Somewhere in Neverland (Lashton)

Ch. 28: Come Home and Stop This Pain Tonight

"Where are you and I'm so sorry

I cannot sleep I cannot dream tonight

I need somebody and always

This sick strange darkness

Comes creeping on so haunting every time

And as I stared I counted

Webs from all the spiders

Catching things and eating their insides

Like indecision to call you

and hear your voice of treason

Will you come home and stop this pain tonight."

Blink 182 (I Miss You)

Luke woke up to the blaring sound of his alarm clock. For a moment, he had forgotten about the breakup with Ashton. He jumped out of bed, getting dressed then got in his car to drive to Ashton's. But then it hit him. Ashton and him broke up last night. It felt like someone had ripped Luke's heart out of his chest. He rested his hands on the steering wheel, sobbing. He felt shattered and broken in every possible way. He had never hurt so much in his life. Luke felt as if his whole world had been torn apart, flipped upside down, and burned to pieces. He put his keys in the car, blasting This Women's Work. It was still raining from the previous day which seemed to fit Luke's gloomy mood. He didn't drive to school. He couldn't deal with going there today. He couldn't deal with seeing Ashton. He couldn't deal with all the memories of him and Ashton that clouded his head. He couldn't deal with the strong longing for Ashton to hold him.

Meanwhile, Ashton was numb to the pain, he refused to stop for a second and actually think about what had happened. Instead, he piled himself in school work and did everything within his power to ignore the fact that he was dying on the inside. He felt as if he were slowly deteriorating on the inside, yet remained composed on the outside. He tried not to let the fact that Luke didn't show up to school that day affect him. Harry could tell something was wrong, he would try to pry it out of him but he wouldn't budge. Instead he changed the subject and let Harry talk his ear off about how he got accepted into Oxford. Everyone was talking of the future, how they had their whole next chapter of their lives planned out. How they were going to go to college then become what they'd aspired to be since they were five. But Ashton refused to talk of the future. It scared him in every possible way. He was scared that he would fail out of college, that he'd make no friends at the new school, that he'd regret even applying to the school, that he'd change his mind and no longer want to go there. But what scared him the most was the mere thought of how far away he'd be from Luke.

Luke parked his car, stepping out into the pouring rain, not caring at all that his clothes were going to get soaked. He walked through the mud getting the bottom of his jeans and converse dirty and wet. He didn't even notice the mud seeping into his wet shoes. He walked zombie-like, his eyes half open, moving one foot at a time, staring blankly in front of him. As he walked through the woods, unbearable memories came to him.

When Luke reached the top he saw that there were candles and a blanket and food as well as flowers.

"Ashton, you didn't have to do all of this for me," Luke said, his heart swelling.

"But I did," Ashton said as he wrapped his arms around Luke's waist.

Tears prickled down Luke's face. In the mere distance, luke could see two boys, he was watching the memory from outside his body.

"I like it here, I don't know why we ever stopped going here," Luke told him. They sat on the floor of the treehouse as they began eating their food.