thunderstruck ⁑ lrh

V

The matter of days passed by like no other, yet, Luke didn't know whether he had dreaded or enjoyed the fact that he was returning to the tour.

He had missed the thrill of playing shows while they had their break, but his last few days had dimmed his mood.

He hadn't enjoyed his time with Aerin, like he usually would have. The last few days he was with her weren't much better than the first. Their whole relationship, actually, felt different than it used to.

She was acting more affectionate than she normally would, but her affection was usually short lived. She would get upset over the smallest details and then place the blame on him.

After one of their disputes, the pair would refuse to acknowledge each other. Even before Luke left, they had quite a large argument and he had departed before resolving the conflict.

"Luke," Michael said, "are you coming?"

"Huh?"

"We've got to go on now."

"Oh right, right... right." Luke replied, using a finger gun motion. "The show, right, the show."

He follows Michael out onto the stage, mentally preparing himself for this show.

• 🌕🌗🌓🌑 •

Most of the set went well, but Luke couldn't help but tear up, at some of the slower songs. As they exit the premises, drenched in sweat, Ashton had his usual-post-show-parting-phrase of, "It was a damn good show."

Calum and Michael replied with excitement and Luke mumbled out a "yeah,"

"What's got you down, bud?" Calum asked.

Luke shook his head and said nothing.

"Y'okay, dude?" Ashton questioned, noticing his shift in mood.

"Just feeling like shit, y'know?" Luke shrugged.

"Well, do you wanna un-shit yourself?" Calum asked as they walked towards their bus.

"Yeah, I think we have some beer on the bus. It might help a bit." Ashton added, opening the bus door.

"Uh, sure. I could forget, for awhile." Luke replied, climbing onto the bus behind Ashton.

"Good. I could use some fun." Michael said, pulling a couple beers from their fridge.

"So, what's got you down, Luke?" Ashton questioned, taking a seat on the floor.

Luke shrugged, not ready to admit what his problem was. "Just got a lot on my mind, I guess." He answered, taking a swig of the beer Michael handed him.

"So, talk through it, man. We can help you, if you tell us." Calum said, sitting down beside Ashton.

"I'd prefer not to. Maybe, I'll reconsider, after I've had a few beers, though." Luke replied, looking at the bottle of beer in his hands.

"Fine. So, what should we do?" Michael asked, from his spot, across from Ashton and Calum.

"Just drink and talk. Two things, I'm relatively good at." Ashton said, standing up and making his way to the fridge.