Work Text
Hemmings (17 years)
“I can’t wait until you’re eighteen so I don’t have to keep up with your pathetic, fâggot ass.”
The same words kept repeating in my head. I had finally come out to my parents as bisexual and it hadn’t ended well- not that it really ended at all. Not knowing how else to deal with my problem, I ran straight to my room and booked a flight to New York.
Sure, New York wasn’t the best place to start off considering I’m only seventeen and not even from the states, but I didn’t really feel like going anywhere else.
Plus, I kind of want to get into NYU.
“‘Scuse me, sorry, sorry.” I was shoving through all the little midgets (well, in my view they were), trying to get to my gate. “Thirteen, fourteen, fifteen!”
I couldn’t help the grin on my face when I saw the small chairs and rushed over to an empty one, setting my small backpack down next to me. The only things I brought were a few bathroom essentials, clothes, and money that I had been saving since I was seven.
I’m really doing this
The lady on the speaker announced that my flight was boarding and I jumped up excitedly, running over to the line. Once she scanned my ticket and all else needed, she let me through the doorway. As I was walking down the never ending hall I had a few negative thoughts about the trip.
What if I become homeless because I can’t afford a place to stay?
No I have plenty of money. I even smuggled some from my ‘parents’.
But what if I get kidnapped?
I’ll be fine. Stop thinking negative, Luke.
The hallway finally came to an end and I found my seat. After about thirty minutes of listening to music through my earbuds, the pilot announced that we were taking off. I widened my eyes and my breathing hitched.
Is it too late to get off?
I shouldn’t be going to America! I should have brought Michael with me. I need Michael with me!
“Are you okay, sir?” The guy next to me asked in a slightly high pitched voice. “Is it your first time flying?”
“N-no. Need—need Michael.”
“Michael? Is he your brother or something? Is the plane leaving without him? Oh dear, tell the pilot!”
“No! He—he’s my best friend, but he’s not coming. Um, he usually calms me down.”
“That makes the whole situation less confusing. So why are you going to New york? And all alone?” He looked to be somewhere around my age—maybe a couple years older— and Asian. I was confused to where his grammar came from. I mean, he’s from Australia, not England.
“Parent Troubles.” I responded with a shrug.
“Did they send you here? Or did you come alone? Oh dear, did you run away? Are you even eighteen?”
“In a couple months I will be. Why are you going to New York?” I asked, ignoring his previous questions.
“I am moving there. I have already bought a place and everything.” He smiled proudly.
“That’s cool. I still have to get one. I’ll probably just stay in a hotel until then. What’s your name?”
“My name is Calum.”
“I’m Luke.”
“Not to cause stress or anything, but you may have to stay in a hotel until you turn the legal age. And that’s probably going to cost you as much as Bill Gates makes every second.”
“How much is that?”
“I don’t know, actually. I’m positive it is somewhere around a thousand, but hotels do cost much, much more than that to some people. Especially if you are in there in there for quite some time.”
“It’s not like I have anywhere else to stay.” I sighed. “I still have to use a bunch of this money and I may not have enough for the time being. I still need to get a new phone, I need a hotel to stay at, I need food, I need a job.” I huffed frustratedly. I hadn’t thought this through. I couldn’t help but think that Michael would know what to do in this situation.
“Do not stress. I will help you through this if you need.”
“Thanks, Calum, but I can figure this out on my own.”
“Just in case, here is the number that belongs to me.” He waved a piece of paper in my direction and I grabbed it.
“Yeah, thanks.”
oOo
The rest of the flight was spent with Calum and me chatting and watching romantic movies—because those were the only ones he would watch. When our plane landed, we went to a restaurant inside the airport after stopping by an ATM.
“At the start of our flight you were stressing because you have a few financial problems, now you are adamant that you pay for our meal? Just let me do it, I have plenty of money.” I groaned and buried my head in my palms.
“At least let me pay for half or the tip or something!”
“I guess that is fair enough. You can pay for the five dollar tip and I will take care of the meal.”
Once we were out of the airport, Calum and I each said goodbye (well, he said ‘farewell’?) and he reminded me to call him when I get to whatever hotel I’m staying at. After that, he shoved me into a cab.
“Where to?” The driver grumbled.
“The nearest AT&T store, please.”
oOo
After getting a new phone and going to the bank, I finally took a cab to the nearest Super 8.
“The cheapest room you have.” I told the lady behind the counter.
“How long will you be staying, Sir?” She asked with a flirtatious smile.
“About a month. How much will that cost?”
“For one night it’s eighty-seven dollars. So, for a month it would be… two thousand ninety-seven dollars alone. That’s not including the room service you order and the amount of shampoo bottles you use.” She said, twirling her hair around her index finger.
“Alright, I’ll do that.” I pulled out the credit card I had gotten about half an hour earlier and handed it to her. She took the thin piece of plastic and swiped it. When she was done she handed it back to me along with a room key.
Just as I was about to turn away and go find my room, she called me back. “Sir!” I quickly turned around, thinking I had forgotten something, and asked what she needed. “My name’s Ashlyn. If you have any…” she put a suggesting smirk on her face. “...problems, you can come to me.”
“Um… okay?”
Whenever I got to my temporary room, I set my stuff down, pulled out my new phone and the piece of paper Calum gave me. I tapped on the screen a few times and called him.
“Calum Thomas Hood, who am I speaking to?”
“It’s Luke.”
“Luke!” He yelled excitedly. “I have been waiting ages for you to call! What hotel are you located at?”
“I’m at a Super 8 a few miles away from the airport.”
“And what is the room number?”
“Three fourteen, why?” I could hear a few scribbles on a piece of paper in the background.
“I will see you in a bit!”
Before I could ask what was going on, he hung up.
oOo
“Luke? Is this your door?” Calum yeled from the outside of my door. I groaned and got up, making my way towards the door. “Can you open this door? I really don’t want to touch it.”
“Hey.” I mumbled and opened the door. I looked at him and saw that he had two white bags in his hand.
“I brought us a couple things to snack on. It’s not the fanciest of food, but it will have to do.”
“Thank you so much! I’m starving!”
“Here is your meal,” He handed me a white bag. I grabbed it from him and peaked into it, seeing some weird food I’ve never seen.
“What is this?”
“Agnello alla pastora, It is just lamb and potatoes.”
“Is it good?”
“It is scrumptious!”
I shrugged and pulled out my phone, going onto Twitter. Since I was in America and it would cost a fortune to call or text, I direct messaged Michael.
Hemmo1996: Hey, don’t call or message unless you want to pay lots of money. just dm or some shit
CliffordTheBigRedDick: dude where tf are you? come to park
Hemmo1996: Can’t. I’m like 500 hrs away from you
“Is that the Michael person you spoke about on the jet today?” Calum asked, peering over my shoulder.
“Yeah.”
CliffordTheBigRedDick: what do you mean?
Hemmo1996: I’m in america dipshit
CliffordTheBigRedDick: WHAT THE HELL LUKE
CliffordTheBigRedDick: WITHOUT ME?
CliffordTheBigRedDick: yOU IDIOT
CliffordTheBigRedDick: HOLD ON IM COMING
CliffordTheBigRedDick: ok i cant exactly come right now its like 3am but why did u leave?
Hemmo1996: my parents…
CliffordTheBigRedDick: luke… i couldve helped you… or even come with you
“He is rather good looking.” Calum said, referring to Michael’s profile picture (which was a selfie of him with his red hair, but he had photoshopped ‘Clifford the big red dog’s’ face on his head to make it look like it was the dog).
"I guess"
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Hemmings (17 years)
Yeah, I was probably being pretty selfish when I told Michael he should come to America because I knew he would do anything for me. But I had realized that I didn’t want to go through this experience of wandering around a big city alone, and if something bad were to happen to me (like I became homeless), I would most likely have Michael to help me through it (if he came).So once Calum left and it was eight in the morning in Sydney, Michael had asked his mom for a couple hundred bucks and bought his plane ticket.
CliffordTheBigRedDick: ok get ready im going to type out our convo
CliffordTheBigRedDick: me: hey mom can i go to america
CliffordTheBigRedDick: mom: *laughs* what for
CliffordTheBigRedDick: me: lukes in america and since im 18 we’re buying an apartment there
CliffordTheBigRedDick: mom: if youre 18 why are you asking me
CliffordTheBigRedDick: me: because i only have a few thousand dollars in american money and im saving it for rent and when we buy the house
CliffordTheBigRedDick: mom: and you said luke is in america?
CliffordTheBigRedDick: me: yeah, and hes lonely in a hotel room without me
CliffordTheBigRedDick: mom: alright but youre paying me back once you get a job *hands credit card to get a ticket even tho im so not paying her back and she knows it*
CliffordTheBigRedDick: and then we hugged and im coming this afternoon
CliffordTheBigRedDick: im @ the airport right now
CliffordTheBigRedDick: mum just slapped me to let me know she cares
CliffordTheBigRedDick: hello?
CliffordTheBigRedDick: luke?
Hemmo1996: How interesting. Im actually rlly excited
CliffordTheBigRedDick: what time is it there?
Hemmo1996: 8 am. im in a cab and im going to some breakfast place rn
CliffordTheBigRedDick: ok see you in like 12 hrs
CliffordTheBigRedDick: you better be at the damn airport waiting for me to greet you with my glorious presence
Hemmo1996: I will
Michael and I communicated a little more about which airport he was going to be at and the times and everything until the cab stopped. “That’s twenty-two dollars.” I jerked my head up in the cab driver’s direction and dug out a twenty dollar bill and a five. I was too hungry to wait any longer, so I told him to keep the change and walked out.“Just one?” The man at the booth asked.“Yeah.” I mumbled sadly.He led me to a small table with two chairs in the corner and handed me a menu. “Alright, you waiter will be here in a second.”I opened up the menu and looked through the contents. After a few minutes of searching for what I wanted to consume, I decided on french toast.“Hi! I’m Ashton and I’ll be your waitress- wait no, it’s waiter. Sorry, I’m new at this. What can I get you to drink?”I looked at him and saw his big smile and bright eyes, making me grin back at him. “Just a water, please.”“Sorry for asking, but are you, like, from somewhere else? Sorry- sorry, you just have an accent. Not that that’s bad or anything! I love accents!”“Um, yeah, I’m actually from Australia.”“Oh, cool! When did you first come here?”“Yesterday.”“That’s really cool! Oh sorry, I’ve said that a lot. But that’s amazing!” I laughed at his rambling.“Your drink! Okay, sorry for getting distracted. Waterwaterwaterwater.” He kept saying the word over and over in attempt to remember what he was getting me and walked away.Ashton came back a minute later with a glass cup filled with water and ice. “Do you know what you want to eat yet?”“Yeah, I’ll just have french toast.”“Okay! I’ll get that. Oh, and I really like your shirt!” I looked down at my chest and saw that the words ‘Blink 182’ were printed on the fabric.I blushed, “Thanks.”Once again, he came back to my table- holding a plate this time. “So, how old are you?”“I’m seventeen.”“Did you come to New York alone, or…?”“Alone.”“Nice.” He went silent and continued to stand there staring at me with a small smile. “How do you like New York?”“It’s nice, but everything is pretty confusing.“I understand. I went to London over the summer and didn’t know how anything worked.”“Yeah.” I found it kind of weird when he kept standing there and asking me questions. Was this normal in America?“Do you have anybody to show you around? Sorry if I sound creepy, but if you don’t, I could do it?”“Um, yeah, that would be great.”“Uh, my shift ends in half an hour so if you wanna wait you can. Only if you’re not busy today or anything,“Okay.”“Irwin! Back in the kitchen!” A man shouted and Ashton jumped at the noise.“Thirty minutes!” He called to me and walked behind the doors with a grin planted on his face.
oOo
“Alright, do you have any specific place you wanna go to?” Ashton plopped down in the seat across from me, now wearing a t-shirt and skinny jeans.“Are there any famous tourist places you would suggest or anything?”“We can walk around Time Square or go to Central Park. Oh! Or we could go to the World Trade Center Memorial or we could…” I listened to him list many different landmarks for a couple minutes.“What about Liberty Park? I’ve heard it’s an interesting place.” I suggested.“Yeah! Sorry, but I never got your name.”“Luke.”“I’m Ashton.”“Yeah, I know.” I laughed and followed him outside and into a cab.
oOo
“You can even see the Statue of Liberty in the distance!” He exclaimed loudly. I looked and saw how big his eyes were. His mouth was slightly open as he looked around in shock and his cheeks were a rosy color. Just by looking at him, you wouldn’t have thought he had lived here his whole life.If I was being honest, he looks like a cute little puppy.“Look, there’s a random Liberty man! Let’s go take a picture, Ashton!” I jumped up and down and pointed at the mint green monster, grabbing his hand and dragging him in that direction.We took a few pictures with the guy, a few individual and a few taken by a random stranger, and continued on to the next adventure.“Shit, man, I have to go meet my friend at the airport.” I cursed, seeing I had five minutes until I had to meet Michael.“To the airport!” Ashton shouted at the cab driver.Once we got there, we rushed to the gate number until we saw the bright red hair. “Michael!” I shouted loudly, frantically waving my hand in the air. Ashton started to repeat my actions to get Michael’s attention. People around us were giving us weird looks, but who cares because it’s not like we’re going to see them again, anyways.“Luke!” Michael started charging at me and leaped into my arms. I spun him around a few times before setting him down. “I missed you so much!”“I was gone for one day?” I raised an eyebrow at him.“One day is such a long time, Luke. Stop being so- so blunt!”“Whatever… Oh, this is Ashton!” I gestured to the boy standing awkwardly next to me.“Hey, I’m Michael.” The redhead waved at Ashton and grabbed his bag off the floor. “We should get going, we’re blocking people’s walkway.”“Yeah, I should get back to my place. I have to… do a few things. It was nice meeting you both!” Ashton smiled and nodded in our direction.“Oh, yeah, um, here’s my number. You know, so we can stay in touch. If you want to…” I scribbled on a piece of paper and handed it to him.“Thanks, Luke! See you later!”“Look at little Luke being all social and shit!” Michael feigned crying and tugged me out the doors of the airport.