The next morning Michael woke up before Abbey and just paced around the kitchen until he had to go to work. Michael called it his work, but Abbey preferred the term 'practice'. He was in a band. It was called 5 seconds of summer. They were working on their second album, Sounds Good Feels Good. Luke & Calum were on their way to pick him up to bring him to the studio. Ashton was already there probably playing the drums along to American Idiot by Green Day. The doorbell rang and Michael realized he wasn't wearing pants. He grabbed a pair of sweatpants off of the bedroom floor and ran to the door. Before he opened the front door he stopped and ran back to the bedroom. He reached under the bed to grab the bag of sharp objects and dumped it out on the bed. He grabbed a blade, put the rest back, and ran out the door.
When he got in the car he looked at Luke, then at Calum and his eyes began to burn with tears because he needed help, although, neither of them noticed. They said hi and went back to what they were doing. Luke started driving and about 5 minutes into the drive Michael decided to ask for their help.
"Um guys, I found a bag of these covered in blood under the bed." He held up the blade and blinked as fast as he possibly could to keep the tears in his eyes.
"What the fuck." Luke whisper-yelled.
"Are you okay?" Calum asked, mildly concerned.
"It's not me, it's Abbey. I don't know what to do. I want to ask Ashton because he went through this but I feel like it would be rude and he would be mad." Michael said beginning to cry.
Calum reached his arm to the back seat and put it on Michael's leg.
"Mikey, it's going to be okay, we'll make sure Abbey stays safe, I promise." Calum said with the softest tone he could possibly make.
When they got to the studio Michael grabbed Ashton's arm and pulled him aside.
"Ash, I gotta talk to you."
"What's wrong Mikey?"
"I need advice."
"For what?"
"I think Abbey's been cutting."
"Wait, what? What makes you think that?"
"I found a bag of these covered in blood under our bed." He held up the blade. He noticed how Ashton's eyes went from bright and happy to looking so, defeated. A few tears rolled down Michael's cheek. He looked at Ashton and tried not to start crying anymore but failed. Ashton walked closer to him and Michael just collapsed in his arms and sobbed for a few minutes. Ashton looked at Michael and whispered,
"It's gonna be okay, I can talk to her for you."
Ashton and Abbey were really close. They met freshman year of high school and instantly became best friends. Ashton introduced Michael to Abbey and soon after, they started dating. Michael decided to have Ashton go to his house the next day and hang out with Abbey and 'accidentally' find the blades so he could talk to her about it.
When Michael got home at midnight, he saw that Abbey was asleep. He quickly walked to the bathroom and locked the door and just cried for at least 20 minutes and then, he thought something he really regretted.
Does cutting really make everything numb?
He took the blade out of his pocket and rolled up his sleeve. He made a small line across his forearm. He stopped crying and just stared at his arm bleeding.
What did I just do?
He thought he would instantly regret it, but he didn't he realized how comforting it was and he made a few more marks. Then he wiped his arm with a towel, rolled up his sleeve and left the bathroom. He walked out to the living room and looked at Abbey. He walked up to her and lifted her off of the couch. He carried her into their bedroom and placed her gently on the bed. He kissed her forehead and then decided to lay down behind her. He wrapped his arms around his waist. "I love you."
