shadows - lashton

Chapter 17

*Ashton's P.O.V*

Admiring the way his eyes lit up at my response, my face broke into a grin and I reached over the metal bars either side of my bed to hug him. Laughing a little when I realised I couldn't quite reach, he leant forward and pulled me closer to him, holding my body against his as I relaxed into his chest.

He was finally mine.

For some reason I feared this was all a dream, that maybe I'd taken a harder bang to the head than anyone thought. But even if it wasn't real, in this moment, he was still mine.

"Ashton, are you okay?" Luke asked, apparently concerned by the way I was so unable to focus on anything, and continuously drifted in and out of reality.

"Huh?"

Luke didn't respond, but instead threw his head back in amusement and laughed loudly, not caring about how much of an idiot he looked or that someone might hear.

I frowned, before stammering out a couple of words in a failed attempt not to hint at my confusion. "W-wait, what's so f-funny?"

"Nothing," he grinned, a moment of calm washing over him before letting another loud chuckle escape his lips.

I hissed at him and warned there were people outside very insistent on keeping their rules about noise during visiting hours, but watching the way his eyes crinkled and glowed was something I could never get tired of.

"Okay," Luke breathed deeply, finally able to control himself. "I think I'm okay now. I don't even know what was funny - it just was, you know?"

"You're funny," I laughed, and with no warning he completely broke down. I couldn't help but join in, although my head throbbed a little and my heart was thudding so hard in my chest I had to stop and catch my breath.

Moments later, the door was pushed slowly opened by a nurse who looked far from impressed, immediately forcing Luke into silence. "Mr Hemmings, is it? I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave, your friend needs some time to rest."

I nodded at Luke, assuring him that I would be fine without his company for a short while. Much to my surprise, he headed towards the door with next to no attempt at fighting to remain by my side, turning around to smile lovingly at me before I was left alone. Sighing loudly, I rested my head against the pillow.

I still understood so little about him. Sure, I knew his name and I'd seen his house, but everything else was the old Luke Hemmings, and he might as well have been a different person entirely. What about his favourite food? Favourite band? A film that always makes him sob hysterically in front of the TV? He was my boyfriend, yet he was a stranger.

Love always wins in the end though, right?

~

"You're free to leave," the doctor smiled, and I nodded gratefully in response. "I'll go and find your friend, um, boyfriend to help you get ready."

A few minutes after he left, Luke ran into the room and threw a pair of jeans and a shirt in my face. "I thought you might not want to wear your other clothes, so I went home and got you some of mine. We're about the same size - I hope they're alright."

"I'm sure they're fine, honestly. Thanks Luke, I love you."

"I love you too," he grinned, pressing his lips against my cheek. Despite how casual it was for a first kiss, words couldn't have expressed how much it meant.

Luke helped me out of the bed and onto my feet, my lack of balance and inability to stand entirely unaided being painfully obvious. But he held me firmly so that I wouldn't fall, and after a long struggle I was finally out of the hospital gown.

Standing in the centre of the room wearing just my boxers wasn't as embarrassing as I thought it would be, we were both guys after all and now we were dating, so I realised I had no reason to feel awkward about it. The floor was like ice against my bare feet, and I became quite self conscious when I realised Luke was frowning sadly at the bruises that littered my chest. I tried to ignore it the best I could, but I wasn't fond of the sympathy.

The more difficult part came next, climbing into the jeans that just had to be skinny and then getting a shirt over my head, which thankfully was no longer bandaged. The experience was not enjoyable, but I endured it.

Once I was fully clothed and feeling a little more like myself, I signed the discharge papers and was then allowed to leave. Luke lifted my arm around his neck to support me and, eventually, we passed through the main entrance.

"I'm so glad that we're finally out of there," Luke sighed with relief, temporary placing me down on a nearby bench. "I hate hospitals."

"Why?" I asked, simply curious.

"I don't know, they just - scare me, I guess."

I nodded understandingly, knowing that there was more to it than that but too tired to push him into saying something he quite clearly didn't want to.

Luke called for a taxi, and as soon as it arrived and he had helped me in, he appeared to be a lot calmer. Clearly, he really did hate hospitals.

"Where do you want to go?" The driver asked, prompting me to begin handing over my address before Luke interrupted.

"No! We're, uh - we should go back to my place," he explained, suddenly seeming more nervous than before.

"Why can't we go back to mine?" I questioned as the driver started the engine, and Luke broke off our eye contact and stared out the window.

"What is it? What's happened?" But he didn't respond, making me wonder just what he was trying to hide from me. "Luke, please just tell m-"

"He's dead." He snapped, making me jump slightly at his outburst.

"Who's dead?" I asked as calmly as possible, I didn't need to get myself in a state over something that was probably nothing.

"I'm so sorry Ashton, I didn't mean to hurt him I promise," he panicked. "It was just before you fell and I froze, then his lifeless body was lying at the top of the stairs and your broken one at the bottom, it just all happened so quickl-"

"Luke, slow down. Are you trying to say that my dad is... Dead?"

He nodded slowly, refusing to look in my direction, and I realised I had no idea how I was supposed to respond to the news. Should I celebrate? Grieve? Do nothing? At least he couldn't hurt me anymore, but he was still my dad.

"Oh god, please say something," Luke sobbed. "Anything."

"I-I-" I stammered, trying desperately to force a word or two past my trembling lips.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't want any of this to happen," he said as another sob shook his body. Luke leant forward as though to reach my hand, but stopped and sunk silently into his seat.

"T-this isn't y-your fault," I finally managed to say, mentally applauding myself for successfully forming a full sentence, despite the stuttering.

"I wish you were right," he whispered and the rest of the journey was silent, me dreading what I would find when I finally did go home.

~~~~~~~

A/n: update ey! This took a while I'm sorry, but I love you all for staying with me x