"Okay, this is getting out of hand, Eros. You're ruining lives, now. Not making them better."

"It's not me, Pan. It's your cousin. It's Eris, alright?"

"And it's the same every time. How long are you going to fix her mistakes?"

___

"Whoa, Ash! Ash! Wait up!"

He turns, slightly annoyed as the tall, dark-haired boy jogs his way across the quad.

"Shit," Calum pants, his breath visible in this frigid, grey weather. "For someone so short, you walk so fucking fast, man."

"Ha," Ashton mutters, pulling a face. "Good joke, Calum. Good joke."

"Whoa," and Calum raises his eyebrows, "so Mikey's right, huh? About Valentine's Day?"

"What the fuck's Michael saying about Valentine's Day?"

"Why don't you tell me about it first," Calum suggests, "before I tell you what Mike and Mika were talking about this morning."

"Mila's in on it, too?"

And Ashton scoffs as Calum nods, "Figures."

"Dude," Calum begins, "what the fuck happened?"

"My date was shit, that's what happened."

"But," Calum shakes his head, "I thought you were into Zoe."

"I am--I was," he clarifies. "I--" he runs a hand through his hair, "So is Luke, apparently."

"Nah," and Calum laughs, shaking his head. "No. No he doesn't," he giggles.

"He fucking kissed her."

"Oh shit."

"Yeah," Ashton grits, because the night is coming back to him all at once and he can see his girl's arms around Luke's neck and her lips on his and his hands on her waist against the wall between bathrooms.

And holy shit he's angry.

But, more than anything, he's hurt. He's really fucking hurt. He thought Zoe liked him. He thought they had something special. He thought he had found somebody who he could fucking make his.

"Look," says Calum, "it's got to be a mistake, man. I'm sure Luke didn't--?"

"Mean it?" Ashton growls, because that made it ten times worse, right? It was Luke. Luke was like a brother to him. That was his best fucking friend.

"Luke doesn't like Zoe," Calum exclaims, as Ashton starts walking again. "He doesn't!"

Ashton laughs humorlessly. "You sure? You sure about that, Cal?"

"I--"

He shuts his mouth.

Calum does not respond.

Because Calum is not sure.

Not at all.

____