Hey Bartender, Love me (book 2)

Chapter 20

"Luke, come on, buddy, you have to eat," Calum pleaded with his friend.

Luke lay in his bed, cuddled underneath the blankets he and Ashton used to share.

It had been a week since he had last seen his boyfriend.

It wasn't looking hopeful.

The police said kidnappings were time-sensitive. When they called back 24 hours after no sign from Ashton, they set about working on tracing Ashton's last known location and going from there. One of the officers had told Calum that if they didn't have at the very least a good lead after 48 hours, there was very little chance of getting the person back. Luke wasn't meant to hear that, but he did, and it was the only thing he could think of anymore.

Calum sat on the edge of his bed holding a plate of chicken tenders. He had gone to the diner to get Luke some food since he was hopeless at cooking and he thought maybe this would cheer him up. Liam had sat with Luke while he was gone to keep him company and make sure he didn't do anything stupid.

"No," Luke mumbled, shifting around so he was facing the opposite direction of Calum.

Calum sighed.

It was so difficult seeing his friend like this. It was so different, yet so similar to last time.

Last time, he was too afraid to leave the apartment and often would sit around in his room until he was reminded that he wasn't locked inside. He would flinch if anyone came near him, he was always on the defensive.

This time, he was just sad. He moped around in bed all day, sometimes when he was forced to get up he would walk into the living room, see a picture or something of Ashton's and then start sobbing, choking out some story he remembered about the sandy-haired man.

It was heartbreaking to watch his friend suffer like this.

"I think Haz and Lou are coming over to see you later," Calum informed him in a soft voice. He wanted Luke to feel comfortable right now so he would eventually be able to function.

He had no idea what happened to Ashton. It seemed so weird that he would just leave like that, there had to be some other reason.

He did find out that Ashton had refused security. He'd talked to the guys watching him and Luke and found out that Ashton didn't have anyone. There were two people watching Luke (he'd only known of the one, but it made sense that Ashton would have double on him) and that Ashton said he would be okay by himself. They wouldn't tell him why Ashton had forced them all to get security (maybe because they didn't know). But surely there would have been a connection? Why else would Ashton be so careful to have them watched?

Luke didn't say anything when Calum asked him one more time to eat. He didn't see the point when he might not see Ashton again. His mum had called him yesterday, but if Harry hadn't picked up and turned his phone on speaker, he wouldn't have answered. He didn't speak to her, just sat and cried and listened to her talk. She tried to get him to get up and shower, that had been her suggestion, but he didn't have the energy.

Luke felt lost. His friends were here, and he was grateful they were sticking by him, but they weren't what he needed. He needed Ashton.

That wasn't healthy though, his mind told him. To rely so greatly on someone else was only good when they were there. And Ashton wasn't there. Luke didn't know why, but he figured it wasn't Ashton's choice. Ashton would never willingly leave him, he knew that in his heart.

He needed to do something, he knew he did. He couldn't just lie in his bed for weeks on end, waiting for him to come back. Ashton would be so disappointed if he came back and found Luke a mess. Not disappointed in a bad way, but upset that he caused so much stress and sadness.