Bullied | punk luke hemmings au *COMPLETED*

Chapter 53

It came to break and there was still no sign of Ashton, I had texted him and he had replied to tell me he was in school but didn't tell me where.

I assumed it was a sign that maybe it's just not the right time to tell him.

I decided to give up searching the school for him and just find Michael, Luke and Kate.

Hey Kate, just wondering where you are?? Can't find you anywhere x

I got an instant reply.

Kate: Some teacher held me back because my homework wasn't 'up to his standard' or something, sorry gem x

I found Michael standing with some random girl in the North corridor.

"H-Hey, uh mikey, can I borrow you for a sec please?"
He smiled and excused himself from the girl.

"What's up?"
"Have you seen Luke at all today?" I asked.
"No, I thought he was with you."
"No, I haven't spoken to him or even seen him since he dropped me off this morning."

Michael ran his hands through his newly-dyed black hair and let out a sigh.

"This is important, Sarah. I'm sorry, I'll call you later." He said to the girl before walking quickly down the corridor with me following closely behind.

"Important? Michael, what do you mean it's important? Wouldn't he have just gone home sick or something?"
"Gemma, you haven't known Luke for as long as I have. When he disappears and doesn't tell anyone and won't contact anyone, it can only mean one of two things."
"And those would be..?"

Rather than answering my question, Michael took his phone out and dialled someone's number from memory.

*typing the phone conversation because I don't wanna switch povs yet I want yous to know the conversation so Gemma can only hear what Michael says, okay thanks*

"Hello?"

"On your cellular device during school are we, Mr Hood?" Michael smirked.

"Only because you rang me, jackass."

"Yeah whatever, look, Luke's gone contactless again."

"Not again. This isn't good, Mike. Twice in one year?"

"Yeah that's what I thought at first, but.. what if it's the other reason." Michael said cautiously, turning his head slightly to look at me.

"You better hope it is, mate. Him, his family and all of us can't go through that again."

"I know," Michael sighed, "I'll meet you at the park entrance in 15, alright?"

"Okay, I'll see you soon."

"Yeah, and hopefully him." Michael spoke before hanging up the phone and drawing his attention back to me.

"Let's go."
"Where are we going?"
"We're going to the park."
"Wha-now?" I stopped.
"Yes, now."

"I can't skip school, Michael."
"Why the hell not?" He asked, getting frustrated.
"My dad will ground me if he finds out and my clean permanent record will go down the drain completely."
"What's more important, Gemma?"
"What do you mean?"
"You can keep your perfect record, or you can keep your boyfriend alive."
"Alive? What's going on, Michael?!"
"Look, I'm going to get my best friend and make sure he doesn't try something stupid again. You're welcome to come with me, but it could hurt your record."

I couldn't tell if Michael was over exaggerating or not, and I couldn't take any chances- I was just praying that he was.

--
We pulled up to the park ten minutes later to find Calum standing by the gate.

"Any sign of him yet?" Michael called as we approached Calum.
"Nah, nothing so far."

"How do you know he'll be here?" I asked Michael.
"He always comes here to clear his head, and this is where he came last time."
"Okay, again, alive, last time, Michael you need to start filling me in here."

He stayed silent.

"Calum?" I asked.
He sighed, "Earlier this year Lu-"
"Dude!" Michael interrupted.
"She has a right to know, Mike."

"Earlier this year Luke had a girlfriend,"
"That was Cassidy, right?" I asked, remembering the schools 'most talked about' couple for a while.
"Yeah, well Luke liked her at first but he said something just wasn't clicking between them, he said she was rude and nasty and he had someone else on his mind the whole time, someone who was never mean or rude or whatever,"
"He never told us who." Michael interrupted.

"Right," Calum continued, "but every time Luke tried to break it off with her she broke down or took a fit so he couldn't do it but he wasn't happy, she always made excuses about her behaviour and made up stories about family problems-"

"BUT we asked her sister and she said they weren't true." Michael interrupted.
"FUCK, Mikey who's telling the story here?!" Calum retaliated.

*just putting a warning here that self harm is mentioned, there's no detail about it being done, it's not described AND ITS NOT EVEN WELL WRITTEN but just letting you guys know that it is mentioned*

Michael hung his head and remained silent, implying that Calum could continue.

"Anyway, she basically kept saying she needed Luke, she was controlling over who he talked to or hung out with and he was so unhappy in the relationship, she was making his life miserable and he ended up with depression. When he finally found a way to end things with her, he still wasn't his usual self," Calum continued,

"He depended on people for help and support, the slightest thing would set him off. Of course, Michael, Justin and I knew how delicate we had to be around him and how much he was relying on assistance from people he trusted and loved but there were four people who couldn't see that."

Then it all came back to me, Luke and I sitting together in his living room, him opening up to me and meaning that Calum didn't need to tell me who those four people were, because Luke already did.
"His family." I said quietly and Calum nodded.

"Because of his depression and isolation, he began to self harm. He only started a few months ago and luckily Mike and I found out and helped him stop, but every time he did it? This is where he came." Calum sighed, "He was a wreck, we hated seeing him that way and we don't want him to ever have to go through something like that again."

"S-So you.. you think he's here because- because he's cutting himself a-again?" I stuttered on the verge of tears.
It hurts to think that someone I'm close to let alone my boyfriend could be going through something so difficult and I am so clueless and therefore can't help him.

"Actually Gemma," Michael spoke up, "Luke doesn't like to get close to many people, he tends to push people away even if he just remotely likes them, and if it's stronger then so is the push."

"What do you mean?"
"He's either harming himself again.. Or er- he really loves you, Gemma."