7 Minutes In Heaven // Lashton

Chapter 23

Ashton noticed that Luke had been acting rather strange around Calum ever since they met at his place a few days ago. It was like Luke had something against the kid, but Ashton couldn't figure out what because Calum had done nothing wrong and hasn't acted any certain way other than a shy nerdy kid. He had invited Calum to sit with him and Luke at lunch and it was like Luke turned into a snobby bitch like Sierra and company were. When it was just Ashton and Luke, he was fine and didn't act like a little bitch at all.

He wanted to confront him about it, but he figured that he should talk to Michael since he knew him best. Ashton knew that Luke and Michael weren't talking to each other, but he didn't know why. All Michael told him was that Luke was acting immature and that he was to talk to Michael when he grew up. Ashton didn't think the two had ever fought, considering they used to be attached at the hip. In a way, he felt guilty and he wanted to help mend the fences because of how strong the two's friendship had been, but at the same time, he knew that it wasn't any of his business and he didn't want to meddle in it. It would mess things up more than they already were.

So, instead of staying after school with Luke and keeping him company while he did his chemistry homework, Ashton went to Michael's house to talk to him and help him understand Luke. He hadn't talked to Michael as much because the boy kept his distance for some reason. He was curious, but he didn't want to ask and get into his business.

It took a few knocks until Michael opened the door. He looked tired and slightly sad, which made Ashton extremely curious as to what was going on with him.

"Hey, Ashton," Michael greeted with a tired smile.

"Hey, Michael," Ashton said, returning the smile.

Michael opened the door wider and moved out of the way to let Ashton in. He had only been to his house once or twice and it always smelled like cinnamon. It was a nice smell in Ashton's mind. It made him think that Michael's mum was a good cook or baker even though he's never met her.

Michael led Ashton up to his room, figuring that it was better to do their business up there in case his mum or dad would decide to come home from work early. Ashton had told him that he needed help with telling his mum and aunt about his newfound sexuality even though Michael wasn't gay and hasn't come out to anybody. He was just thinking that Ashton wanted him as moral support.

Ashton sat down on Michael's bed and Michael closed the door and took a seat in his good ol' gaming chair.

"And how can I help you today, Mr. Irwin?" Michael asked, making his voice all professional sounding and folded his hands.

"Really?" Ashton asked, quirking his eyebrow in amusement.

"What? I feel like a shrink," Michael joked, a smirk forming on his face. "Anyway, what's up?"

"I needed to talk to you about-"

"Coming out to your parents even though I'm not gay," Michael finished.

"No...actually, it's something else," Ashton admitted.

"But you said on the phone that it was coming out," he pointed out.

"I know...and I lied. I didn't think that you would want to talk to me if I told you what I really wanted to talk about," Ashton said. Michael nodded, opening his mouth to say something, but Ashton beat him to it. "I can't help but notice that you and Luke barely ever speak to each other anymore, so I was kind of hesitant to ask you, so that's why I lied to you."

"You're right. Luke's acting like a little bitch, but I would help either of you if you needed it," Michael told him. "So, what's going on?"

Ashton told Michael about what happened with Ricky, Alec, Seth and Jack and how he had met Calum at Starbucks. And then he went into detail about how Luke acted like Calum had done something wrong when all he did was be the shy little nerd that he was and that Luke would never hang out with him if Calum was going to be there.