A Man's Bestfriend ⇢ malum [✓]

Chapter 6

(written in points-of-views)

≪ Luke's POV ≫

"I've been thinking," Ashton said to me from across the room, "Since we're going home today, we could do press next week."

I looked at him with worry plastered on my face. I was about to ask him for certainty but he assured me.

"It's time," he smiled.

"If you say so. I'll let them know," I replied.

I took my phone from the bedside table and unlocked it. I clicked the buttons here and there and ended up in my e-mail. As I replied to their requests one by one, I noticed my battery percentage draining by the minute. After I was done with the arrangements, I went onto Twitter for a bit. I realised that I have not been on Twitter for what seemed like forever. The last tweet that was shown on the very top of my phone was:

@Calum5SOS:
Can't wait to try cooking Mum's lasagna on my own! I just hope it'd be edible :) haha x

Do you remember the feeling when you watch innocent dogs die in movies? It was like a reenactment of that reaction when I read that tweet. My eyes were stinging from trying to hold back the tears. I held long breaths to prevent uncontrollable sobbing. The muscles in my face twitched the more I forced for it to stiffen, but no matter how hard I try to toughen up and hide, I teared up anyway.

My phone had shut off as I forgot to charge it in time. I plugged the cable in and left for the washroom.

≪ Ashton's POV ≫

I was nearly done with packing. It's been a month since the funeral and we've stayed here for three straight weeks now. As much as I would love to be physically supportive for the Hood family, they deserve some alone time and we still needed to release our next album.

"Ugh, what a hassle," I thought.

I was not ready to leave. I was not ready to go back home. I was not ready to go to the public. I was just not ready to face more — the explaining, engaging and messing with my emotions — I was not ready for that. If I was ready for anything, it's less.

"What other choices do you have, Ash?" I thought again.

All of a sudden, Luke ran out of the room. I heard the washroom doors being closed abruptly. I shrugged.

"Probably another fight with his girlfriend."

I was down to the last bunch of clothing to fold and pack. I grabbed the first piece of clothing from the pile — a black coat that Calum gave me for my previous birthday.

I was reminded of the frequent times when we would hang out, even if it was just to watch a movie or grab a drink. We would try on different outfits and look silly together at stores. We would hit the gym and have a feast on the same day. We would go on many great adventures and write many songs together.

My thoughts of Calum were interrupted by glass shattering that came from below. Luke came into the room looking frustrated.

"What happened?" I asked.

He ignored me and started packing. I finished folding the last pair of jeans before going down to check on that glass.

Michael was helping Mali picking up broken glass pieces. Coffee was spilt all over the wooden flooring too. I went to the kitchen to grab a damp cloth then I helped to clean the place up as well. I raised an eyebrow of curiosity at Michael, expecting answers.

"Luke," Michael sighed, "He tried to do something stupid."

"He what?!"