start a fight [muke af]

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"Ashton needs to talk to you," Calum said as he walked behind Luke.

The younger blonde dropped the apple he was trying to eat as he froze up. "What? Why?"

"How the hell am I supposed to know?" Cal asked, leaning against the rail next to him. "We in for cardio tonight?"

"Not if Ashton kills me first." Luke stood up straighter, re-tucking his button down.

"He's not going to kill you. Probably just wants you to cut your hair or something."

Luke ran a hand through his hair, it was getting long. Maybe that's it, right? That's reasonable. It doesn't have to be a big anxiety episode where he thinks his insides are about to burn him alive.

Little things happen, it's not a big deal.

"Wish me luck."

"Good luck, Yuppie."

Luke looked back, glaring at him. He was ready to go home, it was only thirty minutes before the end of his shift. His mother was making lasagna and that's all he could honestly think about for the past eight hours.

He wanted to take off his tight uniform, get into soft sweats, eat, then sleep. He didn't want to sit in an office and possibly get yelled at.

He was scared of getting yelled at. Luke was convinced he'd go hide under Ashton's desk if the man began yelling at Luke.

He made it through the corridors without crying, and even knocked on the tall wooden door without crying.

Ash opened the other side, and Luke was on the verge of tears. He was just so scared of his boss, or any boss.

The blonde shook his hand, gave him a smile, then made his way to the seat across from Ashton's desk. His blue eyes watched the older man wander around the other side of the desk, sitting down in his chair and crossing his hands over one another.

"How're you?"

"Doing well, and you?" Luke's voice was shaking as his bottom lip quivered with fear. Every voice in his head was screaming at him, telling him how much of a child he was being.

"Been better," the brunette sighed. He stretched out his back and opened up the computer in front of him. "So, you've been doing well in your shift, you've been here for a few months now."

"Thank you."

"You've had a few slip ups, but that's normal for rookies. Are you enjoying your position?"

Luke nodded, "Definitely." Maybe definitely wasn't the right word. He enjoyed the job fine, but he still had doubts if this was what he really wanted to do for the rest of his life.

"You don't have a family of your own, correct?"

"No, Sir."

Ashton nodded, not showing any hints about what he called Luke in for. "I want to move you to night shift."

"What?"

"I'm pretty sure you heard me."

Luke didn't want to question his boss, but he also didn't want to be on night shift. Night shift was the worst. Night shift was where all the fights were, where all the inmates showed their true insanity of being locked up. "I don't want to be on night shift," he stuttered before quickly adding, "With all due respects, Sir."

"No one wants to be on night shift, but that's your job." Ashton spun around in his chair, digging through a file cabinet behind him.

Luke held in an exaggerated sigh. "I'm not ready to be put on night shift."

"Yes, you are," he responded. Ashton spun around, holding up a file marked with Luke's name. He opened it up on his desk, flipping through the papers stacked neatly inside.

"I'm not! I'm nineteen and I can't fight and I can't do anything right."

Ash looked up at him, giving him a look. Luke hated all the looks he was getting lately. Everyone was giving them to him: His boss, his mother, the old ladies at the grocery store. What was he doing wrong?"

"You're nineteen, you can fight, and you do a lot of things right." Ashton took out a blue pen, beginning to fill out a shift-change paper.

"Sergeant, I really don't think I can do night shift."

"It'll be fine. You'll be home during the day so you can see your mother and father. Isn't that what you like?"

Luke rolled his eyes, glad the brunette across from him was looking up at him. "Night shift is the worst," he groaned, "Can't Calum take it?"

"Hood? You mean the one with five kids? His life is stressful enough, I don't need to add more stress to him." Ashton tossed the paper over to Luke, pointing to the places he needed to sign. "You're going to do fine. You have the rest of the week off, you start Monday at 2000."

Luke gave up. He reached over, signing the sheets in need of his signature. "What if I get beat up?"

Ashton took the paper back, skimming over it once more. "Then you are in the wrong job."