"What do you mean he left you uptown?"

    "He did, he told me he was going to leave because my hat was too ridiculous and then he left while I was buying a subway ticket and he caught a cab home," Luke and his dad howled in laughter as Luke recounted stories of his adventures with Calum and his other friends.

    Luke and his mum had gone to visit Andrew the next day after Luke arrived in Florida. His dad was ecstatic to see him again but was feeling a bit down about everything, so Luke made it his mission to make him laugh. He'd been telling funny stories and jokes for almost two hours before Andrew got a bit tired.

    "Why don't we let your dad rest, Lu, yeah?" Liz got up from her seat in the corner. She'd been working from home lately, which meant working while at the hospital, and the nurses had set her up a little desk in the corner of the room so she could still see her husband, but also get her work done.

    "Actually, could I talk to Luke for a bit alone?" Andy looked into his wife's eyes. "I just wanna..." he trailed off, looking over at his youngest son and Liz nodded.

    "Of course, I'll go get Ashton from home and the two of us will get you lunch. What do you want today? We'll go anywhere,"

    "Whatever is close by, I don't want you going all over town for me," he coughed a bit, trying hard to make it seem like he wasn't. "Even a sandwich from the cafe is fine."

    "We'll see where we go," Liz looked to Luke. "See you soon, yeah?"

    Luke got up and hugged her, both men watching her wave and shut the door behind her.

    "So dad, how have you really been?"

    He shrugged.

    "I've definitely been better," he chuckled, watching Luke blink at him, face blank. He sighed. "I'm dying son, that's the truth of it. I have good days and bad days, but..."

    "I wish I could have done more," Luke swallowed with difficulty. He felt like there was a lump in his throat he couldn't get rid of.

    Andy shook his head, tears already forming in the corners of his eyes as he thought about his situation.

    "No, Lucas, you listen to me. You have already done much more than any parent could have ever dreamed about asking for. Come here," Andy saw the tears fall down his son's eyes and scooted over so he could lie in the bed next to him. "I don't care that you're almost 30, get over here," he said upon seeing Luke's reluctance. Luke settled down with his head in the crook of his dad's arm, looking over so he could see the beaming smile on his face. "Good?"

    "Yeah, I'm not squishing you?"

    "Nah, Noodle, you're good."

    Luke rolled his eyes.

    "You listen to me, Lu, you've done so much, okay? It was my fault you were in that situation in the first place, so I should be the one apologizing."

    Luke gasped.

    "No, daddy, it wasn't your fault, it was Michael's. He was the one who did those things to me, not you. Please don't think like that,"

    "But you wouldn't have stayed with him if it wasn't for me," Andrew knew that horrible man threatened to hurt him and his wife if Luke left him. It was the only reason Luke stayed with him, continued to be abused, so that he would be taken care of in his sickness. "If I wasn't sick, if he wasn't paying for my stay, then you could have left."

    Luke shook his head.

    "No, you listen to me now," Luke leaned on his elbow and took his dad's hands in his free one. "This was not your fault. Michael was sick. He was the one responsible for all of this, not you. If you weren't in the hospital, he would have found some other reason to force me to stay. It was my decision not to fight back, it is not your fault for being sick, you got me?"

    Andy nodded.

    "Yes sir, I do." He still felt bad, he knew he would for as long as he lived. No parent wanted their child hurt on account of them, so it felt awful when they were.

    "Good." Luke lay back down, letting Andrew rub his shoulder comfortingly as they both stared silently at the photo of the beach.

    "I'm proud of you, you know." Andrew broke the silence.

    "Yeah?"

    "Of course. Even though I'm furious you had to endure what you did, you've proved that you just want to do what's best for the people you care about. I'm infuriated that happened to you, but it shows me what an amazing person you are, and I can't say how honored I am that you were willing to care enough about me to do all that."

    "Well," Luke lifted half of his mouth into a smile, even though his dad couldn't see it. "I think I learned from the best. Growing up, I always looked to you. You're the one who showed me what it meant to be a man,"

    "I love you, Lukey,"

    "I love you too, daddy,"

    Andrew ruffled his hair, pushing him away a bit.

    "Okay, enough mushy stuff, kid. Tell me more about your life, what's going on."

    Luke pursed his lips. "Well, I'm in therapy. That's been helping me a real lot,"

    He explained how the therapist helped him work through his thoughts and feelings and how to stop and assess the situation.

    "I used to get really nervous even just leaving the house. Caity showed me this coping technique where I take a step back, look at my surroundings, and really think about if I'm going to be hurt by it. I couldn't go out with my friends for a while without being scared something bad would happen, but that's no way to live,"

Andrew nodded in awe that his son was this aware, that he was able to keep going through all of this. He couldn't believe it.

    "So now it's like you said, some days are better than others, but I went out with my friends the other night and aside from mama calling me and telling me about what's going on with you, everything was perfect."

    "I'm so glad you're working through it," Andrew wasn't one of those adults who didn't believe in mental illness or therapy. He thought it was fantastic when someone realized something wasn't right and wanted to better themselves and work on it. Luke had trauma, and instead of bottling it inside, he went out and decided to stop living like that and improve himself. That's all Andy ever wanted to know, that his kids would be okay, that they could manage themselves and be okay.

    "Yeah, Ashton's been a big help too," unconsciously, Luke started smiling at the mention of his boyfriend, the smile growing against his will when Andrew smirked at him.

"Tell me about him, he better be treating my boy right,"

"Of course he is, he's the best thing that ever happened to me. He's so caring and thoughtful, he really tries his best to make sure I'm taken care of,"

"As he should,"

Luke rolled his eyes with a smile.

"He's really great. He cares so much, and he's always supportive of what I'm going through. Sometimes he tries too hard and I need to tell him it's too much, but I know it comes from a place of love and that's okay."

"Well I'm glad to get the chance to meet him," Andrew coughed again, sitting up so he can breathe better. Luke gently tapped his back and got him a cup of water from the bedside table once he'd calmed down enough to drink it.

"You okay, dad?"

"Yeah, it happens sometimes. It's these damn lungs..." he sighed. "Anyway, we were talking about your boy,"

"What else do you want to know," Luke settled into the chair next to the bed so his dad had space to breathe.

"Everything."

Luke and Andrew spent the next half hour talking about how things were going with Ashton and Luke. He explained his first impressions of Ashton but how he changed so much last year and then became the person Luke could rely most on.

"When I was still with Michael, he was constantly bringing me chicken tenders from this diner nearby the bar,"

"That's your favorite, how did he know?"

"He didn't, but this one night he knew I was working late while Michael went out with his friends so he literally bought half the diner and brought it over in bags for us to share. He sat with me for a bit and made me question whether Michael was actually treating me right. I couldn't see it at first," he shrugged. "But after that he did it again at my house and then it sorta became our thing," Luke blushed slightly, remembering how nice it was whenever Ashton surprised him with food like that. It made him feel so loved, even though it was such a simple gesture.

"I know the true way to Lukey's heart," a voice rang out from the doorway. "Chicken tenders and French fries."

    Luke looked over to find Ashton standing in the doorway, a brown paper bag held between his fingers. He was smirking as he walked inside, head almost brushing the top of the door. Luke was practically drooling over the sight of him. He hadn't seen Ashton dressed like this ever. He was wearing a white tee shirt with the sleeves rolled all the way up, a grey bandana was holding his golden curls back, grey board shorts with palm trees on them, and reflective sunglasses. He looked ready to go to the beach.

    Ashton, knowing that Luke was ogling him, walked right in front of the chair he'd moved to a couple of minutes before and bent over. He pulled a couple of boxes out of the bag and handed one to Luke's dad. Luke could hardly contain himself. He hated Ashton sometimes, but mostly he hated how well Ashton wore his clothing and wasn't afraid to flaunt it.

    Luke bit his lip and tried to look away from the view, feeling a bit warm as he heard echoes of Ashton talking and laughing with his parents.

    This was so unfair.

    "Lukey, you okay?" Ashton turned his head to look at his mess of a boyfriend, knowing the exact situation he was in. He'd done it in purpose, obviously. Luke felt his face flush when his parents turned their attention to him, wondering what was wrong.

    "Great, just hungry," He squeaked, internally plotting revenge against Ashton.

    "Here, I got you nuggets and fries. There was a diner down the street from here," Ashton explained, dumping a bag on Luke's lap while he walked around, getting everyone's food sorted out. "I don't know if it'll be as good as our diner," Ashton shrugged, handing him a couple of napkins. "But I figured it was worth a try."

    "What did you get Ashton?" Andrew asked as he picked at the food Ashton had set on the tray table in front of him. He didn't often have a huge appetite, a side effect of his many medications, but when his family was around, he did his best to eat as much as he could.

    "Cheeseburger with onion rings," Luke already knew, making his distaste for the food clear.

    Andrew sat up and leveled a look at Ashton.

    "We're a french fry family," he told the brunette, wielding a French fry like a sword. Luke had explained that part of the story earlier, and Andy decided to run with the joke. Ashton shrugged.

    "I can see that. You take your side very seriously,"

    "That night I was telling you about, dad, he offered me fries, onion rings, and hash browns."

    Andy scoffed. "Fries all the time, hash browns with breakfast food, and onion rings—"

    "Never," Ashton sighed, biting sadly into one of the forbidden foods. "I realize I'll always be outvoted about this,"

    "It's okay, Ashy," Luke smiled sweetly at him. Ashton was expecting his cute boyfriends unwavering support but was surprised by Luke's response. "There's gotta be people who are wrong about their side, that way the people who are right can truly feel superior,"

    Andrew snorted at Luke, and when he looked over at Ashton's face he lost it. Liz had to go over and calm him down, he was laughing so hard.

    "Payback," Luke whispered, smirking devilishly, and Ashton shrugged in concession. He supposed he did deserve it.

    They had a casual lunch, interrupted by a nurse who came by to check Andrew's condition.

    Luke and Ashton left the room with Liz to give Andrew a bit of privacy so he could do what he needed and they waited in the hall.

    "Thank you for lunch, Ashton, that was very kind," Liz grabbed onto his arm gently, looking up at him in complete adoration.

    Ashton smiled at her, nodding.

    "It was my pleasure, thank you for allowing me to stay here with you, it's been fun so far," Luke tucked himself under Ashton's other arm, allowing his boyfriend to squeeze him tightly in a hug as Liz let him go.

    Liz looked over at her son with a very obvious nod, letting him know she approved of Ashton. Luke shook his head, but a small smile settled on his face anyway.

    It was silent for a few moments while they waited outside the room. The silence was interrupted when the nurse walked out, smiling, saying the boys could go inside but she wanted to talk to Liz.

    "Go on, it'll be okay," Liz ushered them in so she could speak to the nurse.

    "Hey, you're back!" Andrew smiled, but then started coughing again.

    "Relax, dad, you're all right," Luke handed him his drink, but he waved it away, wheezing out an, "I'm fine,"

    Ashton sat on the chair, pulling Luke into his lap and wrapping his arms around his waist.

    "Ashton, tell me about yourself," Andrew demanded once he'd recovered from his coughing fit.

    "Dad," Luke warned, putting his hands on his face, trying to hide from the awkward. He really didn't need his father to grill his boyfriend like he was a teenager.

    "If you can't handle it, Lukey, why don't you leave for a bit and then I can talk to Ashton alone," he suggested.

    Ashton smirked.

    "Yeah, Doll, why don't you let us talk for a bit,"

    Andrew and Luke both looked at him, shocked that he wanted that, but when Ashton guided Luke off of him, he nodded.

    "Again?" They both nodded. "If that's what you want,"

    He found Liz in the hallway, still chatting with the nurse. He walked over and put his arm around her.

    "Hey, mum."

    She kissed his cheek but continued listening to the nurse.    

    "His cough is getting worse, we're a little concerned about that," she said, looking at his father's chart. "He has seemed to brighten up a bit though in the past few days, I suppose we can thank you for that?" she looked at Luke with a small smile.

    "Maybe. I haven't seen him in years,"

    "It's certainly cheered him up, I haven't seen him this active in weeks."

    The nurse nodded, making a note on her paper.

    "Okay, we'll continue to monitor him, but if I'm being honest," she paused and looked at them both to make sure they really wanted to hear what she had to say, "I wouldn't expect a miracle."

    "Thank you, Brenda. I appreciate all you've been doing for him."

    "No problem, he's such a sweet guy. It's a shame..."    

    She said goodbye and told them she had other patients to tend to and left.

Before Liz could say anything to Luke an old man walked down the hall way, large, dark glasses covering his face and a person on either side of him, guiding him.

"Hello, Artemis, how are you today?" Liz greeted the hunched over gentleman.

He smiled, head turning vaguely in their direction.

"Is that Elizabeth I hear?"

"You got it," she laughed. "And my son Luke is here from New York to visit his father,"

"Hello, sir," Luke called to the blind man. He'd figured that when he saw him, but context clues made him certain.

"Nice to meet you,"

"You as well,"

Artemis stumbled a bit, his legs not used to holding him for an extended period of time.

"I'm going to get back to my walk, I'll talk to you another time," he smiled.

"Of course, dear, enjoy your walk."

The elderly man continued at his languorous pace, heading down the hall with his nurses.

    Liz sighed, turning around in Luke's arm to properly hug him now that they weren't distracted any longer.

    "We'll be all right, mama." he whispered moments later, rubbing circles on her back.

    "I'm really glad you're here," she told him.

    "Me too,"

    After a moment, his mum pulled away and looked up at him.

    "Where's Ashton? Why are you out here?"

    "Dad wanted to talk to him alone, I've been exiled." He rolled his eyes fondly.

    "Perfect. We can go down to the cafe then and you can tell me what you've been up to. I haven't gotten to talk to my little boy in so long," She took his arm and led him away.

***

I have just been so unmotivated to write lately. Most of the time I pull up my computer, set it next to me, and play games on my phone. It's really bad.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter!

~ashtonfortherwin