Hold My Hand - Lashton

Chapter One

Chapter One

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A slamming door at seven-thirty had awoken Ashton. He knew the slamming of the door wasn't malicious. The doors were fire safety doors and automatically closed unless you propped them open.

Ashton didn't know which of his flatmates it was. Most of them had gone out with him last night and were bound to be hungover, in bed till midday.

Taking a logical leap, Ashton assumed it was the blonde boy who hadn't responded to the note, and whom he had not seen enter his room after he had gone out to dinner with his parents.

Consequently, wanting to question why he hadn't responded, Ashton decided to quickly get ready in hope of catching the boy whilst he wasn't secluded in the safety of his room.

-

"You're up early!" Ashton remarked satisfactorily as his conclusions were correct.

The blonde boy who resided opposite him was sat at the table eating a bowl of cereal. The older boy too grabbed a bowl from his cupboard and picked out his own cereal to join Luke.

"I like to get up early," Luke mumbled into the pages of his book. Ashton could barely hear over the pouring of his cereal.

"You do realise no teenager gets up this early. University is meant for late starts and late nights."

Luke peered over his book nervously at the boy who was now sitting in front of him. He recognised him as Ashton, the only person in the block he had met yet. The only name he had to remember so far.

"That's a stereotype," Luke disagreed.

"Because it is mainly true," Ashton interjected with a smug smile, figuring the blonde did not like to be contradicted. Whether that was because of his ego or dislike of conflict was still uncertain.

"I'm the minority then. I like to eat breakfast alone. It's peaceful and helps me maintain mental clarity," Luke explained, scraping the remaining pieces of cereal out of the bowl, creating an unpleasant noise and placing his book down, recalling the page number in his head. Luke did not like to fold the corner of the pages, and he had lost his free bookmark from a local library under someones seat on the bus.

Ashton frowned, before chuckling. "You're one of those people then," he assumed watching the boy wash up his bowl and spoon, standing awkwardly over the sink. He was tall, Ashton didn't realise how tall he actually was. Taller than himself, which was rare.

Luke didn't respond. He didn't want to reply to Ashton because he didn't know what he meant. The statement clearly held connotations, but it was still too vague. He didn't want to conform to something that he wasn't by agreeing, or lie by saying no, or ask for further clarification as he may appear silly.

Ashton understood the silence as confirmation and continued to smile to himself. "Did you get my note?" Luke responded with a simple, quiet yes. Ashton knew he must have. It could not have vanished into thin air as only Luke could get into his room. Unless the blonde left his window open and a gust of wind suctioned it out. But it was most probable Luke just chucked it in the bin and forgot about it.

"Didn't fancy coming out?"

"I don't really drink," Luke responded, now drying up his utensils, staring anxiously at the floor. "I like to sleep early."

"You're odd," Ashton chuckled. "You're an introvert who likes to read." He picked up the novel the blonde had been reading and skimmed through it. He knew of the novel, Charles Dickens' Great Expectations, but he had never read it. He had grasped basic knowledge of the plot from a film adaptation nonetheless. "You're studying Literature then?"

Luke nodded shyly, wondering if Ashton was judging him for such a pointless and often perceived as a feminine degree.

"One of my friends was obsessed with reading and I never realised how carefully planned out every word in these books are," Ashton continued, figuring the blonde didn't like nor want to speak. He placed the book back down and looked over at the boy who seemed to be figuring out a way to leave. Ashton clearly made him uncomfortable. "I thought it was such a pointless subject but now I know there is a deep psychological meaning to a lot of texts. They can be nearly biographical."

Luke nodded in agreement. "It's a psychoanalytical interpretation," he informed. Ashton smiled again. The older boy guessed Luke was comfortable with talking about what he knew, and something he enjoyed.

"I guess you're Pip then," Ashton concluded. "You're taking a degree that guarantees no social advancement. But you're conscientious enough to want to self-improve from the morals instilled in fiction."

For the first time, Luke let out a timid laugh. It was the first time Ashton had seen Luke smiled, besides the evidently fake smile when they first greeted each other. Whilst he did find Pip a little annoying in the novel, Luke took Ashton's observation as a compliment.

"You analyse a lot," Luke pointed out. "Maybe you should have took Literature!"

"I'm studying psychology," Ashton answered. "It fascinates me. How everyone thinks differently. Some in words, others just in pure thoughts. I want to understand how everyone thinks and then hopefully help them."

Luke bit his lip anxiously. He didn't want Ashton understanding his thoughts. There were too many to understand. Luke couldn't comprehend them all himself hence why he always ended up in a state of panic. "You're very ambitious," Luke quickly uttered, feeling suddenly uncomfortable again.

Ashton shrugged. Everyone always argued he was over-ambitious, too hyper. But, his brain ran a lot faster than everyone else - or sometimes slower. His mind had already moved on and he was back staring at the blonde. Watching his light blue eyes dash awkwardly about the room, never resting on anything for more than a couple of seconds. "I make you nervous," Ashton responded. "Either you have a crush of me, or you've got a brain that I'd quite like to understand!"

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Please let me know what you think so far.

Thank you so much for reading.