Vulnerable || l.h.

Sixteen

In Luke's expression I saw a mixture of surprise, confusion, anger, and heartbreak. I could barely speak.

"Luke...I..."

Luke slowly stepped into Ashton's living room. I could see his eyes begin to fill with tears. "I got your message and I could tell something was wrong so I went to your house and your mom said you were here. How could you? And with Ashton? He's the captain of my hockey team Mads!"

"I'm sitting right here." Ashton said.

"Luke it's not what you think." I said. I knew it was cliche but it was the truth.

"Such an original line Mads. I thought you were different than this."

I felt tears fall down my cheeks. "I am! I swear! Just let me explain!"

"You don't have to explain." Luke said sternly. "I'll get out of your way." He turned around and walked out of Ashton's house.

I felt a sharp pain in my chest. I could feel my heart actually breaking into a thousand tiny pieces. Suddenly everything I knew was falling apart right before my eyes. I turned to Ashton, my eyes blurry with tears.

"What the hell Ash?!" I could feel the anger coursing through me. "First you profess your love for me and kiss me out of nowhere, then when my boyfriend walks in you say nothing except 'I'm sitting right here.'"

"Maddie, you don't need him. I can be better for you, we can make things work..."

"Ashton!" I screamed. "I'm in love with Luke! I'm so in love with him and now he's never going to even look at me again let alone speak to me!"

The shocked look on Ashton's face made me realize what I had just said. Neither Luke nor I had told anyone that we had said those three words. 

"I didn't know..."

I took some deep breaths to calm down. The tears were still pouring out of my eyes and down my cheeks. I was sure I looked like a wreck. "I know."

Ashton looked down at the couch, a guilty expression on his face. "I'm so sorry."

"I know that too."

"Do you want me to take you home? Do you want me to take you to Luke's? Maybe you can talk it out."

I sighed. "My head is spinning. I just need to be alone."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

"I can walk you home."

"I'll be fine on my own, Ash." I didn't mean to be so snippy, but I just needed to go home and lock myself in my room and forget about the events of the past couple of hours.

"Okay."

I got up and walked out of Ashton's house and towards my own. When I walked into my house, I didn't even give my parents an explanation for my hysterical state. I just ran upstairs and slammed my door shut.

***

Ashton took a deep breath before knocking on Luke's door. He didn't know why he was there, but he knew he couldn't just leave things the way they were. He messed up, and now he had to fix it somehow. Luke answered the door, his eyes red and swollen.

"Go away." Luke said.

"Not until you hear me out." Ashton pushed past Luke and into his house. 

"Seriously, bro. I will beat the crap out of you if you stay here."

As his captain, Ashton knew Luke pretty well, and he knew his threats were empty. "Okay Luke, if you say so."

Luke walked up to Ashton, hurt and anger still spread across his face. "You asked for it."