player ♚ lrh

40 - calm

It was hard to tell who threw the first punch.

Signs would point to Calum, but Luke had reacted so quickly that it hardly seemed to matter much. Either way, fists were up and contact was made.

It was only a matter of seconds before Ashton's hands were wrapped around Luke's arms, straining in their hold similarly to the way Calum's fought against Cole's grasp, though it still took the extra help of Awsten and Michael to successfully pull the two boys apart. It was all very fast, and all very horrifying for a certain girl to watch, but the damage was done.

Ashton had seen it coming the second Luke opened his mouth. Truthfully, he'd seen it coming for much longer than that, for this feud between the two boys had been escalating for years and the physical part was long, long overdue. It was going to happen regardless; he knew that.

It only made sense that Elise would be the final nail in their metaphorical coffin.

It was this post-sobered state of realization that led Ashton to pull the girl behind him, to guide her into the hands of Cassie before either boy got a chance to make contact. And lucky he had, too, for Elise was lunging in desperation the second she saw blood seep from the fresh split upon Luke's lip.

Horrified couldn't even suffice to describe the poor girl's thoughts. She'd seen him in the midst of a fight but never like this; never with such hate behind each blow and never with someone like Calum on the other end. She was heartbroken in a million ways; all revolving around the boy who'd just admitted he loved her.

Perhaps that's why she begged them to stop, why she pleaded for Ashton to do something, and why she ripped herself from Cassie's grasp just to get to him, because she wasn't heartbroken from him; she was heartbroken for him.

She was heartbroken because she loved him too, but he was fighting like he'd already convinced himself she never would.

And perhaps that's exactly what went through Luke's mind; what did he have to lose? He'd already set his heart in her hands, fragile and full of love; what would a couple more bruises and fractures possibly do to him? Surely nothing worse than the possibility of her handing it right back, and leaving with Calum's instead.

But that wasn't what happened.

Amidst the yelling, and the punches thrown, and the likely case that his nose was broken in at least one place, she'd somehow found her way to him, recklessly ignoring the friendships she risked in doing so. And against their better judgment, Awsten and Ashton let Luke go. It was all they could do.

They let him go because Elise was puffy-eyed and scared and Calum wasn't even on Luke's fucking mind anymore. He didn't care about the repercussions, he just cared about her.

His heart had sank but it rose at the same time and Luke was just so confused. Still, it was all he could do to breathe out her name and pull her against him, even if it didn't make any sense and even if he didn't deserve it at all. In that moment, her being that close felt like the only thing that did make sense.

Calum didn't take it well.

He'd spit the blood from his mouth and shook off the boys holding him back, glaring at the sight before him with burning, unbelieving eyes.

"You don't deserve her," he'd said, voice cold.

Luke had easily pulled Elise behind him then, effectively blocking her from whatever the other boy had to say. His own voice was raspy with exhaustion and he didn't have it in him to argue. "I know." Is all he could say back.