𝙏𝙀𝙈𝙋𝙏𝘼𝙏𝙄𝙊𝙉 • 𝙇𝙍𝙃

23. save me a dance

"you've been in there for an hour, hurry the fuck up" luke was banging on the bathroom door of his and ashton's apartment, huffing out of impatience because he just knew ashton was using all of the hot water.

"relax — i'll be out in a minute" ashton shouted.

"i'm supposed to pick emma up for work in an hour, she'll be pissed if i'm late" luke groaned.

"i'm sure she'll understand" the door was opened a few minutes later and luke immediately leaned against the doorway.

"jesus fuck, you can't hog the bathroom for that long— oh" luke cut himself off mid-sentence after noticing emma was walking out in a towel. she quickly ducked under his arm after he showed no incentive of moving. "I didn't know you were here" luke said. he couldn't ignore the pang of something he felt when he realized emma and ashton had been showering together.

"I would've said hi but ashton told me you were working early today — he said he would be dropping me off at work later" emma glanced at ashton who wore a cheeky grin on his face. "must've gotten the days mixed up" ashton shrugged.

"I take it you two made up, then?" luke arched an eyebrow. he couldn't quite place it, but this conversation felt incredibly awkward. "mhm" ashton sung, wearing a smug look on his face as if he knew this was getting under luke's skin.

luke gave the couple a passive aggressive smile before closing the bathroom door and starting the shower. why was he feeling angry that ashton and emma weren't fighting anymore? why did the very thought of what they had been doing in the shower make luke furious? luke knew emma was here for ashton, so why did he wish that emma was here to see him instead?

despite the conversation luke and ashton had last night, he was still more confused than ever.

"I hate that I even have to ask you this," ashton sighed and propped his feet onto the coffee table. "but do you like emma?" 

luke was caught off guard by ashton's question. they had been lounging on the couch all day — with not a whole lot of conversation going on. "she's just a friend, i don't like her like that" luke shook his head, not sure if it was himself or ashton he was trying to convince.

"that's sort of hard to believe considering you were practically eye fucking her the night we all went to the bar"

luke scoffed. "I wasn't looking at her like that"

"mate, if you like her, just tell me. don't lie about it"

"I don't, I swear"

"are you sure? you both have been spending a lot of time together" ashton continued.

"yeah, man. i'm sure" luke rested both arms on the back of the couch, contemplating if he should tell ashton about his father or not. he figured it couldn't do any harm. "my dad's been sick" luke tensed up as he spoke, he was usually pushing every thought of his father out of his mind, and openly talking about him wasn't something luke was fond of. "one night i got drunk and told emma — she's been helping me come to terms with everything"

it was a small lie, emma and luke haven't spoken about his father since that night. luke was eternally grateful for that — it was like she knew just what he needed.

"i'm sorry to hear that" ashton frowned, suddenly feeling like an ass for assuming something more had been going on when it was quite the opposite. "i assume she told you about the wedding and her dad, too?"

luke furrowed his eyebrows, not entirely sure what ashton meant. "maya invited me to the wedding as her plus one. she said something about emma's brother but i haven't heard anything about her dad — what happened?"