ⓒⓞⓛⓞⓤⓡⓢ |c.h + l.h|

Chapter 18.

"Uh...who are you exactly?"

"I'm a friend of Luke's," the stranger frowned.

Yikes. This is off to a great start.

"Yeah but who are you?"

The frown deepened. "I'm a friend of Luke's, you don't need to know anymore, okay? D'you know if he's alright though?"

"I didn't realise anything had happened to Luke...so no, I don't if he's alright."

My-Name-Is-No sighed, "okay I'm sorry for being rude, now please tell me what happened to him."

Calum huffed out an exasperated sigh. "Really, I don't know what happened to Luke. I'm sorry."

"Oh, uh, sorry then I guess. I'll just...go now." They rubbed the back of their neck awkwardly and turned away.

"Look, Mysterious-Friend-Of-Luke's, I guess you could come inside while I ring my friend to see if he knows anything."

"Yeah I guess that would be okay..."

Calum mentally hit himself. Great idea, Calum. Just invite a random stranger into your house, sounds pretty safe.

~~~~~~

".....what?! Ohmygosh Ashton no he didn't...no, I've met him before....no, he was lovely...-ish. Okay he was a bit controlling....Yeah....yeah okay...Oh my gosh my poor breadstick. Is he okay? It wasn't anything too serious, was it?...Oh I'm glad....Yeah, hospitals suck. Mhmm. Of course...right, I'd better go....yeah love you too, you dork..."

Luke's friend lifted their head up from where it had been resting on the kitchen table. They looked like a lost puppy, and Calum felt his heart ache.

"So?"

"Luke's boyfriend uh, beat him up," Calum winced.

"And Luke's resting right now. He's already been seen to by medical people and all that stuff."

Hi-I'm-Luke's-Friend-And-I-Refuse-To-Tell-You-My-Name sighed. "I should have seen this coming. I tried telling Luke that the dude had issues, but he was just too infatuated I guess."

Calum didn't know what to say so he just nodded.

No-Name-Rude-Face stared at Calum after that for some time, as if contemplating something.

"Right," Worried-But-Still-A-Jerk-Person got up from the seat they had occupied for the past twenty minutes, "give me your phone."

"What?"

"Give me your phone, or shall I repeat myself again?"

"Why?"

"So you only speak one word sentences now? I want your phone so I can put my number in it, so if you hear anything about or from Luke I can be kept updated."

"Uh, okay," Calum hesitantly handed his phone over.

Bossy-McBossFace stared at the phone with a blank face for a long
time. "Password?"

"Oh right. It's The FitnessGram™ Pacer Test is a multistage aerobic capacity test that progressively gets more difficult as it continues. The 20 meter pacer test will begin in 30 seconds. Line up at the start. The running speed starts slowly, but gets faster each minute after you hear this signal."

Well that just earned Calum the most heated glare he has ever had the discomfort of receiving.

"When I next talk to Luke, I'll make sure to put in a great word for you."

"Okay, okay sorry. It's actually 666 666 669," Calum sighed mock-defeatedly.

Another pause.

"You are the most immature person I've ever met."

"Well I told you that was my password!"

"What does Luke see in you..."

Calum shrugged. "Meme trash, probably."

"Dude why's your phone brightness set so high?"

"It's harder to tell the greys apart otherwise."

Uh...-Mean-Person just nodded.

"Here's your phone. Thanks, I guess."

Calum offered a small smile. Only the tiniest smile though. Evil-Beanstalk didn't deserve a big smile. Hell, they don't even deserve any smile, but Calum's just that nice.

Honestly, he's an angel.

Calum figured he'd keep up his golden record, and at least bid them farewell in the nicest way possible.

"Bye weird Luke-lover!"

Calum heard a mumbled, "freak," as The-Kicker-Of-Puppies-(Probably) walked past him and out the door.

"Pfft, I may be a freak but you're a dog biscuit. Y'know 'cos they get all slimy and chewed up and gross and stuff..."

He's a great person, honestly.

~~~~~

A/N:

This is really overdue wow ok. Sorry.

It's really short oops.

Please excuse the terrible attempt I made at the interaction stuff... And all of this.

But hey if you're still reading this and don't find it too cringy then wowza ily <3

I wrote this really quickly while in the car bc I'm on a road trip thingy rn??

I still don't know how to end these things

Uh...Bye frens