car keys • a.i.

ten

Luke hadn't slept in days, so Isla decided that the best thing that she could do for him was to tuck him up in her bed and nurse him for the night. He hadn't gotten sleep because of her, so she decided that it was now her turn to defy sleep for him.

"Shh, Luke. You need to get some sleep," Isla said calmly to a still-shivering Luke. She also decided to text his mother to inform her that he wouldn't be home for the night and that he was staying over at hers.

"There's n-no point in t-texting my mum, she grounded-d me, remember?" Luke whined. He was still in a state of sobbing quietly to himself and whispering things along the lines of, "I'm sorry, I'm so so sorry."

Isla's phone beeped a few minutes later.

From: Liz

He's been crying for you all week, Isla. Please try and help him. Please. x

"W-what did she say?" Luke asked quietly. His stuttering had faded a little, but he was still struggling to form the words to make a sentence.

Isla looked up from her phone screen. "She's absolutley fine with it, Luke. You have nothing to worry about."

Isla watched as Luke's tensed-up body relaxed and his sobbing became lighter until his eyes fluttered closed.

She stood up from her position of sitting next to Luke on her bed and decided to go and make herself a cup of tea.

Her mind raced and guilt still washed through her veins as she remembered that Luke was in that state because of her. She should have went to his apartment to check on him and she should have replied to his texts.

Isla's thoughts were interrupted by a knock at her door. She wasn't expecting anyone and she certainly wasn't feeling up to seeing anyone. She didn't want to shout to ask who it was either incase she woke Luke up.

"Hello?" she said in almost a whisper as she opened the door slightly. It was dark and all she could see was a black shadow obstructing her view.

"Isla," the familiar voice said. "It's Ashton. Can I please come in?"

Isla's body tensed as she opened the door more to get a better view of Ashton. He was wearing a tank top which showed his bare arms - a part of his body that Isla had never seen bare before as his leather jacket had always been covering them. His left arm adorned a masterpiece of punk-looking tattoos and his biceps were some of the best biceps that Isla had ever seen.

"Sure," she whispered. "Please be quiet, though, because Luke is sleeping."

They made their way over to the couch before sitting down.

"Is he okay?" Ashton asked. "He hasn't replied to a single one of my texts all week and I got really worried. I went to his apartment but his mum said he was here so I thought it would be best to come and check on him."

"Yeah, he'll be okay. I'm going to take care of him for a few days."

"Can I help?"

"No," Isla stated firmly. "I mean, no. He's too fragile at the moment and I don't think he'd want many people to see him like this."

"Is he really that bad?" he asked.

"Yes, he's really that bad."

Along with Luke's shaky and messy appearance, Isla noticed that he had lost a lot of weight within the past week. His cheek bones were a lot more prominent and, when Isla hugged him before he got into bed, she could feel the difference in weight in the rest of his body.

Ashton sighed and put his head into his hands. "This is my fault."

"No, it's mines. I should have never shouted at him and I shouldn't have ignored his texts. I feel so guilty, Ashton. I don't know what to do."

"Listen, he'll be fine. He'll get over it, Isla. Trust me."

It felt weird for Isla to be hearing advice about her best friend of eleven years from a guy who'd known him for five weeks.

"Thanks, Ash. I really appreciate it."

Ashton internally swooned at the fact that she had called him my his nickname. "I had something else that I wanted to ask you, by the way."

"And that is?" Isla asked curiously, looking into his eyes. She adored his eyes - they were so beautiful.

"Will you, um, would you like to go on a-"

"Hold on two seconds," Isla interrupted as her phone started ringing.

Ashton sighed and released a shaky breath.

"Hey, yeah, yeah, that's fine. Of course I do, yeah. Yep I'm still free Friday night, okay I'll do that, okay, see you soon, love you."

A man's voice could be heard on the other side of the phone - muffled and awfully quiet, yes, but it was a man's voice.

Ashton didn't know what being heartbroken felt like, but he certainly felt a slight shattering within his heart when the words "love you" escaped Isla's mouth to a man that wasn't him.

-

gUYS omg okay so I started University a few weeks ago which is why my updates have been so slow, but I promise that I will try to update more frequently!!

I love you all lots and thank you so so much for reading!

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