"Mummy," Luke whined against his pillow as Liz shook him awake.
It had been two days since Luke's father had hit him, and Liz had been acting a lot nicer. It had also been two days Luke had went to school, or left the house, or just communicated with anyone in general. His phone remained the same place on the floor, only now it was dead, and Ashton had thought Luke was as well.
Ashton knew where Luke lived, so he could always just drop by to see if he was okay, but that didn't seem like a smart idea. Ashton didn't want to invade, Luke didn't know Ashton had heard the conversation between him and his mother, and Ashton was fully aware of that. Besides, he was just hoping Luke was okay.
"C-can I stay home again?" Luke asked hopefully, it was Friday now, so there was really no point in him going.
Liz pushed Luke's hair out of his face that was covering his still bruised eye. She held her breath, then let out a sigh, "One more day Luke, and if Dad comes home when I'm at work just- climb out the window- no- just leave somehow if he comes back, or call me, okay?" Liz said, making Luke frown.
He didn't like the idea of climbing out the window, he didn't want to be scared of his father. A part of him wishes he was bigger and stronger, so he could protect his mother and not have to worry, but that wasn't realistic. Luke just nodded, if his father were to come home he would most likely just hide under his bed in fear.
"And take a shower honey, your hair is getting nasty," Liz said with a laugh, in which Luke copied, "Goodbye."
Luke waited until he had heard her car start and drive off before he pulled himself out of bed. As much as he'd like to just lay in bed all day, his mom was right, he needed to shower.
The blond rubbed his eyes tiredly, but winced when his fingers came in contact with the slightly faded bruise. He shook his head, trying hard not to think about what had happened. Luke exhaled before grabbing some clothes, his phone and charger an heading towards the bathroom.
Luke had forgotten that he was on the phone with Ashton, he had just assumed that his phone was on the ground because he was clumsy and dropped it. If he had known that Ashton heard everything, he would have called him back instantly and made up some bullshit lie about how all the yelling was the tv- or something even more bizarre. He didn't want Ashton to know about his family issues.
It was already bad enough that Ashton knew about Jack's cancer; that was confidential information that Luke hated telling people about. And if he would have thought about his words before he said them, Ashton would still not know about it. But surprisingly, Luke just shrugged it off. Ashton didn't seem to make a big deal about the fact that his brother had cancer.
The blond stood waiting for his phone to turn on after he had plugged it in, he wanted to listen to music in the shower. A large shadow cast over the hallway wall making Luke jump and cower.
"Luke?" The voice called out, making the blond sigh in relief, "The door was unlocked so I just let myself in, are you alright?" Ashton said.
Luke swallowed hard, feeling quite insecure, he walked out from the door he was behind. He almost wanted to scream at Ashton for just letting himself in like that, but he couldn't because before he could even say anything the man was already concernedly walking towards Luke with wide eyes- more than likely focusing on the bruise that still wasn't faded.
"Is this what he did to you?" Ashton asked while gently placing his hands on the boy's jawline, as if he were trying to inspect the injury better.
"Huh?" Luke said while pushing his hands away, "H-how do you know about that?" He asked while backing away with panic rushing through his body.
"Luke, you left the phone on the line, I heard everything between your mom and you," Ashton said while inching towards him, "Are you alright? Did you guys call the pol-"
"No! H- he's a good guy, he just got..." Luke said while playing with his fingers, unsure if it was a logical idea to tell Ashton his father was drunk.
He loved his father, but I mean, it was kind of the same way you love all family members, because everyone around you makes it seem like you have to. Luke's father was like an illness that never went away. The blond wanted so badly to be accepted by him, but it seemed almost impossible. Every chance he got, Luke's father would find a way to put his son down, and Luke hated it.
"Was he drunk?" Ashton asked while gently rubbing Luke's arm.
The younger boy drew in a deep breath, the memory swimming through his mind, making tears form in his eyes, "H-he doesn't drink that much n-not here at least," Luke spoke timidly while moving his greasy hair out from his eyes- he was definitely in need a hair cut.
Ashton didn't care about Luke's appearance at the moment, he didn't care that he looked like he was doing a campaign for drugs, or that his hair looked like mix of so many different distortions, or that his eye was puffy and resembled a summer sunset. All Ashton cared about was that Luke was okay on the inside; not the outside.
"Is that the first time he hit you?" Ashton asked delicately.
It was obvious to Ashton that Luke didn't have the best family, but did anyone really have a good family? Even a family that other would describe as the perfect family has there flaws, whether it be an affair that happened years ago, or the fights that arise behind closed doors, no one ever knows about those.
Ashton didn't know much, but he knew enough. From day one, Ashton could tell that Luke came from a broken home. It was clear when he called him after he dropped him off that Luke's family was a huge mess. Ashton wished he could take Luke, he wished he could remove him from the toxic home and make him feel loved and safe.
Luke quickly nodded at that, it was the first, and the boy was convinced it would be the last. Andy drank when he was out, only this time, something must have happened, causing him to do so around his family. Perhaps his father did need help, and Luke wanted to tell him that so badly, but he knew that would only create more conflict.
"He wont do it again," Luke spoke as if he was certain of it, "Besides, it's my own fault I got hit, I basically asked for it," The blond frowned.
Feeling quite exhausted, and filthy, Luke just wanted Ashton to go away. Yes, the boy was craving some type of comfort, but at the moment, he just wanted to take a shower and get clean first. The boy felt insecure standing in front of Ashton who was well groomed and resembled a model.
"Why would you even begin to think it was your fault? You need to call the po-"
"I'm not calling the police, you're making a big deal out of nothing" Luke tried to sound forceful, but his statement came out more as a whine than anything, "He told me stay in my room, and I didn't, it's my own fault."
Ashton shook his head while grabbing a hold of Luke's shoulders, looking him in the eyes and making him cower down, "Luke, I know from experience that it's going to worse before it gets better, but you cannot let that happen, please, just do something about this, or I will," Ashton said sincerely.
Luke furrowed his eyebrows together, wanting to question Ashton on how he knows all of this, but he decides against it. He truly believes his father will never hit him again, and a part of him tries to convince himself that since he was drunk, it doesn't matter much because his sober father would never do something like that. The weary boy shakes his head, wanting nothing more but for Ashton to just drop the subject.
"Fine," He said while crossing his arms over his chest, "M-my mom might be home soon, you should really leave before she gets here," Luke lied.
It wasn't that he didn't enjoy Ashton's company, he was just longing for some time alone so he could figure what he wanted to do with this entire situation. Even though he knew that telling the police would most likely be the best option, he just wanted to put this behind him and forget about it, all of it.
Ashton exhaled before nodded, "Just please call me later okay? And take care of yourself," Ashton spoke.
Luke smiled at him as he slowly started walking away his eye still on Luke, waiting for an answer, "I will, I promise."
With that said, Ashton walked down the hall and out of the house. Luke waited until he heard the front door shut before he closed the bathroom door and turned the shower on. The light on his phone caught his attention, signalling that it had finally turned back on after being dead for a few days. A sigh fell from his lips as he read through everything Ashton had sent him.
Ashton: I adore you to much for you to get hurt
The text was sent two minutes ago.