AN: Whatever the pairing name for Cynthia and Michael is, I do not ship it.

*Luke's POV*

"Have fun at work!" I exclaimed to Calum as he groaned and walked into the 7-Eleven. He, Pamela, and I had walked to his place so he could change into his uniform. It was already nearing three, so then we walked Calum to the store.

Once Calum had disappeared through the door I turned to Pamela. "I guess it's just us now," I said, scooting closer to her.

"Yeah, no. It's just you," she said, pushing me slightly away. "I need to head home. My uncle came to rant about work and he needs a therapist, and that therapist being me."

I began to pout. "Aw, I can't go with you?"

"No. You know the rules of the house: unless it's a special event, you're not allowed to step foot inside."

"But being with you is already special enough." Pamela giggled, planting a kiss on my cheek. My frown curved into a smile. "What's your uncle's job? It seems like he's always stressed out from that."

"I don't even know, he won't tell me. He just complains how nothing ever goes right at work."

"Oh, I see. Well, I hope everything gets better for him in the future." Pamela nodded and I leaned towards her, closing my eyes and puckering my lips. I felt her soft lips press against mine for a brief second and I just kept smiling. I stood up straighter and saw Pamela was already leaving. "See you tomorrow, Pam?"

She turned around and smiled. "Definitely. I'll be at your door at ten tomorrow." I waved and she waved back before she looked straight ahead and walked off.

I leaned against the wall, shoving my hands into my pockets as I watched Pamela leave. Once she was out of sight I fixed my quiff and peered into the 7-Eleven store. I saw that Calum was just leaning over the counter on his phone. I let out a sigh before entering the store.

Calum looked up and his eyes met mine. I gave him a small wave before muttering, "Hi."

"You're eight hours early," he said as I approached the counter, resting my elbows on top of it.

"I know that. You just looked incredibly bored, so I decided that maybe I'll chill with you."

"Yeah, beautiful." He turned his attention back to his phone and I glanced down at his phone, trying to see what he was doing. The screen was so dark, and I wondered how he could even see it.

"What are you doing?" I asked, pointing at his device.

"Playing this game called Chuzzle," he answered, his eyes still glued onto the very dim screen.

"What's that?"

"It's a game where you kill these cute, little puff balls."

"That doesn't sound like a nice game at all."

"Don't worry. They're masochists; they like to explode and die."

"Oh." I drummed my fingers against the counter as he swiped his finger left to right, up and down. "Why's your screen so dark?"

Calum groaned before looking up. "Why are you being so annoying?"

"Curiosity, you know?"

"Saves my phone battery. Now, no more questions. I must get rid of this fatso that's taking up one-fourth of the screen." I heard some beeping sound and I turned my attention to the door, seeing two little boys entering the store. They had on backpacks that looked as if they were empty. They glanced our way, but when they saw I was looking at them they averted their eyes to the ground.

I was getting suspicious. I don't trust these boys.

"I'm going to check on those two kids there," I whispered to Calum, who hummed in response. "Dude, stop killing fluff balls and keep your eye out." I didn't wait for him to say anything before I began walking deeper into the store. I walked through the aisles a couple of times until I was now close to the aisle where the boys were. I peered around the corner and watched the two kids.

They looked from left to right, but I was thankful when they didn't see me. I saw one of them remove his backpack from his shoulders and unzip it. Then he grabbed the box that held the snickers bars and dumped it into his backpack.

Those little dweebs are stealing, and I refuse to just hide here and watch them get away with it.

I finally came into view and called them out, "Hey!" They both jumped and their eyes went wide as they looked up at me. "Hand over that backpack!"

"Wh-Why?" said one of them as he backed away from me. The one who had the backpack filled with the candy stood where he was, his eyes glaring at me. He didn't look the least bit terrified.

"We didn't do nothing wrong," he snapped.

"Right. You didn't do nothing wrong, because you did do something wrong. I saw what you did, stuffing all those candy bars in your backpack. Hand it over, or I might have to call the poli- SHIT!" The next thing I knew the braver kid swung his foot right in between my legs, but I had already brought my knees together before he could hurt me worse.

When the kid saw that his attempt to kick me in between didn't work he made a bolt for it. His friend was cowering in place, probably peeing his pants right now. I ignored him and ran after the other kid.

"Luke? What's going on?" Calum questioned, finally looking up from his phone. I didn't answer him, because I was already running out of the store, chasing after that little brat.

He was fast on his legs, but I was faster. I guess being on the track team for two years helped me.

The kid ran across the street despite the light being red. A car was coming his way and the idiot kid decided to stop like he was a deer.

"Move, damn it!" I shouted, grabbing the kid by the waist and literally throwing the both of us back onto the sidewalk, sliding on the concrete a bit. The car didn't even slow down. The guy just honked at us and kept driving away. Fucking dumbass, trying to kill pedestrians.

When the boy and I fell onto the sidewalk I had ended up beneath him, cushioning his fall. I didn't release the kid though. I was too busy taking in deep breaths and trying to calm my racing heart. I could've died, because of this idiot here.

"Adam!" someone exclaimed. I lifted my head up a bit and saw the other boy on the other side of the street. Once the light turned green he immediately ran across.

The kid apparently named Adam had his head rested on my chest and he pulled himself up, staring at me.

"Y-You saved me," he breathed out.

"Yeah, I did," I replied as he stood up, extending his hand out to me. I took his hand and he helped me up. I felt my back stinging a bit when I stood up and I leaned forward, groaning.

"Are you okay?"

I chuckled before giving him a nod. "Don't worry about me, but you can repay me by handing back the candy bars." Adam nodded before going over to his backpack that was lying on the ground. He picked it up and handed it to me. "H-Hold it for a sec. My back's killing me."

"O-Okay..."

"Want me to get you back to the 7-Eleven?" asked Adam's friend, and I nodded at him.

"Please and thank you." He hooked my arm around his shoulder and Adam did the same thing and the two began helping me across the street. My back was hurting from the impact of falling onto the hard sidewalk and from the burning feeling. I must've scraped my back from that fall, but it can't be that bad. My shirt didn't rip behind, so the damage can't be that bad.

Once the three of us got inside the store Calum literally jumped over the counter and rushed over to me.

"Oh, my God, Luke, what happened to you?!" he exclaimed, taking me off of the two boys' hands. He led me to the counter and told me to lean over it. I did as he said, using my elbows to support me.

"My back hurts and burns, though," I told Calum. I felt the cold air hit my back as Calum lifted my shirt. I heard him hiss as if he was slightly disgusted.

"You've got a burn mark on your back. It's not too bad, but it doesn't look too good either. I'll go get the rubbing alcohol from the backroom so it doesn't get infected."

Oh, no.

As Calum ran off I was too busy groaning at the pain.

"Go put the candy back!" I heard Adam's friend yell. I couldn't see what they were doing, but I did hear foosteps, and I assumed Adam went to put the snicker bars back.

Every few seconds I would feel the burn and I would suck in a deep breath, trying my hardest to not curse out loud.

Moments later Calum had returned with the rubbing alcohol, and I could feel my heart speed up, terrified of the feeling of the liquid on my skinned back.

"Okay, Luke, this may hurt a bit, so bear with me here," Calum said. Even though he said it was going to hurt only a little, I knew better. It wasn't going to hurt a bit. It was going to feel like a million fire ants biting into my back.

Then Calum rubbed a cotton ball that had the rubbing alcohol on it onto my back, and that's when all hell broke loose.