his own. The friends he did have were shallow. Ashton was the only person who really knew him, and it had taken Ashton years to get close to him. He was irritatingly persistent, but that was the only way he could have done it.

It started, a day after the stream, with two or three comments on Luke’s most recent posts on Instagram – his engagement announcement from last year. They weren’t particularly hateful or mean, just a little mocking. He deleted them, and went on with his day. A few crazed Michael fans found him. It wasn’t that bad.

Then, overnight, they swarmed. He woke up to dozens of notifications as people commented on his posts, tried to DM him, and even requested his private account that didn’t even have his name in it. He was absolutely gobsmacked by how desperate these people were to attack someone for no reason other than to entertain themselves.

Some of them were secretive about where they came from, but a few mentioned Michael within their comment, which gave Luke an excuse for why he knew why they were here.

The comments spoke about his open relationship. They spoke about his weird behaviour to Michael. They called him a desperate slut, a whore, an ugly creep, on an account that his colleagues followed. Luke didn’t care what kind of names people called him. In fact, it turned him on. But these comments about his personal life had been sitting in his account for hours while his family in another time zone could see.

Luke was fucking livid. The way Michael laughed it off on stream as if he hadn’t just ripped Luke’s privacy out from under him. He had no reason to bring him up, especially when he had no idea what Luke was really doing to him. As far as he was aware, all Luke had done was tease him a little in the club for thirty seconds, and, God forbid, offer him a gig.

Michael deserved so much more than what Luke was doing. Luke’s privacy was his comfort. Knowing that he was safe in his own world, in his own head. Knowing no one could use anything against him when they didn’t know anything to begin with. Now they could – all because some talentless loser opened his mouth.

No matter how many times he tried to delete the comments, they just kept coming. Luke couldn’t keep up with them. He couldn’t stand how many people were definitely reading those comments in silence, finding out way too much about him. Eventually, he just had to deactivate the entire account.

Luke could have given into the natural instinct to stop pursuing Michael, to stop talking to him. Of course, he didn’t want to give him any of his time when he was so angry with him. But, then, Michael would face no consequences for what he’d done.

michaelclifford: im so mad at myself
michaelclifford: were u one of the people that went to lukes insta

lucy1996: Of course not
lucy1996: I wouldn’t expose you like that ;)

michaelclifford: good
michaelclifford: stg i cant say anything on this fucking sight without people making me regret it
michaelclifford: cal is so mad at me now for it
michaelclifford: luke had to delete his account
michaelclifford: can i b honest?

lucy1996: What is it?

michaelclifford: i dont feel bad
michaelclifford: like at all
michaelclifford: those kinds of people rlly disgust me
michaelclifford: i hate them

lucy1996: People in open relationships?

michaelclifford: i shudnt say

lucy1996: ???
lucy1996: Gay people?
lucy1996: Yeah me too lol I thought I was the only one

michaelclifford: oh rlly?
michaelclifford: oh thank god i thought u were gonna cancel me or smth

lucy1996: No its gross
lucy1996: I get it

michaelclifford: and i hate that cal is friends with them cuz their gunna try and convert him or some shit
michaelclifford: like their gonna try and fuck him i know it
michaelclifford: cuz luke tried to fuck me and he knows im straight and im married

lucy1996: Why would they convert him? Is he gay?

michaelclifford: no hes not

lucy1996: That’s so gross I would just stop being friends with him

michaelclifford: weve been friends since we were babies so
michaelclifford: i lov him
michaelclifford: he knows shit about me that only my family know
michaelclifford: so hes pretty much family

lucy1996: What shit?

michaelclifford: lol its waaaaay too personal

lucy1996: More personal than cumming on call?

michaelclifford: shut up
michaelclifford: yes more personal

lucy1996: I won’t tell anyone I promise

michaelclifford: i dont like talking about it anyway so
michaelclifford: could what i said make him get fired?
michaelclifford: u would know cuz ur in healthcare

lucy1996: Idk
lucy1996: I don’t think so
lucy1996: I hope it does lol

michaelclifford: yea cuz what if i get sick and hes my nurse

lucy1996: Groooooss

michaelclifford: ikr
michaelclifford: would u know him?

lucy1996: I doubt we work in the same hospital
lucy1996: How’d u know he was a nurse anyway if you only met him once

michaelclifford: cal told me another time
michaelclifford: he said that i could ask him for help if i need it for me and crystal
michaelclifford: but i have u so

lucy1996: Yeah

michaelclifford: anyway i should get to sleep
michaelclifford: our other car is in the shop so i have to drive crystal to pilates in the morning and then go to bbnb
michaelclifford: i need to find something to bake a cake cuz crystal wants to bake a cake for her friend
michaelclifford: im so excited i love her baking

lucy1996: Bbnb?

michaelclifford: bed bath and beyond

lucy1996: Ohh okay
lucy1996: Sleep well
lucy1996: Night daddy

michaelclifford: lol
michaelclifford: gn ttyl

Chapter 9 Chapter Text

Michael pecked Crystal’s lips before she got out of the car, and headed for Bed Bath & Beyond. Honestly, he had no idea what she wanted. Something like a nine-inch, Nordic Ware cake tin, but she would settle for Cephalon. And the only reason he remembered all of this was because she texted it to him. He was only slightly less confused. Why did the brand matter? It was a cake tin.

He scanned the aisles for the brands she had mentioned. If they were such good brands, then, surely, he would have found them easier than this. For such a big, fancy shop, the place felt cluttered and overwhelming. He couldn’t wait to just find the right tin, and race out of this place. He still had to stop off at Wholefoods to pick up organic, free-range eggs.

Michael was searching for so long that he was beginning to get insecure. Other shoppers were likely looking at him, and thinking he was an incompetent man who couldn’t do anything right. He knew he was too old to be so insecure about something stupid like this, but he couldn’t help it. He’d gotten to the point that he felt weird asking for help so late.

He stood in the bakeware section, staring at a shelf of Nordic Ware cupcake tins. Surely, the cake tin would be here somewhere. He was just blind. Or would it be in a separate section based on use, not brand?

Someone stepped in next to him to scan the products, and, again, he was insecure. This man would probably find what he was looking for before Michael, and walk away thinking Michael was stupid. What if he called over a member of staff to help with this poor, mentally handicapped shopper?

Michael stole an embarrassed glance at the customer, and had to do a double take. He remembered this guy. Calum’s fag friend’s fiancé. The guy who taunted him and came on to him in the club. The guy who he mocked on Twitch, and accidentally swarmed him. Did Luke remember what he looked like?

The moment Luke’s eyes met his, Michael turned on his heels to leave. He barely took a step forward before Luke snatched his arm in a tight grasp to stop him.

“Why’re you running away?” Luke asked.

Michael yanked his arm back.

“Are you embarrassed?” Luke pressed. “Did you do something wrong?”

“I didn’t do anything wrong, no,” Michael said.

Luke appeared surprised by his audacity to say it to his face. “I could have lost my job. Airing out my fucking sex life.”

“You’re the one airing out your sex life,” Michael argued. “You flirted with a married man. You deserve to lose your fucking job. I can’t believe you’re allowed to take care of vulnerable people. You’re disgusting.”

“I can’t believe people let you have a voice,” Luke said, “with the dumb shit you spew.”

“Hopefully, you’ve learnt your lesson now,” Michael told him. “Go to counselling or something. You’re just a good-for-nothing slut.”

“Okay?” Luke said. “My sex life does not impact my fucking work—”

Michael tried to leave again, but was stopped.

“—in any way. You don’t get to run away, Michael,” Luke snapped.

“What? You ran away. You deleted your account,” Michael said. “Problem solved, and there’s one less queer corrupting people online. Just be faithful to your fiancé so there’s less of you to go around.”

“I should be faithful to my fiancé?” Luke said.

“You should,” Michael confirmed. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m looking for something for my wife who I’m faithful towards.”

Luke laughed, rubbing a hand over his face.

“What’s funny?” Michael asked.

“Nothing,” Luke hummed. “This wouldn’t have happened if you didn’t mention my name. I could have been anyone, but you had to say my name.”

Michael rolled his eyes. “So fucking what? Are you actually trying to make me feel guilty about this? It’s really not working.”

“You’re fucked up,” Luke said.

“Not as fucked up as you,” Michael muttered.

“I could do your job better than you, but I’m not an attention whore who needs eyes on him at all times,” Luke said.

“No, you need hands on you at all times,” Michael said. “I’m not arguing about this with you in the middle of the store.”

“Okay, then we’ll take it outside, then.”

“Sure,” Michael said sarcastically. “I’m not doing that.”

“Why? Are you scared?” Luke taunted. “Are you too much of a pussy? You’re scared of a slutty faggot, are you? You’re not man enough to face me.”

Michael was weak for that. How dare someone say he’s not man enough. He was more of a man than this guy who took dick up his ass like a girl. If Michael was any more secure and mature, he would have shrugged it off. But he was not. He was weak and insecure, so he followed Luke out of the shop.

Luke led him to a quiet, secluded area behind a row of bushes, tucked between a block of apartments and an inn that he was pretty sure had been abandoned a long time ago – or it was just very poorly kept. On a Wednesday morning, the area was pretty void of people, but the motorway nearby was loud enough to drown out their argument.

“You’re a pervert, and you shouldn’t be working in healthcare,” Michael said. “What more can I say about that? I wish you actually did lose your job.”

“Whether I lost my job or not, I still have to move somewhere else,” Luke told him. “My colleagues were talking about me in the breakroom before I came in. My personal life is on show to my whole fucking workplace.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry that your colleagues know that you’re a sick perv,” Michael said.

“What’s perverted about me?”

“You’re a faggot,” Michael said like it was obvious. “That’s perverted. Men should not fuck men. Everyone knows that, but you’re so sexually deranged you need men as well.”

“As well?” Luke snorted. “I’m not into women. I’m sick to my stomach at the thought of fucking a woman.”

“So, you’re too far gone,” Michael said. “You’re better off killing yourself by now.”

Luke set his jaw. “I’m perverted for having sex with men?”

“Yes, obviously.”

“That is not the most perverted part of me,” Luke said.

“I can fucking tell,” Michael said. “I feel dirty just looking at you.”

“I’ll show you pervert.”

Luke shot towards him, giving him no time to get away. Michael tried to pull away. He tried to escape, but Luke had a firm grip on his T-shirt, yanking him in. Instead, Michael turned to fight. He threw his fists out aimlessly. Admittedly, he’d never fought anyone before. He’d never even come this close, but he was terrified. What the fuck was Luke doing? What did he mean?

Michael managed to land a punch across Luke’s face, which gave him a split second to get away. He was too slow. Luke grabbed him by the arms, and drove his knee up, full force, into his crotch. Michael sunk his fist into Luke’s stomach. Luke retaliated by kicking Michael’s feet out from under him.

Michael fell, hard, on the concrete, knocking the air out of his lungs. Before he could recover, Luke’s hands were on his waistband. He cried out in dismay, but cut himself short as not to bring attention to their altercation. It would be better for him to scream for help, but he didn’t want anyone finding him on his back with a man looming over him. He could handle this himself. He was a man, and he was more of a man than Luke.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Michael snapped, wrestling with Luke’s wrists.

“Showing you what a pervert really is,” Luke replied.

Michael lifted his legs to kick at Luke, but he couldn’t get enough power behind it at this angle. “You don’t have to prove it. I know.”

“I don’t think you really understand, though,” Luke said, breathless from the fight.

“Get your fucking fag hands off me,” Michael begged, “you sick freak.”

“Be careful who you piss off, Michael.”

Michael’s hands weren’t strong enough to pry Luke’s off his waistband. In the time he was yanking and pulling at his wrists, Luke had already managed to unbutton his jeans. He gave up on that, and pushed at Luke’s head instead. With a hand wrapped under his jaw, nails digging into the flesh, he wrangled Luke’s face as far away from him as he could reach.

In this position, Luke couldn’t see what he was doing. His face was turned entirely to the side, and Luke had to strain his eyes to even get a glimpse of Michael.

Despite the ache in his neck, Luke was stubbornly fixed to Michael’s trousers. In an attempt to draw his attention away, Luke moved one hand to his crotch. He groped it roughly, but Michael just ripped his nails deeper into Luke’s cheeks. No matter how tightly he squeezed, Michael didn’t relent.

Luke twisted his face out of Michael’s grasp, and, when his hand flew up to hold it again, Luke snapped his teeth at it, just barely pinching the flesh of Michael’s thumb between his incisors. Michael yelped, and reflexively withdrew. Luke took the opportunity to begin working down his waistband.

“I’m gonna call the fucking cops,” Michael snarled. “Get your hands off me. You’ll get your license taken away. I have an excellent lawyer.”

“Then, call them,” Luke said. “Your phone’s right there. I can see it.”

To hide his reluctance to call, Michael tried to punch him again, but missed.

“That’s your fucking weakness, isn’t it?” Luke mocked. “You don’t want anyone knowing that I have you like this. So, how’re you gonna get out, Mike? What’re you gonna do?”

Luke was strong. He was way stronger than he looked. Sure, Luke was physically bigger than Michael, but Michael’s close-mindedness led him to believe that the makeup around Luke’s eyes and the paint on his nails somehow weakened him.

There was no way out. No matter how Michael punched him, scratched him, slapped him; Luke was resilient. Maybe, if Michael actually knew how to hit, he would hurt Luke more than he was hurting his own wrist and fingers. He’d break something if he continued like this.

“Luke, please,” Michael said, letting go of the last of his dignity. “Please-please-please. I’m sorry.”

“I thought you weren’t sorry,” Luke replied.

“No, I am. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that,” Michael said. “I should have apologised when I did it. I should have fixed it myself.”

“This is embarrassing,” Luke mumbled.

“You can quit your job right now,” Michael went on. “I’ll pay for you while you find a new one. Please, don’t do this to me, Luke.”

Luke laughed. It was hysterical to see Michael flush his pride down the toilet the instant he realised he was trapped. But did he really think talking would get him out of the hole he’d dug himself?

“You don’t understand, Luke,” Michael pleaded, his voice cracking in despair. “You can’t do this to me. You don’t want to.”

“No, I do,” Luke assured him. “If you think you’re giving me what I deserve, I’ll give you what you deserve.”

Michael needed to scream. He needed someone to help him. Luke was inching the trousers out from under him, and he wasn’t strong enough to stop him.

Michael was so scared and helpless he felt like crying, but he refused to. He was a man. Men don’t cry, especially when some fag is sexually assaulting them.

“I have a lot of money, Luke,” Michael pressed. “Name your price. Please.”

“Five million,” Luke said.

“Can I pay in instalments?”

Luke laughed. “You’re fucking hilarious, Michael.”

Michael felt his trousers slip completely off his ass. Luke’s body prevented him from pinning his legs closed, so he tried to lift them away from the obstruction. Luke shoved them back before he had the chance. Michael squirmed and writhed and fought to get away. But, if he tried to shuffle back, away from Luke, his trousers would pull lower. He couldn’t risk them falling any further. He could already see the top of his pubic hair. He was barely an inch away from being half-naked in some closed off corner of Hollywood.

In an act of desperation, Michael wrapped his legs around Luke’s waist, pinning their bodies together, to stop Luke from pulling his jeans any further.

“I’ll DJ for free,” he said, “and I’ll give you money. I’ll pay for my own flights, and my own room. Please, Luke, don’t do this to me.”

Luke let go of him just to admire Michael wrapped around him.

“Do you want money, or do you want to humiliate me?” Michael said. “Money is much better, isn’t it? You can do a lot more with money.” He laughed nervously. “Right, Luke? I won’t tell anyone this happened. I swear to you. In fact, I’ll give you my card.”

Luke smiled. “You really are desperate. Do you know how expensive my taste is?”

“I don’t care,” Michael said. “I’ll find a way.”

“Will you really?” Luke said. “You promise me you’ll give me your bank card, and I can spend it how I like? You know I’ll come find you if I find out it’s been blocked.”

“I’ll add you as a user,” Michael told him. “I’ll give it to you as soon as possible. I promise you.”

“Okay,” Luke said.

Michael sighed in relief. He relaxed his legs, took amount to calm down, and shuffled back.

As soon as he’d completely let his guard down, Luke seized his waistband, and whipped his trousers down to his knees. The bulge Luke had been groping early fell with the boxers. His jaw dropped, and Michael was too late to cover himself up.

Now, Michael really felt like crying.

“I had to find out why you were so fucking desperate to hide this,” Luke said, “and, now, I see why.”

Michael was frozen in place. Luke was so shocked that it would have given Michael a chance to escape, but he was paralysed in place. The only person outside his family that knew about this was Calum. And, now, Luke.

“You’re a fucking tranny,” Luke laughed, “and you’re homophobic?”

“Doesn’t make me a pervert, though,” Michael snapped. He tried to readjust his trousers with one hand, but failed. “I’m a man who has sex with women. You’re a man who has sex with men.”

“You’re a man,” Luke echoed jeeringly. “No, you’re fucking not. Do you have tits too?”

He tried to jerk up his T-shirt, but Michael managed to stop him short.

“There you fucking go,” Michael choked out. “Now, you know. Let me go.”

“No,” Luke said simply.

He pried Michael’s hand away from his pussy to get a better look at it. He only managed fleeting glances as Michael fought to cover up.

“Please, Luke,” Michael implored. “I’m fucking begging you. Let me go. Please.”

Luke pinned his hand to Michael’s pubic bone, and ran his thumb down his clit. Michael’s hips reflexively jumped at the sensation. When pulling Luke away didn’t work, he settled for tearing his nails into his skin again.

“I’ve never touched a girl like this, you know,” Luke said. “I don’t really know what to do with this.”

“I’m not a fucking girl,” Michael said through gritted teeth.

“Then, I’m not a pervert,” Luke retorted. “But I sure am looking like one right now. Just like you look like a girl.”

“Luke,” Michael whined. “Don’t do this to me here.”

“Here?” Luke echoed. “You wanna come back to mine then? I’ll rape you there instead.”

Michael stared at him with wide eyes. It was obvious that was exactly what he was doing to him, but to hear it uttered bluntly right from the perpetrator’s lips made it all the more real for Michael. What was he supposed to do? Continue to fight Luke in vain here, or follow Luke to get this over with?

If Michael relented and asked to be brought back to Luke’s house, maybe, he could escape. Maybe, Ashton would be there, and he would be saved from this. But Luke wouldn’t suggest this if he knew Ashton would be home. Maybe, Michael could make a run for it. He really needed to get that cake tin, though.

“My wife will be done her Pilates class soon,” Michael said. “She’ll be waiting for me. I have to get that cake tin and eggs. Luke, have some humanity, please. I don’t deserve this.”

Luke pursed his lips thoughtfully. His thumb was still pressed to Michael’s clit. “But why would I have humanity for you when you don’t have any for me?”

“She’ll be wondering where I am.”

“Okay,” Luke said. He slid Michael’s phone out of the pocket of his jeans. “You’re going to do that. You’ll buy your shit, you’ll pick your wife up, and, then, you’ll go look for your phone, which you lost in Wholefoods. You understand?”

Michael nodded.

“And I know you have money, so don’t think about buying another phone,” Luke told him. “This phone is logged into all your social media, and I know your wife’s birthday.” He typed the passcode correctly into the phone, and Michael cursed himself for changing the passcode to four digits out of pure convenience.

“So, you’re blackmailing me into coming to your house,” Michael said.

“Yeah.”

Luke pulled a small notebook and pen out of the inside of his jacket pocket. He scribbled something down on it, and tucked it into Michael’s pocket.

“Come before four,” Luke told him, “and I’ll show you what your body was really made for.”

Michael pulled his jeans back up over his hips, and adjusted his packer. “Okay.”

Chapter 10 Chapter Text

Luke was, quite frankly, in shock of his findings. He questioned his own sexuality. He’d never been with a girl before, but that was because he’d never been attracted to one. He’d known he was gay at a young age. He had no doubt about it, but, at thirty years old, he was questioning himself again.

He knew he wasn’t really allowed to feel ‘tricked’ by Michael since Michael never wanted it in the first place, but he still did. He was engaging with him in that way as ‘Lucy’, and he’d never disclosed it. The allegedly homophobic ‘Lucy’ had been phone fucking a girl all along. She would not be pleased with that at all.

Luke didn’t consider himself transphobic. He just didn’t understand it, didn’t want to be around them, and refused to acknowledge their chosen gender behind their back. Michael was not a man, regardless of his height, voice, frame and behaviour. He was just a lesbian who would rather change his sex than believe he was gay. And Luke was gay. He didn’t like women like that. He didn’t want to fuck a woman. But seeing Michael for who he was didn’t change Luke’s need for him.

Of course, Luke went through Michael’s phone while he waited for him. His Notes app was all random thoughts, shopping lists and stream ideas. His camera roll was pictures of his wife, nice scenery on holidays and memes. His messages were boring as well. Kind messages exchanged between him and his family. Short messages to his wife, asking her to make him a coffee, when she’d be home, what was for dinner. The longest conversations he had were with Calum and Lucy. The juiciest conversation was when Michael said borderline doxed Luke.

Michael: ik i fucked up man
Michael: its stupid anyway
Michael: i didnt say hes like a racist or smth

cal: You’re not meant to talk about people like that who you don’t know
cal: On stream
cal: He’s really upset about it dude
cal: Ashton told me he’s not talking

Michael: im sorry man

cal: You don’t seem that sorry

Michael: i am
Michael: im not tryna start shit with people yk

cal: I think you don’t care that you did that just cuz you’re homophobic

Michael: yh well that shit shudnt be normalized

cal: I can’t believe you out of all people are saying that

Michael: whats that sposed to mean

cal: You know what it means

And Luke knew what it meant. Not only did he know something that only those closest to Michael knew, but he knew something that none of them knew. He knew about his infidelity with his wife. He had more on him than Michael even knew. Michael could be his puppet if he wanted, and that really turned Luke on.

Luke wasn’t sure if Michael would actually show up. Maybe, he would find out how to lock Luke out of his accounts, and buy a new phone. That would have been the smartest thing to do, but Michael didn’t seem all that smart.

That much was proven when Michael called up to Luke’s apartment from the carpark.

Michael walked with a hunch as he entered the apartment – as if making himself as small as possible would make Luke any less likely to do anything to him.

“Give me my phone,” Michael said.

“After,” Luke said, and made his way to the bedroom.

Michael followed him, having nowhere else to go.

“Get on the bed,” Luke told him.

“I’m not getting on your cum-stained, AIDS-ridden bed,” Michael said. “Give me my fucking phone.”

“You really wanna go through this again?” Luke sighed, setting his cigarettes and lighter onto the chest by his bed.

When he turned back around, he spotted the letter opener in Michael’s hand, and rolled his eyes. Michael’s passivity and fearfulness let Luke take the ‘weapon’ right out of his hand without a fight. He tossed it aside.

“Because you were definitely going to stab me, huh?” Luke said sarcastically. “Get on the fucking bed.”

Michael raised his fists, and threw a weak punch that was easily dodged. Luke shoved him roughly, knocking him back onto the bed.

“Don’t make me fight you again,” Luke groaned as Michael struggled against Luke’s fingers on his waistband. “I’ve already seen your pussy.”

“Luke, I swear to God, you fucking touch me, and I’ll put you through so much fucking hell that you’re gonna wish I stabbed you with that fucking knife,” Michael snarled.

“That was a letter opener, Michael,” Luke said.

“Whatever it was,” Michael grumbled. He resorted to clawing at Luke’s face again.

“Oh, my fucking God,” Luke cried out. “You’re really pissing me off. You know damn fucking well that I’m gonna get these fucking pants off, so stop fighting me.”

Michael ignored him.

Luke whipped a hand across his face to get his attention. “I could send you home battered and bruised, Michael. How are you gonna explain to your wife how picking up your phone gave you a black eye?”

Michael faltered. “I’ll tell her the truth.”

Luke pulled his fist back, and Michael immediately protected his face with his arms, giving Luke full access to his waistband again. Even when it was clear Luke wasn’t going to punch him, Michael didn’t remove his arms. He understood the threat. He knew that there was no way he would tell his wife the truth. There was no way out.

“Luke,” Michael said, voice muffled. “Please, don’t.”

Luke pulled Michael’s jeans off. His legs dangled over the edge of the bed. Luke’s fingers traced over the harsh line between pubic hair and bare skin just above his lips.

“Why don’t you just shave the whole thing?” Luke asked.

“I like having hair,” Michael said. “But it makes it harder for my packer to stick to my skin.”

“Your what?”

“Doesn’t matter.”

Luke spread him open with his fingers to examine what was in front of him. He had no experience with pussies, but, obviously, he’d seen them before. He knew what they looked like, or, at least, he thought he did. Michael’s was different from what he’d seen before. Luke was sure he’d seen dicks as big as Michael’s clit. Sure, they were micro-penises, but he was pretty sure clits were a lot smaller than this.

Luke explored what he saw, taking his time with his new catch. An unwilling catch was still a catch. Not as satisfying, but Luke was impatient.

He rubbed his thumb down the hood before pressing it into clit that poked out the bottom. Michael’s legs twitched. So, he rubbed that spot slowly. Michael responded strongly to the stimulus. Trembling thighs and muffled whines.

This had been a problem for Michael for all his life, and only worsened when the testosterone had grown his clit. From his experience with women, he realised that he was particularly sensitive. When he masturbated, he never touched it directly. Sometimes, even using the hood as a barrier was too much. Instead, he rubbed himself over the lips. He wasn’t used to such direct and aggressive contact.

When Crystal sucked him off, she was gentle with her tongue. She knew how to do it, how to make him feel good, how to make him feel like a man even if she was technically ‘eating him out’. His sensitivity was useful when he ground himself down on the base of the strap, and easily managed to cum from it. He felt like a man, cumming inside his woman.

Michael grasped Luke’s wrist in a weak grip. “Stop,” he gasped. “It hurts.”

“Hurts?” Luke laughed. “You’re shaking.”

“It’s too much,” he pleaded.

Luke relented, and watched Michael’s thighs flop back down onto the mattress. His body responded on its own. It completely betrayed him to give into the stimulation. Luke had never seen something like this. Girls were so much more sensitive than guys. In this moment, he didn’t understand how guys had such an issue with pleasing their girlfriends. This was fun.

“I think you’re turning me straight,” Luke remarked. “Feel how hard I am.” He pressed his clothed crotch into Michael’s.

Michael pushed his hips back with the heel of his palm. “I’m not turning you straight, because I’m not a girl.”

Luke pressed his thumb into Michael’s clit again, and rubbed it roughly. “What’s this then?”

“It’s not—ah!” Michael’s voice pitched up embarrassingly.

He hated this. One of his biggest insecurities during sex – apart from his incongruent gender – was the sensitivity of his dick. What kind of man trembled and shook from this? What kind of man gasped and cried when their dick was rubbed?

“Oh, cute. You sound like a girl now too,” Luke teased, giving Michael another break. “How many fingers do you use?”

“I don’t,” Michael grumbled.

“You don’t?” Luke pried Michael’s other arm from his face. “You don’t finger yourself?”

“No, because I’m a man,” Michael gritted out for the hundredth time. “I’ve never put anything inside myself, because I’m a man.”

“I put things inside myself, and I’m a man,” Luke pointed out.

“Not a real man,” Michael said.

“Who’s the one with the cock?” Luke said.

He slid his middle finger down lower. His eyes widened. It was wet. The abrasive abuse that Michael had complained so adamantly about ignited the natural instinct in his body. It betrayed him over and over. It showed him what he was really made for, and Luke’s cock, throbbing eagerly in his trousers, proved the same to him. He was gay, but his body knew its purpose.

Luke teased around the hole. It drooled for him – more and more with each passing second. It begged for him. Something primal stirred inside him. That small animalistic part of him that itched to breed.

Michael’s heart pounded. He’d tried to push down, to tell himself this wasn’t happening, because he knew there was no way out. He would either be fucked by a man, or have everyone know he wasn’t one. But, as Luke taunted him with the anticipation of intrusion, he felt panic rise in his throat.

“Is there nothing I can do?” Michael pleaded. “You got your fucking revenge, Luke. Please, I’ll do anything else.”

“Do you not feel how soaked you are for me?” Luke said.

“That doesn’t mean anything,” Michael argued.

Luke shrugged. “It means I don’t need lube.”

Before Michael could say anything else, Luke sunk his middle finger into him with ease. His cunt pulled him in, but tightened around it like it was warning him that it couldn’t take much else. Luke would see about that.

“God, you’re tight,” Luke murmured.

Michael pressed his heel into Luke’s hip, subconsciously trying to push him back. He’d never felt anything like this before. The curl of Luke’s finger was completely alien to him. He wanted to compare it to a stomach-ache. A nagging feeling between pleasure and pain that he was completely unfamiliar with. Nothing like the torture to his sensitive nerves on the outside – that was all pain and overwhelm. This wasn’t intense. It wasn’t causing convulsions in his muscles from the overstimulation. Neither pleasant nor unpleasant.

“I don’t think you can take me,” Luke chuckled. He pressed with his index finger. He would be able to fit it if he tried, but there was clear resistance. “I can’t even put two fingers.”

“Please,” Michael whispered. “Luke, you’re not a bad guy. You wouldn’t do this to someone.”

“Oh, but I thought I was a pervert,” Luke said, withdrawing his finger. “This is what perverts do. They rape girls.”

“Call me a girl one more time,” Michael growled.

Luke chuckled cruelly. He unbuttoned his waistband, and Michael had to look away. He couldn’t believe this was happening to him. He told himself over and over that Luke would just back out. There was no way Michael had gotten involved with such an evil person. Luke was playing a prank on him. He would laugh about it, and send Michael home. He was not going to do this to him. If Michael could comprehend it, he would be panicking, but the gravity was not hitting him.

“Michael,” Luke said.

Michael refused to look at him.

“Michael,” Luke sang teasingly, sliding the length of his cock along Michael’s cunt.

Michael tried to snap his legs closed at the disgusting feeling, but Luke stopped him quickly. He dropped his eyes, and, immediately , was bombarded with the horror that his brain had withheld from him.

“No way,” Michael stammered fearfully.

He pushed with his heels on the bed to scramble away. Luke’s hands held him in place with his cock pressed threateningly to his skin.

“No fucking way, Luke,” Michael said. “You are not putting that anywhere near me.”

“It’ll fit,” Luke told him. “That’s what your body was made for.”

“No, it won’t,” Michael insisted. “I’m telling you, I’ve never had anything in me. That fucking thing is not going in me, Luke. I swear.”

Luke laughed. He was thrilled by Michael’s resistance. “You’re such a fucking sissy. You’re just like a faggot. You need prep to take a dick?”

Luke had already worked out what made Michael tick. It wasn’t difficult to work out in any regard. Any threat to his manhood, and he was putty in Luke’s hand. He was so easy to manipulate that it made Luke feel like a mastermind. He’d never manipulated anyone before. He wasn’t smart enough for that.

“Fine,” Michael barked. “I can handle pain. It’s got nothing to do your size. I just don’t want you to fuck me. Especially, without a condom.”

“Glad we sorted that out,” Luke said.

He lined himself up, and had to work fast as Michael instantly tried to move away. The sound Michael let out when Luke slammed into him, unprotected, showed his biology. It was closer to a girlish squeal than a manly groan of pain. His artificially broken voice cracked in his scream.

“Wow, that feels different,” Luke commented, apathetic to Michael’s wheezing pain.

With his eyes trained on Michael’s cunt, the way it welcomed him in how it should; Luke pulled back. Red streaked down his cock, and he knew what that meant. Luke had ripped open Michael’s hymen. Deflowered him – made him into a woman.

Michael’s hand reflexively shot down to the pain. His fingers brushed Luke’s cock, and withdrew with a cough of disgust.

Luke rocked his hips. He savoured the feeling. It was completely different. Michael hugged his entire length – not just the base. His cervix rubbed Luke’s tip with each thrust. Luke wasn’t completely accustomed to being inside someone. He preferred to get fucked than to fuck, but he’d done it plenty of times to know that this was nothing like fucking an ass.

“Oh, God,” he whimpered involuntarily. “Michael, you feel so good.”

Michael cast a repulsed glance at him.

“You’ve been neglecting it so bad,” Luke told him. “Your cunt is eating me whole, Mike. Can you feel it?”

Unfortunately, Michael knew exactly what Luke was talking about. The pain subsided too quickly as his body realised that whatever caused it was actually welcome inside. He felt his own body turn against him. It pulled Luke in, wrapped around him eagerly. It wanted this. His legs inadvertently spread wider. His clit throbbed.

“Please,” Michael rasped, “put on a condom.”

Luke pushed Michael further onto the bed by his hips, and knelt between his legs. He made himself comfortable where he was, lazily rolling his hips. The more he fucked him, the wetter Michael got. Luke could see it on himself. He could feel it drip on his own skin. He could see it slowly diluting and washing away the blood. Michael was absolutely soaked against his will.

Michael was making a mess of Luke’s trousers, but he couldn’t take them off. He remembered Michael texted ‘Lucy’ about how sexy her thigh tattoo was. He wasn’t ready to give up the fun of catfishing him. He didn’t know how his eyes hadn’t already given it away, but he was thankful for Michael ignorance.

Luke took Michael’s hand, and pressed it to his lower stomach. “You can feel me through your skin.”

Michael whipped his hand away with a grimace. He refused to look at Luke. His eyes were either trained on the ceiling, or his head was turned to the side. He played up his aversion while his legs twitched and his hips jumped.

Luke braced his arms either side of Michael’s head, surrounding him, as he quickened his pace. Michael buried his face in the duvet, but it did nothing to muffle the whine in his voice.

Luke thought it was the pace that got to him, but he was wrong. The way he’d positioned himself, rolling his hips into Michael like a porn-star, pressed his pubic bone into Michael’s cunt, and, as his body moved, the bone rubbed the rough hair against Michael’s clit.

Michael’s body was made for this, and it proved that to him. The unfamiliarity didn’t fade, but he almost felt his body learning the sensation. Between the absurd stretch and the outside stimulation, Michael didn’t know how he felt. He wished it was all pain, discomfort and revulsion, but it wasn’t. He didn’t want to think about what it was.

“Feel good, sweetheart?” Luke said in a low, teasing voice.

Michael could only twist and slap his shoulder in dismay at his words. His face was completely hidden in the sheets. He couldn’t let Luke see the roll of his eyes. He couldn’t let him see the drool that ran from his tongue, or hear just how pitiful Michael’s voice was. The duvet may not have muffled everything, but it did something.

“Oh, my God,” Luke laughed in astonishment. “It fucking does, doesn’t it?”

Michael blindly threw his hand out again, and just about hit Luke’s jaw with the tips of his fingers.

“You’re fucking yourself on me, Michael,” Luke told him. “It feels so good you don’t even realise you’re doing it.”

As soon as Luke brought attention to it, Michael noticed the way his hips rocked against Luke’s, but, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t stop them. He wasn’t in control of his own body, completely surrendered to a man’s will.

“Admit it,” Luke ordered him.

Michael didn’t say a word.

Luke pried his face out of the fabric. Michael struggled against him helplessly. He tore at his wrist, desperate for Luke to let him hide. Luke was covered in scratches from Michael – on his face, on his neck, on his arms. He didn’t know what he’d tell his colleagues in work, but the marks made him proud.

“Look at me, Mike,” Luke told him. “Look at me, and tell me how it feels.”

“Horrible,” Michael replied, and he wasn’t fully lying.

“Don’t embarrass yourself like that,” Luke said. “Just admit it.”

Michael shook his head fervently. He would not say it. It didn’t matter if he knew it was true. It didn’t matter if Luke knew it was true. He would absolutely not admit to such a repulsive thing.

Luke pushed his top up to see more of his body, and Michael didn’t care to stop him. Luke had seen enough of him already. He didn’t care what else he saw. His fingers traced over the scars on Michael’s ribs. Then, closed around the little flesh left there, and groped at it.

Michael’s face twisted in distaste. The chest he’d gone through so much pain to achieve was reverted back to its previous state just by one action. He’d gotten rid of them to feel like the man he was just for Luke to remind him that what used to be had never really been removed. When touched in the right manner, there was no way to escape what it once was.

“Stop,” Michael begged in a grieving tone. “Please, stop.”

The feeling Luke’s cock gave to Michael’s stomach began to grow. A familiar, warm, electric feeling that spread up the middle of his abdomen. Michael was full of Luke, and it made the feeling even more intense. Like Luke was beating it into him with each thrust.

“Please,” he went on deliriously, “stop.”

Luke’s hips began to stagger and tremble. “Keep saying that,” he breathed against Michael’s ear.

“Sick fag,” Michael said, and choked on his voice.

He tried so hard to push down the building orgasm in his body, but his own words sent him over – as if he was subconsciously excited by it. It overflowed intensely at a height he’d never experienced before. He cried for it, trembled for it. It rushed out of him, drenching Luke and the bed.

His cunt squeezed repeatedly in a frenzy that Luke wasn’t used to. Luke’s cock responded, eager to please, and gave it what it wanted. His climax was dragged so forcefully from him that he was a breath away from collapsing onto Michael’s convulsing body.

He’d fucked a woman, and liked it. He loved it. Luke was a cum-slut through and through. His fantasy was to be sticky and soaked in cum, and Michael gave that to him. Luke’s trousers were so wet that they were evenly darkened in colour. When he shifted on the bed, he heard the squelch of wetness under him.

“Fuck’s sake,” Michael murmured, voice wavering.

He wiped his palms over his face, taking deep breaths. He was on the verge of tears, but he would not cry. Not over this.

Luke pulled out, and Michael mewled softly. His cunt twitched as if it missed the feeling. He lay still, on his back, as Luke climbed off the bed.

With his back to Michael, Luke peeled off the wet trousers and boxers, and tossed them on the floor. As he rummaged through his drawers, something heavy hit the back of his head. He turned, making sure not to show the front of his thigh, and rubbed his throbbing skull.

“You didn’t wear a fucking condom,” Michael snapped.

“If you’re so faithful to your wife, then you don’t have anything, do you?” Luke said.

“You stupid fucking faggot,” Michael growled. “That’s not the only use for a condom.”

“Well, you want a baby, don’t you?” Luke muttered, pulling a pair of plaid trousers from the drawer.

“That’s not what I—” Michael paused for a moment. “How do you know that?”

Luke swore internally. He pulled on his trousers, and faced him again. “Calum told us.”

Michael climbed off the wet bed. As soon as he put weight on his legs, they buckled underneath him. He caught himself on the edge of the chest before he fell, but his shakiness wasn’t missed by Luke.

“Fucked you good, didn’t I?” He laughed.

Michael didn’t humour him with a response. He grabbed his jeans off the floor, and pulled them on.

Luke returned to the bed, and began removing the covers from the duvet and mattress. The pillows were completely dry, so he left them. All the while, Michael sat on the desk chair in the corner of the room, typing on his phone in silence. Luke didn’t know why he was still here. He had no reason to stay. Did Luke owe him something else?

“You can go, you know,” Luke told him.

Michael shook his head. “I can’t. Not now.”

“Okay, well, Ashton will be home in” – Luke tapped his phone to check the time – “thirty minutes.”

Upon seeing his lockscreen, Luke realised that the person Michael was typing to was ‘Lucy’. Thankfully, his phone was on silent, otherwise he would have been caught before he wanted to.

michaelclifford: i fucking hate fags
michaelclifford: i would kill them all if i could

That was a little dramatic, Luke thought.

Luke gathered up the dirty sheets and his clothes, and piled them into the washing machine. Then, he hung the duvet over the bedroom door to let it dry. He knew he should wash it, but he wasn’t really sure how he’d manage to do that. It was too thick to fit in the washing machine. He would handwash it another time.

Michael was still sitting on that chair, so Luke brought him out to the living room, and sat him down on the couch. It was much more comfortable than that Ikea desk chair that broke Luke’s back during his training courses.

Michael had texted his wife: sorry i ran into cal were having dinner out if thats ok

crystal<3: Yep that’s fine!
crystal<3: I was getting worried lol

Michael: sorry i shud of said earlier
Michael: we just got caught up

crystal<3: I see you found your phone

Michael: yh they found it on one of the shelves and put it behind the counter to keep it safe

crystal<3: That’s good

Michael: very nice of them

crystal<3: Ok I wanted to tell you this when you got home but I’m too excited

Michael: what is it

crystal<3: I found a sperm donor
crystal<3: He’s pretty successful and attractive and he’s also Australian
crystal<3: And get this
crystal<3: His name is Michael!

Michael: omg im so happy
Michael: thats hilarious

crystal<3: Yeah!
crystal<3: The fertility clinic are gonna do the IVF soon and they said they’ll call me if any of them are viable for me to carry in six weeks

Michael: omgg its rlly happening

crystal<3: I know!!
crystal<3: I can’t wait for you to come home
crystal<3: We’re having a baby!!

Michael: omgg

He typed all of this with a straight face, because, in reality, he wasn’t excited. He wasn’t disappointed either, nor was he indifferent about it. He felt guilty. Guilty about what he’d done while his wife was itching to tell him the news for their family. The family that wouldn’t be as pure as it would have been an hour ago.

Michael was surprised that Luke didn’t kick him out before Ashton came home. He knew they were in an open relationship, but he would have thought the rules were ‘no hook-ups in the house while I’m home’. If Michael was in an open relationship, that would definitely be one of the rules, which was probably why he wasn’t in an open relationship.

Luke and Michael were on the couch, watching TV in silence, when Ashton walked in with a paper bag in hand. He froze in place, speechless. The mess of Michael’s hair and the scratches on Luke’s face told him everything he needed to know.

“Hello,” he said hesitantly.

“Is that Chinese?” Luke asked excitedly.

Ashton lifted the bag. “Yeah, I got extra because you told me someone was over.”

Michael glanced at him. “Thanks.”

Ashton approached Luke, leaned down by his ear, and whispered, “I thought he was homophobic.”

“Yeah, I raped him,” Luke confessed casually.

Michael gaped at him.

Ashton pulled back with wide eyes. A moment passed before his lips split into a grin. He laughed as if he thought Luke was joking, and turned to Michael. “Jesus, you need a drink?”

Michael was utterly gobsmacked. This couple were a sick, criminal match made in hell.

“I’ve got whiskey, rum, vodka,” Ashton listed.

“Rum,” Michael replied.

“Any mixer?”

“No, straight.”

“Poor fella,” Ashton chuckled, and wandered to the kitchen.

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