Asexual [cake au] ✔

Twenty-Six

Chapter 26

We took the train to the nearest national park and found a spot where we could view the mountains and lakes, and sat there just talking for a very long time. I loved every moment of it – the view, the atmosphere, the fact that we were just two friends sitting on a rock away from home – everything. I'd found true bliss.

"You know what Luke, I love spending time with you doing this kinda thing," he said at one point, leaning his head on my shoulder. "Sometimes, you're nicer to hang out with than Ash."

I scoffed. "That should be a given! I'm your best friend if you've forgotten?"

He raised his eyebrows, looking into my eyes. We sat and gazed for a bit, until I decided to break eye contact and comment on the gorgeous scenery. "Have you decided to move for sure now?" he brought up, in a quiet voice.

"I put in the application but they haven't gotten back to me."

"Did you apply for college here too?"

"Of course."

"I hope you stay."

Damn. Now I can't leave. "Really?"

He took his head off my shoulder and moved so his head was in my lap instead. "Duh, no one wants their best friend to live miles and miles away. One of us will forget to keep in touch and then boom. Friendship gone."

"Hey, that's not true, you know how awesome the internet is these days. There's Skype and Facebook, and besides it's not like I'm going out the country so we can still call each other."

"Goddammit, you make it sound like you're definitely going."

"I'm sorry."

"Is there really nothing I can do to make you stay?"

If you tell me you love me, I will.

"Nah... not really."

He huffed but kept his head there, even taking my hands and pulling them to his chest so he could hold them.

~

Saturday came, but just as I was about to leave the house for Calum's match, mum stopped me after reading a letter that had just arrived.

"You skipped school?!?"

I winced at mum's voice, jerking my head away from the sound.

"I can't believe you! Your finals are only four months away, how can you be skipping school?"

"I'm sorry."

"Saying I'm sorry won't change anything! You can't go back in time, can you? I never thought I'd be saying this to you; but you're grounded. For the whole week!"

My eyes widened in shock. "No, you can't ground me! I need to be at Calum's match right now!"

"No Luke, you crossed the line one too many times. You can't go."

Just then, two people walked in to the room. "Sorry to disturb you Liz," Natalie whispered. Mum sighed but put the smile on her face – whilst my frown turned into a grimace. Of course, with Natalie came Lloyd. "I just needed to ask you about this event..."

Lloyd came up to me with a smirk. "I'm not in the mood."

"I'll help you."

"I said, I'm not – wait what?"

"You need to be at that guy's match, don't you? I'll help you go."

I frowned, unsure of his intentions. I'd lost my trust for this guy a long time ago and wasn't prepared to suddenly place all my trust in him. What if he let me go and then snitched on me to mum? That was the type of thing he'd do.

We went upstairs first and I sat down on my bed, whilst he perched on my desk. "So, I'm thinking, we go down, I say to our mums that I'm leaving first, then you run out and I wait in your room in case your mum calls you."

"Why are you helping me?" I asked, my voice laced with suspicion.

"Because... I need a way to apologise."

Was I hearing correctly? Apologise, Lloyd? Pah, not in this lifetime.

"I'm sorry for everything I did to you. Truthfully, when we moved back here first, I was going to apologise but then I saw you and became a dick again. Tormenting you just became first nature to me after what happened back then Luke, and if it's possible I'd like you to forgive me and forget what I did."

I gulped, the beginnings of sweat leaking onto my brow. How could such kind words come out of his mouth? I frowned, then softened my expression, then frowned again. "I don't know what to say."

He nodded. "I get it. If I were you, I'd hate my guts to death, I'd want to kill me. So I'm hoping you saved a bit of humanity inside you to forgive me because I hate having his on my chest all the time." I caught a fleeting glimpse of goodness on his face and desperately wanted to give in and forgive him. Sure, he made me turn asexual, but at the same time he made me realise that a person couldn't be without love.

"Yeah. Okay. I'll forgive you. This doesn't mean I've forgotten what you did to me though."

He closed his eyes and nodded. "I know. I also know just sorry won't get me very far so I hope that by helping you out this way, you can begin to accept my apology."

With one final smile I headed down with my backpack and Lloyd said what he needed to say, letting me run out unnoticed. I mouthed a thank you to him and was on my way to the stadium.

~

"And there goes our stay player, Hood, scoring the final goal of the season! A round of applause for Hood!" the commentator announced. We all stood up and cheered, whilst the opposing team's supporters shook their head and booed. My eyes followed Calum around the pitch – his teammates picked him up and threw him about, praising him with playful punches and roars.

I turned to Ashton and Michael, who were both ecstatic too. "I can't believe he made it!" I shrieked at them. We all fanboyed over Calum's amazing football skills and sat down once the high was over.

The players left the pitch and spectators were beginning to leave too – some to congratulate their sons and some to take them out for dinner. Ashton looked at me as I picked up my bag, with a nervous expression stitched into his face.

"What's up?" I questioned.

He took a deep breath. "I'm... I'm gonna tell Cal tonight, at the party. I'm his date, but you need to be there. I won't be able to comfort him afterwards because, well I've realised. I want to be with Michael forever. I'm gonna stop being polyamorous."

I watched as he planted a kiss on Michael's kiss, resisting the urge to look away. "Uh okay, but I wasn't invited."

"I know. Just please... be there?"

I shook my head as if it was obvious what the answer would be. "I have a duty to comfort him but not to clean up your shit. Make sure he's okay with everything before sending him off – it's that simple."

I said that, but I knew I was gonna be there later for him.

***

We're about to hit a climax guys, hold on tight *grabs everyone's hands*

Question today - favourite hair colour on Michael? Mine has got to be red. i don't know why, it just looks so good on him! Of course, galaxy was a great era but it doesn't appear he's bringing that back :(

Dedication goes to cakeseve for voting and commenting! I know I've given you a dedication for DBJ but you definitely deserve one here too :) Thanks for reading, hope you're enjoying this!

Vote+comment for dedication/virtual 5sos shaped chips

Kimmy xx