conquer// 5SOS

20

"I shouldn't have brought Freya in this situation," he choked, even though the fresh air purified his lungs again. The outside had become foreign again.

"In what way did you bring her into it? Remember, I decided to put her in the home with you,"

"By bringing her into my life,"

"Has that not brought good things though?"

"Yeah, but bad too,"

"And we should focus more on the good things. We will work through the bad, so we can look at the good,"

"Calum will be really upset,"

"Well he will have to realise it's not his fault either,"

"I've brought Freya back in here now too,"

"Luke, take a seat,"

They sat on a bench together and faced each other, Luke missing his calmness. His mum and Michael were polar opposites.

"You haven't thought about yourself at all. Freya went through this, and Calum will be upset, but your mind was confused too. You went through things too, and you don't deserve to get that dismissed,"

"I know,"

"You mum messed up your thoughts, didn't she? You were confused about our brothers, and confused about why you didn't feel like it was your home,"

"Yeah,"

"You're a victim too, Luke. I don't want you telling me or yourself that you caused this, when you haven't. Both you and Freya took it upon yourselves to keep each other as safe and happy as possible,"

"Like when I took her away from the smoking?"

"Exactly, or when you made her a birthday breakfast. You were feeling sick, and anxious, and you did it anyway,"

"It's just because it was my home, and I wanted to feel safe, and for her to be welcome,"

"I know, that's why you've blamed yourself about it going wrong. Not everything can be perfect, and things don't always follow a plan. There are unexpected twists and turns in life- like this one- that we can't prepare for. It's the response that's important,"

"If I don't feel comfortable in a situation, I should stay calm and take a step away,"

"If it's appropriate then yes. If you don't understand, it's okay to ask for more explanation,"

"Calum won't be mad at me?"

"He will be more focused on making sure you're okay. Mali and Naomi will help him channel his anger in a good way, because he might be upset you didn't tell him,"

"Yeah,"

"Are you happy to live with them?"

"Yeah, I wish I was living with you, but they're amazing too,"

"You can talk with Mali and Calum openly, can't you? And I'll still come on a home visit while Ashton comes to see Freya,"

"Are you best friends with Ashton?"

"I'd say so, yeah,"

"Can I be best friends with Freya and boyfriend and girlfriend?"

"Yeah, is that what you are now?"

"We don't know,"

"Perhaps you should talk to her and see how she sees it. You don't have to put a label on it, but you need to understand her feelings too,"

The wind started to pick up so they stood up, heading towards the entrance again. Luke's hair blew in her face and he had to tuck it behind his ears, something he never really thought of. Usually it just flopped, and he let it be.

Ever since his mum had asked when he was cutting his hair, he found it uglier and uglier . He couldn't look in the mirror without hearing it either.

"I understand why Freya's nervous to live with you,"

"Why?"

"I guess because of the few days with you, she knows she wasn't nice. I promise she is now,"

"I know, Luke,"

"And she hasn't said this but I tried to think about how she felt. I think she thinks something is wrong with her because my mum never tried to speak, and she worried she's upsetting people,"

"That was really good, and probably true Luke," he smiled, opening the door. He was so proud of the boy for being able to do that now, and was becoming more hopeful.

"I promise you that I will look after her. I'll give her movie nights that you could still come to, I'll help her cook, I'll take her out to shop,"

"You're really kind,"

"Do you think she'll like it, and will you like it with Mali?"

"Yeah, thankyou,"

"Good. It's not wrong for you to need that extra bit of support. It's only wrong when you don't get it,"