Calum awoke in the middle of the night, shaking Luke to wake him up. " Luke I'm so sorry I'm such an asshole. I shouldn't of done that" he apologized, setting his head on Luke’s shoulder. " you're not the only one who did it." Luke let out a sleepy chuckle. " what you?" Calum sat upright, looking at luke. " no. Ashton. He beat those guys so bad they were nearly begging him to stop. He even smashed their car with a bat" Luke voice was low and raspy, it made calum feel more at home when Luke talked. " oh my god Ashton? Who would've guessed?" Calum laughed. " how did you even find me?" He asked, his memory now coming back to him. " well I knew you weren't out for pizza, I called you a million times. Then I resorted to using the tracker." Luke pulled his phone from his pocket, the tracker still on his screen showing the location of Calums phone which was now next to him.
Calum chuckled and sat back, pulling at Lukes hand for him to come up on the bed. Luke slowly climbed on, tired and fatigued from taking care of everyone lately. Usually it was Ashton’s job, but Luke had stepped up as soon as he received the phone call about the girls. Calum nuzzled in Luke’s neck, their hands still intertwined. "thank you for coming back for me" Calum squeezed Lukes hand, bringing a smile to Lukes face. Luke leaned down and placed a small kiss on Calums head, humming a short melody he had created recently, until Calum fell asleep. He'd always been protective over Calum, but when the girls got in the accident, he was watching out for Michael and Ashton, knowing Calum usually held up for himself. He always had, even before they were together, he'd always been so hard to get to, so closed off, so individual. Always so shy, until they met, and he emerged into a social butterfly. Luke had always been outgoing, energetic and hard to control. Mostly outward with his feelings, although they were often stepped on, until he met Calum. He calmed him down, gave him a person he could say anything to. Calum was Luke’s anchor, and Luke was Calum kite, balancing each other out perfectly. Calum was comfortable, he was everything Luke had ever needed and more.Calum was home. Luke sat quietly next to calum, letting all that had happened the past few days play through his mind like a tv show. The call. The girls. Michael and Ashton. He had felt he neglected calum and that's why he had went off on his own. What if he had payed more attention? Would he have came to Luke before running off like that. Lukes mind raced, as he ran his fingers through calums hair. He knew this is where he needed to be, here and now. Just looking at calum brought Luke back down to earth, slowing the thoughts and making it easier to drift off to sleep. " goodnight Cal." He placed another small kiss on the top of his head before meeting calum in the world of dreams.
Ashton and Michael didn't sleep as soundly, the monitors beeping, the nurses coming in for check ups and medicine refills. Ashton so badly wanted to climb into bed with mady and fold himself around her just like they did at home. But the thought of unplugging a wire or making her uncomfortable kept him in the hard chair. " why don't you two go home and get some sleep?" The nurse tapped on Michael, making him jump. " what? No. I think we will stay right here" Michael whispered before drifting back into the state between a deep sleep and wide awake.
