On Contract • Lashton AU

Part Forty Eight

Luke was sat alone, waiting anxiously for Ashton to come through the front door, which had been left unlocked.
He wasn't completely over the previous day and he couldn't rid himself of the inconsistent ringing in his left ear. Ashton had said that it would fix itself in the coming days or weeks, and he trusted the older man.
Luke had also been told that, if Ashton wasn't back by half past two, to dial 911 and give Ashton's address.
It was almost five to three and Luke hadn't so much as touched the phone.
He didn't want to.
When it hit two thirty, Luke told himself to give Ashton a few more minutes. That turned into fifteen minutes, and them half an hour.
Ashton had to come back.
From three in the afternoon, time went slowly. Agonisingly slowly.
Four o'clock came and went, yet Luke had no intention of picking up the phone. Just two more hours and then he would call. When it got to six o'clock, he promised himself that he would.
If... When... When Ashton came back, Luke knew he would be mad at him for not doing as he was told, but it was really worth it. Luke was still of the opinion that Ashton could protect him best.
It was at almost eight before he was about to give up and finally do as Ashton told him, but Luke didn't have the courage to.
Nothing had yet happened, he could wait for Ashton a little longer... He had to wait.
In the back of his mind, he was dreading the thought that something had happened to Ashton. Luke knew that what Ashton was doing was dangerous, but, until this point, he had assumed that it would all go well.
What if Ashton still hadn't come back because he couldn't?