anonymous|| lashton & malum||

||6||

It's been just over a month since the fire and the Starbucks is re-opening today.
The good part about it is that they built the small apartment above the cafe again so Calum and Ashton could have their old life back. Everything seemed great.

It's been three weeks since the incident in the music store with Luke, and Ashton hasn't heard from him since then. No messages, no tumblr posts. Nothing.

Luke was obviously in trouble.

It was a Saturday afternoon and the two boys were working, well, there weren't any new customers coming in so not really working.
Eventually, someone walked in. He was kind of familiar to Calum but he couldn't quite remember why, probably because he's a regular customer though.
The guy walked up to the counter where Ashton was working.
"Hi what can I get you today?" Ashton smiled while saying the same thing he says at least one hundred times a day.
"Just the usual thanks" the guy said while handing Ashton the money.
Ashton put the order through once he got the guys name, sure, he's here most days but Ashton deals with lots of people everyday so he doesn't always remember names.
Calum called out; "Michael" and the familiar boy, Michael, came to collect his drink and took a seat in the corner by himself.
It was a sad sight actually. Usually Michael goes all out with what he's wearing and his hair is always spiked up. Today was different.
He had grey sweats and a black, loose t-shirt on. His hair was ruffled and looked like he'd been tugging at it a lot.

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"Luke Hemmings?"
"Yes your honour"
"You're here today because you were convicted guilty of arson, setting a building alight"
Luke heard the judge say something about collecting evidence to her little minion guys who stand next to her the whole time.
"Please present your evidence"
"Yeah about that, I don't really have a case to present you with because I didn't really do anything wrong"
"So you didn't even get a lawyer to prove that?"
"Nope, I'm not guilty. Simple"
"Well, for one, your attitude isn't helping things at all and two, our detectives are trained professionals and all the evidence led us to you"
"Me? A 17-year old dropout with a part time job and no future?"
Luke mentally face-palmed because that just makes him sound like a bad person.
"I mean like I'm basically only a kid still, I don't have intentions of hurting anyone or destroying property"
"But you did"
"Butttttt I really didn't do it" Luke said smugly, "I know I'm innocent but believe what you want. A person who you're supposed to give a chance to speak or people who are in their job for the pay check. I don't care" Luke said, even though he knew he'd be in more trouble, he knew he was right.
"Well then, bring the prosecutor in"
Luke was really confused now because who the hell was his "prosecutor"?
It can't be detectives or just any police officer, obviously someone's dobbed him in, for something he didn't even do.
When the man who was his "prosecutor" walked in, Luke nearly burst into tears.
Creepy 19 year old bastard.
"Defendant and prosecutor, please raise your right hand" the judge said.
"Nicholas, thank you for being here to present your case against Mr Hemmings" the judge said as one of her minion guys came to get the "evidence" from him.

Luke was literally freaking out. This guy took absolutely everything from him other than Michael and a roof over his head and now he's going to be losing that too because the freak is trying to get him behind bars.

"....and my final conclusion is, lucky for you Mr Hemmings, that there is not enough evidence yet to prove that you are in fact guilty. You're free for now, on a good behaviour bond and can resume back at your work until your next hearing. Case will resume at a later date"

Luke was practically pushed out of the court house by the guards but he was happy for the moment that he won't be in jail. He was also thankful he was let out before Nicholas, he couldn't deal with his shit anymore, that's why he's been ignoring the messages from him.
He called Michael a couple times but he didn't answer.
Luke wasn't that worried but it was kinda weird considering Michael always has his phone with him.
So Luke just made his way back to the apartment hoping Michael would be there.
And he was. Luke felt terrible.
He's been in police custody for three weeks up until today and he's had no contact with Michael. The sight of his best friend face down on the couch with messy hair and a smashed phone wasn't a good one.
"Hey Michael, I'm home" Luke said softly, as if he said it any louder Michael would just shatter.
Michael didn't reply and this hurt Luke a lot but instead he just sat up and put his arms out and Luke gladly accepted it.
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