Hey Bartender, Hit Me

Chapter 24

They arrived at the bar very shortly after Luke fell asleep. He was out cold, and Ashton felt bad waking him. He tried very quickly, but then decided it would be easier to just carry him in.

    Thankfully it was only 5 o'clock, so there weren't many people at the bar. Ashton's bar catered to more of the partying folk, so it didn't open until later in the evening, whereas Michael's bar was more classy and served dinner and was open for most of the afternoon.

    Nodding at two employees who were stocking the bar, Ashton carried his friend to the back room. Making sure no one was paying attention, he slipped past the curtain to his secret room.

    He flipped the light on with his elbow, trying not to jostle Luke around too much, but the younger boy starting shifting around in his sleep. Ashton carefully sat down on the small couch, keeping the boy on his lap. Luke shook his head before blinking a few times and opening his eyes. Ashton hoped that having him wake up in his arms would keep him calm and relaxed, but apparently Ashton knew nothing about what Luke would need.

    His eyes widened the second they focused on Ashton, and he flailed his arms around, falling off his lap and onto the floor.

    "Hey, Luke, it's Ashton. You're safe now, okay?"

    Luke backed up to the other side of the room, watching Ashton warily.

    Ashton knew he just needed to be patient. He kept his eyes on Luke, but made sure to keep his hands where Luke could see them and keep his movements slow and gentle.

    Ashton felt terrible that he let this happen for so long. As soon as he and Calum had thought something was going on, they should have taken Luke away and gotten help. They didn't think they had enough evidence though, and if they were wrong, that would have been a disaster.

    Ashton would forever feel guilty about leaving it too long. He should have done something.

    "A-Ashton?" Luke looked up at him in confusion.

    "Yeah? What is it?"

    "Wh-what happened?" He sat up and hugged his knees to his chest, looking at the dark-haired man hesitantly.

    "Well, Michael had you locked you in your room, so I got you out and brought you to my bar where you'll be safe."

    Luke nodded, his face heating up and looked away.

    He was embarrassed. He didn't like that anyone saw him so vulnerable. He'd been so scared and confused, he didn't know what to do.

    "So...what now?"

    Ashton bit his lip.

    "Well, you can't go back to him. I'm going to do my best to make sure you stay safe."

    Luke sighed. He didn't want Ashton to get in the middle of this. It wasn't Ashton's problem. He wasn't Ashton's problem.

    "What's wrong, Lukey?"

    Luke shook his head.

    "It's just...you don't needda bother. With me. 'S easier for you if you just leave me be and let us work out what we need to."

    Ashton was shocked at what he heard, even after the research he'd done. Last night he'd gone online and looked up 'how to help a friend who's gone through abuse', and one of the topics the article had discussed was the person might not think poorly of his abuser. It looked pretty obvious on the outside that what was happening was not good, but it probably would be a bit confusing to be inside the relationship. He also might think that he deserved what was happening and resist rescue at first.