More Than a Fan || cth

Chapter 14

The backyard is empty. I've searched every corner and there's no sight of my best friend, or my dog. I turn around, walking back into the house.

"Ashton?" I call, my voice echoing through the empty hall.

"Yeah?" I hear a reply coming from the kitchen. I follow the voice and enter the kitchen. Ashton is on the floor, leaning against the bottom cabinets with a happy-go-lucky smile on his face. A dust pan full of glass is sitting on the floor.

"What are you doing?" I ask, raising my eyebrow and giving him a dirty look.

"I'm sitting." says Ashton dryly. I roll my eyes and bend down to pick the dust pan up off the floor.

"Okay," I say suspiciously. "So, Duke is gone?"

"Duke is gone? What do you mean, Luke was literally just with him."

"He's literally gone. I went out to the backyard and Luke and Duke weren't there? I searched the whole yard and they disappeared. Luke deadass just stole my damn dog, Ashton." I explain to Ashton, who's listening to me with a smirk on his face. I can tell he doesn't believe me. "I'm serious, Ash! They're gone! Lucas flipping Hemmings ran away with my dog!"

"Calm down, it's not like he's gonna sell Duke to some middle-aged man." Ashton teases. I roll my eyes.

"Ashton, my dog isn't a prostitute." I point out. He bursts into laughter. I throw him the middle finger and walk out of the room mumbling,

"You're no help at all."

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We've been searching all over LA. Luke and Duke are nowhere to be seen. I'm freaking out. Not because a certain blonde guitarist is gone, but because my fluffy canine is missing. Luke's a grown boy, he may be a crackhead sometimes but he can take care of himself. If he starts being stupid though, Duke won't have it. Duke gets tired of people easily, he's smart enough to realize if people are being stupid. He'll run away. He gets an attitude sometimes.

"Calum, calm down. Luke takes care of Petunia, he'll take care of Duke." Lacie tries to comfort me. Delilah's back at my flat still, just in case the two decide to show up there again. We're currently at a random park. It's 11pm.

"I know Luke will, but Duke will get fed up. He'll run away or something." I tell Lacie, who stops in her tracks with a small smile on her face. "Don't laugh at me. I know my dog."

"It's cute." She whispers. My heart swells but I keep walking.

"Let's go to McDonald's." Ashton blurts. This time, I stop. Lacie does the same. Ashton turns around, looking at us like we're crazy. "What? I'm hungry."

"Whatever, I guess we can go." I give up. We've been searching for almost two hours already. There's one right next to the park. We go in and Lacie screams.

"Luke fuc-" My mouth falls open. I spot Luke holding Duke tightly in his arms. They're standing at the counter arguing with one of the cashiers. Ashton runs up to one of the registers and starts to order, completely oblivious to the fact that we've found what we've been looking for for the past two hours.

"But listen- he just wants a puppicino! That's all he's ever wanted his whole life. Look, this little doggo is sick, he has a terminal disease. He doesn't have much longer to live. Please, just let me make him happy one last time before he passes away. He needs to live his life, he needs to-"

"Luke. Luke, stop." Lacie grabs Luke's arm and drags him away. I approach the counter, throwing the cashier an apologetic look.

"Sorry about him. He's a bit crazy sometimes. Excuse him." I explain to the cashier. They look terrified. They nod, slowly backing up with wide eyes. I turn around and follow Lacie, who's pulling him out of the restaurant.