Water the Flowers (In My Lungs) - Muke

Calum & Ashton

Luke woke silently.

He'd honestly thought he was a goner.

His eyes traveled to the hole in his collarbone.

It would only keep him alive for so long- the flowers would soon plug it.

The machine beeped from beside his head, steady and robotic.

Luke wished he'd just died there, died before they found out.

His eyes traveled to the windows that opened into the hallway.

He watched weakly as the doctor spoke to Calum and Ashton.

He watched their faces drop.

Calum turned into Ashton's chest and even from where he laid, Luke could tell he was crying.

When they entered Luke's room, it was silent.

Calum slipped into bed beside Luke and rested the boy's head on his chest.

The two didn't exchange words.

One of Calum's hands rested on Luke's arm, and the other reached across Luke's cheek to play with a curl behind his ear.

Calum held Luke for a long while as Ashton sat close by in a chair.

Luke felt every tear that hit his scalp.

If he could take it all back he would.

There was nothing in the world that hurt more than knowing he was causing Calum so much pain.

"How could someone not love you?" Calum quizzed rhetorically.

It was a good question, but Luke supposed it was biased.

"I'm sorry."

Calum was distraught. Luke hated seeing him like that- he felt helpless.

"It's not fair. Its not fair that they can just take you away from me." Calum spat, his voice breaking.

The pair fell into a bought of silence.

"Who is it?" Calum questioned softly.

"It doesn't matter." Luke croaked.

"I need someone to blame", Calum jeered, "And probably plot their murder."

"You can't lose us both." Luke muttered.

There was a pause.

"I can't lose you", Calum retorted, "What am I supposed to do knowing he's the reason I'm gonna lose you."

"He can't help it. Neither can you." Luke explained.

"If it were me, you wouldn't have to worry about being loved", Calum muttered, his voice breaking, "You wouldn't be slowly dying."

"If I had the choice, don't you think I would've picked you?", Luke huffed, "It would've saved me so much trouble and heartache."

Before long they fell into a heavy silence.

In the silence, Luke added two more things he'd miss to the list:

10. Calum

11. Ashton

And this time when he really thought about it, tears began to fall.

Because they were the whole list.

Nothing else but them.

He would give up everything for them.