Coming Up For Air

4.5

"Hell had you by the throat.

You never got to heaven but you got real close.

Your past has you in a choke hold

But you deserve it from what I've been told."

-You Me At Six, 'Loverboy'

⚑ Luke ⚐

Luke was worried.

After their date, he had dropped Ashton off back at his dorm. Ashton had placed a chaste kiss on his cheek and closed the door.

Luke could still see the tear tracks on his face.

It had been two days since then, and Luke hadn't seen Ashton. He had texted him a few times to see if he wanted to come over or if he wanted to meet up, but Ashton had responded with brief, impersonal 'I'm busy's or 'Not feeling well's.

Needless to say, Luke was coming apart at the seams.

"Stop pouting. Why are you pouting? Come play FIFA." Calum complained from the living room, where he was sprawled on the couch.

"M'not pouting." Luke mumbled, slumping against the kitchen counter.

"You are pouting so hard. I can feel your pout from all the way over here. Why are you pouting?" Calum asked, turning around to face Luke.

Luke didn't respond.

"Oh. Ashton. That level of pout could only be induced by Ashton." Calum acknowledge. "What did he do?"

"Nothing."

"I don't believe you."

Luke shrugged in a dead kind of way.

Calum rolled his eyes and hauled himself off of the couch, coming over and depositing himself next to Luke on the counter.

"Lucas?" He asked him softly. "What happened?"

Luke sighed. And then he told him.

He told him about how after they left the Crushed Clock Club, they were walking and talking, and he told him about the men, about how they stopped them and about what they said. He told him how Ashton cried. He told him how Ashton wasn't talking to him now, not really, and he told him how it felt like he couldn't breath because his chest hurt when he thought about Ashton not talking to him.

Calum was silent the entire time until Luke finished his story.

"Well," Calum said after a long moment of silence. "I mean...I don't know, dude. I'm sure those guys freaked him out."

"I know they did--I tried to talk to him about it. But--he just won't--you know. Talk." Luke said helplessly.

"I think you should call Louis. Ask him for advice or something, since I am both not gay and not good at relationships or problem solving in general." Calum told him.

Luke considered momentarily. On the one hand, Louis was sad about Harry, but he seemed to be hanging around with Zayn an awful lot, so maybe he was doing better. Luke nodded.

"Okay. Yeah. I'll call him."

x

"Louis? Hi. It's Luke." Luke said as soon as he heard Louis pick up the phone.

"I have caller ID, thanks." Louis said in a bubbly, bitter kind of way, like his voice was lukewarm club soda.

"I...kind of need your advice. I know things aren't great for you right now, but--,"