Twelfth Floor

0.6

Six

"Holland, please just do this for us. He looks like shit and I don't believe that he will say home if we leave him alone." Luke pleaded, Michael and Calum nodding behind him.

"He doesn't need a babysitter. I'm sure he can take care of himself." I rolled my eyes.

"No, he most definitely cannot take care of himself." Calum snorted.

"Can't Sophia take care of him?" I suggested, not wanting to spend more time with him than I already have.

"We all know Sophia will tear Ashton to shreds." Michael replied. He had a good point; Sophia could be a little boy crazy, and Ashton was no exception.

"Fine," I surrendered, "But if he throws up on me, I'm kicking him out."

Calum, Michael, and Luke all thanked me and then hurried off, leaving me with a sick Ashton.

"Nice to see you again, Holland Rose." Ashton said, between fits of coughing.

"You do look like shit." I mumbled.

"Thank you for pointing that out. I clearly wasn't aware." he retorted, walking into my apartment, the blanket that was draped around him dragging on the floor.

"Whatever. I'll be in my room if you need me, but try not to need me."

"But Holland, you're supposed to take care of me." He complained. He skin was sickly pale and his voice was scratchy. He looked like he hadn't slept in days, and he couldn't go more than five minutes without coughing.

He sat on the couch, and curled up into a ball. The way he looked at me melted my heart a little, and I agreed to take care of him.

"Will you make me some soup?" He coughed. Luckily Sophia had an obsession with chicken noodle soup, and I quickly made Ashton some.

He graciously ate it, and we watched a few episodes of Friends before he started to yawn. I suggested that he rest for a while, but Ashton wouldn't hear that.

"I have to admit, you're very good at taking care of people, Holland Rose." He mumbled, exhaustion evident in every word he spoke. I just smiled towards him in response.

"This is the part where you confess your undying love for me." He prompted me. I laughed at his statement, simultaneously rolling me eyes.

"Ashton, I'm not in love with you."

"Keep telling yourself that." He smirked. "Anyway, where's Sophia?"

"She's been in her room all day watching Netflix." I sighed. In my opinion, Sophia was your stereotypical white girl, with her pumpkin spice lattes in the fall, and her abundance of high waisted shorts. Netflix was her everything and her Starbucks order was always something from the so-called secret menu.

"So that means we're relatively alone?" Ashton smirked again. He smirked quite a lot, and even when he was sick, he still looked like an angel.

"Shut up, Ashton."

"You say my name a lot, Holland Rose."

"It's the only thing I know about you." I shrugged. The show on the television was long forgotten, Ashton and I only focusing on each other.

"Well, I would tell you my middle name, but you would laugh."

"I won't laugh. I'll do anything, just please tell me." I begged him. He thought it over for a second, intently looking at me.

"It's Fletcher."

"Ashton Fletcher." I said, liking the way it sounded. I faintly laughed, not even loud enough to be heard, but I still received an 'I told you so' from Ashton.

"Ash, I'm sorry. I like your name, it's cute."

"So you're saying I'm cute." He leaned towards me, smiling (and coughing a little)

"I'm not saying that at all. Why do you keep doing that?"

"You'll understand one day, Holland Rose." he said, standing and walking towards my room(while coughing). He claimed that he was tired and wanted to sleep. I didn't question him further, although I was worried about him being in my room.

An hour later, I began to feel the effect of the all nighter pulled by Sophia and I last night. I crashed around 7:30 this morning and the boys had woken me up around 8:15am.

As much as I wanted to go sleep in my room, Ashton was sprawled out on my bed. I had checked on him a few times since he disappeared into my room, and his position changed every time. I refused to share a bed with a random boy I knew nothing about, so I just stretched out on the couch.

But we all knew Ashton wouldn't let me sleep soundly.