Yours, Mine, & Ours//Lashton AU

Nine

Pain is inevitable. There's no stopping it. So instead of trying to prevent it, you have to learn how to cope.

Some people surround themselves with people, others turn to just one person. Some go to music. Some choose alcohol, or food. Maybe even sleeping.

Ashton, after the hardest week of his entire life, still hadn't found his vice. Everything he tried to do to ease the pain reminded him of Luke. Music, people, the dark, his friends, his family, the places he always went to before. Everything he tried seemed fairly useless and if anything, only made him ache more.

The absolute hardest place to be besides his apartment, was with Luke's family. They were a constant reminder of what Ashton had lost.

But he made a promise to his mum and he swore he would look after them just as they had been looking out for him.

That's why, eight days after, he found his heart racing at a dangerous rate as he rang the doorbell on their house.

Liz answered the door a second later.

And just like always, Ashton's heart broke a little when he saw her.

"Ashton!" She said surprised. "This is a pleasant surprise. What are you doing here?"

"I thought I would come see how you guys are all doing. Can I come in?"

She opened the door wider. "Of course."

When she closed the door behind her, Ashton looked at her and took in all her features.

She still did not look much better. If anything, she may have looked worse. Even more beaten down, eyes filled with more pain. She looked older too.

"So how are you?"

She shrugged her shoulders. "As good as we can be I think. You?"

"Same for me." She gestured for him to step further inside. He followed her into the living room where they both took a seat on the couch. "I just, it's hard to even know what to do. You know? Like moving on is obviously not an option. I can't be happy or even pretend I am. But I'm pretty sure everyone is also getting sick of my constant crying. I don't even know what to do. I usually find myself sitting down, staring at a wall or something while I think then start to overthink which usually leads me to tears. Again. I just, it's so hard." His voice cracked over the last sentence.

She nodded. "I know exactly how you feel. It's so hard to know what to do or how to do anything. I think right now, we just have to accept the pain and also recognize it can't last forever. It will end one day but for now, while it's here, we just have to make sure we're all here for each other. You know?"

Ashton thought about what she was saying for a moment before nodding.

"Yeah. That makes sense." He paused. "Can I-Can I go up to Luke's room?"

This was clearly surprising to her but she nodded. "Of course. Go ahead."

Ashton thanked her then slowly made his way up the stairs. He walked up to the second door on the right and lifted his hand so it was hovering over the handle, then before he could change his mind, pushed the door open.

Light flooded the room. Ashton took two steps in and closed the door behind him.

Even though Luke had hardly used the room in years, he still used it as a storage space. It was still his room. Well, maybe not anymore.

Ashton took in a deep shaky breath.

Everything about the room was Luke. To the band posters hanging on his walls, to the huge stack of CDs shoved in an open desk drawer, all the band tees, bracelets, and ticket stubs. There was a guitar with some strings broken in one corner of the room and a bed with mostly black clothes scattered on top of it.