Clean ⇔ Cashton ✓

Prologue

Calum was seventeen years old when he first met Luke.

The first thing Calum noticed about him wasn't his clear blue eyes, or his towering height, or the ring that caught itself on his lower lip. Not that those things weren't wonderfully eye-catching-- because they were. But when the brown haired boy walked into the meeting room of that huge college on the border of California, the first thing he noticed about Luke was his composure. The way he carried himself.

Luke had a way about him that was made clear to Calum before he was even able to speak a word. His shoulders were rolled back, head held high, a confident smile playing on his lips. The people around him seemed to make a clear path without Luke even uttering a sound. It caught Calum off guard at first, considering he was already nervous as it was, shadowing a stranger at a college he'd never visited. But Luke was the first person Calum ever encountered that made the blood under his skin turn to fire.

"Calum Hood?" He had said, and Calum stepped forward, walking until he stopped a few feet in front of Luke. His lips turned upwards at the corners, a kind smile covering his face. Calum remembers his eyes standing out brightly against his pale skin, stubble growing over his jawline.

"That's me." Calum said, and Luke lifted a hand to pat his shoulder, leaving it there as he guided him out of the room and into the main hallway.

"So you're interested in attending college here, hm?" Luke said, glancing down at the boy as he lead him down the hallway. As people passed them, Calum couldn't help but notice how each of them nodded or smiled at Luke, which Luke kindly returned. It was clear that Luke was well liked in this place.

"Yes." Calum replied, nodding slightly as he look back up at Luke. The height difference was almost daunting. "What are you studying?"

"I'm majoring in Computer Engineering." Luke said confidently, subtly telling Calum that he was extremely smart, and he knew it. Calum could have already guessed by the way he dressed: an expensive gold watch clasped over his wrist and fitted clothing trimming his body.

Calum nodded, about to reply when he noticed Luke staring intently at him.

"Your eyes are stunning, Calum." Luke had said, making Calum's chest tighten. "They're beautiful." The intensity in his eyes as he said it made the boy look down at his shoes, a blush covering his cheeks.

"Thank you." Calum said softly, while Luke tilted his head, a frown forming on his lips.

"Do you not get told that often?" Luke asked, and Calum's throat tightened. He shrugged under his stare, and Luke shook his head. "You deserve better," He said, and then he wrapped his fingers tight around Calum's wrist, continuing to pull the boy through the hallways as though he never had said anything at all.

Calum fell for him faster than he should have, he knows. But Luke was so kind, he showed him he cared, which was more than Calum could say about anyone in his life at that point. So he said yes when Luke asked him out to dinner a couple weeks later.

He also said yes when Luke asked him to move in with him when Calum turned eighteen, knowing his parents couldn't care less.

Calum agreed to anything that left his lips, and maybe that was his mistake. Because then, it became that saying no wasn't an option anymore. It became then that the shadows in the corners of the room started to be a lot more dangerous than they were before, and Luke controlled it all with a demanding fist.

Maybe that was his mistake, falling for him too fast. Maybe then Calum's skin would be clean, and he wouldn't be trapped in the hell that he's now.

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A/N: so this is my new story! I hope you guys read it and like it because I'm super excited for it.

please comment your thoughts and vote. I'll post the first chapter soon, since this is simply the prologue.

also PLEASE check out my new story "Ghost" and tell me what you think! takk bedankt thank you gracias merci

love you to the moon.

bye.