The Soulmate Program *editing* // Luke Hemmings

Chapter 28 [unedited]

Kay's POV

"Ash!" I smiled, wrapping my arms around him as he did the same. I had met him in a private room somewhere so we weren't mobbed by his fans.

I didn't want to be all over Twitter, Ashton is the only one that knows I'm here and I'd like to keep it that way for the time being.

"Hi Kay!" Ashton grinned as we pulled away, "Let's go?"

I nodded, pulling my hood over my head and slipping on some sunglasses as Ashton had ordered.

"So there's not many fans here yet so as long as we get to the can quickly and quietly we have nothing to worry about." Ashton explained as we walked with our heads down. His security guards were keeping their distance so they didn't draw too much attention to us as well.

"So no one knows I'm here?" I clarified.

"Nope, Jade and Bryana aren't here by the way. When we decided to postpone the tour they went home even though Cal and I asked them to come to Australia. Luke and Michael are just kind of hard to be around right now." Ashton explained.

"That's why I'm here I guess, to fix this." I mumbled.

••

"Everyone's in the living room I think, and my family is out as well." Ashton said as we stood in front of the door of his house, "I'm going in now, do you need a minute alone to... prepare I guess?"

"Uh, yeah. I think I need a minute." I stood to the side while Ashton walked in. Once the door had closed, I began pacing in front of it.

I was beyond nervous to face them. Was this really a good idea? What if I just make it worse?

I didn't realize I was standing outside for fifteen minutes until Ashton texted me.

From Ashy
It's been fifteen minutes, I think you should come in now

I sighed, knocking on the door three times waiting in anticipation for it to be opened.

Ashton opened the door, stepping out of the way so the boys who were standing behind him had a clear view of me.

Luke and Michael's eyes practically bulged out of their heads.

Ashton gestured for me to come in so I slowly stepped in.

"Hey Cal, I'm kind of hungry. Do you want to get some food?" Ashton asked.

"Yeah, I'm hungry too." The two boys rushed out of the front door.

I looked at the two boys and tears formed in my eyes when I saw how terrible they looked. I blinked them away, not allowing myself to cry again, especially not in front of them.

I cleared my throat, "We can't ignore this forever."

"You look nice, Kay." Luke spoke up in a raspy voice, trying to do exactly what I said we couldn't.

"Believe me, under the makeup I look like a zombie." I answered.

"So, in the nicest way possible, why are you here?" Michael asked, reaching for a beer on the coffee table I walked over and took it out of his hand, placing it back on the table.

"Are you guys kidding me?" I looked at the two boys, "Look, we have to at least try to fix this."

"How do you expect us to do that?" Luke muttered.

"We can't fix this, Kay. I've ruined it beyond repair. I'm a stupid flaw that ruined both of you." Michael looked down.

"In case you haven't noticed, Michael, we all have a red X on our wrists." I said harshly but then calmed down and said, "But that doesn't make us flaws. The people who run the Soulmate Program say we're the flaws but it's their system that is at fault here. Their system is the flaw." I repeated the words of my best friend.