Coming Up For Air

4.7

"And you're not so young that you believe me

Just because I say it's love

And even if they come to steal you tomorrow

I'll know my smile was yours

Go ahead and chase your dreams and your freedom

Run, run wild wild horses

You can't tame these horses."

-Atmosphere, 'Wild Wild Horses'

⚑ Luke ⚐

Luke was the first one to Bridge Park again, and he spent the two and a half minutes it took for Ashton to arrive pacing nervously and trying to think of what he had done wrong, what could have possibly happened other than those homophobic guys to make Ashton not want him anymore. He realized suddenly that if Ashton didn't want him, he didn't really want himself, either. He wasn't exactly sure what that meant, but it was kind of painful.

Just when Luke was about to get frantic, he heard footsteps on the bridge he was on and he whipped around. Ashton was standing five feet away, looking at him with apprehension and something else. Luke choked on everything he had ever wanted to say in his entire life and just kind of flexed his fingers, he gaze never leaving Ashton.

Ashton finally shattered the crushing silence with a quiet word.

"Luke."

And then he looked up at the sky, blinking rapidly, and Luke realized was trying not to cry.

"Oh my God, Ash--," Luke said with shock, rushing forward and touching Ashton's shoulders and hands and cheeks and wanting to take away whatever was making him sad more than anything. "Oh, gosh--oh, what's wrong, love?"

"I--," Ashton swallowed and clenched his hands in Luke's shirt. "Something bad happened."

"Oh, those guys, Ash? They--fuck them. They--,"

"Not them," Ashton said, which terrified Luke even more.

"What was it? Can I help? God, I'll do everything, Ash, just tell me--," Luke mumbled, burying his face in Ashton's shoulder and letting his lips brush the soft skin there. It had only been a few days, but he had missed the feel of Ashton in his arms so much.

Ashton chuckled in a drowning kind of way.

"I--well, unless you're gonna be able to raise a ridiculous amount of money in the next six weeks, then I don't think you'll be able to do much." He told Luke bitterly. Every worst case scenario flashed through Luke's head all at once, and he looked at Ashton with deep-seated panic in his eyes within milliseconds.

"What? What happened? What's going on?" He asked, a waterfall rush of questions spilling uninvited from his lips and all out into the air in a messy way.

"My grandma can't afford the payments for my college anymore." Ashton said, his voice fracturing apart.

"Okay--," Luke said, taking no time to really think about it. "Okay. Okay. So you'll have to drop out of college?"

"Yeah." Ashton told him.

"Okay--well, I mean, I could help you find a job and you could save up and just take some classes like Calum and--,"

"Luke." Ashton interrupted, looking at him tenderly and holding onto him even tighter. "Luke, I think I'm gonna have to go home. My grandma--I only have a visa to stay here while I'm enrolled in school. If I get kicked out...well, I've got to leave."