breathe out

Katie Reeves parked up outside her home, one that she shared with her boyfriend of two years, Riley. She'd had a long day, helping her Mother decorate the house for Christmas, and as fun as that had been, Katie was just excited to be home. Finding her house key, Katie exited her faithful VW Beetle, making her way to her front door, pausing when she heard a woman's voice from inside. Furrowing her eyebrows, Katie unlocked the door and stepped in, making sure to keep quiet, almost recoiling as she saw Riley on the sofa, another girl straddling his lap. Making sure to keep herself quiet, Katie turned on her heel, walking back to her car, making sure to slam the front door behind her so Riley knew he had been caught. Climbing into the drivers seat, Katie allowed her tears, her shock, to catch up to her, calling the only person she knew she could: Michael.

Luke Hemmings collapsed onto his sofa, Petunia by his side, flicking through the TV channels. Shae was with her boyfriend tonight, and his band-mates were all wrapped up too. Calum was on a date, Ashton was with his parents, and Michael said he just wanted to be lazy, so Luke figured he could do the whole 'lazy' thing, too. Putting his feet up, Luke scratched behind Petunia's ear, smiling as she looked to him, deciding on a crappy horror film to keep himself entertained.

Michael walked into his house after getting home from grocery shopping, having mostly bought snacks to enjoy while he had a movie night, because he didn't have much else to do, and he just wanted to relax for a little while. Everybody else was busy; he knew the guys were doing their own things, besides Luke, who was also just supposed to be lazing about, and he knew that Katie had been spending the day at her mom's, but then she'd go home to her boyfriend, Riley - somebody Michael had always thought very, very poorly of, and he never bothered to hide it. Riley had never been right for Katie, but Michael had had to watch the two together for two years. Of course, he knew part of the reason he didn't like Riley was because Michael himself had always loved Katie, but that was just a small part - he wasn't the type of person to try to ruin Katie's relationship just because of how he felt for her. No, if she was happy with somebody who deserved her, Michael would have fully cheered her on for it and supported her relationship. But, Riley had given Michael a bad vibe from day one, he just knew that Riley wasn't right for Katie, he just seemed like such a sleazeball. Just as that thought had passed through his mind as he was pulling out snacks to relax with, his phone rang, and he blinked when he saw Katie's name appear on the screen, his heart swelling as a grin spread across his face, because he wanted to hear her voice, and he reached to grab his phone from the counter, answering it. "Katie, hey," he greeted, curious to why she was calling at this time.

Shae had gotten home, having gotten off work early, eager to surprise her boyfriend, Allen, and spend time with him. With a small, excited grin, she climbed out of her car, flipping her keys to the key to the house. Seeing that Allen's car was in the driveway, she was looking forward to getting inside and relaxing with him. As she got to the door and unlocked it, walking in, though she paused when she heard a loud feminine laugh, then moans, and her brows furrowed with confusion as she followed the noise upstairs. Before she even got to the room, she knew what she'd come across, some sinking feeling in her gut just warning her, and, when she came to the room, she froze in the doorway, staring at Allen above another woman who certainly wasn't her, clothes littering the floor, and, before she could stop herself, she slammed the door shut in shock, pausing when she heard the confusion from within the room, before she quickly turned, rushing down the stairs, not giving time for Allen to catch up to her if he tried, and she climbed into her car quickly, connecting her phone to the bluetooth to call Luke, her best friend, the only person she knew she could turn to, as she quickly began driving. It was only when the house was out of view of the rearview mirror that she could feel her tears falling and she tried hard not to sob, trying to focus on driving.

Katie scrubbed a hand over her face as she waited for Michael to pick up; exhaling a shaky breath as she tried to calm her sobs down. When Michael did pick up though, Katie felt a wave of relief run through her, and she sniffled, running her hand through her hair instead. "Michael, hey." She sniffled. "I uh, I..." Her voice broke, but the tried to disguise it, pawing at her eyes to wipe the tears. "I found Riley with another girl." She explained, finally letting herself cry a little more, just wanting, craving for Michael's comfort. "Can I come over? Are you busy?" She asked, making sure she didn't want to intrude on anything he may have been doing with the band, although her heart swelled with the sound of just his breathing on the other end. "I just... I need you right now. Just... please don't say I told you so."

Luke jumped slightly as his phone rang, startling Petunia in the process. "Sorry, Piggy." He apologised, scratching behind her ear. As he grabbing his phone from beside him, Luke's heart lifted when he saw Shae's name across his screen. Luke's best friend for so long, Luke couldn't deny that he loved the girl, in so many more ways than one. She was beautiful, so exceptionally kind to everyone she met, and perfect for Luke. But Luke had missed his chance, because Shae was with a complete idiot called Allen, someone who Luke hated from the moment he saw him. Frowning with the thought, Luke sighed, knowing he'd be so much better for Shae. Answering the phone though, Luke smiled. "Hey, Shae." He greeted with a smile, eager to hear her voice. "What's up?"

Michael's expression had fallen the moment he heard the pain in Katie's voice. He listened quietly to what she had to say, not wanting to interrupt her, wanting her to be able to get it out, and he felt a wave of anger flood him with the fact that Riley had cheated on Katie, but even more so with the fact that Riley had hurt Katie in any way. "Of course you can come over, I'm not busy, I was getting snacks out to have a movie night, you can join me," he assured her quietly, frowning deeply. "I can come get you if you need me to - if you're this upset, I don't want you getting in an accident." His heart ached, though, with Katie's final words and he shook his head. "I'd never say that to you, Katie, I swear." He frowned to himself, worried about her, but he headed to the door anyways, figuring that, even if she didn't want him to come get her, he could wait at the door to greet her. "I'll kick his ass for you if you want me to, I swear." And, he'd probably do it even if she didn't want him to.

Shae's fingers curled around her steering wheel as she drove, feeling her heart twisting as she sniffled and, when Luke answered, she quickly reached a hand to wipe at her eyes, hoping she could force her tears away because she didn't want to cry over that asshole. "Hey, um..." she started, clearing her throat a bit in hopes of hiding the fact she'd been crying, that maybe it would help her voice return to normal. "Are you at home? Can I come over? I just, um..." She could feel her emotions getting to her again and she chewed anxiously on her lip, trying hard not to sob, her fingers curled so tightly around her steering wheel that her knuckles were turning white. "I caught Allen cheating, Luke, so I can't -" Her voice cracked as her tears returned with the imagery in her head. "I can't be there, Luke, and I need my best friend and I need my best friend to not give me shit about my poor decision-making skills, so please, just..."

Katie sniffled as she began to drive, holding her phone between her shoulder, not even caring in that moment if it was illegal. Michael lived a short distance away, she was sure she could get there without being hurt. "Thank you." She told him quietly, toying with her lower lip, relieved to listen to him speak, amazed at how much comfort he brought her. Still, Katie nodded, despite Michael not being able to see her. "I'll be okay." She promised, blinking the tears out of her eyes. "I'll be like, five minutes." She told him, her heart aching as more tears came. "I don't want you to kick his ass." She reassured him. "I need you more than he needs an ass kicking." She promised. "I'll be there soon..." And with that, Katie hung up to focus on driving, wondering why the hell she wasn't good enough for Riley.

Luke instantly picked up on the sadness in Shae's voice, but listened to her carefully, wondering what had her so upset. But when he heard that she had caught Allen cheating, Luke felt his fist clench, and he frowned deeply. "Hey, hey, listen..." Luke spoke gently. "Of course you can come here. I'd love some company for my movie night, Petunia's not that great to snuggle." Luke promised. "What a bastard." Luke frowned, the anger in his voice clear, and Luke swore he'd never felt this angry, feeling it course through him. "I'll kill him, Shae, just say the word." He told her honestly. "But I'll never give you shit, Shae, never." He promised, even if he did still convince himself that he would treat Shae the way she deserved to be - like a Queen. Luke stood to his feet, going to the front door, sitting on his stairs. "I'll be waiting. Drive safe, Shae, please." He told her.

Michael nodded slowly as he listened quietly to her words, chewing on his lip with concern. "You don't have to thank me," he assured her quietly, just wanting to do whatever he could to be there for her and make sure she was okay. Katie was amazing, perfect even, and she didn't deserve what Riley had done to her - but Riley had never deserved her; Michael just wished that it hadn't come to this for Katie, that she wouldn't have had to find out how much Riley sucked by getting hurt. "Right, of course. I'll be right here for you, Katie. Doesn't mean I can't want to kick his ass." He tried to keep his tone light, playful, hoping to cheer her up in any way, but he knew, deep down, he was completely serious. "I'll wait for you outside, I'll meet you in the driveway." Once she'd hung up, he headed out his door and down the drive way to wait for her.

Shae nodded slowly as she listened to Luke, sniffling quietly, but relieved and grateful to Luke. "Okay, I'll be there soon," she murmured quietly as she cleared her throat. "Thanks, Luke. Really." Chewing on her lip, she was honestly glad that she had somebody as amazing as Luke in her life, he'd always been there for her. She offered a weak laugh, though, despite the tears threatening to fall again. "No, no, don't do that - if you do that, then you'll go to jail and I won't have anybody to turn to for all of this, and he's not worth going to jail, anyways." She nodded, though. "Okay. I'll see you soon." Swallowing hard, she hung up and focused on driving.

Katie tried to stop her hands shaking as she drove down Michael's street, exhaling heavily as she parked in the driveway. Getting out quickly, almost having to fumble with her safety belt, Katie ran to Michael, wrapping her arms around his waist as her fingers curled into his shirt, finally letting her tears go, letting her emotion take over, knowing that in front of Michael, she could, she was safe to be herself. "God, Michael." She sniffled after a moment. "What did I do to deserve this? Why wasn't I good enough?" She asked, looking up at her best friend, her fingers curling even further into his shirt.

Luke scrubbed a hand over his face, trying to bring his anger down to a sustainable level as he opened the front door to head outside. "Stay," he told Petunia gently, shutting the front door beside him, keeping an eye out for any headlights. Still, Luke felt his heart break inside his chest, knowing that this would hurt Shae deeply, no matter what sort of strong front she would try to put up, Luke always saw right through that. He made a mental note though, that if he saw Allen again, he would break his neck. Leaning against the wall, Luke ran a hand through his hair, frowning at how the woman he loved was hurting, and how she spent two years with that absolute fool.

Michael's expression softened when Katie ran to him, and he quickly wrapped his arms around her, holding her to his chest tightly, his heart breaking when he heard her crying. His jaw clenched, the anger towards Riley rising for the fact that he had made such an amazing girl cry, that he'd hurt her this much. He swore, then, that he'd do something to Riley if he ever saw the asshole again. "You didn't do anything, you didn't deserve this," he told her quietly, shifting to cup her face, running his thumbs under her eyes gently to wipe her tears, his heart clenching at the sight of her tears and at her words. "And you were too good for him, Katie. He's the one who wasn't good enough for you. What he did was unforgivable, you never deserved that and I'm so sorry he hurt you this much."

Shae could feel the weight getting to her as she finally got to Luke's and, after pulling up, she took a moment to try to collect herself, but she couldn't; she needed her best friend and she knew that. Climbing out of the car, she slowly made her way up to the house, up until she saw Luke outside and, seeing him there, seeing him just waiting for her, she could feel her eyes water again, causing her to duck her head but she picked up her pace, rushing to him to bury her face against him, her fingers curling desperately into his shirt. "I don't know what I did wrong, Luke," she told him quietly, her voice breaking as she started crying again, "I don't - I don't understand why... I just..." She couldn't get any more words out, a sob breaking past her lips.

Katie exhaled as Michael wrapped his arms around her, having never truly paid attention to how wonderful it felt to be wrapped in his arms. Still, Katie tried to push the thought to the back of her mind as she took in the scent of Michael's cologne. "I just don't understand." She whimpered, even with Michael's reassurance, she felt her heart breaking even more. "I..." She wiped her eyes with the sleeves of her cardigan. "I gave him everything, Michael, and it still wasn't good enough." She exhaled, the breath shuddered, leaning into Michael's touch, thinking that it was completely innocent - just one friend comforting another. Nodding, Katie didn't quite believe his words, but agreed for the sake of doing so, shifting to bury her face into his chest. "Can we just cuddle on the couch?" She asked, although muffled.

Luke felt his heart break as he saw Shae, but when she rushed to him, Luke wrapped his arms tightly around her, one hand resting at the back of her head to pull her as close as he could get her. Kissing the top of Shae's head, Luke bit his lip, his heart breaking further as he heard her crying. "You did nothing wrong, Shae, do you hear me?" He asked into her hair. "He's an idiot who's too blind to see he had something incredible." He told her. Luke had never liked Allen, he had always been a tool, but he hoped that Shae didn't think he was bias. "You're amazing, and he had something great with you, and if he wants to turn his back on that, then let him, because you could do so much better." Luke told her honestly, running his fingers through her hair. "Hey, I have a proposal for you." He told her gently. "Movies, snacks, cuddles, and Petunia snoring on the floor. Sound good?"

Michael shook his head as he held her close to him, pressing his lips to the top of her head, lingering there, never wanting her to feel alone. “No, no, Katie, it wasn't you or what you gave him that wasn't good enough,” he whispered, running his fingers through her hair. “It's all on him, none of it is your fault. Never.” He hated that she was in so much pain, that that asshole had done this to him, and he just wanted to be there for her. “We can definitely cuddle on the couch. I just bought snacks, which includes your favorite ice cream.” He smiled as he peered down at her, hoping to cheer her up. “We can binge eat and watch your favorite movies, we both know I have them all.”

Shae wasn't sure that she believed Luke, but she didn't say anything against what he was saying, at least grateful that, despite everything falling apart around her, she had Luke there, always. And she felt so incredibly lucky for that and she always felt so safe in his arms, too. “It's just… It's not fair,” she whispered, swallowing, but she thought about his proposition and nodded slowly. “Blankets included with the cuddles?” she questioned quietly.

Katie exhaled out what she could of her anxiety, but she listened to Michael intently, smiling with his words. "This is why you're amazing." She told him gently, pulling away after a long, lingering moment. "Ice cream and The Nightmare Before Christmas sounds pretty awesome right now." She confirmed with a small nod, offering her hand to Michael. "I didn't have time to grab clothes, do you have a t-shirt to lend?"

Luke pressed a sweet kiss to the top of Shae's head, just wanting to protect her from all of the hurt he knew that Allen had put on her. Frowning with the thought, Luke rubbed Shae's back. "I know it's not fair, Shae." He promised her quietly. "But he's not the one, he never has been. You deserve someone who treats you like a Queen, someone who treats you with respect, something he never did." He frowned, kissing her forehead. "Blankets are always included." Luke smiled, tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear.

Michael smiled as he watched her, lifting his hand to brush her hair out of her face gently, tucking it behind her ear. “Of course I'm amazing. But so are you,” he told her gently, shifting to kiss her forehead softly, though he grinned with her decision and nodded slightly. “Alright. Ice cream and The Nightmare Before Christmas it is. Anything to make you happy.” And he meant it, with everything in him. He only ever wanted Katie happy, even if it wasn’t with him. “Of course. Let’s get you inside.” Shifting, he slid an arm around her and led her inside.

Shae’s fingers curled into Luke's shirt as she listened, beyond grateful that she had Luke there to ground her. Nodding, she wiped at her eyes as she tried to calm down. “Okay,” she murmured. “I didn't really… think to pack anything when I rushed here. I just wanted to get out of there.” She hated to think about having to go back to get her things at all, having to face Allen. “Um, do you have anything I can borrow to wear, then we can go on with our night?”

Katie smiled weakly as Michael tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear, kissing her forehead with the action. She smiled weakly, grateful to the whole universe for Michael's existence. "Thank you," she told him quietly, wrapping an arm around his waist as he led her up to the house. "I didn't grab any clothes." She cringed slightly, the thought of having to go back to that house making her feel sick to her stomach, knowing that a woman that wasn't her was in the bed she usually shared with Riley. Stepping into the familiar territory though, Katie relaxed, running her hands through her hair.

Luke rubbed Shae's back as her fingers curled into his shirt, and he kissed the top of her head. "Hey, don't worry, you can borrow my things." Luke promised. "For as long as you need to. If you want, I can go by there tomorrow and grab you some things, there's no way I'm letting you step foot into that house again." Luke tensed with the thought, nothing wanting more than to wrap his hands around Allen's neck for even considering the possibility of hurting Shae - knowing he went through with it angered Luke, more than anything. "C'mon you, Petunia misses you." He told her gently, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "I'll grab you a t-shirt and some boxers."

Michael’s heart ached when he saw the weak smile Katie had offered him, but he smiled slightly in response, trying to cheer her up, even a little. “You don’t have to thank me,” he assured her, holding her close to himself, squeezing her gently to his side, though he shook his head. “That’s fine. You can borrow some of my clothes.” Offering a small grin, he led her inside, trying to ignore the anger he felt that Riley had put Katie in this situation. “Come on, let’s head up to grab some clothes, yeah?”

Shae peered up at Luke with mild surprise, though she felt her heart ease with hearing his promise and she offered a small nod. “If you’re sure,” she murmured quietly, because she didn’t want to be any trouble. She was grateful to Luke, though, because the thought of going home was just completely out of the question. “Thanks, Luke,” she told him softly, though she perked up with the mention of Petunia, leaning into his hold. “I will gladly hang out with Petunia any day. I miss her, too.”

Katie shifted closer to Michael, grateful to him for the distraction he tried to provide, in a way only Michael could. "I want to thank you," she murmured softly, following his lead as he pulled her closer, gazing up at him with adoration. "I call dibs on that blue hoodie." Katie teased, reaching to pinch Michael's cheek before pulling away from him all together, exhaling. "Okay... where's South?" She asked, shrugging off her jacket, instantly at ease in Michael's home, able to navigate through the house in the dark.

Luke noticed how Shae peered up at him, and he offered her a smile that he hoped came off as confident, pressing a kiss to her forehead. "Of course I'm sure," Luke promised. "That asshole wouldn't dare try to start anything with me." Luke tensed again, and he was certain Shae could feel his anger at the fact that Allen could hurt Shae in this way. Although, when Shae spoke again, Luke felt his emotions anchor to her. "It's okay, Shae, I promise. I'd do anything for you." Luke murmured, holding her close to him as she leaned into him. "She'll be glad to have another lady around the house." Luke teased. "I was thinking of getting another pup."

Michael watched Katie for a few moments, his expression softening as he took her in, admiring her, unable to help it. She was the most beautiful thing in the world and she deserved all the best things - he just wished she realized that, too. “You can have the blue hoodie, it’s all yours,” he assured her with a smile, nodding before motioning as he led her inside, “South is in the bedroom, being lazy.”

Shae watched Luke for a few moments before she eventually nodded to his words. “I just… Don’t wanna cause any trouble for you,” she told Luke quietly, honestly. He’d always been there for her, through everything, through the good, the bad, the best, the worst, the beautiful, the ugly. She wished he didn’t put all of that on himself. “Another pup?”