confessions on the wall - lashton

29: Interlude 2.0

So I couldn't find where I even explained Ashton's situation so here it is... hope I didn't overlook it but oh well
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Ashton placed his palms against his torso and slowly moved down, trying his best to flatten out his shirt. It had been a long time since he had worn something other than leggings or sweatpants and a t-shirt. However, here he was, clad in a pair of old, black skinny jeans that somehow still fit, and a dark blue polo shirt. He quickly put on his shoes before he began to wrap one of his many bandanas over his bald head. 

Thankfully, Ashton had already drawn on his eyebrows and did his best to look in the least bit presentable. He hadn't felt comfortable or even in the least bit confident with the way he looked in a number of years, but when he looked at himself in the mirror, he couldn't help but smile.

Maybe the honey haired boy was just giddy about being able to go out with Luke, or maybe he just couldn't believe that he could actually manage to not look like a total train wreck for once, but he was excited regardless.

When the doorbell rang, he nearly jumped as he was so lost in his thoughts that the noise startled him. After slipping a black surgical mask over his mouth, looping the holes over his ears so that it would stay in place, he went to open the door.

The taller boy before him nearly took his breath away, and unlike usual, this was a good thing. He stood there, awkwardly shifting his weight from one foot to another. Luke was wearing similar attire, black jeans matched with a plain black shirt.

"Hey." Luke grinned at the boy before him.

"Hi." Ashton replied, and though the mask was covering his mouth, the deepness of his dimples showed Luke that he was smiling back at him. "Sorry about all of this, it was the only way I could convince my dad to let me go."

Luke shrugged in response. "You look beautiful."

His comment made the older boy blush. "Thanks. So-So do you."

"Are you ready to go?" Luke asked him, offering his hand to the shorter boy.

Ashton turned to look at his father who was now standing behind the half open door. With a nod from the parent, Ashton took Luke's hand and let himself be led out by the boy. Once they made it to his car, Luke took off, driving them to their destination.

They arrived in the parking lot of a local art museum, and instantly Ashton was ecstatic. "I know it's not much, but I figured that it was too cold to do anything outside, movie theaters are drowning in germs, and I knew that your father wouldn't approve of you eating out and it could possibly fuck up your strict diet, and-"

Ashton giggled, cutting the boy off. "This is perfect, Luke. Thank you for taking my health into account."

The other boy nodded before getting out of the car. He walked around to Ashton's side and opened his door for him to which the boy thanked him for. After leading him up the few steps of the building, they went inside, Luke insisting on paying the small fee for the tickets.

Luke continued to hold onto Ashton's hand as they walked around the museum, stopping several times to look at random pieces of art that Ashton thought was cool. However, it was difficult for Luke to focus on the paintings and statues surrounding them, for he was too busy staring at him date, watching as the beautiful boy before him lit up while talking about the pieces.

The younger boy didn't even think that Ashton would be so interested in this place, but he now understood that he was indeed.

"Want to go upstairs?" Luke asked the boy now holding onto his arm. They had finished looking at everything on the first floor and were ready to go to the second level.

When Ashton nodded, Luke brought him to the elevator, but the idea was soon cut short when both pairs of eyes landed on the 'out of order' sign taped to the silver doors.

"Oh." Luke mumbled, feeling bad when he noticed the frown on the other boy's face. "That's okay. We can come back another day."

"No, let's just use the stairs." Ashton insisted, and even though Luke asked him multiple times if he was sure, the older boy pulled him to the stairwell.

Luke let go of Ashton's hand only to slip his arm around the boys torso to help him up the long staircase. Once they finally made it to the top, Ashton paused, letting out a shaky breath. He was trying to contain himself, not wanting Luke to know how badly his lungs burned and how out of breath he was from the ascend. He hated how weak his body had become, he couldn't even walk up some goddamn stairs without getting light headed.

Ashton gripped onto the banister to steady himself. "Um, is there-?"

But before he could finish his sentence, Luke was already tugging him over a few steps to the bench by the stairs.

The brunette was embarrassed, forcing himself to take a few deep breaths. "I'm-I'm sorry, I just... My immune system kinda sucks ass."

"Is alright. Y'know, you never... Exactly told me what you have." Luke hummed curiously, sitting next to the boy on the metal bench.

Ashton sighed, knowing that he now had to explain his shitty situation. He didn't like to talk about it, partly because he hated how everyone looked so sympathetic when he told them, and also partly because he knew that there was nothing he could do to fix it.

"Well, when I was fourteen I was in a high school play. We were doing Beauty and the Beast. I was playing Gaston, which is kinda funny because I've always been a scrawny kid with zero muscle mass but..." Ashton shrugged before continuing his story. "During rehearsal I collapsed on stage, everyone thought that I had had a panic attack due to nerves and thankfully my dad was there and insisted on taking me to the hospital. If he hadn't, I'd probably be dead."

"Turns out that my spleen had ruptured. They ran some tests and that's when they found it: chronic myeloid leukemia. It's a type of blood cancer that starts in bone marrow. Anyway, long story short, now there's never a part of my body not hurting and since my immune system sucks, if I got so much as the common cold I could get badly sick or even die -hence the dumb mask my dad made me wear." Ashton finished, shaking his head.

"Shit." Was all Luke could bring himself to say. His blue eyes were wide as he stared at his date. "Is it okay to be out like this? Do we need to go home?"

Ashton snorted. "I don't have to be fucking quarantined, I just have to be careful... Which reminds me." He said, slipping a small bottle of hand sanitizer out of his front pocket. He squirted a bit on his hand, then some on Luke's when he held his own hand out. Both of them rubbed the substance into their skin, the strong smell of rubbing alcohol reaching their noses. "I forgot I touched that nasty banister."

"I'm sorry, Ash." Luke sighed, taking Ashton's hand once again after he put up the hand sanitizer.

"Luke, it's fine." Ashton smiled back at him. "The elevator was broken and there was no way that I was going to miss what's up here."

"I'm not talking about the stairs."

"No." The older boy mumbled, shaking his head as he stood. "Don't do that. Get that dumb look off of your face, you can't feel sorry for me."

"But-"

"See this is why I don't talk about it. It's not that big of a deal. My illness does not completely control my life. Y'know how many people randomly die everyday without cancer?"

"Okay, okay." Luke instantly regretted what he had said. He didn't realize how upset this would make him. "Just forget what I said, okay?

Ashton nodded, watching  as Luke got up and wrapped his arm around the boy's waist.  "And I'm not sorry about the stairs. In fact, all you do is sit around all day at home, you needed to get up and do something, it's good for you."

Ashton smirked, knowing that the boy was joking with him. "Let's go finish looking around."

So that's exactly what they did. And when they were finished, Luke returned Ashton to him home. Even though he didn't try to kiss the boy, not wanting to spread his germs around, Ashton pulled the mask from his face and kissed the blond on his cheek before he left.

Ashton promised himself that he wouldn't fall for someone else. But he also said that he would never walk anymore stairs again, so what's another broken promise?