Chasing Ashton -Lashton Hirwin-

Chapter Twenty Three: 'Please, you have to..'

Chapter Twenty Three: 'Please, you have to..'

"Luke, talk to me" Liz said as she sat at the end of his bed, "You've been up here all week, you need to go back to college, you need to talk to your friends, to Ashton"

"Oh just shut up" Luke mumbled,

"You need to talk to him"

"Why?"

"Because I know how you feel about him, how he feels about you" Luke frowned and sat up,

"What are you on about?"

"I know you two are dating, I've known for weeks" the colour in Luke's face vanished, and his eyes began to well up, he could finally talk to her about it,

"I, I th-thought he cared, m-mum" Liz wrapped her arms around him and cuddled him tight, like she used to when he was little, she rocked slowly back and forth through habit and whispered 'shh' while he sobbed,

"He does care, baby he does, I've seen the way he looks at you, he looked like he was going to cry when he realised you'd heard what he said to me"

"I-I was, I don't understand, why he said it" Luke sobbed,

"I think he said it, because I'm not meant to know about the two of you, he wasn't saying it to be malicious or to hurt you" Luke looked up at her,

"You think?" he wiped his eyes and looked across at his calendar realising it was Saturday,

"I don't think baby, I know" Liz smiled as she wiped a tear from Luke's cheek, "Call him, Luke, he'd love to hear from you, it's been a week, and you're so emotional it's stressing me out" she winked, Luke looked at her, thinking for a minute,

"I'll call him" he soon said, quietly, but he still said it. He picked up the phone and went through his contacts, finding Ashton's name and putting the phone to his ear Liz kissed his forehead and stepped out of the room.

"Hello?" Ashton's voice rang clear through the speaker, "Luke *hic* Luke, that y-you?" Ashton slurred, Luke realised he was either crying or drunk. Or both. He immediately hung up and shot out of bed, fumbling around his room looking for his clothes and shoes that actually paired together, he ran his fingers through his hair and realised how messy it was,

"He likes my hair scruffy" he justified as he ran down the stairs,

"How'd it go?" Liz called from the kitchen, she saw Luke jump the last two steps, grab his coat off the hook, keys out the bowl and run out of the house barely shutting the door properly behind him, "I'll take that as good then" she smirked.

He ran down the road trying to map out where Ashton's house was in his head, he turned corner after corner but nothing looked familiar, then it hit him, the park. Ashton had moved, his house was closed off from the busy streets, in a small little street opposite a park, 'remote and cute', that's how Ashton described it. He trailed the streets looking for the park, and then he found it. He ran to the house opposite and knocked on the door harshly,

"Ash? Ash it's me, it's, well you know who I am it's Luke"  he knocked some more but couldn't hear or see anything, "Ashton c'mon, let me in!" he yelled through the door, he looked through the living room window and spotted Ashton lying perfectly still on the floor. Luke panicked, he tried ringing his phone again but it just buzzed next to him, "Fuck sake Ashton you dick" he mumbled, he ran back to the front door and smashed the window putting his arm inside and unlocking the door, as he walked in the strong smell of alcohol hit him hard, he stepped into the living room and all he could see were beer cans and whisky bottles, spilled drinks that he didn't even recognise and smashed glass. This was unlike Ashton, he was always so tidy and organised, he disliked mess and disorganisation because it made him feel uncomfortable, Luke crouched down next to him and shook his shoulder, "Ash? Wake up.." he whispered, he sat on his knees and feet and dragged Ashton round slightly so his head was resting on Luke's thighs, but still at an angle. Luke knew he should put him in the recovery position, but he didn't want to, he wanted to play with his hair, stroke his cheeks, make him feel comfortable.

"Ash, come on, you gotta wake up for me. I can't, do all this without you, I don't even care if you care about your job more than me, I don't even care if you never want to see me again, I don't care about any of that Ash. I don't. The only thing I care about right now, is you being okay, is you waking up, that's all, that's all I care about, please, you can't... You can't leave me, I won't let you leave me, I won't, even if you don't want to date me any more, even if you want to pretend I mean nothing to you, even if, even if I really don't mean anything to you, I just want you to wake up, I want you to open your beautiful eyes, and smile at me, I love your smile, it breaks my heart every time but in a good way, and then I remember that you're mine, you're all mine and I can see that beautiful smile whenever I want, please... I don't even know what I'm saying any more, I don't even know if half the words coming out of my mouth make sense or if they mean anything to you or if you can even hear me, I just... I'll be your student, only your student, if that's what you want, it'll be hard but if you don't want to be my teacher any more then it's fine, I won't be hurt, I won't mind, because at least you'll be awake and okay and smiling and... Not far away, I could still see you. But you have to wake up for me. Please, you have to.."