EGL // lashton

thirty five

Michael stopped the car as he drove up the driveway. He turned the car off and sighed before turning to look at Ashton.

"Do you need help with anything, or?" he asked and Ashton shook his head without looking at him.

"No. Go inside, I need some time" Ashton spoke shortly and ran a hand over his face, making Michael purse his lips and nod his head.

"I need to talk to you when you're up for it" Michael spoke and gave Ashton a sincere look before exiting the car, leaving Luke and Ashton alone.

Ashton ran a hand through his hair, feeling a cut in his scalp as his fingers ran back and forth over it. His arm around Luke tightened before he spoke through his painfully dry throat.

"Angel," he mumbled as he ran a hand through Luke's hair softly and lifted the blonde's chin. He studied the small cuts all over Luke's face and bit his lip harshly when he eyed the red and wounded skin by Luke's throat.

"I'm not feeling good" Luke whispered, his voice breaking near the end as his soft blue eyes bore into Ashton's dull ones.

"I know" Ashton sighed before nodding his head and reached past Luke to open the car door. "Let's get you inside" he spoke again and wrapped his arms around Luke's small frame, but the young boy moved away.

"What happened?" Luke asked and looked at Ashton with shy yet pleading eyes. "Was this because you didn't want to meet my family? Because it was really stupid, Ashton. It almost killed us and-"

"That's not why, Luke" Ashton said and gave the blonde a stern look, "I made a mistake. I can do that sometimes and unfortunately you were with me this time. I fucked up and I'm gonna have to hear from everyone about this. I'll just rather not hear it from you"

"You can't be mad at me when I did nothing wrong" Luke said and frowned as he watched Ashton with a hurt look on his face.

"I'm not mad at you" Ashton sighed.

"Yes you are, you're scolding me for your own mistakes. You just made the car flip and we could have died. But just because we barely hurt ourselves doesn't mean I'm gonna ignore it" Luke spoke and suddenly looked frustrated, making Ashton furrow his eyebrows.

"I'm not blaming you, Luke. I'm just saying that I'm not stupid. I did something wrong, and I was fucking scared that I had hurt you to the point of you disappearing. Lately it seems like that's the only thing I do and I don't fucking know how to handle it" Ashton spoke and looked into Luke's eyes for a while before turning his head to look outside.

"I'll talk to you later I just- I need to talk to the guys. Just go up to my room and I'll talk to you after" Ashton said and moved his hand to let Luke know he should start moving.

Luke frowned and bit his bottom lip before slowly getting out of the car. Ashton was right behind him, placing a hand on the small of Luke's back as he guided the younger boy to the house. Luke loved away from Ashton's touch and walked the last bit by himself, making Ashton lock his jaw but stay completely silent.

Without a word, Luke walked up the stairs. Ashton's eyes followed him all the way up before the older boy turned to the living room and entered it. Several eyes were set on him, but only Michael's eyes were the ones who actually said something.