zero ; l.h.

them

h i m

luke was getting pretty fucking tired of noelle hanging up on him.

it'd gotten to the point where he had to physically force himself out of marie's house so he wouldn't throw his phone at her wall in a fit of anger. afterwards, he attempted to calm down by going around the neighborhood a couple of times, but that did close to nothing in terms of quenching his fiery temper.

ashton, being the only one in the house at the time, nearly fell off the couch as luke slammed the door closed upon entering.

"do i want to know?" ashton asked carefully, getting to his feet.

"she always does this," luke growled as he paced back and forth in the living room. "noelle always plays around with my feelings and i hate it! i hate it so much. god, i hate her!"

the curly headed boy flinched, "you don't mean that."

"oh, but the things is," he scoffed in reply, "i do."

this wasn't luke, not at all. the person ashton was used to seeing had vanished behind this wall of pent up hurt and hopelessness. the wild look in his usually calm eyes and the way his fists were clenched so tightly that even his short nails could've broken the skin of his palm were signs of this.

this scared ashton. he knew how far luke's emotions could take him; hell, his emotions led him to nearly jumping off a building.

but sadness was far different than rage. the latter of the two was unpredictable, it made the one who felt it blind to reason. in other words, luke was a ticking time bomb and ashton had to defuse him before it was too late.

"stop and listen to yourself, man," he put a hand on the taller blonde's shoulder and stopped his pacing. "this is noelle we're talking about. the girl you love."

"that's where you're wrong," luke jerked away from his touch and laughed emotionlessly. "i hate her."

then he walked up the stairs and into his room, paying no mind to ashton's horrified expression and the guilt that was bubbling in the pit of his stomach.

-

luke's eyes cracked open slightly as his door creaked open after hours of complete silence.

"so," calum leaned against the doorframe, "what's this i hear about you hating noelle?"

"save me the lecture," the blonde sat up, swinging his legs over the edge of the bed. "i said what i said."

as nonchalant as he was trying to be, luke was all too aware that if he wanted to, he would take the words back in an instant. the only thing stopping him from doing so was that nagging feeling of neglect and loneliness that - although always present - seemed to be stronger than ever.

"that's it then? after everything you two have been through, you're just going to say that you hate her and that's the end of it all?"

luke rolled his eyes and stood with his arms crossed over his chest, "i'm not expecting you to understand, so stop trying to pretend you do."

"you're unbelievable," calum sneered. "this isn't just about you, luke. this is about her too!"

"why should i pay any consideration to her feelings when she hasn't done the same for me?"

"get your head out of your ass."

a pause.

"what did you just say to me?"

brown eyes narrowed as they met blue in a heated stare, "you heard me. get your head out of your ass."

"you'd better watch what you say, hood," luke threatened lowly, jabbing a finger in his direction.