Arms||Cake AU||

Chapter 12

Luke hated lying to people, but if he told his mum the truth about his black eye, she'd make too much of an unneeded fuss. It was easier to tell her that he got in the way of someone making an exaggerated hand gesture while telling a story. It wasn't the most convincing story but it seemed to work. It would break his mum's heart to know that the sweet little boy who used to be Luke's friend was now using him as a punchbag.

Luke winced as he sat down on his bed from the pain that shot down his leg. Jake and his friends had found him after school and took advantage of the fact that Calum wasn't around to protect him. They had kicked him so hard that he could feel the bruise forming almost immediately afterwards. And he had just taken it.
What was the point of him fighting them? He'd tried it before and all it had done was made them laugh. Luke wasn't as strong as them, or as athletic as them so he couldn't run away.

As for reporting them, that was the last thing Luke wanted to do. In year 8, his 12 year old self had stupidly taken the advice he was given at primary school and told a teacher about Jake and his friends beating him up. Jake got suspended and he thought it was all over. Jake got back from his suspension two weeks later, hating Luke more than he had before. Now not only was Luke a friendless rich nerd, he was also a snitch, and - as Luke learned the hard way - "Snitches get Stitches."

His mum still didn't know that the reason he needed 5 stitches above his eye in April 2009 wasn't actually because he tripped over in PE. He'd made the mistake of telling once, he was never going to make the same mistake again.

Luke was pulled from his thoughts by the sound of his phone ringing from his bag. Without looking at the screen, he answered it and immediately moved it away from his ear.

"WHY DID I SEE YOU LIMPING HOME TODAY LUCAS HEMMINGS!"

"I wasn't limping." Luke argued, lying back on his unmade bed.

"Oh yeah I forgot, you always drag your left leg behind you and grimace every time you do put weight on it." Ashton replied sarcastically. "My old age must be getting to me."

"Please don't get sarcastic with me Ashton." Luke mumbled.

"Why not?"

"I'm not in the mood."

"Why not?"

"Cause I'm in pain!" Luke exclaimed.

"I knew it. You need to stop hiding it from everyone Luke."

"Ashton, can we please not talk about it." Luke groaned, rubbing his forehead in exasperation.

"No, we need to talk about it. You can't keep letting those jerks keep beating you up." Ashton argued, making Luke roll his eyes.

"What do you suggest I do Ashton?" Luke muttered bitterly. "Report them. We both know that that isn't going to fix anything."

"You can't just take it Luke."

"Who says that I just take it?!"

"Luke, you're a shit liar. We both know that you won't do anything to try and fight those boys." Ashton said with a loud sigh.

"What's the point Ash?" Luke asked defeatedly. "If I run, they'll catch me. If I fight back, they'd laugh. I already sass them, which makes them madder. Everything I could possible do to stop them would only make it worse. I might as well just take it until I leave and I'll never have to deal with their shit again."

Luke stared at his ceiling as he waited for Ashton to respond. Ashton sighed down the phone, and Luke could picture the sad sympathetic smile on his face.

"I just don't like you getting hurt, and I'm going away to Uni soon. I don't want to leave thinking that you're in danger."

"Don't put your future on hold me Ashton. I'm not worth it." Luke told him, feeling a lump form in his throat. He fought to talk through it, hating how forced and unnatural his words sounded. "I don't want to be your pathetic best friend who held you back from your dreams because I couldn't handle a bit of bullying. Go to University, don't worry about me. I'll be fine."

Lies.

"Promise me that's the truth Lukey." Ashton whispered, his voice shaking. Luke took a deep breath before replying.

"I promise."
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Luke remained quiet as he sat with his family at the dinner table. He could sense his older brothers shooting concerned glances in his direction, but he kept his head down so they wouldn't make eye contact. His Dad was sitting at the end of the table, his eyes narrowed as he chewed.

"You're quiet tonight Luke, is something wrong?"

"What's up honey?" His mum asked, placing her fork down on her plate.

"Nothing, I'm fine." Luke lied, glancing up for a split second.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

Luke's stomach was churning as he continued to lie to his mother. The words slipping off of his tongue tasted bitter and sounded foreign. In his mind, it didn't sound like he was saying them, but he knew he was. Liz accepted the lies, returning to her meal after she shot him a small smile.

"What happened to your eye son?" Andrew asked, spotting the bruise as Luke looked down.

"I wasn't paying attention and walked into someone hand while they were making a exaggerated hand motion to tell a story. It was all my fault."

The same lies. Over and over. When was the cycle of dishonesty going to stop? Was it ever going to stop?

"You ought to be more careful Luke. Every other week you come home with a bruise caused by you not paying attention." Andrew told his youngest son sternly.

"I'm sorry Dad." Luke mumbled. "I'll make sure I pay attention from now on."

"Good, good."

Luke didn't need to look at his brothers to knew that neither of them believed him. Their eyes were on him, burning into the back of his head. Luke kept his head down. He figured that if he didn't see them looking, they weren't actually doing so. But he knew that at some point his brothers would catch up with him and demand the truth. Luke was just delaying them for as long as he could.