Chasing Ashton -Lashton Hirwin-

Chapter Fourteen: Bad News.

Chapter Fourteen: Bad News.

"Here" Ashton said as he handed Luke a cup of tea, Luke took it with a smile and held it between his cold hands to heat them up, Ashton sat on the sofa next to him and rubbed his back with his left hand, "So, you gonna tell me what's wrong now?" Ashton said quietly as he rubbed circles into Luke's back. Luke sipped his tea and nodded,

"I-I, found a, letter" Luke started, Ashton watched his lips move, taking in every word he was saying, "And, well, it was about mum, she's... sh-she's..."

"It's okay baby, talk to me" Ashton cooed, with those few words Luke felt comfortable and almost relieved that Ashton was here,

"Well, it was a, letter" Luke started, it took him a while to come to terms with the words he was about to say, after all, he'd only read them from a piece of paper, not heard them from his mother's lips. "She's, g-got, c-cancer" he sobbed, he dropped the cup of tea on the floor and turned into Ashton's chest gripping the collar of his shirt tight, Ashton wrapped his arms around Luke tight and rocked him slowly as he cried,

"How do you know for sure?" was the only thing Ashton could think to ask, he continued to hug Luke and stroke his hair as he cried,

"I, she, there was a letter, and, it was from the hospital, and, it had the hospital stamp and stuff" Luke said pulling away from Ashton, he tried to compose himself, he didn't want Ashton to think he was being a baby about the whole situation. But his thought process couldn't be more wrong, in fact Ashton thought Luke was brave for telling him, especially consider he had been so horrible to Luke the past few weeks. He was about to say something when Luke's head snapped up to the door, his mother was home.

"Everything okay in here?" Liz asked as she popped her head around the lounge door, Luke shook his head and Ashton stood up,

"I'll, uhh, leave. I'll see you tomorrow, Luke, if you still want my help that is?" Luke looked up at him, glassy eyes and rosy cheeks,

"Yeah, please, I wanna pass" Luke managed to say, Ashton nodded and walked through to the kitchen to collect his things, Liz followed,

"I think it's lovely that you care so much about my son's classes" Liz said as she put some things away in a cupboard,

"He's a smart boy and if he just concentrated a little harder, he'd pass with flying colours" Ashton said with a smile, Liz smiled back and turned to face him properly,

"He speaks very highly of you, Mr.Irwin" her tone had dropped a little now, it seemed more accusing although he didn't know what she could be accusing him of,

"He does?"

"Yes, talks about you all the time."

"Umm, what does he say?" he knew she didn't know about the weekend they spent together, but he was worrying now,

"Just that you care a lot about him and his work, that you persist he keeps on top of everything and that you wouldn't let him drop out when he wanted too. You're not like other teachers, I'm thankful he has an adult he can trust with things." she smiled, he nodded and started for the front door, "See you tomorrow then?" she asked just before he left the room, he looked back and gave her a nervous smile,

"See you later, Luke" he said as he walked in the lounge, Luke stood up and hugged him,

"Thank you, and, I'm sorry" Luke whispered, Ashton wrapped his arms around Luke's back and pulled him close,

"I'll always be here if you need me" Ashton whispered back, he pulled away from Luke and smiled as he walked out the door.

"Mum, can I talk to you?" Luke asked nervously, he fiddled with the ring on his finger as he sat down at the table beside her,

"Sure sweetie, what is it?" she asked without looking up from a letter with a hospital stamp in the top corner,

"Are you, uhh, do you, umm, I know" he replied, she looked at him slowly, the colour in her face drained,

"Wh-what, do you know?" her voice was shaky now,

"About, the cancer" her head dropped and they sat in silence for a few minutes, "Why didn't you tell me mum?"

"I'm sorry, but it really wasn't something I needed to tell you, it's something I just need to deal with" she explained simply, he nodded and got up heading for the kitchen door, "Luke"

"Yeah?"

"I love you, you know that right?" he nodded again,

"I know, I love you too" he walked up the stairs slowly and sat on his bed, he couldn't think of anything to do but cry right now, he curled up and buried himself under the covers sobbing.

His emotions were so mixed, on one hand he was happy about today, Ashton called him baby, they hugged, things were getting better for them. But on the other hand he was devastated about the news of his mother, he hadn't asked her the important questions and he knew he needed to, he knew the conversation had to happen. Not today though.