mr. hemmings // l.h.

36 • luke

I went through my Snapchat, stalking the stories of all of my college buddies, trying to figure out who all was throwing parties that night.
I knew it would be tough but I had to figure out where Madeline was.
I knew I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if anything happened to her.

However, I also knew it was my fault that she was acting out.

"Fuck." I sighed, with no luck.
I kept scrolling, when Snapchat closed and Ashton's name popped up on my screen.

I squinted, not expecting the call, but answered it anyway.

"Hey, man." I answered.

"Luke." He breathed, "Shit. I think you need to sit down."

"Why?" I asked, tensing up. "What's up?"

He let out another long breath.
"I don't even know how to tell you this."

"Ashton, fuck, tell me what?"

He was silent for a few more minutes.
"Madeline is here."

"My Madeline?" I snapped, "What the hell is she doing with you?"

"Luke, you bastard." He groaned. "She's hurt. Bad."

My heart stopped beating.
"What do you mean?"

"Her ex-"

"Travis?"

"Yeah. He-"

"What did he do? What happened?"

"Well Christ, if you'd stop interrupting!" He snapped back. "Luke, he- he beat her up. And it's bad."

I leaned against the counter, and folded my head into my hands.
"No." I whispered to myself.

"Luke, it's bad."

My face felt hot. A wave of nausea washed over me.
"How bad?"

"She's been here for about an hour. I had to help her clean up, and it took me a while to get all of the information out of her." He explained. "When she got here, her whole face was covered in blood. Her nose was dripping, and her mouth was busted open. I helped clean it up, but the bleeding still hasn't completely stopped. The right side of her face has bruised completely, from her jaw to her forehead. She's going to have a hell of a black eye in the morning. And there's a pretty decent slice under her eyebrow, but she doesn't remember if that's from Travis or from crawling through a bush. Don't ask about the bush."

I felt my eyes water. "I have to see her. I'm coming."

"No." He said sternly.

"What? Ashton, what the hell, she should be with me!" I argued. "Why did she even come to you?"

I could hear the eye roll, even over the phone.
"Would you get over yourself, you dick? She had no where else to go. Clearly, she doesn't want to go home and face her mother. Her friends are still at the party, they don't even know what happened. And you broke her heart. She doesn't think you want anything to do with her."

"Of course I do." I said. "You know I do."

"But she doesn't." He said. "She doesn't want to see you, not like this. You don't understand. If you come here, she'll run. And I need to keep her here where it's safe. The police are on their way, they should be here soon."

"This is absolutely bullshit." I protested. "She's my girl."

"No, actually, you ended that. Remember?"

I scoffed, "You're not even on my side anymore."

"You're my best friend, Luke. I'm always on your side. That's why I'm telling you what you need to hear, and not what you want to hear."

I sighed, knowing he was right.

"I can't say I'm not disappointed, Luke." He continued. "You really hurt this girl."

"You don't think I know that?" I cried. Tears were sneaking out of my eyes.
"It kills me, Ashton. You know it kills me. I just want what's best for her. I thought she'd be better without me but I was wrong."

"You were wrong." He agreed.

I wiped my eyes.
"This is all my fault, Ashton. I was supposed to protect her. I was supposed to keep her safe."

"You need to fix it."

"How?"

"I don't know." He admitted, "But for tonight, you just need to stay back. I'll take care of this."

Yeah, Ashton, I thought to myself.
Take care of my girl, you prick.
I was incredibly jealous. I wanted her with me, and no one else.

I knew I had fucked that up for myself, though.

"How do you expect me to stay away from her now?" I asked. "I'll be worried out of my mind all night."

"Well, you shouldn't worry. She's safe now. I've got it all under control."

I rolled my eyes. It almost felt like he was torturing me.

"Okay." I sighed. "I can't believe I'm actually listening to you right now, but okay."

"It's best for both of you that you don't come." He insisted. "I know it would shatter you to see her like this, and I know the last thing she wants is for you to see it."

"It shatters me knowing that she's hurt and I can't be there to help."

"She's been hurt, Luke."

"Way to make me feel like an asshole." I grumbled.

"I'm not trying to do that, I just hope you understand that you made a mistake."

"Yeah, yeah." I said. "I'm not trying to start a fight here, Ash, so I think it's best if I let you go."

"Understood." He agreed. "We'll talk soon."

I bit my lip.
"Take care of her, for me. Take good care of her." It pained me to say the words.

"I will, Luke."

We said our goodbyes, and I hung up the phone. I slammed it down on the counter angrily.

She should be here, I thought. With me.

"Oh, Madeline." I cried to myself. "What has he done to you?"

I couldn't get the picture of out my head. I imagined her bruised, bloody, and scared. I just wanted to hold her. I wanted to tell her that she was safe and that I'd protect her and that I'd never, ever let anything happen to her ever again. I could be the man she needed if she'd just let me back in. If she could trust me again.

But I knew Ashton was right. I had fucked up. But how was I supposed to fix it?