Rosefort Rehabilitation Centre.

You see, when Ashton was asleep in his own room, he slept stark bollock naked.

Ashton, 2013.

As Ashton awoke on July 7th 2013, his eyes remained shut. He had not been looking forward to this day at all. The only reason he was even planning on leaving his room today was both the promise of cake, and because Mikey had let slip that he and the rest of the gang may or may not have been planning a surprise birthday party. Or as close as they could get whilst still being within Rosefort's regulations.

As little as the honey blonde liked being sociable, he was not one to disappoint people that he cared for. Not intentionally anyways. He forced his eyes open as he heard a soft knock on his door, and, assuming it was Mikey, told the knocker to enter. As the familiar red hair of Rae entered, however, he swore under his breath and flailed quickly for the thick, fluffy blanket to cover himself. You see, when Ashton was asleep in his own room, he slept stark bollock naked. Honestly, he hadn't even realised that Rae knew where his room was.

"Uh, hey Rae..." Ashton stuttered, praying to any god that would listen that Rae hadn't noticed that he was both naked and sporting a rather awkward... thing... between his legs. He'd been having a rather lovely dream about himself and Rae just before he woke, so you can guess his situation. Can you not? Sighing softly, he watched as she climbed across him (really not helping his downstairs situation) to settle herself silently in the gap between him and the wall.

Something was off. He could tell. He could always tell. It was tiny little things that gave it away to him. The way that she was wearing the largest hoody she owned, and that her fingers were tugging at the hem of it tentatively as she avoided eye contact with him.

"Fuck. Rae..." He frowned, simply pulling her as close to him as possible. He rubbed her back softly as she sobbed, and glanced towards his clock. 2:53am. Fuck. The one night he had elected to sleep in his own bed instead of the hallway outside of her door, she'd relapsed. The way she was cradling her arms against her chest confirmed it for him. They stayed that way, her sobs becoming softer over time, and his grip loosening as they both drifted slowly back to sleep.

Six hours later Ashton awoke to find Rae curled up, facing away from him. During the night she had removed the hoody that had covered her beautiful, yet scarred frame. He took his chance to study her new cuts. Scared they may have become infected. Gingerly, he lifted her left arm slightly, his body now pressed gently against hers. They weren't too bad, but they were obviously not good either. Her entire forearm was covered in cuts. Going in every which direction. They were nowhere near as deep as the ones she'd had adorning her wrists when she first arrived, but the fact that she'd relapsed worried Ashton to no end. /he placed her arm gently back into its previous position before sliding off of the bed, and into some boxers and sweatpants.

This was his fault.

He knew it.