Labels [lashton/malum]

Chapter 1: Luke

Warnings: misgendering; slut-shaming

Edited May 2021

The bench was cold, even beneath the sweater that Luke had placed on top of it to cover the wet patches. Water was still trickling down from the trees, evidence of the rain that had been showering down throughout the day. Luke set his backpack on his feet so it wouldn't touch the wet ground, digging around inside until he found his headphones, tugging on them a bit to get them untangled from his notebook. He zipped up his bag and looked up at the sky with a frown. It had been raining on and off for the past few days, casting a lazy, restless shadow over the school.

Luke stood up and tugged his backpack straps over his shoulders. He held onto the straps as he walked to the bus stop, plugging his headphones into his phone on the way.

"Hey Luke!" Someone shouted just as he was about to put the second earbud into his ear. He turned around, his shoes squeaking slightly on the wet pavement. Behind him was a small group of teens, three boys and two girls, snickering to themselves as they stared over at Luke. The girls blindly giggled behind the boys.

"Hey man, tell your mom to stop calling me. I thought the whole point was one night of fun," one of the boys smirked. Luke rolled his eyes as he turned back around, ignoring him and his snide comment.

"Does she have a card or something or do we just show up to the door with five bucks?"

"Come on man, you know she's not worth that much!"

"Ha! Right, maybe four? Three? How much for her to suck me off? Or would she do that for free?"

"She'd probably pay you!"

"Shut the fuck up!" Luke snapped, his cheeks red as he whipped around to face them.

"Oh damn, sorry Hemmings. Are you feeling left out? I'm not gay but you know Ashton would love to have you suck his dick." Then one of the guys was grabbing someone's shoulders and wrapping his arm around their chest. At first glance, Luke thought it was a girl, but as he looked closer, Luke recognized the person.

Ashton Irwin was the only person in this school that was genuinely open about their sexuality, despite the obvious consequences that comes with being comfortable in your own skin among insecure adolescent teens. Ashton was genderfluid, and judging by the checkered yellow and black skirt, black thigh highs, and shimmery lip gloss, she would be using feminine pronouns. Luke didn't know much about the schematics of gender fluidity, but he knows that he likes the way Ashton's not afraid to be themself.

"No, no, Ashy boy would love to get his mouth around him, wouldn't you Ash?" The boy with his arm around Ashton squeezed.

"Get off of me you asshole!" Ashton slipped from the boy's grip easily, shoving hard at his chest. "You're a fucking prick!" She spat before storming away, her heavy boots thudding against the wet pavement. Luke rolled his eyes and started to climb onto the bus as the boys continued to throw insults at his expense. Luke dropped down into one of the bus seats, sinking a bit before the old cushion settled. He put both earbuds in and turned the volume up to drown out the sound of everyone else piling onto the bus, vaguely aware of someone sitting beside him. He stared out of the window, dotted with drops of rain and slightly foggy.

The bus was cold, but it was that type of muggy cold, where you needed your jacket but your skin was too warm. Luke leaned his head against the bus window as it started moving, slowly behind all of the other buses.

Just before they left the gate, Luke caught sight of Ashton again. She was sitting on a bench, typing furiously on her phone as her boot tapped incessantly against the ground. Luke couldn't peel his eyes away from her until she was physically out of sight. Her brow had been furrowed and her tan cheeks were flushed from the cold. Despite how angry she looked, she still looked incredibly beautiful, Luke could comfortably admit that to himself.

The bus ride was twenty minutes long and only a few kids got out at Luke's stop. Their neighborhood wasn't 90210, but it wasn't too shabby either. Two and three story houses with long driveways and high privacy fences. Luke walked thirty minutes away from the bus stop, the houses thinning out slightly the closer he got to the forest that lined the back of the neighborhood. His house was the last one on the block, a two story painted blue with a yellow porch. Luke dug his keys out from his backpack and unlocked the door quietly.

Immediate regret flooded through him when he was only halfway through the doorway.

There was a point where you see some things so much that they just don't affect you anymore. Although most of those things are clowns, or spiders, or the dark, none of those things are your mother on her knees for your neighbor, Mr. Nelson.

Luke backed away and shut the door silently, banging his fist against his forehead. He walked around the side of the house, as he should have to begin with, and unlocked the gate. He secured the lock when he was through and walked a little further down into the yard.

There was a small cabin behind the house, standing at about 13 feet tall. Luke walked up 3 steps to stand on the porch, flipped through his keys, and unlocked the door. The entire cabin smelled like him, which settled something inside of his stomach. He dropped his backpack by the door and toed his shoes off beside it.

There was a record player in the middle of a tall bookshelf in the living room, filled to the brim with records. Luke picked out an Iron and Wine record and set it on the turntable. The music started at a low volume as he pulled his jacket off and collapsed onto the couch. It was safe here. In his little cabin behind his house. His house where his mother was living up to the town's impression of her. His house that he hasn't spent a night in in three years.

He allowed Iron and Wine to wash away all of those thoughts and push him into sleep.