"Wow, look at you" Luke said and smiled as he watched Calum walk around in his room without much problem. He still had a slight limp in his step and his arm was still casted though.
His nose was only covered in tape instead of the metal cast, and the bruises in his face were slowly fading. The ones on his body were probably fading as well, but Luke couldn't see to tell.
"I know," Calum said and smiled before slowly sitting down at the edge of his bed, "Recovery did me good"
"Yeah, I can tell" Luke said and eyed Calum up and down. "When do you get to go home?"
"Tomorrow morning. Mom's taking me home and she promised me my favorite food and everything I asked for. I'm not taking advantage of that though, this is all my fault anyway" Calum said and looked down at his lap.
Luke didn't answer because he didn't actually know the truth. Sure, Calum had been a part of what had happened, but he wasn't willingly a part of it. Luke hadn't yet decided if he wanted to judge Calum for it or not.
"How's Ashton?" Calum asked instead, trying to ignore the tense silence around them.
"He's good. He's walking around like nothing has happened. He don't care about what happened to himself, he only cares about what happened to me" Luke mumbled, making Calum turn to look at his with sad eyes.
"Are you okay?" Calum whispered carefully, still not sure of how comfortable or uncomfortable Luke was with the subject.
"Yeah, I'm fine" Luke said and shrugged. Calum wasn't convinced though, so he shook his head and sighed lightly.
"You can tell me the truth, Luke. I was there after all, I saw everything and I know it all happened because of me. I wish I could-"
"Calum, I'm fine" Luke spoke again, lifting his head to lock eyes with Calum. "It's not your fault. If it didn't happen you'd probably be dead right now" he whispered.
Calum sat quietly at the edge of the bed and ran his hand up and down his thighs before turning to look at Luke again. Calum bit his lip as he studied the obviously hurt blonde, before speaking.
"I've never actually thanked you for that, so thank you," Calum whispered and reached one hand out to place it over Luke's, "Thank you so much, Luke"
"You don't need to thank me," Luke whispered back and smiled as he intertwined his and Calum's hand, "I didn't really do much anyway"
"You put your own life before mine. That's everything" Calum said and squeezed Luke's hand thankfully. Luke smiled small as he looked at Calum before moving closer to carefully wrap his arms around his friend.
"You've grown to be my very best friend," Luke mumbled against Calum's shoulder, "I don't even want to imagine life without you"
"I know," Calum said and tightened his hold around the blonde, "Same here"
"Good," Luke said and laughed softly as he pulled away from his and Calum's embrace, "Then let's stop talking about this because otherwise I'll start crying and Ashton will probably storm in and take me away from here"
"Yeah I know, I can feel Ashton's eyes burning my skin" Calum chuckled and nodded his head before slowly turning towards the glass wall of his hospital room. The wall was usually covered by curtains, but a bit was now opened so Calum could lock eyes with Ashton's harsh ones.
Both Ashton and Michael were seated in the lounge room in the hallway across from Calum's room. Michael had mentioned that he was going to visit Calum, and of course Luke wanted to join him. Ashton didn't like it, but he knew he had no right to stop the blonde.
Though, he wouldn't let Luke leave without him, so he followed the two boys and was now keeping his eyes on Luke like Calum would actually try to hurt him.
"I don't think he means it in any bad way" Luke mumbled, making Calum snort quietly.
"I think he does," Calum said and smiled small at Luke, "But that's okay. He has every right to hate me"
"Well, I don't want him to hate you," Luke spoke and shook his head, "I want him to respect you as much as you respect him"
"That's never going to happen" Calum spoke and had a soft look on his face to make Luke understand he was speaking the truth.
"I'll make sure it does" Luke whispered before curling his arms around Calum again, completely ignoring Ashton glaring at them.
Luke didn't care what Ashton thought about Calum at this point. Both boys had done wrong and had lost Luke in the middle of it all. They had kind of left Luke with a choice, with an angel on one shoulder and the devil on the other, making Luke have to choose which one to listen to.
Luke felt like he still had the angel and the devil on his shoulder, but he choose to still ignore them. Luke didn't feel the need to choose between his best friend and his boyfriend. That was a choice he was unable to do.
"Okay. If you're sure you want to take on that challenge, I can't stop you. I will tell you that you probably will fail, though" Calum whispered.
"I'm okay with that" Luke whispered back and shrugged, making Calum laugh softly.
**
"Ash, get the fuck over it" Michael mumbled as he watched Ashton have his eyes glued on Luke and Calum as they talked in the secluded room.
Ashton didn't answer Michael. He didn't even look at him, because all his focus was set on Luke and the boy who had his arms around him.
Ashton felt more than anger when watching Calum and Luke smile and laugh with each other. He wouldn't call it jealousy, because he knew Luke was all his, but maybe it was that he felt too territorial. It was just that; Luke was his, and nobody else's.
"Let them be. They haven't had time to talk for days now. Just let them get their time. We all did when you and Luke wanted privacy" Michael spoke again, making Ashton clench his fists.
"My relationship with Luke is nothing like the relationship between Luke and Calum" Ashton muttered, still not breaking his gaze from the two younger boys.
"I'm not saying that," Michael spoke, "I'm just saying they deserve some privacy. They're friends, so let them be"
"Don't tell me what to do," Ashton said and finally turned his head to look at Michael, "I'm allowed to dislike Calum after all the shit he's done"
"You're so fucking exhausting," Michael mumbled and rolled his eyes, "You can hate him all you want but that won't make him disappear. He's Luke's best friend and my-"
"And your boy-toy, I know" Ashton muttered and turned back to check on Luke again.
"He's not my fucking boy-toy. I knew him before I knew you. He was my first friend" Michael snapped and looked at Ashton with a frustrated expression.
"You pick great fucking friends" Ashton mumbled.
"Yeah, I don't know what I was fucking thinking when I became friends with you" Michael muttered before reaching for his phone in his pocket and locked his eyes with the screen.
Ashton sat still, not at all offended by Michael's comment, while watching Luke slowly move closer to Calum to hug him. Ashton clenched his jaw tightly and breathed heavily as he forced himself to stay put in his chair.
He promised Luke to let him have his own time, so he'd let Luke have his wish. He kind of owed him that after everything he's done to Luke's life.
"We had it good before," Michael suddenly spoke, making Ashton turn to look at him, "Before all of this shit happened, we were good"
Ashton pursed his lips and looked at Michael until the green-haired boy finally broke his gaze away from the screen and locked it with Ashton instead.
"Probably because we were sleeping with each other" Ashton said carelessly before looking down at his hands and ran a thumb over the three new lines on his wrist and the small tattoo of a teardrop on his pointer finger.
"We were friends before we started having sex. It was just desperation that stuck. We could have made it without it" Michael said.
"I don't know," Ashton mumbled and shrugged, "I kind of took it as a lifeline"
"That's kind of pathetic" Michael said and chuckled. Ashton only shrugged again. "So what you're saying is that we wouldn't have been friends right now if we hadn't had sex the last 3 years?"
"Kind of," Ashton mumbled again, "Whenever we fought we had sex instead to not have to do a fucking confrontation. We don't sleep with each other anymore which leaves us with the only option to confront each other. That only leads to me wanting to throw a whole bunch of fists at your face, but that would only lead to you dying, and I don't really feel like taking responsibility for that"
Michael rolled his eyes but was quiet after because what Ashton had said was right. That was just what the two boys had done, and Michael realized that now. It had clearly been about pleasure when the boys started it, but there were also a million other things hidden reasons to it, and this was one of them.
"So," Michael started and shifted around in his seat before furrowing his eyebrows in slight confusion, "Would you call us friends now?"
"Why wouldn't I?"
"Because you kind of just stated that you wanted to kill me" Michael spoke and snorted. Ashton raised an eyebrow before chuckling lowly.
"I've always wanted to kill you, Mike. That will never change" Ashton said and gave Michael and knowing look.
"I appreciate that, friend" Michael muttered, making Ashton chuckle mockingly again.
"We're still friends even when we're not fucking each other," Ashton spoke before turning to look at Luke and Calum again, "And I won't kill you, Mike. You're family"
It was quiet for a while after that and Ashton didn't really mind that it was. He had his eyes locked on the pretty blonde across from him and licked his lips when Luke turned and smiled small at him. It was an assuring smile, and Ashton appreciated it even though he didn't need it. He knew he could always trust Luke.
"You know," Michael started, "Ever since you woke up from that coma you've been very sentimental. Should I be concerned?"
"No," Ashton scoffed, "You should be happy it has lasted this long"
Michael chuckled and shook his head before looking down at his phone again. "I guess I shouldn't be complaining then"
"Yeah," Ashton mumbled and stood up from his chair and turned to Michael, "Keep an eye out for Luke, I'm gonna go and get a coffee or something"
"You mean you're gonna leave and let Calum have his own way with Luke?" Michael asked in a mocking voice, making Ashton glare at him.
"Don't fucking test me" Ashton mumbled and give Luke one last glance before walking down the hallway and over to the coffee machine at the end of the hall.
He place his hands in the pockets of his jacket as he walked with tired steps. He hated being at this place again and the fact that it was for Calum made Ashton even more bitter. It was mostly for Luke though, that's why he was here.
He reached the machine and lazily picked up two cups, one for him and one for Michael, before filling them up. He ran a hand through his hair and watched the coffee being poured down to the cheap paper cups.
He was distracted when feeling a hand being placed on his shoulder. Ashton instantly clenched his jaw and turned around, ready for whoever had a grip on him, but furrowed his eyebrows when meeting a pair of soft blue ones.
"Ashton, am I right?"
Ashton stayed quiet as he studied the blonde woman in front of him. Ashton knew who she was because he had seen her before, but he didn't know why she was here and why she was talking to him.
"Yeah" Ashton answered and kept his eyes locked with hers. He was not in any way intimidated by the fact that Luke's mother was standing in front of him, but she seemed to be slightly intimidated by him.
Or, intimidated may not be the right answer; anxious was more like it.
"I'm Liz, Luke's mother" she spoke and Ashton only nodded his head slowly.
"Yeah, I know" he answered and leaned back against the counter as he waited for her to say what she wanted. Because Ashton already knew she wasn't here to simply speak to him.
"You do? That must mean Luke hasn't forgotten about us yet" she spoke and Ashton nearly sighed because this is what the conversation would be about. He'd rather have her yelling at him than her seeking for sympathy.
"No, I would believe he hasn't" Ashton spoke and pursed his lips as he crossed his arms over his chest. Liz sighed quietly and looked at Ashton with pleading eyes before speaking.
"How is he doing? Is he alright? I've barely heard from him for days and I'm worried. I don't want to put anything on you because I know it was Luke's choice to leave home for a bit, but I just need to know how he's doing"
Ashton bit his tongue as he listened to Liz speaking. He held his arms tighter around himself and cleared his throat before speaking.
"He's fine, he's really good. I'm taking care of him. He's happy" Ashton spoke and uncomfortably watched Liz nod her head with teary eyes.
"Is he here with you?" she asked and Ashton hesitated as he was about to answer, but Liz spoke again before he could. "I know you met my husband and I know what he told both you and Luke, but don't think of me like that. All I want is to see my son, then if he want to go home with you again, I'll let him. I just want to hold him for a bit. He's my son"
Ashton stayed quiet again and bit his lip as he looked at Liz before sighing and nodded his head.
"Yeah, he's in Calum's room" Ashton mumbled and grabbed the two coffee cups before turning around and led Liz over to the room.
As they reached it Michael looked up from his phone and furrowed his eyebrows when watching Liz enter Calum's room while Ashton simply sat down in the chair again and handed him a coffee cup.
"Who was that?" Michael asked, immediately on edge when seeing someone he didn't know walk close to both Luke and Calum.
"Luke's mom" Ashton answered and took a sip from his coffee before looking through the glass wall and watched Luke hug his mother tightly. Liz had tears in her eyes and it looked like the same were forming in Luke's eyes as well.
"Shit. How did that go?" Michael asked and looked kept a careful eye on the three people in the visible room.
"I don't know yet" Ashton mumbled and Michael simply nodded his head, keeping quiet after that.
After a while of silence between the two friends, both Luke and his mother exited Calum's room and made their way over to Ashton.
"I'm gonna go talk to Cal" Michael mumbled before standing up and metered Calum's room, leaving Ashton to talk to Luke and his mother alone.
"So, um. Mom, this is Ashton," Luke said and carefully took Ashton's hand to tug him up from the chair. Ashton only rolled his eyes but nodded towards Liz while keeping a tight hold around Luke's hand.
"Ashton, this is my mom" Luke spoke again and squeezed Ashton's hand nervously.
"I know, we've met" Ashton said and eyed Liz with an empty expression.
"Yeah," Liz said and nodded her head, anxiously locking her hands in front of her. It was obvious Ashton didn't want to shake hands or do a greeting in any way, so she was smart enough to skip that.
"Um, so," Luke started and turned to look up at Ashton with a small smile, "Mom invited us home for dinner"
Ashton bit his lip and he had to force himself not to roll his eyes before glancing at Liz and then back down at Luke.
"No, Luke" Ashton spoke and shook his head like it was obvious. It kind of was though; nothing good could ever come out of having a dinner with Luke's family.
"Ashton," Luke whispered and bit his lip as he looked up at the older boy with soft and pleading eyes, "It's my family"
"Yeah, that's just it" Ashton spoke and clenched his jaw when thinking about whatever Luke's family would cook up to make sure Luke would never come back to Ashton.
"I-" Liz started and caught both boys' attentions, "This is just dinner. I would like to know you as the boy you are to Luke, and not the boy people have made out you to be"
Luke turned to look back at Ashton again and nodded his head as he squeezed the older boy's hand again. "Please" Luke whispered in such a sweet and pleading voice that Ashton couldn't do anything else but sigh and nod his head in defeat.
"Thank you" Luke whispered and kissed Ashton's cheek before he smiled so happily that Ashton thought this might actually be worth it. Might.
**
"You understand this won't help anything, right?" Ashton said as they were seated in the car, on their way to Luke's house.
"You don't know that" Luke said and smiled over at Ashton with a hopeful look on his face.
"I know you're a positive person, angel, but this is nothing you can stay positive about. This won't end happily, and I want you to realize that before I have to see you cry"
"I'll stay positive through anything" Luke said and grinned before turning to look out of the window again. Luke was more than relieved that his mother had decided to give Ashton a chance. The only worry Luke had was that Ashton wouldn't even try to make an effort.
But Luke knew better than to force - or even ask - Ashton to act a certain way that was far from who he really was. And Luke also knew he couldn't lie to his parents about Ashton anymore. They had to get to know the Ashton that Luke fell in love with, even if that included a whole lot of stuff that the government would do more than frown upon.
"Thank you" Luke soon spoke up, making Ashton turn his head to look at him with furrowed eyebrows before turning back to the road again.
"For what?"
"For agreeing to this. I know you didn't want this and I don't blame you for it, but you did it anyways and I love you for that" Luke spoke softly and smiled down at his hands, a slight blush covering his cheeks.
"You're welcome, I guess" Ashton said and slowly ran a hand through his hair. "I love you too" he added in a mumble and reached over to place his hand on Luke's thigh, making Luke sigh out happily.
The drive was silent after that and Ashton didn't mind the quiet hums of a song that came from Luke. He didn't know the song and he didn't even bother to try and listen for the melody, he only listened to Luke.
The comfortable feeling made Ashton relax back in his seat, but soon he eyed the rearview mirror to focus on a big silver SUV with tinted windows. Ashton licked his lips and bit the inside of his cheek before turning back to the road and turned right quickly.
"What are you doing? We were supposed to go straight forward" Luke said and furrowed his eyebrows as he watched the intense expression Ashton wore on his face.
"We're just taking another route" Ashton mumbled and eyed the mirror again, clenching his jaw when watching the SUV taking the same turns as they did.
"Ashton, I know you don't really want to go to this dinner but it means a lot to me and-"
"Look out the window at the back and tell me if the silver SUV is following us" Ashton spoke determinedly before speeding up the car.
"What?" Luke asked and furrowed his eyebrows as he glanced to the back.
"Just do as I tell you," Ashton spoke and gripped the steering wheel tighter, "Please"
Luke bit his lip and nodded his head before turning around in his seat and looked out the window. There was indeed a silver SUV about 20 feet behind them and as Ashton sped up, so did they.
Ashton turned left to right, and he clenched his jaw even tighter when knowing the car behind them was following their every step.
"It's still there" Luke spoke and turned around in his seat again to look at Ashton. "What does this mean?"
"That they know we've caught them" Ashton mumbled before speeding up again, this time driving through the light traffic in a more than illegal speed.
"What is happening?" Luke asked and eyed Ashton with wide eyes, gripping his seat tightly as the speed the car was going in scared him tremendously.
"Take my phone and call Michael. Now" Ashton ordered and Luke hesitated before picking up the phone and unlocked it. Without thinking it through Luke had dialed Michael's number and held the phone up in speaker while Ashton was glancing back and forth between the road and the rearview mirror.
"Yeah?" Michael's voice spoke through the speakers of the phone. His tone was bored and slightly irritated. Ashton didn't give a fuck.
"We've got someone following us and I'm driving over to 74th. I want them gone" Ashton spoke and Luke sat anxiously in his chair as he glanced back to the silver SUV every second. He was scared and he had every right to be.
"How far away are you?" Michael asked and it sounded like he was running up the stairs quickly. The stress only made Luke even more anxious.
"How far away do I need to be?" Ashton asked as he turned off the road and onto a dirt track in a light forest. The car was still following, making Ashton curse.
"Around 4, maybe-"
I don't fucking need 'maybe', I need exact time. Now" Ashton spoke again, his voice even more stern now.
"Fine," Michael spoke and Luke swore he could hear the boy type something on a keyboard before speaking again, "3 minutes and 39 seconds"
"Set the time-" Ashton spoke but cut himself off when hearing a faint noise of a gun being fired. Luke whimpered in his seat and slid down as he held his hands over his mouth, breathing heavily.
"You okay?" Michael asked, his voice breathy and stressed.
"They're shooting at us" Ashton spoke and Luke was almost worried that his voice was so calm in a situation like this, "It's Layton and two others"
"Just keep driving, you're close" Michael spoke and Luke heard more tapping against the keyboard.
"Ashton" Luke whimpered out as he heard another shot being fired. His whole body flinched at the sound and his arms wrapped around his body in a way of showing just how vulnerable he was.
"It's okay, angel," Ashton spoke and grabbed Luke's hand without looking away from the road. "Just stay put in your seat and I'll handle this, okay. You don't need to be worried, just close your eyes and hold your hands over your ears" Ashton spoke and Luke bit his trembling bottom lip before nodding his head and closed his eyes.
"How far away are you?" Michael asked soon after Luke had placed his hands over his ear, blocking out the sounds of guns being fired carelessly.
"Just over 2 minutes" Ashton spoke and cursed when one of the bullets hit his side rearview mirror.
"You need to speed up, Ash. The clock is set on 1.43" Michael spoke and Ashton clenched gritted his teeth before speeding up even further.
The road was crooked and in the pace Ashton was driving he could easily loose control and crash into any tree, but he'd never let that happen with Luke in his presence.
"I see it" Ashton mumbled as he drove out to an abandoned cement street in the middle of the woods with nothing but oil tanks around.
"You're not gonna make it" Michael spoke but Ashton ignored him as he kept driving straight forward.
"I'm passing in 10 seconds" Ashton spoke and Michael argued against it.
"No, Ash, you need to fucking stop right now! You won't fucking make it, you'll be right in the middle as the explosion goes off!"
"5" Ashton only spoke.
"Ashton!"
"Ashton, what-" Luke asked but didn't have time to say anything else before a loud explosion went off only a few feet behind them, making the car get thrown forward and screech on his wheels until it turned to the side and then upside down.
It kept going as it was lying with the roof down, and the loud noise of metal against cement was probably heard just as loudly as the actual explosion.
The car finally came to a stop far away from the explosion, and all that could be heard was the cracking sound of the fire not far away from them.
"Luke?" Ashton voice was soon heard and it was rapid and worried. Ashton's whole body was tense as he unwrapped his arms from above his head and turned to watch Luke with his head against the headrest, eyes shut closed, tears dripping down his cheeks, and seatbelt cut into his throat.
"I can't breathe," Luke whimpered out before sobbing. "Ashton, I can't breathe" he spoke again, this time in a panicked voice.
"You're okay, angel. Keep your eyes closed and breathe calmly and I'll help you, okay? Just sit still and I'll help you" Ashton spoke and breathed out in a relief after hearing Luke's voice, before groaning at his position.
He placed his hands on the ceiling and bit his lip harshly before ripping the seatbelt out of it's lock. He held himself up and slowly turned himself around so he was sitting on the ceiling. He turned to Luke soon after and held the boy's face in his hand, feeling Luke shaking in his hold.
"Breathe, beautiful. You're be fine. You'll be fine" Ashton spoke as calmly as possible before guiding Luke's arm and airbag away so he could get to the seatbelt.
"Ashton, I can't breathe" Luke sobbed out again and tugged at the seatbelt that was tightly pressed against his throat.
"Yes you can, just take it easy" Ashton spoke while desperately trying to unhook the seatbelt, but it was stuck.
"Please" Luke cried and started to move around in the seat in pure panic, only making him scream out as he came nowhere.
"Stay still, Luke. You need to listen to me" Ashton spoke in a stern tone before he turned around and frantically reached for the gun that was placed by the pedals. As he felt it against his fingertips he breathed out in relief and grabbed it.
"Keep your hands against the ceiling for support, okay? I'll unhook the seatbelt so you need to listen to what I'm saying" Ashton spoke and watched Luke frantically nod his head while breathing quickly.
"I need to get the hook out of the buckle, so don't get scared by the sound okay? It's only me, I won't hurt you. I'm only helping you, angel" Ashton spoke and didn't even wait for Luke to answer before firing his gun against the red button of the seatbelt buckle.
Luke flinched and sobbed loudly while Ashton cursed when it didn't work.
"Ashton" Luke sobbed and shook his head.
"I'm doing it again, okay?" Ashton spoke and fired the gun again, but nothing happened. He clenched his jaw and pressed the gun against the holder, before firing it again and watched the seatbelt unhook while Luke nearly fell down but was saved by half of Ashton's body that held him up.
Luke breathed out heavily and took several of desperate breaths as Ashton held him in his arms and kicked the car door open before carefully climbing outside.
The glass from the windows cut into Ashton's hands and knees, but he didn't care. He didn't even care when he laid down on top of it and let the glass cut into his back, because all he cared about was Luke who was alive and breathing as he laid on Ashton's chest.
"I-I-" Luke stuttered but stopped talking when only sobs and shaky breaths escaped from his mouth.
"I'm sorry" Ashton spoke and wrapped his arms around Luke as he sat up and pulled Luke into his lap. He glanced back and watched a wall of fire that had been created after the explosion.
"I'm sorry" Ashton whispered again and tightened his hold on the crying blonde, now realizing he was more dangerous for Luke than any other person on this planet.
-
i had three days to write this and i still updated late lol but my work start at 5:30 am tomorrow but here i am updating at 12:45
vote and comment
ily