Abandonment

3: broken

Calum

I hugged Michael in attempt to calm him down. He hugged me and I picked him up carrying him to my room. 

I set him on my bed gently, sitting next to him. He was still curled up with his arms wrapped around his legs. "It's okay. It's okay. You're okay," I said, reaching to hug him.

"No hurt. No hurt. No hurt. No hurt. Please no hurt Michael," He was crying. 

"No one's gonna hurt you, Okay?" I wrapped my arms around him. He put his face in my shoulder, crying softly. It was like he was scared to cry. He was scared for anyone to know if he was crying. That didn't matter. What mattered was him being safe now. 

Luke

"Luke... I just.. I don't know if I can handle keeping him here. He's not a puppy, Luke-"

"More of a reason to keep him here," I snapped," He'll freeze to death out there by himself."

"Fine. He can stay the night, but tomorrow we'll give him some warmer clothes and a few blankets and some food and drop him off somewhere," Ashton sighed, running a hand through his curly, brown hair. 

"Ashton. He's a human being. Not some animal that need shelter from a rainy night."

"We can't keep him here! The landlord would kill us Luke! He leaves tomorrow! That's final!" Ashton yelled, clenching his fists. Veins stuck out in his arms. 

"L-Luke?" asked a soft voice. 

I turned around to see none other than Michael. "Yes Michael?"

"Why yelling?"

I looked at Ashton. He was staring at Michael with a look of confusion. 

"Ashton was yelling, Michael. Can you say Ashton?"

"Stop teaching him names-"

"Give me thirty minutes." 

"A-Ash. Asht. Ashton." 

I smiled at Ashton's face of confusion. 

"What's with him? Why can't he talk right?" He asked. 

Michael gasped, wide green eyes worn on his face. "M-Michael sorry. No hurt Michael." 

Ashton's eyes widened at his words, as did mine. 

"M-Michael sleepy," he mumbled, looking down at his sleeve-covered hands. I walked over to him, grabbing his hand gently and leading him to my room. 

He yawned and shivered as he crawled into bed. 

I laid next to him, wrapping an arm around him, causing him to snuggle close to me. 

Ashton

I crept up the stairs to Calum's room. 

He was sitting on the corner of his bed, running a hand through his hair. 

"Knock knock."

He looked up and sighed. 

"Let me tell you about-"

"Michael?" He said. 

I nodded.

"He... He thought you were gonna beat him Ashton. He thought we were all going to hurt him."

"Well tomorrow we won't have to deal with it anymore," I smiled. 

"What do you mean?"

"We're dropping Michael off at the park tomorrow." 

Calum shook his head and sighed in disappointment. 

"What?" I asked. 

"You can't just drop him off at a park Ashton. He's.... I don't know.... He's ....... Broken," Calum said, laying down on his bed. 

I stepped into his room and gently kicked his shin. "what do you mean 'Broken' He can't talk. That's about it."