Do More Good (5sos ot4)

Chapter 16

"I don't know what to do,"

    "We just have to keep trying,"

    The trio was gathered in the kitchen, watching the other boy lie curled up on the couch. It had been two days since the dinner where Ashton kidnapped Calum, and things weren't going much better now.

    Calum refused to speak, all he would do was lie on the couch when they made him get up and out of the bedroom. It was a chore getting him to eat, and he would plug his ears and shut his eyes when one of them would try to say something to him. It was starting to piss Ashton off.

    "Shit, work is calling Calum's phone," the brunette gasped when the phone on the kitchen counter began vibrating. They'd taken it away from him when he tried to call 911 earlier in the week. He had passed out due to anxiety and the three weren't watching him closely. Fortunately, Michael had noticed and tackled it away from him before any damage could be done.

    Luke blanched. "I thought you were going to tell them he's sick,"

    "I was, then he tried to escape again yesterday and it slipped my mind," Ashton bit his lip. "Pretend to gag," he commanded Michael before picking up the phone, "Hello, Calum Hood's phone, Ashton speaking," he listened for a moment before laughing quietly. "Hey, Liz, yes, I actually meant to call, Cal and I are going to be out for the rest of the week," he told their unit clerk. "We got a nasty case of food poisoning," he waved at Michael who doubled over and made fake retching sounds. "Cal, hang on, I'll be right there! Yeah, we got seafood after our shift the other night, we've been sick since," Ashton rolled his eyes as the woman kept talking. "Yeah, I'll call you when we can come back. Thanks so much, Liz, we will...see you soon. Okay, bye."

    Michael coughed weakly as Ashton hung up.

    "Throats sore now," he rasped.

    "I'll make you tea with honey," Luke offered, hopping off the counter he'd been sitting on and walking to the stove. "Honey," he added with a smirk that got an eye roll from his oldest boyfriend.

    "Thank you, baby," Michael watched him. "So what did they say, Ash? Is it okay?"

    "Yeah, they wanted to know where Cal was since he didn't show up for his shift today, but they're cool with us taking a bit of time. Liz said for us to help each other get better."

    "Great, so we don't have to worry about that, at least."

    Ashton shook his head.

    "Now we just need to get him on our side. We need him to talk to us,"

    "I'm making him some tea, let's go sit with him and remind him we love him and we're doing this for his benefit." Luke said. He hated that his Cally was so upset, especially because he'd never been upset at him before. He looked like a wounded puppy when he was sad, it broke Luke's heart.

    "This sucks," Michael sighed as Luke finished getting things together for tea. "I mean, if Ash hadn't broken him, then maybe we could—"

    "I broke him?" Ashton squealed, pressing an indignant hand to his chest. "How is this my fault? You two were the ones who wanted him to be part of us, Luke was the one who was making him uncomfortable trying to pressure him,"

    "You locked him in a room!" Michael exclaimed. "You kidnapped him and scared the shit out of him. Now he won't even look at us,"

    "And I didn't hear you saying anything about it when it happened," Ashton countered.

    "Shut up, both of you," Luke slammed a pink mug down on the counter so hard Ashton thought it was going to break. "Right now, it doesn't matter how it happened, what matters is taking care of our boy. He's alone, scared, and confused. We need to be a united front when we go in there, and we need to be soothing. So relax, drink your fucking tea, and when you're ready, join me." Luke picked up two mugs and marched into the living room. He heard Michael apologizing to Ashton as he left and grinned.