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Michael would never admit to it, but sometimes he just need some affection. His mind always makes him think the worst, so a cuddle never hurts when his head is full of annoying thoughts, but with his personality and attitude, sometimes it was hard to admit he just wants a hug or a kiss or some hand holding.
And Gavin and Lindsay weren't easy on him when he would want something affectionate.
"What happened to Michael 'don't fucking touch me or I'll kill you' Jones? Who are you and why do you want a cuddle?" Gavin questions his boyfriend from the couch, chuckling and pausing his video game. Michael's thoughts had been getting to him all day and he just wasn't feeling well. He had come into the den to sit with Gavin while he played the xbox, but obviously he wasn't going to make this easy on him.
"Never fucking mind." Michael mumbles, storming to their shared bedroom.
Lindsay comes from the kitchen with an unpeeled banana and raises an eyebrow at Gavin's confused expression.
"Michael came in and asked if he could sit and cuddle for a bit and I was like 'where is the Michael Jones I know and why do you want to cuddle?' and he just ran off to the bedroom...." Gavin explains, sighing and setting his controller on the coffee table and looking at Lindsay. "Is he okay? He's been acting weird lately..."
"Maybe I should check on him." Lindsay sets the banana on the kitchen counter and walks to their bedroom, seeing Michael's face buried deep into the covers when she enters the room. She sits beside Michael on the bed and rubs his back.
"Michael, babe, are you okay?" Lindsay asks in a soothing voice, continuing to rub his back in soft swishy motions.
"M'fine." Michael's answer is muffled and he buries his face deeper into the duvet.
"No you're not." The red head murmurs, beginning to swirl her hand on her boyfriend's back. "Please, sit up."
Michael does as he's told, his face red and Lindsay can tell Michael shed a tear or two. She holds up a finger and gets up, coming back with a box of tissues and sits back on the bed.
"If you need to cry, I'll be here to hand you the tissues." Lindsay grabs a tissue and holds it out him, her eyes twinkling with sincerity. Michael has always loved that about Lindsay, how you could tell exactly what she meant just by looking in her eyes, but he denies he needs to cry quickly, because that's not his rep.
"I don't need to cry. I'm fine." Michael mutters harshly, looking everywhere but at Lindsay. Lindsay's hand drops down and she sighs.
"Michael, please tell me what's wrong. Gavin and I are worried." Lindsay sets her hand on Michael's knee and strokes it with her thumb in the same way she had rubbed his back. It was a soothing mechanism she'd learned from her mother, who'd used it on her. It always worked.
"Nothing is wrong, Lindsay! Fuck, nothing is wrong. Nothing is ever wrong, I'm the asshole who doesn't deserve love and that's okay with me!" Michael yells, sarcasm dripping from his jaws. He storms out of the bedroom and into the den, but Lindsay shouts at Gavin to get in front of the front door before Michael can reach it.
"Michael, what did you say?" Lindsay tugs gently on Michael's shoulder, turning him to face her. "An asshole who doesn't deserve love? Michael, you know that isn't true."
"Yes it is, it's always been fucking true..." Michael sighs, voice cracking. His brows are furrowed in an angry manner but tears are streaming down his face as he tries his hardest not to look at his lovers.
"What?" Gavin speaks up, going to stand by Lindsay's side. "No it isn't, Michael. We love you."
"So fucking much," Lindsay continues, resting her hands on Michael's shoulders, "it hurts sometimes, like my heart skips a beat when I think about you at work--"
"Or when I'm at work! Michael, I sit beside you in the Achievement Hunter office and when I look at you my brain goes 'pfft' and it just stops working because when I see you, you're all I can think about." Gavin interjects, smiling widely at the older boy.
"God same for me, you make my brain fuzzy and my heart numb and I love you so much. WE love you so much." Lindsay adds in a soft tone, a smile creeping onto her face as she speaks. Michael's tears are falling 90 to nothing at this point, his brows still furrowed as if to tell himself not to cry, but his body defies him.
"Please tell me why you reacted that way after I said what I said?"
Something inside Michael sets off and his face contorts into such a sad shape, Gavin and Lindsay hope to never see it happen to Michael again. The two immediately grab onto Michael, as if to hold the pieces of the man together.
"S-sometimes I just feel so shitty and my mind is being a fu-fucking asshole and telling me all this shit that I know isn't true but it still hurts and then when I tr-try to get a hug or a kiss or cuddle a little bit with you guys, you give me shit for i-it! I just want to feel better but then you g-guys say some shit about how 'you're Mi-michael Jones how dare you want affection'! I'm not made of fucking steel, I have feelings too!" Michael basically screams into Gavin's shoulder as he clutches onto his partners. Lindsay and Gavin share a look behind Michael's back, looking at each other with such guilt in their faces. They caused one of the people they love most in life to break down like this. How dare they.
Lindsay begins rubbing Michael's back in that soothing way again as Gavin tries to quiet him down, Michael sputtering and coughing with such force, his whole body is shaking.
"Michael, babe, we're so fucking sorry we've put you through this. We just didn't think about what we were doing, we're so so SO fucking sorry."
"Extremely sorry, what can we do to make it better?" Gavin asks, lifting Michael's head up. Michael sniffles a bit and Lindsay uses her thumb to wipe a tear off his cheek.
"Can we just go cuddle a bit? That's all I ask for." Michael answers, looking from Gavin to Lindsay. Lindsay pecks Michael lips and wraps her arm around his neck.
"We can cuddle whenever and wherever you want. All day, everyday, or not once for a week. Whenever you'd like." Lindsay states and Gavin nods his head.
"It's all up to you, Michael." He adds.
Michael sighs and sniffles, a faint grin appearing on his lips. Lindsay and Gavin grin along with him.
"Thank you so much. I love you guys so fucking much, it's crazy." Michael mutters, grin widening.
"We love you too." Lindsay and Gavin reply simultaneously. The two lovers each take one of Michael's hand and lead him to their bedroom.