Hold On To Me ☾cake au

12

Summer was ending this day and Luke was in denial about having to go back to school and be tolerated by everyone. He liked this summer. He loved it, in fact, and he didn't want it to end. He didn't want to go back to being the one trailing behind Calum and all his friends. If it meant Luke could stay in Port Macquarie with Calum forever, he would give up everything.

Calum, however, was excited to go back to school and see the football team again. Life seemed so easy for Calum and everyone loved him. Walking down the halls, he got infinite high fives and people yelling things like "you ruled on that last kick, man! Saved the game!" It wasn't like Calum asked for the attention, of course, but he loved it. He had a great time this summer, but in his mind, all good things must come to an end and he and Luke were going to go back to school whether they wanted to or not.

Luke and Calum were walking to their usual spot at the end of the pier one last time before their parents would make them start loading up the cars and preparing for the ride home. Calum sat leaning against the railing while Luke sat next to him. He reached for Calum's hand and his heart physically shattered into a billion pieces when the older boy pulled away.

"Are you ready to go back to school next week?" Calum asked, not acknowledging the fact that he's acting as if Luke is infected with a deadly disease that he's trying not to catch.

Luke brushed it off, "am I ever ready to go back to school?"

"That's true," Calum sighed, "listen, Luke..." Luke faced Calum as the dark haired boy continued, "I think we should stop."

"Stop what?" Luke questioned.

"You know what I'm talking about. I mean stop... this," Calum moved his hand back and forth between him and Luke.

"Are you being serious?"

"Yeah, I'm being serious. It's not like anything between us has changed right? It was nothing," Calum shrugged.

Luke could actually hear his heart falling in his chest as a look of anger spread across his face, "you're ditching me, like you always do. You're choosing the world over me again, like you always do."

"Luke, that's not fair-"

"No, shut up! Shut the fuck up, Calum!" Tears slowly began falling from Luke's eyes as he stood up and Calum did the same. "This whole summer it was me and you! Every second of every day for two fucking months, I had you! You were mine and you're leaving me behind again!"

"Luke, stop."

"I hate you," Luke said softly.

"No you don't."

"Yes I do, I hate you. I hate you so much and I hate this stupid fucking tattoo, I wish I never got it!"

Luke's entire world was crumbling down with every word the two exchanged. His cheeks were soaked now and Calum couldn't even look at Luke.

Luke wiped his tears away and stormed down the pier and to the house. He instantly carried his already packed luggage down the stairs and found his mother in the kitchen.

"Hi, honey," Liz chirped, "the cars are all packed up, are you and Calum ready now?"

"Yeah, we're ready," Luke said sternly, "I'm gonna load my stuff in the car and then we can go?"

Liz nodded and Luke lugged his suitcases to the car and loaded it in the trunk. After a few moments of waiting around, Calum eventually came out front with all his stuff and wordlessly loaded them into one of the cars and got in. Luke got into the car that Calum was not in and within minutes, everyone was seated and the families were on their journey back home.

The stop at the rest stop was awkward since Luke and Calum liked the same food and stood right next to each other in one of the tiny restaurant lines. Not speaking wasn't a problem, as the two boys never removed their headphones from their ears.

•••

When they arrived home, neither Calum nor Luke so much as acknowledged each other's presence when they went their separate ways to their own homes. Calum avoided questions from Mali and his parents about his shady attitude towards Luke as he spent the rest of the day locked in his bedroom. Luke, on the other hand, couldn't stand staring at the four blue walls of his bedroom because it reminded him further that his fairytale summer was over.

After grabbing his car keys from the counter, he sped out the front door to his car and drove. He wasn't sure where he was going, but he drove and didn't stop. He did this everyday for the next week and it worried his family that he would be out all night and come home right before dawn.

The second night he was home, Calum went to a party for the football team and got drunk off his ass. That's what he did every night while back in Sydney. Luke and Calum had different ways of coping, but if that's what they had to do to stay sane, then so be it.

-•-•-
:/