"He thinks he's five, what the hell did you expect me to do?" The man yelled viciously.
"I think you've gave him enough insecurities to live with these past few years," Liz shouted back with a scowl on her face, "If you ever hit him again I wont even hesitate to call the police on your ass."
"Maybe next time I'll hit you instead," He spoke, his tall figure cowering over his wife. Liz cringed as his breath hit her nose, he reeked of cigarettes and vodka.
He also smelled like hours of working over time and late night gas station runs. He was definitely not someone that you would want to be around longer than you had to. Liz found herself backing away from the man; not only because he had a foul odor, but also because she was terrified of what he might do to her.
Luke sat on the floor of his bedroom, his back pushing up against his door, as well as his ear, trying to hear the conversation between his parents in the room over. There were tear tracks on his cheeks, he hated it when his parents fought, especially when it was about him. The boy often found himself wondering what would happen if his parents did get divorced. A part of Luke wished they would get divorced sometimes, it would most likely stop a large percentage of the complications in his life.
The other part of him was certain it would just create more conflict, and he wasn't ready to come to full a understanding that his parents did not love each other anymore. If they separate, Luke was certain he would go with his mother, wherever she would go, and he would never see his father again, which might not be so bad. Honestly, Luke didn't want to be with either of them.
Luke found himself worrying about his future, he was scared that the person he fell in love with would eventually stop loving him back. For example, when Luke loves something simple, like a food, he will eat that consistently, and eventually, he will grow tired of it. It terrified Luke that something you once loved could soon be your least favorite thing.
-
It was late at night, and Luke's parents most definitely thought their son was sleeping. His room was almost completely dark, except for the small night light that had Disney princesses on it, which Luke absolutely loved. The blond carefully slipped out of his room, holding as his breath until he heard a snore come from his parents room, first his mother's, then his father's.
When Luke was tired he often didn't think about his actions, his mother had even tried to get him meds for these compulsive thoughts, but the doctor just laughed and said that's how everyone is. Luke didn't quite understated that, if it was such a normal thing then why did everyone always get so angry at him for the actions he does in times like this?
If he were thinking straight, this entire idea would have seemed like the stupidest thing ever, but that is the thing, Luke wasn't thinking straight. The boy slowly opened up the cabinet, he can vividly remember his mother always tell him that cabinet wasn't for little boys, somehow those thoughts slipped away as he finger danced over the surface of the bottle of whiskey.
Luke has never had a way to deal with his problems, nothing out of the normal, what he did wasn't dealing with them, it was the problem. While people turned to coping mechanisms like drugs and harming themselves, Luke usually just slept his problems away. Now, Luke was curious about all of this. Did any of it actually help?
Opening the cap and tilting his head back, Luke downed the liquid. It burned going down, and he almost thought it wouldn't even stay down. Surprisingly, it did.
-------
"Hello?" Ashton said groggily into the phone. He had been sound asleep when he got the call, and he hadn't even looked to see who was calling.
"Ashy," Luke slurred while sitting down on a curb in the middle of nowhere. The bottle of whiskey still remained in his hand, "I- Are you home- I went to McDonald's and th-" Luke was interrupted hiccuping, "They told me that you weren't there, and then they told they were going to call the cops if I didn't leave," Luke spoke while standing up.
"God-" Ashton said, now fully awake, "Are you drunk?"
"Am I!" Luke yelled loudly, "Sorry- I-"
"Okay, where the hell are you, I'm coming to pick you up," Ashton spoke while getting out of bed and slipping his shoes on.
"McDonald's, down that one road by it- and uh, there's a thrift shop, but they are closed, that's a shame," Luke said with his voice trailing out into a whisper.
"Stay there- don't you dare move, I'm on my way," Ashton said while getting into his car.
He knew exactly where Luke was, and he didn't care about the speed limit as he got onto the road. All he wanted was to make sure Luke was safe with him.
"Okay Daddy," The blond said, making Ashton almost drop his phone.
"Wait- What did you say?" But it was too late, the sixteen year old had already hung up.
----
"God Luke," Ashton said. Luke was laying on the park bench, taking a sip of the whiskey when Ashton had finally spotted him, "Come on, it's freezing out here," Ashton spoke while taking the bottle from Luke and tossing it into a nearby bin, shaking his head as Luke attempted to retrieve it, "No, Luke." He spoke sternly, making Luke blush.
The hazel eyed boy looked down at Luke and frowned, his lips were trembling and they looked almost blue. Without hesitating, Ashton slipped off his rugged leather jacket and helped Luke into it.
"I- I went to mcdo- but you- they said you weren't there- and-" Ashton silenced Luke by guiding him towards the car.
"P-please don't take me home, I don't want to be there," Luke spoke as he climbed into the passenger side.
The thought of going home now didn't seem all that bad, it was just the fact that by the time Luke sobers up, he will be so guilt ridden and will end up telling his mom about how he drank. Also, Luke just wanted to be with Ashton, it was obvious that the man was concerned about the boy and had no intentions of leaving him alone- drunk or sober.
"We're going to go to my place, alright," Ashton said while getting into the drivers side of the car, "Then you can sleep this o-"
"No!" Luke interrupted.
Ashton raised an eyebrow, he was certain Luke was exhausted, and probably felt sick as well, whiskey was never a good choice of drink, not when you're as lightweight as Luke at least. Ashton felt a plentiful amount of sympathy as he thought about how hungover the boy was going to be the next morning.
"No?"
"I want cuddles," Luke slurred while rubbing his eyes, "And you."
Ashton bit his lip to refrain from smiling because the boy next to him was so innocent, even intoxicated. He knew that Luke wouldn't remember any of this in the morning, or at least not all of it.
Luke lightly smiled while fiddling with his finger, a small laugh manged to slip through his lips, making Ashton shake his head, also smiling. The hazel eyed boy chuckled, wondering exactly what the drunken one was thinking at the moment.
Ashton placed a hand firmly on Luke's thigh, trying to draw his attention, "I am never sleeping again," Luke slurred, making Ashton laugh.
"Really now?"
"Mhm," Luke hummed, which sounded extremely convincing until his eyelids started to droop.
Ashton rolled his eyes as a laugh fell from his lips, "Do you have a dummy?" Luke asked suddenly, making Ashton's eyes widen because why the hell does a sixteen year old want a dummy. Ashton was almost tempted to reply with something lame like "there's one sitting right next to me", but as he glanced over Luke had already moved on from the question and had his thumb placed in his mouth.
It was obvious that Luke was not in his correct mind set, and unfortunately, Ashton had no idea about any of it. Ashton wasn't an idiot though, he knew something was different about Luke. He thought maybe the boy had strict parents so he was more secluded and didn't know very much about anything. Or maybe Luke just wanted the extra attention, which was true but that was only half of what Luke wanted.
"Is this the first time you've got drunk?" Ashton asked Luke, tearing him from his thoughts.
Luke removed the finger from his mouth subconsciously started to bite on his nails, which Ashton had to try his hardest not to tell him that it was unsanitary "Yes," He spoke lightly, "Mummy always told me that drinking is bad."
The blond was insanely intoxicated, his glazed eyes gave that away. Luckily for Ashton, Luke wasn't a crazy drunk, in fact drunk Luke wasn't much different from sober Luke. Ashton didn't know how much more this boy was going to say tonight though.
"Well, she's right," Ashton's spoke, his hands moved down the steering wheel as he turned, "You're only sixteen, you shouldn't be drinking."
Luke nodded, the blond didn't ever want to drink again, it made his mind all fuzzy and he hated it. He also hated that he didn't even have a filter for anything, the second a thought went to his head he just spoke it, it seemed. With a pout, the boy tilted his head, as if he were in deep thought.
"Are you going to punish me for drinking?" Luke asked innocently.
Ashton thought he was about to swerve off the road as Luke spoke those words, he almost did.
"Punish you?" The thoughts that went through Ashton's head were definitely not pure, or legal.
"Because I was bad," Luke said, "I need a spanking."
Ashton's eyes widened. This was not good. The older man made a mental note to make sure Luke doesn't drink again, "You just need to not ever do this again, understand?"
Sober Luke would be a blushy mess, and he probably would be in tears because Ashton was even the smallest bit disappointed in him. But drunk Luke looked at all of this as a game.
"Yes Daddy," Luke spoke with a giggle.
Luke leaned his head against the window, still giggling, making Ashton frown, "I'm serious, Luke."
"What about drugs?" He asked seriously, making Ashton raise his eyebrows.
"What about them?" Ashton spoke.
Luke sat up, giving his full attention towards Ashton as he started to speak, "I won't drink again, but I could do drugs to make up for it."
"Or you can graduate high school and be happy- no drugs or alcohol involved."
With a huff, Luke crossed his arms over his chest sassily, "I can be happy and do drugs, I can do anything and be happy."
"I'll put it this way," Ashton started, "If you ever do drugs, or anything else that is harmful to yourself, or drink again, I can promise you that you will get punished." Ashton spoke seriously.
Luke heard him, but it seemed that the words still went over his head, "Maybe I need to be punished."
Ashton raised his eyebrows, "Well, keep acting like this, and by the end of the week, that might happen."
If Luke were sober this entire conversation wouldn't have even happened. Luke would probably hide at the discussion of a punishment, and he certainly wouldn't have be sexual about it. That was what made Ashton laugh, seeing how straightforward Luke was when he is intoxicated.
The car went to a complete stop as Ashton parked in front of his house, making Luke quickly get out, Ashton right behind him.
"Why the rush?" Ashton spoke while groggily digging his keys out of his pocket. Luke had called when he was in a deep sleep, and he still wasn't fully awake. But he knew he had to be there for Luke, he couldn't let the kid be out on the streets alone.
"I want cuddles, I told you that," Luke said while hoping from one foot to the next, impatiently.
The older one just rolled his eyes and chuckled as he fumbled for his keys that were placed in his pocket, trying to hurry because it was obvious Luke didn't want to wait any longer, "Drop the attitude," He mumbled, while quickly unlocking the door, letting Luke in first.
Ashton closed the door behind him before wearily rubbing his eyes, he was definitely going to have one hell of a day tomorrow, he was lucky that he wouldn't be working. He wanted to sleep, obviously, but Luke was drunk and clingy.
----
It was now two in the morning, Luke was laying on Ashton's stomach. The older one gently trailing his fingers up and down the blondes back, trying to ease him into sleeping. Luke's fists that were once tightly clasped on Ashton's shirt have now relaxed, making Ashton believe he was sound asleep.
"Ashy," Luke whined against Ashton's chest, making the hazel eyes widen, he didn't know Luke was awake.
"Hm?"
Luke lifted his head, so he was looking directly into Ashton's eyes. The blue hue was now grey, which Ashton had thought it was just because he was tired. That thought drifted away as a tear pooled down his cheek.
"Hey what's wrong?" Ashton spoke while sitting up and positioning the boy so he was curled up in his lap.
"Hurts," Luke mumbled, his tears soaking Ashton's shirt.
"What hurts, darling?" He asked while rubbing the boy's back.
Luke was only lightly crying, and Ashton thought maybe he just had a headache and because he was so exhausted he was extra sensitive. That wasn't the case though.
"You're gonna hate me if- if I tell you," Luke spoke, his crying increasing as he finished the sentence.
Ashton was dumbfounded, he didn't think it was possibly to hate someone like Luke. Luke was adorable, his blue eyes resembled an ocean, which made Ashton intrigued. Everything about Luke made Ashton intrigued, he loved how the boy was shorter than him. He loved how his hair covered over his eyes at some points.
Maybe Ashton had taken a small liking towards the younger one, which he knew wasn't exactly okay. It was obvious that Luke knew he shouldn't be even talking to a twenty year old, but was four years even that big of a deal?
Luke wasn't an idiot, he knew that most older guys would use him for his vulnerability, and then leave him. At first he thought that's what Ashton's main goal was, but even when he was drunk the older one never even tried to take advantage of him.
"Calm down, then you can tell me what's wrong," Ashton spoke, "I promise I won't hate you."
"Pinky promise?"
Ashton laughed adoringly before latching his pinky onto Luke's, "Pinky promise."
Luke took a few breaths, as if what he was going to say would change everything forever, which in some aspects, it would.
"I've always wanted...someone to be here for me..to take care of me," Luke said.
Ashton's stayed silent, Luke was still trying to mold his words together so Ashton wouldn't he weirded out, or get the wrong idea.
"I've always always wanted a daddy Ashton, a real daddy, not the one I have at home," Ashton's eyes should of widened to the size of quarters, but he wasn't surprised, "I want you."
Ashton knew Luke meant nothing sexual of this. It at made sense, this is why Luke always acted younger, Ashton didn't know the full history of it, but he knows more now.
"I know Luke, I know"
"I need someone so bad and I can't wait until we know each other more," Luke spoke with his voice cracking "I'm not gonna make it that long."
Ashton placed a kiss against Luke's forehead while comfortingly rocking him back and forth.
"I have nobody, everyone just thinks I'm a joke and I can't stand it anymore, please don't hate me," Luke mumbled.
Ashton knew he wanted to help the boy out- but Luke was drunk. He knew Luke wouldn't remember any of this in the morning, which made Ashton feel upset, "I'm here, listen to me, I'm here."
He was going to do whatever it took to make Luke happy, and if this was it, then he was willing.