Punchbag - Calum Hood (5sos) Alternate Universe [ON HOLD]

23: calum

23:

vegas lights - panic! at the disco

-

©alum

Michael turned up pretty quickly, on foot. He had a bottle of some kind of alcohol in one hand, and a cigarette in the other. I smiled as he approached me but he didn't return the gesture.

"What's up?" I asked, slipping into a slow jog beside him when he failed to stop and let me catch up.

"You," he mumbled. "Cas is going away and you're doing absolutely fuck all about it!"

I ground to a halt and forced myself to scoff. "What do you want me to do, Michael? I've got more important things to worry about than Cassidy moving across town. In case you hadn't realised, I'm moving to the other side of the world!"

Michael stood and faced me, his bleary eyes and stony glare piercing into me. Slowly, he backed away from me. Once he was across the road he spat on the pavement beside himself, and stubbed his cigarette out.

"You're not the only one with problems, Calum," he spat loudly, before walking off.

I stared at him, aghast. Why had he flipped all of a sudden? He'd been fine over the phone, a little groggy maybe, but not drunk and certainly not angry. I shrugged, realising I knew where I was now. I could cut through the skate park and be home in 20 minutes. Smirking triumphantly to myself, I began to retrace Michael's steps back to the more familiar part of town.

I pushed open the squeaky gate of the skate park entrance and noticed Ashton's face almost instantly, with it being illuminated by the beams of the moon. He looked forlorn and I swear there were tears running down his face. Jogging up to the tallest ramp, I shouted his name.

"Ashton?"

I heard sniffing, and some thumping around, before a muffled reply rang through my ears.

"Yeah?"

I bit my lip. "Um, are you okay?"

Ashton slid down the ramp, rubbing his face with his sweater paws. "Wha- yeah, of course I am," he shot me a watery smile.

"Are you... Crying?" I asked wearily, edging closer to the sniffling boy. "Ashton, what's wrong?"

"I think maybe Michael is angry with me?" What sounded like an attempt to play off the tears trickling down his face backfired when Ashton's voice broke and became hysterically high. "I don't know where he is, Calum!"

"Wha-" I stopped, confused. "I saw him no more than 20 minutes ago. What- what's happened?"

Ashton sniffed loudly and rubbed his spurting eyes with the back of his sweater. "I was only trying to help," Ashton whispered, collapsing into the ramp. He moaned loudly, choking back his sobs. "He told me to go die, Calum. To die! Told me to throw myself off a bridge."

"I'm sure he didn't mean-"

"Already tried that," he interjected loudly. "Didn't work, sadly." He added with a bitter snort.

"Ashton," I said softly.

"He knows, Calum," Ashton's tone changed and he sounded like he was pleading. "He knows everything about me, he knew I was only trying to help!"

"What, Ashton?" I asked, perplexed by what was going on. "What did you do? Why- what's wrong with him?"

"I told him to go back to his parents," Ashton's said thickly. "I told him to try again with them. He thought- he took it the wrong way, Calum. I just don't want him to end up like me; I blew it with my dad, see? But he's angry anyway, it wasn't just me. I've been waiting for him to blow. I thought Luke was really helping him get over it but... Well, I mean, he's obviously past being helped."

Ashton had calmed down considerably whilst telling me everything, so much so that I'd almost forgotten the happenings from just moments before.

"So he just stormed out? For something like that?" This wasn't the Michael I knew.

Ashton nodded. "It's been going on for a while, our personalities have been... Clashing, I suppose you could say. But never, never did I think he'd... Look, it doesn't matter. Just- ugh. This isn't right coming from me. You need to go speak to Luke, Calum."

"Why can't you just-"

"See you around, Hood," Ashton said solemnly. He started to trudge away into the darkness but stopped abruptly and turned to face me. "And when I said I couldn't find him, I know exactly where he is: Luke's house. I meeting mentally, Calum. He needs help. Go and speak to Luke; alone. This can't come from me, it's not right."

My voice was stuck in my throat and my the time I'd managed to form words in my mouth Ashton had disappeared into the dusk.

-

guess who's back back again

me

u don't know how sorry i am but i'm trying now kk

xx