Damage

Chapter 41

okay, so a few people have been asking and here is my social media info lol

my instagram - daniellestez

my personal tumblr - daniellestez.tumblr.com

so anyway, i really hope you like this chapter! the next one will be....soon lol. like, VERY SOON. enjoy <3 

LUKE

The doorman lets me up without even having to call because he knows me. I can't even count the number of times I've come here before - young, old, sober, drunk, high, everything in between.

Calum lives in the penthouse of his building like me. His family, although not as rich as mine, is still pretty fucking rich. Calum, like me, will be inheriting it. The only difference is that he has to split it with his sister. I get everything.

Our families have been friends for years. We're business magnates and investors. They manage assets and investments. It's perfect symbiosis.

I open the door to Calum's penthouse and wave at Calum and Ashton who are hanging out on the couch.

"Do you want a drink? Smoke?"

I shake my head and sit on the couch. Calum says something but I don't notice because my phone buzzes. It's a text from Mia.

Way too much food. Thank you, though.

I smile - I know she's definitely going to light into me when I get back to my place. She's being nice over text.

"Luke?"

"Yeah, what?"

"I said, I can't believe you just turned down a drink."

"I want to stay levelheaded."

Calum laughs. "Yeah, exactly. I want to stay levelheaded, too. That's why I'm not drinking. You, on the other hand, need a drink to stay levelheaded."

Ashton looks down at his phone, probably reading a text from some girl. "Luke's not drinking for another reason" he says, deadpan.

I glare at Ashton from the side of my eye. Calum and I are closer friends than me and Ashton but he still doesn't know that Mia's been spending the weekend at my place. Ashton doesn't think we should be together and I know Calum would agree.

He's my best friend, but I don't need his fucking mouth running 24/7 about how I'm going to ruin Mia's life. Even if he would probably be right.

"Did you do Fashion Week stuff?" Calum asks.

"If by involved you mean going to the parties, then a little, yeah," I respond.

"Please, you went to, maybe, two after parties," Calum smirks.

"Everyone was asking about you...." Ashton mentions, his expression blasé. He normally watches the shows, showing up on front-row pictures. "Fucking...," his voice goes higher to imitate the voices of the whinnying models, "Where's Luke? Why isn't he here? He never comes out anymore!"

I roll my eyes. "They only wanted one thing," I say, mentioning what I haven't talked about in a while.

"Yeah, and it wasn't your cock," Calum cracks himself up.

"Dude, you're like a....goddamn...chupacabra...," Ashton says, sounding perpetually high even though he isn't...right now. "Always in the shadows, even when we used to go out all the time."

"New York's Bad Boy," Calum chuckles, bringing back memories of tabloid spreads and endless drugs.

We reminisce for a while and laugh, but then we remember the darker aspects. The chapters of mine that we won't read aloud.