Chapter Text
The smile that Luke had on since he had left home was even brighter as he knocked on the door to his boyfriend’s apartment and he quickly ran a hand through his hair, smoothening them. He had been away for a whole week and the moment he got back, there he was, standing in front of that familiar door, the same one he always found himself at whenever he was not busy. He patiently waited for the other boy to get the door after ringing the bell twice and the moment the door flung open, Luke jumped on the other boy and pressed a kiss to the side of his neck, smiling as he inhaled his boyfriend’s scent in the process.
“Alexander… how are you, Love?” Luke smiled when he pulled away slightly.
Michael hesitated for a second but then decided to hug the other boy back; another person got deceived by how alike his twin and he looked. “I’m good. How are you? Baby?” he said the last word with uncertainty, not exactly sure what nickname Alex had picked for his boyfriend.
That, of course, went unnoticed by Luke, who closely followed Michael inside and pulled the other boy into another hug, once the door closed behind them. “I missed you so much.”
Michael laughed nervously and again hugged Luke back before quickly pulling away. “I missed you too. I’ll be right back, Babe.”
“Babe?” Luke mumbled to himself when the other boy disappeared into the kitchen. Alex never called him like that before but Luke decided to shrugged it off; there was always a first time for everything.
“Hey Alex, I think your boyfriend is here and…” Michael smiled playfully.
“And? Mike, what did you do?” Alex also smiled. “Did you pretend to be me again?”
“No, I didn’t have to. He thought I was you,” Michael laughed. “You think we can fool him a little longer?”
Michael smiled as he recalled all the times they had fooled others, sometimes just for fun and sometimes to give them a hard time. Like that time when they were in kindergarten and Michael already had lunch and pretended to be Alex to eat again; he did not really remember that one but their mom always talked about it. Or the other time when Michael had a test and Alex and he had switched classes because Michael had not studied. Or the other times where they had so easily fooled their parents. Those were the perks of having a twin. Michael let his mind drift to Luke and he wondered whether Luke would know if he pretended to be Alex.
They had not switched places in forever and Michael wanted to know if they could still do it convincingly and get away with it or they would get caught. Alex and he were different now; they were adults, they liked different things, they dressed differently and they had different personalities. When they were kids, Karen used to dress them the same and bought everything same for both of them but things started to change when they became teenagers; although the bond they shared had never changed and they were still as close as they used to be. They may have been wearing different kind of clothes for a while but at that moment, they were wearing identical pyjamas that Michael had gotten them and if someone saw them in different places, they would say they were the same person.
Michael nudged Alex. “Let’s do it.”
“No,” Alex firmly said and left. “Hey, Sweetie,” he smiled as he walked towards Luke and pressed a kiss to his lips. “I missed you.”
Luke pulled away and looked at the other boy, with a smile. “You said it already.”
Alex was going to raise an eyebrow but then he realised it was probably Michael, who had told Luke that. “I know I did but I’m saying it again. I missed you.”
“Me too,” Luke said while stroking Alex’s cheek with the back of his fingers. “Wanna go to the movies tonight?”
“Yeah, that would be great. We can even dine out,” Alex proposed. “But for now, I’m gonna get you something to eat,” he pulled away when he heard a grumble in Luke’s stomach.
“No, we’ll get breakfast later. For now, I just want to cuddle.”
“It’ll only take a couple of minutes, I was already making coffee. Be right back.”
Luke sighed when Alex again disappeared in the kitchen; he only wanted to spend some time with Alex but his boyfriend was always busy, especially with work.
“Are we doing it?” Michael asked, the moment Alex was back beside him.
“For the tenth time, no,” Alex shook his head and poured two cups coffee.
“Why not? Where is mischievous Alex? Who are you? Give me my brother back,” Michael moved closer to Alex and poked him in the ribs continuously.
He had only been gone for two years and things were already looking different. After he had dropped out of his literature classes at uni, Michael had stayed at home, figuring out what he should do next because literature was clearly not his thing; unlike Alex, who had chosen to complete his journalism course and even pursued his dream career as a reporter. It had taken time but Michael finally went to get a degree in acting instead. There he was back home and he felt there were so many new things he had to learn.
“Stop being childish,” Alex warned, pushing Michael’s hand away and trying to hide his laughter.
“I’ve always been a child at heart. Just say yes, five minutes.”
“This is not like school or some kid games or something, this is my boyfriend we’re talking about.”
“Don’t worry, he’s in safe hands. You should trust me. And besides, I’m not into guys.”
Alex sighed; he knew Michael was not going to give up. “Fine, five minutes.”
“You’re the best.” Michael grabbed the toasts that Alex made and placed them on a tray, along with the coffee before taking it to the living room, where Luke was lounging on the couch and flipping through the pages of a music magazine that he had brought along. “What are you reading?” he asked as he sat beside Luke.
“Nothing, just music stuffs,” Luke shrugged. “Come cuddle?”
Michael grinned and wrapped his arms around Luke’s middle, pulling him closer. “You smell nice.”
Luke also wrapped his arms around Michael and sighed happily. “And you smell like…”
“Like I haven’t had a shower yet,” Michael laughed and caused Luke to laugh too.
“Ahem… am I disturbing or something?” Alex asked from the doorway.
Luke immediately pulled away and looked back and forth between them, confused. “What’s going on?”
“Hi, I don’t think we’ve been properly introduced,” Michael chuckled from beside Luke. “I’m Michael.”
“I… huh… I…” Luke stuttered; he had heard a lot about Alex’s brother before but he had never met him. “You guys look so much alike.”
“Do we?” Michael got up and walked to Alex before wrapping his arm around the other boy’s shoulder. “Do we now? I never realised. Mom should’ve told us, I feel betrayed.”
“Don’t mind Michael. He’s just… that’s how he is,” Alex pushed Michael away and walked to Luke.
“Does he always pretend to be you?”
“Hey, I don’t pretend to be him, it’s a mutual agreement,” Michael corrected.
“You mean you always convince me to be part of that,” Alex stated.
“Oh come on, just because you’re older than me doesn’t mean you have to blame me for everything,” Michael threw his hands in the air and rolled his eyes.
“Is he always that dramatic?” Luke whispered to Alex, who nodded.
“No whispering, I’m right here,” Michael said loudly. “So, Luke, you’re a writer, I hear.”
“Yeah, I write stuffs but nothing important yet.”
“I’m sure you must have something because Alex praises you all the time,” Michael said and grabbed Alex’s coffee.
“Get your own.”
“Sharing is caring. We’ve always shared everything. We’ve been sharing things since forever. We even shared a uterus,” Michael laughed when he looked at Alex and Luke’s faces.
“Michael, don’t be gross,” Alex made a face. “Don’t you have somewhere to be?”
“I get it folks; I’m not needed here. I going out anyway.” Michael took a big gulp of the coffee before going to his room.
“Please don’t mind Michael. He can be a bit straight-forward sometimes,” Alex grabbed the plate and handed it to Luke.
“Don’t worry, I think he’s funny and he seems nice.”
“Yeah, he’s nice but he can be a bit crazy at times. I’m glad he’s back.”
“Umm… Alex? There’s something I have to tell you,” Luke slowly said.
“What is it?”
“I was thinking that maybe we could spend some more time together. You’ve been so busy. Do you think that maybe you could take a break or something?”
“I’m always here,” Alex laughed. “And we’re going out tonight, which is great.”
“Alright guys, I’ll see you later. And Alex, don’t wait for me tonight, I might be late,” Michael again walked into the room and said as he took a buttered toast and grabbed his phone from the table.
“I hope you didn’t throw your clothes everywhere in your room because I’m not gonna clean-up for you.”
“I’ll do it when I get back.”
“Michael when will learn…” Alex sighed because the door had closed before he had time to finish his sentence. “That boy I tell you.”
Next Morning...
Michael groaned as he again rejected a call and tried to get some more sleep; he had partied until the early hours of the morning and that obnoxious phone was ruining his sleep. His head was still buzzing from the amount of alcohol he had consumed and he was in desperate need of sleep but that phone was again ringing. Who was calling him at that time? He pretty sure it was not even eight and on normal occasions, when he had gone out drinking with Calum, his childhood friend and best friend, late afternoon would be the time when he would finally get out of bed. Another ringing tone and Michael was officially awake. He again rejected the call, without checking who was calling, and rubbed his eye with the back of his hand as he walked to the kitchen to get a drink.
Michael dropped himself on the couch and sipped at a glass of water, happy that the headache was not as severe as he had anticipated. He slouched down, almost spilling the water on himself, and cursed before setting the glass on the table. That was when a blank paper caught his eyes and he reached for it to realised it was not blank after all; it was a note from Alex. Why would Alex leave him a note when they stayed in the same house?
Hey Mikey
Sorry you were still sleeping when I left
And I didn’t want to wake you up
So that’s why I’m leaving you this note
Don't know if you went to the kitchen yet
I left you some aspirin on the counter
“Don’t tell me you ran away the moment I’m back? It’s not fair, I was looking forward to spend time with you,” Michael whined.
I had this important assignment and I had no choice
I’ll be out of town for a few weeks
And yes, I know you must be mad at me for leaving
But I promise I’ll make it up to you when I get back
One more thing, I didn’t really know how to tell Luke
And I was hoping that when he’d come by
You’d ease him into it
You know, don’t just blurt it out to him
Go gently because I don’t want him to be upset
I hope you’ll be wise for once
And I’m counting on you
Thanks and love you little brother
Alex
Michael rolled his eyes; that was not a note, definitely not, that was a freaking letter. He was still hangover and he should be in bed but instead, he was reading Alex’s letter. Why leave him a letter when he could have texted him? He knew Alex was obsessed with writing but the note was a little bit too long for his liking. Then something caught his attention; the letter was nothing useful to him because Alex wanted him to inform Luke about his trip.
“Great Alex. The moment I’m back, you’re using me. I love you too but I’ll get you for that. How am I supposed to deal with your boyfriend? I barely know him,” Michael yawned. “We’ll think about that later. Right now we need more sleep, sleep, sleep, sleep,” he kept mumbling as he walked back to his bedroom, in a zombie-like way.
The moment he closed his eyes, his phone was ringing again and that time, he decided to see who it was because it did not look like the person would stop calling. “Hun Bun?” Michael creased his eyebrows. “Who the hell is Hun Bun?”
He stared at the name across the screen, unable to decide if he should pick up or not. He did not save anybody’s number as Hun Bun on his phone, unless it was somebody from the previous night. Michael shook his head at that thought, he had never given anyone his number, no matter how much he had ever been drunk. It was then that he noticed he had seventeen missed calls from that mysterious Hun Bun, who seemed to have taken a liking to him. He scrolled down in his contact to find Calum’s number, only to realise there were names in there that he did not know.
“That’s not my phone,” Michael said as he stared at the device. “Alex, you have my phone. Why do you have my phone?”
Then it hit him; he must have taken the wrong phone from the table when he had gone out the previous day. Calum had been telling him that he had called several times but he did not get any because he was holding on to the wrong phone and since Alex was gone for a few weeks, he would have to deal with that phone itself. As if on cue, the phone again rang and Michael cursed at the device. He would talk to Hun Bun, who he concluded was Luke, later. For the time being, he would just turn it off and sleep.