aggression | luke hemmings

Chapter Sixteen

Luke's POV

I know Ashton is right. I know this isn't my fault, but that doesn't remove the metaphorical knife that keeps twisting in my gut, making me feel guilt like I hadn't ever before. That's all I ever feel now, guilt. Either that or pure euphoria, but right now it's guilt. All for the same reason.

I stay quiet, not knowing what to say or do so I just run my hands nervously over my hair again.

"Luke, say something," Becca pleads.

"Something," I state dumbly. Calum and Mike chuckle but the mood isn't lightened. Becca sighs. I sit up straight and wrap my arms around her, she does the same with me. I hear a few sighs from behind me but I ignore them, I can tell they're smiling though. I kiss Becca's temple when she pulls away, she slightly smiles.

We fall into quietness for a few seconds, but Mike speaks up as if nothing happened. And that's a good thing, by the way. "What should we do then?"

"We can...." Ashton starts, then his eyes widen and his face lights up, he leans in to Mike to whisper something. Mike nods excitedly, and gestures for Becca, Calum, and me to follow him and Ash. We look at them, confused, but we follow them into Mike's room.

In there, I see a drum kit and 2 guitars, one acoustic and one electric. Mike grabs the acoustic one and Ash sits on a wooden box, which I assume is used for some sort of acoustic drums if that's even a thing.

"This is I Miss You, by blink-182," Ash grins. Becca, Cal, and I sit on Mike's bed and watch as they play an amazing song, I recognize it but I don't remember what it's from.

"Whoo!" Calum cheers at the end of the song.

"That was amazing!" I smile, clapping.

"When did you learn that?" Becca asks, also clapping.

"We practiced for about a week now, just mastered it last night," Mike says. He and Ash stand up and bow in front of us, smiling. We walk back to the living room and sit on the couch once more.

"I heard that song before but I'm not sure where from," I say, brows furrowed in concentration. I pull out my phone and check my music app, maybe I have it. "Aha," I say, clicking on I Miss You by blink-182.

"That would be it," Calum says. I smile and let the song play. I notice Ashton tapping lightly and quietly on the edge of the couch to the beat he was doing minutes before now, I smile at him. The song ends and I hit pause before the next song plays, turning off my phone afterwards. "Ash, did you tell Mike that lawyer brains joke?"

"Oh my gosh, tell him!" Becca says when he shakes his head. Ash turns to face Mike, chuckling as he tells the joke. Mike has the same reaction that Becca, Calum, and I did, cracking up.

"I have one too," Calum says, raising his hand. We turn to face him this time, "An elderly couple were suffering from memory loss of small things like chores to do. Their doctor said to write tasks down on notes so they wouldn't forget.

"When they got home one day, the woman asked her husband, 'Dear, would you get me a dish of ice cream? And write it on a note so you don't forget?' He replied, 'I won't forget a simple thing like that, a dish of ice cream.' 'Okay, and top it with strawberries and whipped cream.' The woman said. The man nodded and went off to the kitchen, his wife heard pots and pans banging around but she dismissed it. Her husband came out holding a plate of bacon and eggs, she stared down at it, confused.

"She asked, 'Where is the toast I asked for?'" Calum said, I burst into laughter with Ash, Bec, and Mike. Calum grins for making us laugh, he chuckles in the process. Man, they're full of good jokes.