Live in the Moment - Lashton

Chapter Nine

Chapter Nine

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Luke sighed a breath of relief when he shut his front door. He had decided to take the day off work, to tidy up the house and have a little rest from Theo. Looking after Theo as well as allowing all his thoughts to run wild had been overwhelming him as of late and every little opportunity he had (which was not many) he took to nap.

Luke had also seen Ashton for the first time in a week and he could not help but notice the look of disappointment on his face when their eyes met. Luke avoided giving Theo any more money for school dinners as not only did he not want Theo eating something that was unhealthy he was anxious as to where the food came from. Therefore, when Ashton sent him a message every morning, reminding him to give his son some money he quickly deleted them as if they had never been there. He had thought of ignoring the man, but his heart yearned to feel his lips against his own again.

Luke shakily hoisted himself up onto the worktop and let his legs hang from the surface. The house was clean, it had been mopped a couple of days ago and Luke was insistent he and Theo left their shoes at the door, and all the washing had been put away, either hung up or folded neatly. Luke did not need to take the day off to clean the house it was always immaculate.

The blonde had looked in the cupboards the day prior and panicked at the food that was left in there, either untouched or only used once. He wanted to rid of it because his newly educated brain knew that most of it were not good for him or his son.

So as he sorted through each can, box or loose piece of food, recycling the majority of it and deciding that he and Theo could go for a nice walk and buy a little bit of the necessary food when he finished school; maybe getting him a toy for being so willing to eat what he was given and not disobeying the guidelines.

Luke let his mind wandered to the curly-haired man, and the small dimples that appeared as the man grinned a huge smile and the small bit of stubble above and below his mouth that felt soothing as their lips were pressed against one another. Warm air filling the small space around them, radiating from their bodies. Ashton's firm grip on his shoulder as he tugged him in closer, his hands entangled in his hair tugging it roughly. Luke groaned slightly at the thought and looked down at his phone on the counter. He wanted to see Ashton again, he wanted to feel loved and at peace.

The bench they had sat on a week ago was uncomfortable and he imagined how great it would be to cuddle up to his son's teacher on the sofa, their bodies tangled and the lights dimmed. Trying to be quiet so Theo didn't awake. Luke thought maybe in time he could find himself living with the man; he knew they had only known each other for a fortnight, but Luke had never felt this way about someone and he knew that they would work, he could sense it. The blonde groaned frustrated once again, he would kill to see Ashton today.

Slipping off the work surface with a little thud, the blonde shuffled over his cardboard waste and pressed it all down into the bin in satisfaction. The wasted food he shoved in the bin. It would have been a cliche that he should give it to starving people, but he did not want to sacrifice their health even more by giving them something so healthy: oats, seeds and the plainest of crackers.

Adjusting a couple of the magnets and drawings that Theo did on the fridge the twenty-three-year-old sighed. He yanked one of the most recent drawings his son had done off of the fridge and stared at it. It was of the pair, as were most of the drawings, Luke knew Theo loved him dearly would never do anything maliciously to hurt him, he knew his son like everyone else did not understand what he was going through.

Theo was getting good and drawing, for a six-year-old at least. They were becoming three dimensional rather than stick figures. Luke let his spindly finger trace over the felt-tip mark, following the wonky curve that represented his stomach. He then let his hand run up and down his stomach, feeling the exact same curve that his son drew. Luke wanted to ponder on it for a moment longer but his phone began to buzz against the worktop. He let the drawing float to the floor as he rushed over to see who was calling: it was Ashton.

He wanted to avoid the man but thought that he should be teaching his son right now. Placing the phone to his ear Luke greeted his son's teacher.

"Luke," Ashton spoke quietly, but quickly. "Theo has had a bit of a fall." There was a loud background noise of people speaking and buzzing.

"Fall? Is he alright? Did he trip over? He's so clumsy! Has he broke a bone?" the blonde rambled a little concerned not understanding Ashton's implications.

"No Luke, we were walking down the hall to an assembly and Theo collapsed." Luke let his eyes close tightly shut. "Luke, you haven't been giving him enough food." There was still no response. "Look come on down the hospital, he'll be asking for you soon. We can talk when you get here. It's all going to be alright, I promise"

"But they're going to take him away!"

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