Popstar - Lashton

13 | compulsory kissing

"I'm sorry, we're supposed to what?!" Luke exclaimed, and his blue eyes flared up with so much hatred. If only he was allowed to kill Brian, he'd done it by now. He already knew of the perfect place where no one would find the body, and even if they did, they'd never tie the murder to Luke. When the police came to interview Luke because Brian was his manager if they managed to identify the body Luke would have no problems faking how much he cared for his manager. Luke could cry on command, his career started as a child actor after all.
He was practically faking every emotion now, it was second nature. It was too believable to not believe. (The only one who seemed to see through it was Ashton. And Luke hated it.)

The police would, of course, let a big star like Luke go. What would Luke earn by murdering his beloved manager, expect his freedom of course? That would really serve as promo! Screw having a fake boyfriend, this was what would make the headlines!
Luke could even pay Ashton to be his alibi since the boy needed the money so much. What a nice dream that would've been, Luke wished he had dreams like that instead of the nightmares he had now.

"I repeat, you and Ashton are going out and kiss for the cameras. To put it simply for a dumb ass like you," Brian repeated this time in an eviler way. Luke really wished he'd kill him. Luke would've done it by night, no – evening. Taking Brian at his office, probably, but only drug him, he wouldn't kill the man before they were out of LA. One couldn't be too careful these days, Luke would probably even wear someone else's clothes two sizes too big just to be sure.

"Hey, don't call him stupid," Ashton defended Luke when Luke said nothing, just glared at him. Luke hadn't even realised he'd stayed silent. Luke used to insult the man back when he was younger, but now he'd grown used to it. He didn't care anymore, maybe be because he lost a spark of joy? Maybe Luke just really wanted to die sometimes, and being called stupid didn't seem as important as staying alive?

"Why'd you care?" Brian snarled, and would probably have called Ashton something much worse if it didn't look like Ashton was about to hit the man. He'd already tightened his fist, and his knuckles were turning white. Luke kind of hoped Ashton would punch Brian, the man deserved it and so much more. If Ashton punched Brian, Luke would beat the shit out of him after, but he was too scared to throw the first punch. The man had so much power over him, and in Luke's head, he was still that young, lost teenager in need of guidance.

"You shouldn't kick people when they're down. The only reason you have to look down at them is if you're going to help them up," Ashton replied quickly. So quickly that Luke guessed Ashton had grown up hearing that phrase. Just like Luke had grown up hearing the phrase "that's showbiz."

"Ashton shut, remember your job. Now, back to my point," Brian said, and Luke just continued to glare at the man. He hated how the man didn't handle criticism, an idea lived in the man's head that he was always right. He wasn't. For the most part, he wasn't, not about Luke anyways.

"A lot of people have taken the bait, and people are going crazy about your post, Luke. But, not everyone. You claim he's your boyfriend, but you've never kissed him-..."

"They don't know that," Luke interrupted.

"The public doesn't care. They haven't seen it, and if they haven't seen it, it's like it hasn't happened. So, what we need is the two of you outside, kissing," Brian continued and didn't even look at them. He really didn't care if the two of them had to do something they were uncomfortable with. He was the one who had to do this, so it wasn't his problem. Brian was really a living version of the phrase "not my circus, not my monkey." Anything that didn't concern the selfish man just wasn't his problem.

"I-..." Luke began and was about to shout obstacles, just refusal upon refusal about he was not kissing another man, but the words died down. "Whatever," the blond mumbled, and kept quiet. He couldn't even win this discussion even if he tried.