turned - muke - the distortion trilogy 2

0.6

CALUM'S P.O.V. (surprise!! *winks aggressively*)

I sigh in exasperation as Michael exits the room, dragging a crying Luke with him. Still completely confused to everything going on, I turn to the boy that I now know to be Ashton.

"What the hell is going on?" I ask for probably the one hundredth time.

"Hi, I'm Ashton, nice to meet you," the boy smiles cockily, causing me to roll my eyes.

"I honestly do not care," I say.

"Hey, now," he responds, sounding like a lecturing parent. "That's rude. How about you tell me your name?"

I groan. "Calum, now, what the hell is going on?"

The boy with golden curls and hazel eyes scratches the back of his neck uncomfortably, his confident demeanor evaporating before my eyes. "Um, I don't really think it's my place to tell you."

I roll my eyes. "Yeah, whatever, get on with it."

He bites his lip. "Um, see, I...I knew Luke before he moved here," Ashton explains.

I furrow my eyebrows. "Were you friends?"

"Uh, a little bit more than that..."

"Like boyfriends?" I ask, realization hitting me. Michael must be jealous of Ashton!

"Yeah," Ashton mumbles. "But I, um..." he trails off looking immensely uncomfortable. "I have anger management issues, which is why I'm in this hospital, and I, uh, sometimes..." he takes a deep breath, the expression on his face one of pure shame. He whispers, "Sometimes I hurt people."

It takes a second for the information to register, but when it does, I can feel the look of disgust creeping onto my face. "So you...what, you hit him?"

Ashton refuses to meet my eyes, but he nods. "Worse than that, sometimes."

"Oh, my God," I sigh, running a hand through my hair. My poor best friend has been through so much, though his past seems to parallel Michael's in more ways than one. "I can't believe this."

Ashton lets out a short laugh. "Everyone seems to be saying that."

I roll my eyes, fuming at the undeniably attractive boy with a domestic abuse record and exit the visiting room in search of Luke and Michael.

-

MICHAEL'S P.O.V.

Though Luke is at least six inches taller than me, he's made himself small enough to cry into my shoulder in the hallway, my skin muffling his sobs. I rub his back soothingly, desperate for him to stop crying.

"Shh, shh," I shush him. "You're all right now, I promise he won't hurt you."

It seems strange that for once, I am consoling Luke and not vice versa. For once, I am protecting him from the bullies. An uneasy feeling has settled in my gut, and I can't help but wonder if that's how Luke feels every time he holds my shaking body. I feel like something is tugging on my heart, breaking it in two.

I never want to see him cry again.

"Micheal I'm sc-scared," he hiccups.

"Why?" I hum, tightening my arms around him.

He pulls back, restoring himself to his full height so he's towering above me. He places a hand on my cheek, sighing. "I'm scared he's gonna hurt you."

Calum, obviously angry, storms back into the hallway. He stops in his tracks when he sees Luke and I, caught up in our intimate moment.

I place my hand over Luke's hand, holding it to my cheek. "I'll be fine," I promise. "D-Don't worry about me."