forty seven

Michael opened their front door a quarter before seven. Ashton was standing there with three coffees and a hungover man standing behind him.

"This is Matty, my roommate."

Michael held out his hand, introducing himself. "I believe Luke has talked about you before."

"Probably," the lanky boy said, "I'm pretty rememberable." Matty sipped at his own coffee as he took off his shoes.

Mike smiled as he began tying his tie. "I'm going to be gone until 3. I got out of an after school meeting and everything else." He led them to the kitchen as he picked up his laptop case and a bag filled with his lunch. "Luke doesn't do much, make sure he eats and drinks water. I just didn't wanna leave him alone, you know?"

Ashton watched Michael move around his apartment, he was such different from what he was like in school. Ash could see how much the older man truly cared for Luke. He could see it in the worry through his light green eyes.

Michael looked at Matty. "You look like you need an Advil. That's on top of the pantry."

"You're my savior."

Mike smiled. "Ashton, you have my number. Feel free to text or call me if you need anything." He patted the brunette on the back as headed back towards the door.

Michael left moments later, leaving Ashton and Matty to find Luke. They wandered up the stairs, finding a lump in the bed. He was awake, the glow of his cellphone lighting up his colorless face.

"Hi, Loser," Ash said, trying to make him smile.

"Hi, Pansexual Hoe." The corners of Luke's lips turned upwards just the slightest bit and that was enough for Ashton.

"I didn't want to bring Matty, but I found him wandering around campus on my way here." Ashton crawled into bed, curling next to Luke. He rested his head on the smaller boy's chest, wrapping his arm around his torso.

Matt managed to fit his body between Ashton and Luke. He wedged his bony body on top of the two boys. "You guys are so soft."

"Are you calling me fat?" Ashton asked.

"Probably." Matty rested his head where Ashton's was. "What're you doing, Lucas?"

Ashton lectured Matty on the way there, that even if he called Luke Preggo on mistake, it would completely shatter the blonde. Even in his still-a-little-drunk head, he understood.

"Wasting my life," Luke said quietly.

"Nice. Me too."

Ashton moved over, letting Matty slide down to the mattress. Matty put his arm around Luke, still watching him scroll through his Twitter feed.

Everything was quiet and it wasn't really a good kind of silence. There were lots of kinds of silences and this one made Luke's stomach drop.

"Can we go no an adventure?" Matty asked. He rolled onto his back, pushing Ashton further away. He brought his feet up in the air, reaching towards them and stretching. "This town is so boring, let's move to New York."

"I'm, like, seven years old," Ashton said."

Luke turned off his phone, turning to look at both of them. Did he count Matty as a friend? "I wanna live in New York City one day."

"Let's go now, Luke. Let's leave this loser behind us." Matty turned onto his own side, facing Luke.

They were close, close enough that Luke could feel Matty's breath on his chin. "I haven't showered in six days."

"Fuck showers, dry shampoo exists for a reason." Matty sat up, pushing all the blankets to the floor. "Come on, let's be alive." He jumped up from bed, going over the the white wood desk in the corner. He turned on Luke's laptop, picking a playlist. "Aw, you have a sex playlist."

"Matt!" Luke called, sitting up in bed. All the blood rushed to his head and gave him a pounding headache. He hasn't sat up this much in a week, maybe more.

"Ugh, this isn't even good music."

Ashton rolled his eyes. "This is what I have to live with. He and his bandmates come into our dorm at three in the morning and judge my record player."

"Because you're a eighty year old man!" Matty defended. He turned on a playlist titled 'dance with me'. It was happy, upbeat music. From All Time Low to The Front Bottoms. Everything was in there and Matty kept turning it up louder.

Matt jumped on Luke's bed, jumping to the beat.

Luke laughed. He laughed!

"Matty is in this shitty band and they change the name every week," Ashton explained, he folded his feet closer to his own body in fear of Matty misjudging his jumping space. Ash didn't want any broken legs.

"We aren't a shitty band, you're just a shitty human."

Luke listened to his two friend bicker back and forth, smiling at their antics. Ashton nor Matty dared to point out that Luke seemed content in fear he'd fall back into a pit of sadness.

"Let's go to Target."

"You don't need anything there, Matt."

"Don't insult my religion like that."

Ashton furrowed his eyebrows, "Target isn't your religion."

"Fuck you." Matty plopped down between Ashton and Luke. He pulled Luke to his side, running his lean fingers through the greasy blonde hair of the tiny boy. "Come on, Luke, let's go. I got a new license."

"I'm not giving you my car."

Matty reached over, taking Ashton's entire wallet—which had his keys in it. "I didn't say you had to."

Ashton reached for it, causing Matty to roll on top of Luke and hide behind his other side. "You're being a child," Ash tsked.

"You're being a shitbag."

Luke pushed Matty off their bed, causing him to topple to the ground. "Can someone bring me ice cream?"

(a/n) i hope ur excited for the sequel. there are a few more chapters left in this still but like......................,,,,, the sequel is gonna be good