Arms||Cake AU||

Chapter 2

Luke Hemmings was caught off guard by his phone ringing, vibrating through his hoodie pocket. He jumped in fright, falling off his bed and onto the messy floor below. Cursing under his breath, he sat up and pulled his phone from his pocket.

"What do you want Ashton?" He groaned, answering the incoming call from his best friend.

"Hey Luke." Ashton chirped cheerily. Luke scowled, rubbing his side as he stood up.

"You made me fall off my bed." He grumbled, walking over to the window and staring out of it into the dark street outside.

"Sorry," Ashton giggled. "Are you alright?"

"No, my side hurts." Luke pouted. "What do you want?"

"Woah, am I not allowed to call my best friend?"

"No."

"Well then, I'll just eat this delicious packet of Oreos myself then."

"You do that." Luke muttered, continuing to rub his side until the pain subsided. "Wait..I take that back."

"I thought you might. Come over, the door's open." Ashton said through a mouthful of food. "I'll see you in a minute." The phone call cut off, and Luke sighed, looking around his room to try and spot his Vans in the mess.

"There you are." He said when he spotted them half under his bed below a pile of jotters. Luke's mother had told him countless times to clean his room, but Luke just couldn't be bothered. He had found that if he tidied his room, he wouldn't be able to find his things because he'd have put them in a "safe place" that was too safe.

"Mum!" He called downstairs as he pulled his shoes on.

"What is it Lucas?" She called back. Luke left his room and ran downstairs, his heavy footsteps echoing. Liz, his mother, was stretched out across the corner piece sofa in the living room, watching some reality TV show on the massive flatscreen on the wall.

"Can I go to Ashton's?"

"Luke, you're 17 years old, do you really need to ask to go Ashton's?" Liz chuckled, drawing her gaze away from the TV to her youngest son.

"Dad doesn't like it when I leave the house without permission." Luke shrugged, feeling his face heat up in embarrassment.

"You're Dad isn't in though, is he?" Liz smiled, reaching up to ruffle his hair. Luke flinched away from her hand, defensively covering his quiff.

"I was just checking."

"You're going next door."

"Next door is technically still out of the house." Luke pointed out. Liz rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to the TV screen.

"Just go you dork." Liz said affectionately. Luke leaned over he back of the couch and kissed her forehead before running through the kitchen and out of the back door. He had no idea why he was running, it would only take him at most a minute to get to Ashton's. Though Luke could argue that it would be a lot easier if there wasn't an 8ft wall between his garden and Ashton's.

Both of their families were pretty rich, with Luke's dad being an international tennis star and Ashton's mum being a CEO of her own company. Ashton and Luke had been best friends for as long as both of them could remember. Anne and Liz had children within a year of each other, though Luke and Ashton had always got on better than Ashton and Jack, Luke's brother, who were closer in age. Jack was more sports orientated, whereas Luke and Ashton were more musical.