Perfectly Wrong || Luke Hemmings

7

Cursing under my breath, I hurry across campus to my car, my arms aching under the load of all my textbooks. People toss me strange glances as I plow past them. I fumble for my keys as I enter the parking lot, dropping my books on the ground. Closing my eyes, I sigh heavily and bend to pick them up. A hand shoots out and grabs the one I was reaching for and I look up in surprise to see Ashton standing in front of me.

He smiles tentatively at me and hands me the book. I murmur back my thanks, popping open my car door and tossing the textbooks inside. Turning back to him, I ask gently, "What are you doing here?"

Ashton blushes and ducks his head, scuffing his shoes on the asphalt beneath us. "I wanted to see you and I knew you went here, so I came, but I wasn't expecting to actually see you and now I don't know what to do." He says the words all in one breath and I giggle, causing him to turn even redder.

"You're sweet," I say, leaning back against my car. "Wanna go grab some lunch?"

He nods eagerly and I motion for him to get in the car. I smile to myself as I slide in behind the wheel, fitting my keys into the ignition. Pulling out of the parking lot, I adjust my rear view mirror, glancing over at Ashton. "Where do you want to go?"

The boy sitting next to me scratches at the back of his neck as he thinks. His hazel eyes are soft and contemplative. "There's a cool diner downtown. You know the one by the Macca's off of Ivy Road?" When I nod, he sits back in satisfaction.

Leaning over, I turn on the radio, adjusting it to a comfortable volume. Ashton taps his fingers on his knees to the beat absentmindedly, most likely a habit for the drummer. I turn on my blinker and switch lanes deftly, nodding my head to the music.

"Are you guys cool with Luke again?" I ask as something to break the ice, reaching for the first thing that popped into my head. Luke has been on my mind a lot these past few days, even though I haven't seen any of the band members other than Michael at Tori's dorm two days ago.

Ashton blanches at the question and I mentally curse my own stupidity. Of all the things I could've said, that has to be the worst one. "He, uh, he came back a while after you left. Calum yelled at him a bit and gave him a warning; he'd better stop it with all the girls and drinking and smoking or he'd get kicked out. He's gotten into some really bad habits recently and it's not good for him." Ashton looks out the window for something else to do as he says quietly, "Calum kicked him out today because he caught another girl running out crying. I-I couldn't be there anymore and I didn't know where else to go, so I came here." Now he looks over at me, a slight silver sheen of tears shining in his eyes. "You're calming, Izzy, and everything else is so chaotic right now."

My heart reaches out to this sweet, shy boy who drove all the way to my college campus when he wasn't even sure if he'd find me just because he needed something to dull the pain. I let go of the wheel to squeeze his hand comfortingly. He relaxes slightly at my touch.

"Hey, I'm sure everything's going to be okay," I say softly. "It's like you said, Luke's complicated. Maybe he'll finally sort things out and get himself back on the right track."

Ashton shakes his head back and forth. "No. You don't know him like I do."

I frown and let go of his hand to take a right onto a different road. "What do you mean?"

"His entire life, nothing has seemed to go right for him. His father, his girlfriend, his sister. It's been one big disaster." Ashton drops his gaze to his lap, where he fidgets with the seat belt strapped across his lap. "In the beginning he tried to stay optimistic but everything just kept getting worse. We... We weren't good friends. We didn't help him when he truly needed it. He turned to drinking, drugs, smoking, random hook ups. It's not an excuse for any of his actions, but I've always felt guilty about it. I helped shape him into what he is today."

He turns his head away from me as a single tear slips down his cheek. I pull over in the nearest parking lot, turning to face Ashton. "Don't blame yourself for this," I say firmly, setting a hand on his shoulder. "You had no idea any of this would happen."

Through the tears he smiles at me. "Thanks, Izzy."

"Anytime. Now, how about that diner? My treat."

*

Glancing up from the schoolwork arrayed across my dining table when the doorbell rings, I frown slightly as I push myself to my feet. It's nearly midnight and I'm dressed in my pajamas, spandex shorts and a worn T-shirt I stole from my mom years ago. Twisting my hair up into a messy bun, I throw open the door and freeze.

Luke shuffles from foot to foot anxiously, staring at the ground as he clutches a bag at his side. I blink at him in shock and he hurries to explain. "Calum kicked me out of the apartment," he says, rehashing the information I got from Ashton earlier today. "Can-can I room with you? I have nowhere else to go."

Fumbling for words, I open the door wider. "Uh, yeah, I don't have a roommate so I have a spare bedroom. You can have it if you want, but I fully expect you to chip in on the rent and groceries if you're going to live here."

Luke glances up at me in shock, his blue eyes wide. "Wait really? I can stay here?"

I nod, praying that I won't regret my choice. "Really."

"But why?" he asks with a frown. "I've been nothing but a complete asshole to you."

Shrugging, I say, "Ashton told me a bit about you. If he doesn't believe that you're as bad as you have people think, then I don't either."

Luke tentatively steps inside my apartment, looking around. I don't have many personal touches in my house. It's not extremely decorative or flashy or stylish. I have plain set up, but I usually don't have people over so I don't mind.

"School stuff?" he asks gently, nodding towards the papers spread across the table.

I sigh, running a hand through my hair. All my work has built up and I feel overwhelmed. "Yeah, I'm really backed up and I have a math test tomorrow that I'm going to fail for sure."

"I could help you study."

My head snaps toward him so suddenly I almost get whiplash.

He blushes and then scowls. "I-My mom's a math teacher. I may be a college dropout but I know math." Luke frowns as he glares at the floor.

"Actually, that'd be great," I say quietly and he looks at me in surprise. "Anyway, let me show you to your room." I walk down the little hallway, Luke following close behind me. "That's my room," I point towards the first room on the right, moving to the second room beyond that. "And that's the bathroom. Your room is here." I enter the only room on the left, gesturing toward the bed made with as simple of sheets as possible. There's an empty dresser and closet with a few hangers hung up, but there's not much else.

Luke sets his bag down on the bed, turning back to me. "Thank you," he murmurs.

"Don't make me regret this, Hemmings," I say as I spin on my heel and head back to the kitchen. Sighing, I plop myself down in a chair and try to focus on my work. The words' meanings slip out of my grasp like a bar of soap and I make a frustrated noise, putting my head in my hands.

I look up when I hear the scrape of a chair's legs on the floor. Luke hesitantly sits in the seat across from me, peering at the papers laid on the table. "You need to move 5x over to the other side," he mutters.

Biting my lip, I do as he says. The rest of the equation is easy to solve from there. We continue like this for hours, him softly telling me how to find the right answer and quizzing me on each formula. It's nice. This isn't the Luke I met at that party, the Luke who watched with disinterest as a girl ran crying out of his apartment, the Luke who told me to stay far away from him. I wonder if this is the person he hides behind those walls of his.