ashton - bless his soul - allowed luke to stay at his house.

"it's to make up for being a crappy friend," the curly haired boy had told him when he refused at first.

upon arriving at the home, luke was immediately tackled by ashton's two siblings.

"luke! we missed your piggy back rides!"

"yeah, ashton's too short!"

"hey, i'm only like two inches shorter!"

"how'd you get these red cuts on your wrists?"

abruptly, the taller boy went rigid and the two children climbed off, sensing something wrong.

luke stood, eyes downcast as everyone that occupied the room eyed him.

"harry...." ashton began to scold.

"no, it's okay," luke stopped him and knelt to harry's level with a sad smile.

"sometimes bad people do bad things to make up for what they did."

"which bad person did that to you?"

the older boy swallowed a lump in his throat. "i'll tell you when you're older, kid."

then he stood, ignoring ashton and lauren - who was old enough to understand - as they gave him sympathetic stares.

"lucas hemmings? is that you?" mrs. irwin hurried down the stairs, thankfully ending the awkward moment, and engulfed luke in a hug.

"hey, mama irwin," he wrapped his arms around her with a wide smile. "how are you doing?"

"wonderful, dear," she held him at arms length. "and you? how is your family?"

he paled considerably. "i'm good. but - uh, my family...they're not really with us anymore."

mrs. irwin gasped and let go of the teen with tears in her eyes. "oh, luke. i'm so sorry. you must feel terrible."

"he's fine, ma," ash cut in quickly. "he actually moved out on his own to a new town. queensdale, i think."

"is that true?" she returned her attention to the boy in question, who nodded. "why don't you move in with us? we'll be in brooklyn for a while; it'll be no problem!"

"um, actually, i kind of need to go back to queensdale. i have someone that needs me and i need her," he admitted softly.

the woman smiled, glad to hear that he had found someone. luke felt the extreme longing he had for noelle at full force. he missed her voice and her smile. her everything.

"in that case, feel welcome to stay as long as you like until you decide to leave. we'd be honored to catch up with you."

and he smiled. because that was all the thanks he could possibly think to offer at the moment.

-

"fancy going for a walk?" ashton had asked the next day whilst the two boys were watching tv.

"sure," luke got up and followed him out the door and onto the sidewalk.

"why'd you leave brooklyn?" the shorter boy interrogated as they approached the park.

"why did you?" he shot back defensively, then sighed. "too much shit was happening. with my family dead and people not letting me forget it, i just needed space."

"what happened to them, anyways?"

luke remained stoic.

"you don't have to answer. i just feel like it's something I should know."

"it happened last year..."

/one year ago/

"c'mon mom! it's just one party," luke argued.

"i said no lucas, and that's final!" she retorted. "i will not have you going to a party that is strictly bent on objectifying women!"

"objectifying- what? mom! are you serious? no women are being objectified at all!"

"do you know how many women are raped at parties? a lot!"

"you think i'm going to rape someone?" luke gaped, stopping in his tracks.

"that's not what i meant," liz told him softly.

"sure sounds like it," her son spat. "whatever. i'll be in my room."

-

luke wondered when his life became so dull that it wasn't even possible for him to go to a party without getting shit for it. he wouldn't even drink, he just wanted to see his friends. needless to say, he was annoyed.

his phone rang and he picked it up upon seeing his friend, travis', caller id.

"sup, hemmings," the boy greeted. "you ready for the best party of the year?"

"i can't go," luke informed him angrily. "utter bullshit."

"you serious? that sucks, mate."

"just help me get out of here!"

"alright, fine. climb out your window at 12 and meet me at the corner."

luke smirked, adrenaline running through him. "see you then."

-

unsurprisingly, travis' plan worked and everything was going according to plan.

the party was full of booze and girls and music and luke hadn't ever felt do alive. this was living, he thought. it felt good to let loose and to stop being so goddamn worried about everything.

when his phone rang multiple times, each call being from one of his family members, he ignored it. he was happy. he was laughing. but most of all, he was free.

however, the call he did answer was from the police, telling him to get to his house quick. so he did, nearly having to punch travis out to do so.

he ran up to his front lawn just in time to see firemen drag his family's burnt bodies out of the aflame building. he tell to his knees besides the deceased bodies and simply stared at them.

there was no way they were dead. not all three of them. jack had to at least be breathing a little. he wasn't.

in that moment, the feeling of being alive died. calls came from all around, telling him to get back and stop looking at them, but he ignored it.

he was crushed. he was crying. and most of all, he was trapped.

/present day/

"everyone lost contact with me after that, deciding that i needed time alone. and i did, but after a while, rumors formed."

ashton rubbed his best friend's back, "what kind of rumors?"

"they...they said i started the fire. that I purposely killed my family for not letting me go to a party."

the two went silent, luke sniffling every now and then as information processed in their minds.

"they started calling me 'family killer' and 'sick bastard'. everyone hated me for something i didn't do and said that i should feel guilty, so i did. i still do," luke let his feelings go.

there wasn't a day that he didn't hear someone from his school call him something terrible or remind him of what had happened or both. the pain didn't show on his face, but rather on his wrists.

"i should've been there to support you. why didn't you ever call me or something?" ashton inquired

"by that time, i saw myself as a burden. i didn't want to burden you too."

"you know that i never had, do, or will see you as a burden."

luke pursed his lips and smiled a little. "i see that now. thank you."

"and noelle? back at queensdale. does she know all this happened?"

the taller blonde sighed and shook his head. he couldn't ever tell her this. would she hate him?

"you have to tell her. based on what you've said, she'll listen and understand," ashton practically read his mind. "she loves you, for fucks sake. how could you ever expect her to hate you?"

he was right - ashton was always sensible about things like this. his words cleared the foggy terrain of luke's brain and helped him to see just what he had to do for both the girl he loved and himself.

"i still think i need time here to fix myself," luke confided. "think of it as rehab of sorts."

"alright, fine," ashton sighed. "but promise you'll tell her when you go back."

"i promise."

+

so now we know what happened to lukeys family! I've had that story in my head for a v long time. It was better in my head but whatevs.

dedicated this chapter to irwinbabe_ bc she voted and commented on every chapter of this story and she's so supportive and ugh I love you so much you're perfect

QUESTION OF THE DAY: favorite tv show?

Mine is teen wolf at the moment! Its super good, I'd recommend it!