𝙿𝚎𝚛𝚏𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚆𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚍 - ʟᴜᴋᴇ ᴘᴀᴛᴛᴇʀꜱᴏɴ

𝚂𝚞𝚗𝚜𝚎𝚝 𝚂𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚟𝚎 𝟷.𝟸

𝙵𝚕𝚊𝚜𝚑𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝙽𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚝𝚎𝚎𝚗-𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚝𝚢-𝚝𝚠𝚘, 𝟷𝚊𝚖.

It was late at night, technically the morning, when the doorbell sounded throughout the large house Ashton and her parents lived in. The oldest sibling was first to the door, not wanting to disturb her parents. She opened the door and saw that it was raining outside, and there stood her guitarist, looking up at her with tear-stained eyes.

"Can I come in?" He pleaded her, and she nodded silently. As he walked past, she noticed that he had a loaded backpack strapped to his back. She shut the door behind him and rushed him to the kitchen where she put the kettle on.

She looked at the boy leant against the counter and saw how broken he was, "What are you doing here so late?" She reached up to pick out two cups at random to make hot cocoa, the boy's favourite. "Another argument?"

"Yeah." He nodded weakly as he looked down in shame. "About the band."

"I'm sorry, Luke. What was it this time?" She questioned, knowing about the previous arguments with his parents, mainly his mom.

As Ashton placed the cocoa mix in exact proportions, Luke explained the situation, "They wanted me to quit. No more playing. I couldn't do it, Ash. We've worked too hard for me to just bail."

"You can stay for the night. There's room on the couch for you." She offered with a smile as she poured the water into the mugs. "And then I can walk you back home tomorrow, if you'd like."

"I don't want to go back." He shook his head defiantly. "I was thinking I could stay here for a couple weeks."

"And where would you go after that? You cant expect me to let you live on the streets forever." She handed him one of the drinks, making sure he got the one with extra cinnamon.

"Well, I thought I would go to Alex's house, stay at his for so long before I ask Reggie and the-"

"No, no way." Ashton shook her head firmly. "You cant couch surf, Luke. It's not fair on the others. For now, just get to bed, and I'll see you in the morning. I'll ask mom and dad if you can move in."

Luke's eyes went wide as he choked on his hot cocoa, "You'd do that?"

"You're important to me." She smiled and took her mug upstairs to finish her drink and sleep.

𝙽𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚝𝚎𝚎𝚗-𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚝𝚢-𝚏𝚒𝚟𝚎 - 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚍𝚊𝚢

Ashton smiled as she thought back to the fond memory that she treasured. She was soon taken out of her thought, and focused more on her friend. She rubbed small circles on Alex's back comfortingly as he sobbed into her 'Green Day' shirt she picked up from a concert she went to a few years ago.

"Hey, listen." She pulled away from him, but still held his shoulders firmly. "We're going to be fine. I was pretty dramatic with Luke, but I've got this under control, okay?"

"Yeah." He nodded slightly. "It's just... I didn't get a warning, or any notice. I didn't get the chance to say goodbye to anyone. At all. Not my mom, my friends."

"I know." She sighed as she looked down. "Yeah, it's gonna suck, but we kinda have to suck it up. It's our own faults for eating them stupid hot dogs." She chuckled lightly, trying to lift the mood. "You're gonna be okay."

"Promise?" He held his fifth finger out for her to hold onto.

"Promise." She nodded, shaking their pinkies in an unbreakable vow. "Now, if you don't mind, I'm gonna check on Reggie." She stood up from the floor, and made her way over to the boy in his leather jacket, and sat beside him.