endlessly • mashton one shot ✓

endlessly, one shot

"ash, please?" michael pleads, wanting his boyfriend to get out of bed that day. the honey-haired boy simply rolls over, not having enough energy to reply. he pulls the blanket tighter around his frame, and michael purses his lips. "i gotta get to work, but please try and get up today, okay? i'll text you on my lunch, and i'll be home for dinner," he says, standing from his place on the bed and grabbing his backpack from its spot by their bedroom door. "i love you endlessly."

michael knows ashton won't reply because of his mood, so he leaves the room and keeps the door slightly open on his way out. their cat, ruby, was sitting in her cat bed at the foot of the queen bed ashton and michael shared, and he didn't want her getting trapped. then, he grabs his brown paper bag lunch he'd packed last night from the fridge, and throws it in his backpack on the way out the door.

the dark red-haired boy shrugs on a sweater to cover his tattooed arms before locking the apartment door behind him, throwing his keys into his pocket as he waits for the elevator to bring him to the lobby. he's soon out the apartment building's front door, and michael walks to the bus stop. his wait is short, and he makes it to the construction site fifteen minutes before they're scheduled to start work. he heads into the office where all the construction workers keep their belongings, and throws down his bag and takes off his sweater.

michael shrugs on a reflective orange vest and he slaps on his hard hat, and one of his co-workers walks over from where he'd been putting down his own stuff. "morning mike," calum says. "did you hear it's supposed to rain today?"

"fuck," michael says. "thunder or no?" he asks. the redhead hates working in the rain, but he hates getting sent home because of a storm more. he needs the money, and they don't get paid if they don't work.

calum shakes his head in response, throwing his friend and co-worker a bottle of sunscreen. "just rain, not a big storm. the show will go on, so put some sunscreen on. you could still get burnt," he says, rubbing some sunscreen into his own tattoos.

after both of them have taken care of their skin and underlying tattoos, they head out to the construction site. everyone else is there, and the head of the site is telling the workers the plan for the day. "hopefully we'll get some concrete poured today, but if it rains we'll keep putting in rods and extending the hole we have for the base, alright?" he finishes. everyone responds in agreement, and the team of construction workers get to work.

michael and calum split from the dispersing group in the same direction, moving to climb down into the most underdeveloped part of the hole. the company's current project that michael was on happened to be a new long-term care home, and it was more work than some of the other projects because there'd been an old building in the now empty lot. this meant old pipes and other things in the ground, so michael and calum were on the job to clear out old building remains and deposit metal rods.

the two work without talking for a while, until michael speaks up. "ashton hasn't gotten out of bed since monday," he says to his friend.

"today is thursday," calum says, glancing up at his pale co-worker.

"i know," michael nods. "he'll get up to use the bathroom, but then he collapses back into bed like the walk across the hallway was a hike up mount everest."

calum feels bad for michael, but he also feels bad for ashton. "has he been on his meds?"

michael nods, "yeah, but they barely made a difference. his psychiatrist prescribed them seven weeks ago, and they've done nothing really. he isn't as bad as the last drug made him, but he also isn't better. he's slightly below where he is when he's not on meds, and i don't know what to do anymore," he says as he throws some rods into place.