Delilah's POV

I head to Ashton's the next morning to see how he's doing even though he's probably still asleep. I've never seen him so drunk before, it was unlike him. I wouldn't be surprised if he's passed out all day.

I walk into his house and see Harry watching television. He turns around and waves.

“Hi, Delilah!” he says happily.

“Hey! Is Ashton awake?” I ask him.

He nods. “Yeah, but he's not feeling good. Mom said he has a bad headache, and I'm not allowed to bother him.”

I head down to Ashton's room and find him laying on his bed, his face shoved into the pillow.

“Ash?” I whisper.

He mumbles something and slowly rolls over. He squints at me and wiggles his fingers in an attempt to wave.

“What happened last night?” he groans.

I sit on the edge of his bed. “Well, you were having some sort of beer chugging contest.”

He rubs his temples. “Oh, God. Remind me to never drink again.”

“Seems like a little party could kill someone, huh?”

“Wow, you're so funny,” he mumbles, a small smile on his lips.

“I like to think so.”

He grabs one of his pillows and tosses it at me, but it misses me and falls on the ground.

I tell him what happened with Luke, leaving out how he had a panic attack and what he told me about his girlfriend. Those are personal things that no one else should know. Even though Ashton is my best friend, it's not right for me to tell him.

“So, he actually, like, was nice?” Ashton asks, sitting up a little.

I nod, smiling. “Yeah, it was different from all the other times I've been around him.”

Luke was definitely different. I thought he would never want to be near me, let alone have breakfast at midnight with me. He told me a secret of his, even though it wasn't the whole story. He opened up to me, which was surprising. Maybe he trusts me.

“We should hangout with him sometime,” Ashton says. “Maybe he wants some cool friends like us.”

*

A few days after, I decide to go to Luke's. I haven't seen him since the party. If he went to school, I would've seen him there. But he doesn't. I wonder what he does all day.

Ashton and I are going to see a movie tonight, so I thought I'd invite Luke. After what he told me about his girlfriend, I don't want him to feel alone. Plus, Ashton thinks it's a good idea for him to hangout with us. It might make him more comfortable here.

Mr. Hemmings is in the front yard when I get there, mowing the lawn. He waves when he sees me.

“Hey, Delilah, what's up?” he asks.

“I came to see Luke. Is he inside?” I ask.

He smiles. “Yeah, he's in his room. You know, I'm glad you let him hangout with you guys the other night. He's sort of, I don't know, separated. It's hard to get him to do things. I'm happy you and Ashton are here.”

I smile and nod. “Yeah, it was nice hanging out with him.”

I walk inside before he can question me about that night. I don't want to be the one to tell him that his son had a panic attack all alone at a huge party. I wonder if Luke even told him about it.

Probably not.

I walk down the hall to Luke's room and knock on the door. It opens after a few seconds, and he stares at me for awhile before walking away.

“Hey,” I say quietly. I don't really know what to do. I feel really awkward right now. I clear my throat and speak up. “So, uh, Ashton and I are going to the movies tonight, and we were wondering if you wanted to come.”

He types something in his phone. “Why would I want to come?”

I scrunch my eyebrows. “I don't know. We thought maybe you'd want to. If you don't like movies, we can do something else.”

“No. Why would I want to hangout with you guys?”

I'm taken aback by what he wrote. I didn't expect this kind of response.

“I thought you'd want to because... the other night...”

“The other night meant nothing. I was drunk. Whatever I told you was false. I don't care.”

Why is Luke being like this? The other night he was so shy and kind. But now he's being a cocky jerk. He seems like he's constantly changing.

I don't think he was drunk at the party. I don't even think he had a drink. I rack my brain to try and remember if I saw him drinking.

He never did, as far as I know.

He's lying to me.

“Luke, you weren't drunk,” I tell him, crossing my arms over my chest.

“Yes, I was. You were barely even with me. I think I would know if I was drunk.”

I roll my eyes. “Why are you being like this?”

“What do you mean? This is me. You don't even know me.”

He stands up from his bed, towering over me. He looks down at me, his blue eyes piercing through me. I'm suddenly nervous and at a lose of words for a few seconds.

“I thought I could get to know you. I'm sorry for trying, okay, Luke? Sorry for trying to help you. If you want to be like this, be my guest. You can be a rude, cocky jerk for the rest of your life.”

“Good. Because I don't care what you do with your life, so you shouldn't care about mine.”

His words hurt for some reason. Each thing he says is like a knife being thrown at me. Maybe because he was so kind the other night, I thought he actually wanted to hangout with me.

I guess I mean nothing to him.

I look around his room and see a weekly pill container. I notice Sunday to Thursday have pills in them, even though it's Friday.

He hasn't been taking his pills since the party, which was Saturday.

“You stopped taking your pills,” I mumble without meaning to.

His eyes dart over to the container. “No, I just refilled them.” He rubs his nose quickly and looks away from me.

He's lying.

I look at him, and he bites down on his lip. “Why?”

“Why do you care? It's none of your business.”

“You're right, it is none of my business. But you know what? This is your health on the line. You should care for yourself."

“Since when do you think you know everything about me?”

Luke is just putting words in my mouth. He's being so rude about everything. I was just trying to be friendly.

“I never said I knew everything! I'm just trying to be here for you! Because that's what I would want if I just moved to the total opposite side of the world!” I don't want to yell, but I am. I can't help it.

“I don't need you! I don't need anyone! Just leave me alone!”

“Fine, Luke, I will. I'll leave you alone. Sorry for trying to help,” I say, leaving his room and shutting the door.

I walk out of the house without saying goodbye to Mr. Hemmings.

What happened with Luke keeps replaying through my mind. Every word, every movement. I wish Luke actually spoke so I wouldn't have to interpret the robotic voice. It makes fighting more difficult because there's no emotion in its voice.

And for some reason, the robot makes me even more mad.

I don't know why Luke suddenly went back to how he was before. It definitely has to do with his pills. For some reason, he has stopped taking them. I know he was taking them before because he said they were making him sentimental. But now he has stopped.

Why would someone stop taking pills? If they help, why stop?

I know I will never understand how Luke's mind works, nor do I want to. It's his personal business. But he's putting himself in jeopardy by not taking his medication.

I'm worried about him.

Maybe he just forgot. That's a possibility, right? Maybe his mind was somewhere else, and he didn't remember to take them.

I hope that's why. I hope he's not intentionally stopping.

But something in the pit of my stomach tells me it's intentional.

Luke doesn't want to be happy.

is this good? idk i'm iffy about this. i hope you undestand why his attitude keeps changing. it'll be explained later if you don't understand

also fyi luke has not spoken at all yet. everything he "says" is his phone. there's a way to change it in settings so it speaks. i have it on mine.

tweet me your thoughts or edits or questions or tell me a story because ily @fiannelash

-ashley