GOLDEN, luke hemmings

XX: THE HARSH TRUTH

She knew it wasn't Becca, but she hoped it was.

As unreadable as Becca seemed, she loved Ava and would do anything for her. Right now, she was at work so that they could still have a place to live, but for days on end she catered to Ava's every need and gave her pep talks, telling her how beautiful she was and how she was worth the universe and all the stars. Becca even did all the laundry and dishes which is something she never did.

Another dark, twisted part of her really wanted whoever has just walked in to be Luke so that she could yell at him and get mad at him and slam the door in his face, just to let him in and forgive him only if he got down on his knees—if he could in those tight skinny jeans of his—and begged. But after that stunt he pulled, it would take a lot more than just begs for Ava to trust him again.

He hurt her; you're not supposed to hurt your friends. Well, not purposefully or anything other than the accidental push or slap—and it hurt Ava that his primary reaction to disaster was to literally and mentally unfriend her, like blocking her out as though she was some anonymous person who bothered him on Instagram.

She stayed still as the floorboards creaked, almost scared of who the person could be. If it was a murderer, this just goes to prove that this was officially the worst week of her life.

"Hey, Ava. I know that you're trying to suffocate but if you're trying to die, please don't do it while I'm here. I'd rather not be accused of foul play," A voice said and Ava scrunched her brows, adjusting herself slightly so that she could take a small peak at the person through a slit in the sheets.

"Why are you here? Aren't you supposed to be the one talking trash about me to Luke? Or whatever you mates do," She retorted, her voice nasally and quiet. On any other occasion, she would have been intimidating and her sarcasm would've come off clear, but as of now she sounded far from it. In fact, she sounded defeated and depressed.

"Yeah, well I'm sure you know that Luke and I haven't been the best of friends, and he hasn't left his room at all anyways," Calum points out, sighing deeply as he runs his hands through dark hair, taking a seat on the bed, next to a lump where Ava's legs remained. Ava didn't even question how he got in, by now she's sure that Becca has given him a spare key.

Calum glances at her and smiles, and she holds back the urge to groan and roll her eyes again. There was something sickeningly sweet about Calum and she knew that if he smiled at her, she'd start smiling too. Looking at him, she wishes that she had met someone like him, fallen for someone like him. Someone who stuttered every time they met a cute girl or someone who was terrible at cooking but tried to learn their partner's favourite meal anyway because they wanted to do something nice.

Someone who wouldn't have gotten her into this mess.

"Are you okay?" He asked, trying his best to comfort her. He didn't exactly know how to treat his girlfriend's best friend when said friend was halfway through crying their heart out.

She turned over, hitting his side with her covered foot softly, and pushed herself under the blankets once again. Muffled but clear enough to hear she responded: "That was a stupid question."

"I know," he whispered and said nothing after that. He sat in silence and glanced around her room, recognizing a State Champs shirt that he knew for sure belonged to Luke. He grinned at the sight and turned back to Ava. "Ashton was going to come too, but one of your friends ran into us on the way here and said he wanted help buying something to cheer you up so Ashton's with him. And then Ashton went back to check up on Luke."

"Friend?" She perked up, words slightly hard to understand as she was covered by layers of cotton and polyester. "What friend?"

"First, let me do something. Don't punch me," Calum teased and pulled back the blankets from her face, exposing the numerous amount of tissues and pillows she had next to her. He frowned at her crimson eyes and leaking makeup. "And your friend, he has bleached hair and I think he works with you."