when you get too close

Reine’s expression softened as she listened to him and she smiled as she shifted to kiss him for a moment, unable to really help it or to stop herself - not that she really wanted to. It felt right and natural and she loved it. “You don’t have to go to the end of the Earth for me, Luke,” she told him quietly, “I’m right here and I’m not going anywhere, so any… Excessive, extreme measures aren’t necessary, I promise.”

Michael couldn’t help but to love the way it sounded to hear everything Leigh was telling him, memorizing every single word that fell past her lips, and he ran his thumb over the back of her hand gently. “I am so, so unbelievably lucky to have you in my life, Leigh,” he told her quietly, leaning to kiss her forehead as he examined her. “You make my life so much better. You make me better. And I love you so much for that. I love you so much for being my one.”

Luke smiled with Reine's promise, but still, he felt an ignition in his chest as Reine pressed her lips to his. Gladly returning the kiss, Luke smiled, unable to stop himself, the happiness he felt just so overwhelming. "It wouldn't be extreme, Reine." He murmured against her lips, half-amused, half-touched. "I'd do anything for you. Nothing would be considered extreme." He promised in return, just wanting her to know as he kissed her again. "You're my soulmate, the love of my life. I'd swim all the oceans to get to you." He told her, meaning every word. Luke would do anything just to see Reine smile, and Luke had known that since before they even got together.

Leigh smiled with Michael's words, relaxed under his touch, the feeling of his lips against her forehead the best thing Leigh had ever felt. Still, Leigh listened as Michael spoke, his voice so addictive, just wanting to listen to him all the time, knowing that she could never tire of hearing his voice, or never tire of hearing him tell her he loved her. Smiling, Leigh shifted once more, wrapping her arms around Michael's neck, just wanting to hold him. "I love you, Michael. I'm so damn lucky that you're my one." She pressed a kiss to the top of his head.

Reine smiled with the mention of it, grinning against his lips. “Okay, but, still, I’m right here, Luke,” she whispered, “So no swimming oceans. Just… Stay right here for now. I mean, even in my amnesia state, I know you’ll get busy with the band and I assume you’ll have to travel, but, for right now, I just want to be right here, in your arms, no ocean swimming necessary.”

Michael grinned to her words, watching her, and he rubbed her back gently, toying with her hair before he pressed a kiss to her forehead. “I love you, too, Leigh,” he murmured quietly, “And I don’t know what in the world I did to deserve you, but you’re the embodiment of everything I’ve ever wanted or needed, you always have been, and I love having you as my one, as mine. I wouldn’t trade you for anything, ever.”

Luke smiled, biting his lip with content, just hearing Reine’s reassurance meaning the world to him. “I’d always swim oceans for you, Reine.” He told her quietly. “If you asked me to jump, I’d ask how high.” He whispered. “But the band isn’t my priority right now. That’s you. You’re my first priority.” He promised. “I would never put anything in front of you.”

Leigh relaxed as Michael rubbed her back, biting her lip as he spoke, feeling tears come to her eyes. Laughing with her own emotion, Leigh wiped her eyes. “Dammit, Michael.” She sniffled. “I love you and I hate this because I just wish I could remember everything that made me fall for you.”

Reine smiled slightly as she watched him but she leaned to kiss him for a moment. “I'm not gonna ask you to jump,” she whispered, though she blinked, watching him. “Are you sure that's okay? I don't want the band to suffer because of this…”

Michael’s expression softened when he saw her tears and he shifted, cupping her face to brush the tears gently from her face. “Hey…” he murmured quietly, shifting to kiss her forehead. “I love you, too. And I know this must be so terrifying for you, not having those memories, but I'll make sure to show you every reason you fell for me, we'll create new memories, I promise.”

Luke smiled softly as Reine kissed him, gently returning it, and that's what was so damn incredible about her. They'd been together for so long, and every kiss still felt like the first. Luke's heart always ignited with something he couldn't begin to describe - it was the best thing he'd ever felt. Luke was so in love with Reine, it was just so overwhelming to him, in the best way. Hearing her words though, Luke pulled away after a moment, his forehead naturally connecting to hers. "Hey," he whispered, just as quiet as Reine. "The band isn't gonna suffer. Calum and Ash, they'll understand." He promised.

Leigh sniffled, relaxing into Michael's feather-gentle touch against her cheek. "Sorry." She murmured, almost embarrassed. She seemed to be acting like a child, over emotional and confused, and she just hoped, more than anything, that it wouldn't drive him away. "I'm sorry." She cleared her throat to rid her voice of the emotion. "I love you." She told him, but she listened to his words carefully and nodded, grateful to Michael for his patience, his love, his support. "Thank you." She told him. "For just... being so amazing."

Reine’s eyes closed over when Luke’s forehead rested against hers, swearing it felt like one of the most natural things in the world. Her fingers curled slightly into his shirt when she heard his words and she honestly hoped that he was right, but she nodded slowly anyways. “I just don’t want to cause you any problems, Luke,” she murmured, opening her eyes to examine him for a moment, “You’re already doing so much for me, trying to make everything easier, I just don’t want to make things difficult for you.”

Michael’s expression softened as he listened to her and he shook his head slightly. “You have absolutely nothing to apologize for, Leigh,” he whispered quietly, shifting a bit to slide his arms around her, pulling her close to him, pulling her to his chest, his fingers running through her hair gently. “I love you, too, so much. I can’t believe how damn lucky I am to have you - or how lucky I am that, despite everything, you still love me. No matter what we face, we’re gonna face it together, okay?” He gave her a gentle squeeze, careful not to hurt her. “And you don’t have to thank me. I’d do anything for you, always.”

Luke smiled as Reine's fingers curled into his shirt, and rubbing soothing motions into Reine's back, Luke leaned to press a kiss to her lips, enjoying how peaceful she seemed in that moment. "You won't, Reine." Luke promised, peering at her as she opened her eyes, offering her a wide smile that only Reine could create. "Hey," he murmured. "You're my priority, Reine, always will be." He blinked. "This past year has been me, being away from you every damn day and being in the studio. And now this has happened," Luke felt tears in his eyes, but quickly blinked them away. "I love you, and your recovery is what I'm focused on. I would do so much more for you. The album can wait. The band can wait."

Leigh tucked herself into Michael's embrace, loving the comfort he provided her. Resting a hand over Michael's heart to soothe herself, to feel it beating beneath her fingers, Leigh exhaled in relief because it meant that Michael was alive. He was there. He was real, and dammit, he was hers. Nuzzling into Michael's neck, Leigh nodded. "Okay." She murmured. "I love you."

Reine couldn’t help the small grin that formed on her features when she felt Luke kiss her, swearing she’d never tire of the feeling and she relaxed under Luke’s soothing touch, watching him for a few moments. As he spoke, though, she listened quietly, though her expression softened when she heard Luke’s explanation, her heart aching when she saw the tears in his eyes. “Luke,” she murmured quietly, lifting her hands to cup his face gently. “Luke, I love you, too, but all of that, I’m sure I understood, I’m sure I was okay with it, that I encouraged it, because I can see how much you love it. This has nothing to do with any of that, okay?” She ran her thumb gently over his cheeks, watching him. “There’s not much for my recovery besides waiting for my memory to return, anyway, and, even then… Even then, there’s no guarantee I’ll get those memories back, so I don’t want you to hold back on the band and doing what you love, okay?”

Michael closed his eyes when he felt Leigh tucking into his embrace, wanting to relish everything about the feeling that he could, because he felt awful that he didn’t get to hold her like this all that often throughout the year - and it took for this to happen for him to realize how much he’d neglected her, how much he’d been taking her for granted. “I love you, too, Leigh,” he murmured quietly, chewing on his lip when he felt her nuzzling into his neck and he shifted, holding her tighter to himself, but gentle still, and he breathed out quietly, burying his face into her hair. “Dammit, I wish it didn’t take for this to happen for me to put all my focus on you, like you deserve,” he murmured, knowing he’d held back on explaining this since she’d woken up in the hospital, but he knew she deserved to know. “I was an idiot for a good while, Leigh,” he told her gently, squeezing her gently, “This past year, I was away from you day in and day out while working on new music, and, God, I’m so sorry for neglecting you, but I’m gonna do everything I can to make up for it, I swear.”

Luke squeezed around Reine as he felt her relax, and he couldn't help the tears that began to roll down his cheeks as she cupped his face within her gentle touch, and he wondered, what he did to deserve Reine in his life. "No, babe, I should of been with you. All those late nights, writing sessions, days where I only kissed you before we went to sleep, they all robbed time away from us." He frowned with that, realising that the truth was a difficult pill to swallow. Luke had never felt as though something had been stolen from him before, but in this instance, he felt as though everything precious had been stolen from in front of him. "As much as I love the band, Reine, I love you more." Luke's voice broke slightly. "I swear, I'm going to make it up to you. I'm going to be here, I'm never going to let you feel unloved, or afraid, or unwanted." And Luke had never sounded so determined in his life, because he was. "I'm never going to make you second best again. And I'm sorry." Luke pressed a sweet kiss to her lips. "But for now, until your old memories come back, we can make new ones, recreate old ones, anything you wanna do baby, I'm down." Luke promised.

Leigh's fingers gently traced patterns into Michael's shoulder through the material of his t-shirt, and when she felt him nuzzle into her hair, she smiled, just appreciating being this close to Michael, and she wondered what extent his perfection could reach if he could make her fall in love with him all over again in a day. Listening to his words though, hearing the distress, the sadness in his voice, Leigh looked up at him with furrowed brows. "Michael," she laughed when he'd explained himself. "Working doesn't make you an idiot." She promised gently, pressing a kiss to his jaw. "I doubt you neglected me." She promised. "I don't even remember anyway." She tried to make a joke to lift Michael's spirits, and she was certain, as soon as it had left her lips, it would fall flat. "You're here now, and that's what matters." She promised. "Besides, if you work on music, and you have a band, then that means you have fans. I imagine they love you a lot, cause who wouldn't?"

Reine listened quietly to Luke, her expression softening as she took him in, her thumb stroking his cheek gently. “Hey, I’m sure I had my own things going on,” she pointed out quietly, “And this is your dream, isn’t it? Something you’ve worked tirelessly to achieve? You deserve to relish in that, Luke, there’s nothing to make up for.” Even without her memories, she was certain she never wanted Luke to feel guilty about something like being busy with his band, and she certainly didn’t want that now. Leaning forward, she pressed her forehead to his. “I’m sure I never felt any of that, okay? So, no more apologizing.”

Michael shook his head slightly as he listened to her speak. “It doesn’t matter if you remember it or not, because I do, I remember every missed opportunity, every moment I was too busy with the band to relax with you, every time I got home too late to find you already asleep,” he pointed out quietly, realizing more and more how much he’d screwed up, how many times he had let Leigh down, and he knew that she deserved so much better than him, but dammit, he loved her more than anything in the world, and he was determined to make it all up to her, even if she couldn’t remember any of it. “I’m gonna be better. I’m gonna do better.” Leaning forward, he kissed her forehead lovingly, just wanting her to know how much she meant to him. “I promise, Leigh.”

Luke couldn't help but close his eyes as he relished in Reine's touch, and he couldn't help but wonder if instinct told her just how much she could soothe him with just a gentle caress, but it was the sound of her voice that really put his heart at ease. "But you're my dream, too." Luke murmured, his forehead falling so naturally to Reine's, despite the difference in their height. "I want you beside me in each of my successes, Reine," Luke exhaled through his nose, pressing a soft kiss to Reine's lips. "You've always been so patient, you deserve so much more than what I give you." Luke confessed his thoughts. "I'd come home and you'd be asleep and you'd only have Petunia to kiss goodnight, and I'm sorry, Reine." Luke swallowed the lump in his throat. "I'm going to make sure that you know I'm here now, and I'm not going anywhere until we get you better, okay?" Luke wrapped his arms around her, making sure she was safe in his embrace. "I love you."

Leigh watched Michael as he spoke, the way he shook his head as he chastised himself with a cruelty and regret that Leigh, even without her memories, was certain she'd never known, and as he kissed her forehead, Leigh exhaled happily "Michael..." Leigh murmured softly, looking up to him with a soft gaze, wanting him to know without words that it was okay. "You're here now." Leigh pointed out, pulling away from his embrace to face him. "Think about it. Your girlfriend loses every memory she's ever made, you could of run away by now, but you're here." Leigh squeezed his hand, her eyes brimming with tears. "And you're already being the best, and I love you so much. Please, stop beating yourself up, it -" She blinked away tears. "It upsets me."

Reine watched Luke quietly, her eyes running over his features, wishing she could take all his pain away, wishing she could do something, anything, to make this easier for him, to assure him that there was nothing wrong with him chasing his dream and being busy. “You don’t have to apologize, Luke,” she whispered, shifting to press her forehead to his, “I’m sure it didn’t bother me at all.” Shifting closer, she ducked her head to press her face into his chest, her eyes closing over as she just relished in the feeling of being in his arms, of being close to him. “I love you, too.”

Michael frowned slightly with her words but he quickly shook his head slightly. “I would never, ever do that,” he told her quietly, reaching to cup her face, running his thumbs over her cheeks. “You’re everything to me, Leigh. I can’t imagine my life without you. I don’t want to imagine my life without you. Memories or no memories.” He offered a weak smile and leaned to kiss her for a moment, needing her to know how much she meant to him, how much he loved her, because she was everything he wanted, everything he needed, and he couldn’t lose that, he couldn’t lose her. “I love you, too.” But, he said no more on the previous subject, not wanting to upset her further.