trickery [lashton]

five ♠︎ luke/ashton

"Oh, okay. Who's next on the list?" What he said next made my blood run cold.

"You."

///

"We've talked to all of the suspects on the list. You're actually the only person we haven't marked out," Calum said, his voice deep and calm, while I was practically shaking.

"It all makes sense, you know?" Ashton asked, his eyes locked on mine. "You had candy wrappers right in front of you at the crime scene. You just so happened to be right where we always were. And you smell like strawberry syrup," Ashton informed, causing Luke to take a step back.

"I-I can explain-"

"No, you can't, Luke," Ashton said solemnly, before running a hand through his hair. "I-" he started, before biting his lip. "Dammit, I trusted you."

"I know," I whispered. "I wanted to come clean, but I knew you'd...you'd kill me."

"And why shouldn't he?" Calum asked, crossing his arms.

"I don't...I don't know," I looked down, my eyes brimming with tears. "I deserve it."

"Luke..." Ashton trailed off, causing me to look up into his whiskey eyes, which quickly changed from hurt to anger. "I'll let you go, Luke," Ashton said through clenched teeth. "I'll let you get away, but next time...I won't hesitate to put a stake through your chest, you understand?"

"Ashton, wait. I'm not the big bad wolf in this story."

  "Could've fooled me," Ashton retorted, before leaving us in an unsettling silence. "Go, Luke," Ashton snapped harshly, causing me to flinch.

"Please, just let me explain. I don't want to lose y-"

"I said go!" Ashton roared, and a silence fell over the street. I felt my blue eyes burn with tears, a few falling. I shook my head, before wiping them hastily. I was angry with myself. How could I have let this happen?

"My mother was right. I break everything I touch," I whispered to myself, accidentally speaking aloud the answer to my question. Like my mother said, I wasn't good for anything. I would just create chaos and destroy any hope of love or comfort. I was a monster.

I didn't look at Ashton as I mumbled out an, "I'm sorry," though I knew it was meaningless to him. He didn't care about some several-thousand year old trickster inside the body of a sixteen year old. Why would he? Why would anyone care about me?

I shuffled my feet as I sighed, before disappearing from the scene, trying to forget the hurt in Ashton's beautiful whiskey eyes.

---

-Ashton-

  A knock on the door broke me out of my absentminded staring at the stake that was meant to go through Luke's chest. I sighed, before pulling myself up from the edge of the bed, opening the hotel door. A small teenager stood there, shuffling his feet.

  "Um, hi," he said as he tugged his sweater sleeves over his hands. "Is uh...is Luke here? I saw you two help him today and I just saw you guys walk into this hotel room, so I...I was wondering if I could talk to him."

  Calum came up and stood behind me, eyeing the nervous boy.

  "Luke's gone," I spoke, watching the boy's face fall. His green eyes casted to the ground sadly.

  "Oh," he murmured out.

  "Why did you want to see him?" Calum asked, causing the boy to look up.

  "Well, he uh...him and I have something in common, and he said if I ever needed to talk to someone about it, to come to him."

  "What was that something?" I asked suspiciously, causing the boy's eyes to widen.

  "I uh...I like boys."

  "Wait...Luke was gay?" I exclaimed, before hearing Calum scoff.

  "Are you kidding me? You two had so much sexual tension-"

  "Shut up, Calum."

  "Anyway, since he's not here, I'll go," Michael said, clearing his throat. "I-If you see him, give him this number please." He handed Calum a slip of paper, before mumbling a, "bye," and walking away.

  "He's cute," Calum remarked, causing me to roll my eyes.

  "I'm beyond done with cute boys with innocent eyes." I flopped down onto my bed, staring at the shitty hotel popcorn ceiling. "We should get the hell out of here. Have you found a case?"

  "I just did," Calum said, tossing a newspaper onto Ashton's lap. "Lady found dead in her bathroom, her heart missing in Abingdon, Virginia yesterday." 

  "That's a few towns over. Perfect. I need to get my mind off of everything that's been happening. Let's pack up and hit the road, Jack."

  Calum rolled his eyes at the Ray Charles reference, before him and I packed our bags, checked out and climbed into my black 1978 Lincoln Continental. I started the engine, pulling out of the hotel parking lot as alternative rock blasted through the speakers.

(a/n: short but idc)