Here they sat, two tall boys with a single pizza between them and their legs much too long to be seated properly at the booth. How the nine teenagers managed to sit somewhat comfortably at a booth across the restaurant was a mystery.

Michael didn't know what to say now that he'd saved this Luke boy from the teenagers that were starving for mild bullying. You could see the look they got in their eyes when they glanced over, still consumed in whatever conversation they were apart of but happened to find themselves looking back at Luke with snide smiles and growing smirks.

Luke looked like a mess, he looked grateful of course but he also looked terrified that someone like Michael happened to be seated across from him, had called the boy over to come sit with him. Michael didn't pride himself in being a scary guy but the all black clothing and eyebrow piercing sometimes gave off that impression.

"D'you mind?" The green haired boy asked, gesturing to the all cheese pizza in front of him. The boy ended up visibly flinching at the sudden gesture but quickly nodded, a blush coating his cheeks from having such a bad reaction to the sudden movement.

The boy cleared his throat and looked like he was about to say something when Michael saw movement out of the corner of his eye, one of the boys from the table across the room had gotten up and was making his way over toward them. The boy was a lot shorter than Michael expected but he really didn't have time to dwell on it.

"Someone's coming, start telling a funny story." He urged, leaning across the table a little so he could lower his voice considerably. He sat back in his seat quickly, making it look like he'd just scooted his bum in closer to the table.

"O-One time my brother Jack was playing Guitar Hero and I really wanted to play but he wouldn't let me so I told him I'd jump out the window if he did.... That's the story of how I broke my arm." Luke finished, looking at Michael expectantly. The green haired boy didn't even know how to respond, he just kind of gaped at the blond for a while.

"That's fucking rad," he muttered eventually, forgetting that the reason they were talking or even sitting together was because the boy in front of him is being bullied.

"One time," Michael began, a grin making its way to his face as he recounted his high school mates. "My friends and I were drunk off our asses--this was probably the only time I was that drunk and for good reason too--and one of them suggested that we should play on the jungle gym that the public school had. A lot of shit happened and we ended up at the high school half a mile away, don't ask how because all I can remember is that one of them said he needed to grab his jacket from his locker. Anyway, we accidentally broke into the school and a bunch of other stuff. Long story short, my mates and I put all of the stuff in the principal's office on the roof while drunk. And I fell down the stairs toward the very end and broke my wrist."

Michael took a sip of his coffee as the boy in front of him spluttered a little, "That was you? Oh my god," he laughed. "That's all I heard about for weeks."

The green haired boy was a little surprised that Luke had heard of the ridiculous prank that he and his friends had managed to pull off in their drunken state, it wasn't even their best.

"Is this your boyfriend, Puke?" The teenager who'd slowly made his way over to their table asked with a condescending tone that one would use when they thought they were higher up on the social ladder than the people they were talking to. If there was one thing Michael knew, it was that after high school social status didn't matter very much. Looking at the kitchen staff in the restaurant proved it, a popular boy from Michael's graduating class who had dreams of becoming a famous musician stood there, tapping out a beat with a spoon and spatula. It didn't matter if you were popular in high school because as soon as you were out you had equal chance at success or failure as everyone else.

The guy was more than likely in the same grade as Luke, more than likely a junior because seniors were much more laid back in Michael's experience.

Luke kind of spluttered at the question, not expecting the guy to be so forward in front of someone as intimidating as Michael.

"I'm an old friend of Jack's, I just got back into town and recognized Luke immediately. Two guys can't hang out without you inadvertently thinking we're gay?" Michael asked, looking at the guy with a frown. The boy in question appeared to jump, apparently not expecting Michael to talk to him at all.

Although he'd lost a lot of his faux confidence, he didn't scuttle back to his table with his tale between his legs just yet, he was too proud to give up that easily. "So you don't know? Luke here is gay."

"Okay, cool?" Michael replied, giving the guy a look that read what do I do with this information? "What do you want me to do? Tell his mum?"

The sarcastic response did nothing to please the guy's hunger for making Luke feel bad about himself because he went on to say that the boy would probably become some raunchy exotic dancer in the future.

"Okay, you know what? Just because you literally want to be up his ass, doesn't mean that you can be up his ass all the time about everything." Michael sighed, half a slice of pizza stuff unceremoniously into his mouth as he gave a knowing look to the boy standing in front of him.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, you are acting really gay." Michael stated, looking unimpressed with the crust still hanging out of his mouth. "No guy talks about another guy like that unless they're at least friends, especially if they're  homophobic."

The boy who came over with the full intention of shaming Luke for his sexuality--that was never actually verified--stood completely speechless while Michael tried to fit the rest of the slice in his mouth rather calmly despite having some guy he didn't know spout bullshit about a different sexuality. The boy left without another word.

"Wow," Luke whispered, stunned by the minimal interaction between the two of them. He'd thought it would end with Michael beating the guy senseless for no reason, but he had been judging the guy solely on looks thus far.