The day had already been monumentally shitty. The worst of the worst days. An absolute steaming-pile-of-crap day. So, really, it was only natural to finish it with a perfect cherry on top - his call from Death-Cast.
He was alone when the unmistakabl...
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𝙼𝚒𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚎𝚕 𝙳𝚎𝚌𝚎𝚖𝚋𝚎𝚛 𝟸𝟷𝚜𝚝, 𝟷𝟸:𝟻𝟿𝚙𝚖
Michael must have dozed off on Calum's shoulder waiting for Ashton to reappear downstairs, because he was blinking awake an indiscernible amount of time later. His vision was rather blurry, but, upon blinking several times, it cleared enough for him to get his bearings. The room was dark except for the light glow of the TV, which was, ironically enough, playing Michael's favorite movie. He wondered how much he'd missed as he stretched out a bit, not bothering to lift his head from Calum's shoulder but, rather, readjust it.
Calum noticed his movements, looking down at him with a smile for a moment before glancing back at the screen. His arm made its way around Michael's shoulders, his hand running up and down Michael's bicep. He didn't say anything, giving Michael a chance to properly wake up.
He rubbed his palm into eye, swallowing the thickness that had gathered in his throat. He did an inventory of all of the people in the room - Harry, Louis, Niall, Calum, and himself. No Zayn and no Ashton. Michael frowned, trying to calculate how long it'd been. The movie was probably fifteen or twenty minutes in, so it had to have been at least a half hour that he'd been asleep considering the movie wasn't playing when he dozed off.
"Where's Ash?" he asked no one in particular, voice heavy with sleep and concern. Four pairs of eyes met his and none seemed too worried, so he tried to rationalize that everything was fine and he had nothing to panic about. They would tell him if there was.
"Taking his sweet time apparently," Louis murmured, tossing a piece of popcorn in his mouth. Harry, who was practically on his lap, got another piece from the bucket next to them and did the same. He seemed completely unbothered which definitely eased the anxiety in Michael's chest because if Harry wasn't worried about Ashton, there must not have been anything wrong.
"Zayn's with him, so I'm sure everything's fine." Harry smiled at Michael, but the younger boy was no longer calm and comforted. Michael knew entirely too well that Zayn's fuse when it came to Ashton was a third of the length that it was with everyone else, plus the fact that they were both exhausted and surely picking at each other's nerves? No, Michael was not put at ease by the pair of them being missing in action together. If anything, it made him feel sick because there was no doubt that it would end badly.
"I'm just gonna go check," he murmured, pushing himself away from Calum's warmth no matter how much he wanted to stay there with him forever. He held his arms to his chest, shivering, as he got to his feet and steadied himself. He heard a couple of different people tell him to hurry back, but he payed no mind, padding across the carpet to the hallway that emptied out at the foot of the staircase that would take him to Ashton's room. He moved slowly and lethargically, the steps creaking beneath his weight. He felt like a zombie, so far beyond tired that he feared he would fall over any second. He didn't, though, not when Ashton was waiting for him at the top of the stairs.
