I'm Sorry • Lashton

Chapter 13

I don't even like you,
why'd you want to go and make me feel this way?
And I don't understand what's happened,
I keep saying things I'd never say
-Voodoo doll // 5 Seconds Of  Summer

"Can you answer my question?" The words were abrupt and spoken into a calm silence, but the question had been biting at Ashton ever since Tuesday night, and now on Wednesday evening he'd decided to simply blurt it out, because how else was he going to gather the courage to ask?

Luke played dumb at first, of course, giving Ashton the chance to completely take the question back and act like it never happened, but he wanted answers, he needed to know.

"What question? I don't remember-" Luke muttered, not looking up from his laptop.

"You know what question. The one I asked you last night" Ashton sighed, dropping his pens and turning his full attention towards the blonde boy. Maybe if he showed interest then Luke would open up to him?

"I don't want to answer your question" Luke grumbled, although he began to slowly sit up and shut the lid of his laptop. Progress Ashton mentally cheered.

"Before my family and I moved to this town" The younger boy began "We lived... somewhere else. Not too far from here, but it was somewhere else. I was only about... ten when it happened, but I remember stuff and well, Jack's explained everything to me although sometimes I really wish he hadn't."

Luke looked up to see that the hazel-eyed boy was looking a little lost so he sighed before continuing "When Ben was in his... second to last year of high school then he dated this girl. She was one of the popular girls at his school, I think, really pretty and I think even ten year old me had a crush on her.

Anyway, she used to live opposite us, so we saw a lot of her. She saw... a lot of us too. When Ben realised that they were going nowhere, then he asked to break it off, but she threatened him, Ash. She'd been secretly taking these- these photos of Ben from his window, like half naked and-"

Luke paused again to shudder, obviously more scarred from the fact that he couldn't remember it and this was the way he had been told. "When Ben couldn't take it any longer, he did break up with her, and she ended up spreading these photos around school. Ben ended up getting severely bullied, and even Jack lost a ton of friends. My parents would get weird looks whenever they stepped out the house, and my teacher started to look at me with sympathy. It was a small town, news spread fast, and soon enough everyone was aware of the fact that a kid's nudes had been leaked."

There was a pause in the still silence and Ashton wondered whether he should go over and comfort Luke or simply wait till he was finished. Had he finished?
"That's why I was so freaked out when I saw you looking through your window. I know you didn't mean any harm, but from everything we've been through and the fact that we had to move town because of something so ridiculous- it makes me paranoid. That's why Ben worked so hard to build himself a reputation once we moved here, and Jack carried it on. Because they were, well, traumatised I guess."

Ashton took this as his queue to jump off his own bed and walk over to Luke's hugging him tightly, as the younger boy stilled, his eyes empty and face expressionless. Luke Hemmings wasn't really a boy who expressed emotion.

"I'm sorry you and your family had to go through-"

"It's not your fault, Ash" Luke laughed hastily, although the demeanour less attitude and blown out eyes had disappeared "I um was supposed to be somewhere right now, though." He quickly got up, grabbing his jacket and phone before spinning around quickly,