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Ashton needed light. From a young age, his room was always lit up at every single dark corner the small curly haired boy could find. There were fairy lights that his mom used to hang in the Christmas Tree all over his ceiling, small light bulbs beautiful build into the decor of Ashton's bedroom.

He hated darkness and everything that had to do with it. He had hated it from a young age, and never got over his fear of the dark, his fear of the unknown. According to the curly haired boy, it wasn't scientifically proven that demons, monsters or any sort of form of life that was originally created to scare small children, didn't exist, so he kept his lights up everywhere he could possibly need.

It was like a relief every time Ashton saw the sun coming up in the early hours of the mornings, the house slowly lighting itself with the light the sun gave away. He couldn't be happier as he threw open his curtains every single morning, just to be able to have more light in the house he lived in.

The boy will probably never know where his fear came from, or why it didn't leave. His mom always scared the demons, the monsters away from under the young boy his bed. His dad even made spray that kept away the monsters. Ashton had learned at the age of eleven that it was just vanilla spray, but he kept spraying it, kept believing his dad's words and that the vanilla spray actually scared away the monsters the hazel eyed boy is so afraid off.

That's why, when Ashton slowly flutters his eyes open on a Wednesday morning, in the middle of June, he inhales and the smell of vanilla greets him. The boy smiles and giggles before throwing his legs over the side of the bed, his toes curling at the feeling of the white carpet that adorned the bedroom floor.

''Good morning, world.'' Ashton whispers to no one in particular. He slowly stands up, his knees and elbows cracking at the movements. The smaller boy frowns as he hears no noises in the house, which means that his boyfriend has already left the house. The curly haired boy sighs before waddling towards the door and opening the white polished door towards the huge hallway. He smiles as he sees it's lighten up by the sun, the whole first floor is brimming with sunlight.

The hazel eyed boy pats to the big stairs, slowly walking down the marble stairway. He immediately looks to the right and left, just to make sure that the entire main floor is lit up like a Christmas tree on Christmas Eve.

Before making his way to the kitchen to grab some breakfast, though, he walks off to the left, making his way through the huge corridor, his socks almost slipping over the polished floor.

''Watch your step, princess.'' Ashton squeals as he hears that Luke hasn't left the house yet, the tall blonde boy his arms wrapping around Ashton's small waist. ''Goodmorning, babe.'' The blue eyed boy whispers into his boyfriend's ear, making the smaller boy shiver just the tiniest bit.

''Goodmorning Lukey.. Thanks for leaving the lights on.'' Luke smiles down at him, ''Always, love.''

When Ashton met Luke he was eighteen years old. The small boy just graduated and was unpacking his bags in his small college dorm when he walked in. Luke was his roommate, and immediately questioned why the lights were on, and a few were in the corners of the room. Ashton had a hard time explaining his fear for the dark to the boy. He was afraid of being laughed at, being judged.

After he had finished his story, he expected a loud laugh from the boy and maybe a ''But you're eighteen!? Why are you still afraid of the dark?'' But he didn't get the judging, the laughs nor the question. Instead, Luke stood up and walked out of the room, into the hallway. Now, Ashton was ready to cry, but then the blonde boy came back from out of the corridor. ''These are my ceiling stars, they light up in the dark.'' Ashton couldn't be happier with his new friend when he helped him unpack and hang up the stars.

That's how it started really, in college.

Now, five years later and Ashton was the happiest person he could ever be. ''What are you thinking about love?'' The blonde asks, his arms hugging the younger boy just a little tighter to get him back to earth.

''Oh, nothing. I just thought you would be gone by now, I mean, you have work today, don't you?'' The small boy questioned, pushing his face slightly into Luke's chest, making the older boy coo at him. ''Yeah but I decided that I wanted to eat breakfast with you, so let's go to the kitchen, shall we?''

Ashton giggles before nodding, pushing himself away from the warm embrace of his boyfriend. ''What are we having, Lukey?'' He asks while he grabs the taller boy his hand, starting to pull him through the enormous hallway towards the kitchen.

''I'm thinking about pancakes, what do you want love?'' Luke answers the question, smiling fondly as he looks at his tiny boyfriend who tries to pull him towards the kitchen. ''Pancakes sounds great, Lukey! Can we ask Richard to make his syrup too?'' Luke nods at the tiny boy his request, making him squeal.

Ashton smiles as he turns his head around to look at his boyfriend, blushing as he sees that Luke is also looking at him. ''Stop looking at me!'' Ashton giggles out before letting go of Luke's hand, rushing away as careful as possible, making sure not to slip.

''Dork.'' Luke whispers before he starts to chase after his boyfriend, turning the corner of the hallway and seeing the mop of curls that belong to his boyfriend slip through the kitchen door.

''Goodmorning Richard!'' Ashton greets their chef, a huge smile on his face as he sees that Richard is indeed making his famous syrup with his pancake. ''Goodmorning Ashton! Did you sleep well?'' The older man asks, making Ashton giggle. ''I slept excellent, thanks for asking, what about you?'' The younger boy asks, slipping onto the brown chair perfectly placed against the breakfast bar.

Richard was the exact age of forty seven, his hair faintly grey with a little black still in there. His face was slightly wrinkled, his eyes crinkly. ''I slept well, Ashton, thank you.''

Luke had walked in when Ashton asked how Richard slept, making the taller blonde smile. His boyfriend was so polite and kind, so selfless and innocent (at least, he pretended to be the latter). ''Lukey!'' Ashton yelps as he notices his boyfriend is in the room too.

''Is breakfast ready?'' Luke asked Richard, making the old man nod at his boss. ''Yes, sir.'' Two plates are sat in front of the two boys, and Richard bits them goodbye before leaving the kitchen.

''Ashton, I have to tell you something.'' Luke said after chewing on his first bite of the delicious pancakes, making Ashton frown slightly before he, too, swallowed. ''Is it something bad?'' Ashton asks, making Luke smile a little. Ashton always asked that when it came to talking seriously to people, he didn't like it.

''No baby, its nothing bad. It's just, Richard has taken the day off for today, and I'm leaving for work in twenty minutes, which mean you'll be alone for today until at least five pm.'' Luke says, quickly putting another bite of pancake in his mouth, the syrup melting in his mouth. ''T-that's okay, Lukey.'' Ashton knows Luke has to go to work and can't stay with him, so he tries to act tough.

''You really won't mind?'' Luke asks, very concerned because he knows Ashton doesn't like being home alone. ''Yes, as long as you lock the doors and the lights can stay on I'll be fine. I'll just watch some movies.'' Ashton says, putting a slightly fake smile on his face, making Luke smile back at him.

''I will lock the doors, and of course the light can stay on.'' Luke says, and Ashton quickly wraps his arms around Luke, hugging the taller boy. ''Thank you Lukey.''

It had been two hours since Luke left to work, and so far, everything was going great. Ashton enjoyed himself in the living room, watching television and movies. It was great, at least, when Ashton didn't hear weird noises coming from the hallway or anything like that.

''Welcome to the weather forecast for today. A little thunder will hit the northern parts of Australia, a little bit of rain coming with the storm.'' Ashton didn't hear the rest as he ran towards the huge mirrors in the living room, droning out the voice of the boring weather man.

The sky was grey, making Ashton whimper. ''No! No! No!'' The smaller boy screamed as he saw the first lightning bolt shoot through the sky, followed by a loud thundering noise, making Ashton fall to his knees and wrap his arms around his own head.

''No.No.No.'' The boy repeated quietly as his breath got more rapid, hearing the thunder coming closer, until he heard one of the loudest bangs of his life. Ashton yelped as he saw the television turn to black, and every single light in the living room disappear.

It was dark, not pitch black, but grey. Ashton's eyes widen as he sees the room being lightened by one of the lightning bolts, his eyes closing once again as he tried to calm his breath.

He heard something crash in the hallway, making Ashton yelp louder than he has ever before, his hands and legs shaking as he silently and clumsily stood up, his legs almost giving up on him as he saw the darkness filling the room once again.

''Lukey..'' The boy cried out, tears leaving his eyes as he slowly searched for the door, repeating the name of his boyfriend every once in a while, until he found the door knob and opened the door, his hands sweaty and shaky, his cheeks stained with tears.

The trembling boy looked left and right, but all he saw was darkness, every light that once lit up the house being off because of the storm, the enormous hallway reminding Ashton of once of his nightmares as a kid, where he'd be in the house of a monster and everything was dark and scary and the monster grabbed him from behind before killing him.

Ashton quickly turned around but didn't see a monster, nor light. The thing he craved for twenty four hours a day, seven days a week, wasn't there and Ashton was scared shitless. His phone was in the bedroom he and Luke shared, but Ashton couldn't bring himself to walk up the scary stairs and walk up to the second floor where the lights weren't working either.

''Lukey..'' He whimpered, his eyes full of tears while his knees gave away from under him, making the smaller boy fall to the cold tiled ground with a grunt, his knees hurting from falling down, until he heard the front door open.

''Ashton!'' He heard the familiar voice of his boyfriend boom through the hallway, making the smaller boy shoot up and run towards the sound. ''Lukey!'' He screamed as he saw his boyfriend standing there, his arms wide open, ready for the smaller boy to run in, which Ashton did.

''I was so scared..'' Ashton says, his voice shaky from crying.

''I know.'' Luke says.

''Please don't ever leave me alone anymore.'' Ashton looks up at Luke, making Luke smile at him. ''I won't.'' The taller boy says, kissing the smaller boy on the forehead, his hair soaked from the rain.

''Promise?''

''Promise.''

ha thanks for reading.

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