5sos Blurb Book #4

110. cake

luke remembers when calum first rubbed his palm innocently against his lamp, trying to clean it, but luke shot out of it in a heap of blue smoke —
because calum was so naive then.
he was poor, homeless, starving, and he found a golden lamp in the dumpster he was looking through and everything changed —
luke thought he was so beautiful
ten? i-i thought you only get three wishes,
no, it's ten
calum smiled at the blonde genie then, scanning him over before frowning deeply
'what're those?'
luke followed his eyes and bit his lip when he looked at the cuffs on his wrist — and he clenched his eyes
'they keep me bound to the lamp, to servitude,'
calum reached out and touched one, and luke's skin burned at his soft touch
'how do you get out?' he whispered
'i can't, the only way i could is for someone to wish me free, but..' luke chuckled sadly '500 years later and i'm still here.'
so calum's promise was that he'd use the nine wishes and then use the last for luke — to free him — and luke had never thanked a 'master' before.
that's when luke knew he was in love with the boy who rubbed his lamp.

but over time his love only grew, no matter how much calum's appreciation shrank--
first was for a home that he'd never have to pay for
second was to be filthy rich
third was to be the best singer on earth
fourth was to become famous
and after that it was minor wishes, more success or money or whatever, and luke often found himself crying in his lamp because calum didn't even care about him anymore.
he probably never did, luke thinks
fucking humans, all the same — all selfish and greedy and rude — they didn't care about anyone but themselves
that tore luke in half.
'luke?' he sang and luke wiped his tears furiously, jumping out of his lamp and appearing in front of the boy,
he wasn't really a boy anymore.
he looked so different from when they met,
skin and bones turned into tan skin and trimmed features — like a sculpture — and there was even some stubble on his chin and a glint in his eyes.
luke still thought he was beautiful.
'yeah?' he whispered and calum grinned at him, bouncing on his toes
'wish number ten.' he giggled and luke nodded, his eyes turning hopeful
oh god i'm gonna be free yes yes yes finally--
'i need a new car.'
luke's heart shattered to the ground and his face dropped
what about the promise?
'b-but..i thought you said your tenth w-wish was gonna--'
'luke, c'mon, isn't the rule that you have to do it immediately? get on with it.'
luke wanted to die at his scoff and eyeroll
but he had to live forever, had to obey his wish.
and while calum was cheering over his new mercedes, luke was back in his lamp, sobbing,
because the boy he loved didn't care.

calum never threw the lamp away, he always kept luke with him, even though he ran out of wishes.
but that doesn't mean luke came out of the lamp — not even three years after his wishes were all fulfilled.
'luke?'
calum picked up the lamp and inspected it, looking through the hole at the tip, trying to peer inside
'luke?'
it was quiet and calum sighed
'i know you're in there..'
it came out as a whisper and luke heard, but he didn't answer, how could he?
'luke.' he whispered 'i'm sorry.'
his shoulders slumped and he sat on his expensive couch that three years ago he gushed over.
not anymore.
he held the lamp in his fingertips gently
'i'm sorry i didn't set you free.' he whispered, caressing the lamp like he was trying to coax him out
'i'm so sorry — and i know it doesn't mean anything b-but..i miss you, so much.'
silence.
'sometimes i pretend you're still here, not in there.' he sniffled 'because i always had you to talk to but i wasted you, i talked to people who pretended to care about me when you actually did.' he whispered.
his eyes watered
'you've been in there for a long time.'
silence.
'aren't you lonely? tired? cold? anything?' he whispered but he knew he wouldn't get a response.
'i'm so sorry.'

luke's cuffs unlatched and he went wide eyed in shock.