"Can- Can you fix me...Please?" "You don't need fixing, you were never broken in the first place." Or the one where a game of 21 questions sparks a lot more troubles.
Song for this chapter: Stay Numb and Carry On - Madison Beer
"Too young to hate someone, truth is, it was never love, your fault if you thought it was"
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"He's not answering." Calum said, looking up at the two other boys who were in the studio with him.
"You wouldn't happen to know anything about what happened to Luke, right?" Ashton asked, glancing at Michael.
"Uh, no, why would I?"
"I don't know you've been acting strange all morning, and the other day Cal and I found something in Luke's-"
"Umm I think we should get back to work guys-" Calum interrupted with nervous laughter.
"You found what?" Michael asked, confused.
"Nothing." Calum looked at Ashton with wide eyes, "We found nothing at all" he sharply declared.
"Ashton, what did you find?" Michael asked again, in a stronger tone, ignoring his friends' failed attempt at covering up the situation.
"Fine." Calum sighed, "We found a poem in Luke's songwriting notebook, and we're pretty sure it's about you. You know... considering... what you told me."
Michael looked directly at Calum, then at Ashton, and back to Calum once again in a questioning manner. "You told him?!"
"I- I tried not to, but he was so worried about Luke that I just- I don't know, I thought it would be better if he had some context." the tan boy replied, lowering his gaze, "I'm sorry."
"Great- just great" Michael replied with a sigh, "Now Luke's gonna hate me even more than he probably already does!"
"Hey," Ashton began, "knowing Luke, I don't think he hates you, he probably just needs some time to process what happened."
Michael cupped his own face in his hands, "He hates me, that's a fact."
"Why would he? It's just a misunderst-"
"Because I told him that it meant nothing, that he wasn't my first kiss even after I said he was, and that he meant absolutely nothing to me!" He was screaming by now, leaving Ashton and Calum shocked and slightly intimidated.
"You what?!" Calum burst out
Michael sat back down and took a deep breath, "What the fuck else was I supposed to do?"
"Uh, I don't know, maybe not be so blunt about the whole thing?? Because it's pretty fuckin' clear you like him, and he likes you too, so why would you even say that? If you're not ready to be in a relationship or anything of that sort, you should've just talked to him like a normal person."
"It's not about that, Calum." Michael struggled to stop tears from spilling down his cheeks; he knew he shouldn't care this much... or maybe he should've cared a bit more. Either way, there was no going back.
"Then what exactly is it about? You two could've had something special. I see the way you look at each other, you can't deny there's something there." He looked at Ashton with a slight smile, "We've been there."
This was the tipping point.
"NO!" Michael shot up from his chair, "YOU DON'T GET TO TELL ME HOW I FEEL! YOU'VE ALWAYS HAD ASHTON, AND HE'S ALWAYS HAD YOU, SO DON'T HIT ME WITH THE WE'VE BEEN THERE BULLSHIT BECAUSE YOU DON'T KNOW SHIT ABOUT WHAT IT'S LIKE!" With that, he walked out of the studio slamming the door behind him, leaving his two friends in suck in a haze of confusion, anger, and pity.
***
It had been about three days since Luke had left his house. Most of the time he spent curled up in his bed, watching Netflix or using some sort of distraction as a coping mechanism. What he could not do, was let himself think. If he did, he knew it would all go downhill from there.
Everything seemed to be going fine at first, so what happened? Where did Luke go wrong that made Michael just snap? Or had it perhaps been what he hadn't done that had been so damaging to their relationship? The tension was killing him.
The phone rang. It was Ashton.
"Hey Luke, how are you?"
"Did Michael send you to talk to me?" Luke hadn't meant to come off as mean; he'd accidentally thought out loud.
"No, I just wanted to check up on you. We miss hanging out with you, you know."
"Yeah..."
"So, how have you been?"
Wait, a second- He thought. "Ugh!" Luke grabbed the pillow next to him and buried his face there, his words muffled by the silky white fabric that not long ago was soaked in his own tears. "They told you everything didn't they?" He managed to say.
"Yeah... About that," Ashton began, his voice seeming surprisingly apologetic, rather than angry which Luke was thankful for. "I just wanted to offer you some advice."
"Sure," he sighed, "go ahead."
"I know you're probably blaming yourself for this, but i need you to understand, it's not your fault." Ashton took a deep breath and continued, "It's hard to hear such hard things from others, especially when it's someone you love-"
"I don't love him."
"Love is different for everyone, Luke. I'm not going to sit here and give you a speech on the meaning on love because that would just be cheesy as fuck, but know that there's more to it than just the romantic side. For example, you love your family, but you're not in love with them. It's relative."
"Thanks," Luke replied, "for everything."
"No problem at all."
There was a brief moment of awkward silence.
"And, Luke,"
"Yeah?"
"Are you sure you're ok?"
"I'm fine, I just need some time."
"Okay. Take care."
"I will"
A/N
AYEE 150 reads!! that's so cool, thank you to everyone who's reading, commenting, and voting :) I promise I'll try to update more frequently <3 Also thank you to Lauren who's my new editor, ily bestie.
