All These Years (Muke/Cashton)

Ch. 13 - What's So Good About Picking Up The Pieces?

*Luke's P.O.V*

I cheerfully sing 'I Feel Like Dancin'' by All Time Low as I help Hazel get dressed. She just hums along because she doesn't know all of the words.

Hazel had picked out her outfit today: Black tights with a floppy pink tutu, a pale yellow t-shirt with 'Daddy's Little Sunshine' written in big letters underneath a picture of a smiling cartoon sun, and her black vans because, and I quote, 'the purple ones don't match'.

I think it took her a good five minutes to pick this outfit. Unlike Jace, who took thirty seconds to find a baggy pair of blue jeans, a TMNT shirt and his black and white converse.

"Can you do my hair?" Hazel asks as I tie up her shoelaces.

"Sure, pigtails or plaits?" I ask.

"Hmm, pigtails" she replies.

"Alright, pigtails it is" I say, smiling at her. When I finish tying her shoelaces, I grab her brush and two hair-ties from the table against the wall.

I sit down beside her and gently brush her hair, quietly singing the words to 'I'm Not Okay (I Promise)' by My Chemical Romance, because that's the song I have stuck in my head now.

Once I've brush and put her hair into two pigtails, which are slightly uneven, I pick her up and carry her out into the lounge room and sit her down next to Jace, who was sitting in front of the TV, colouring in a picture in his 'Power Rangers' colouring book while watching TV. Hazel picks up her 'My Little Pony' colouring book and starts searching for a picture to colour in.

I sit down beside Michael, who was on the couch, staring at the TV, even though he wasn't watching it because he was listening to music on his iPod. He pulls me into his arms and I pull out one of his headphones and stick it in my ear before snuggling up to him.

Michael was listening to 'Comatose' by Skillet, but I only caught the last twenty-five seconds before it changed to 'Beneath The Skin' by Memphis May Fire.

"Hey" Michael says quietly to get my attention. I look up at him and he continues to talk. "Is Ashton on any medication?" He asks.

"He has some kind of sleeping pill I reply.

"No- something else" he mumbles. I shrug my shoulders. "I just saw him taking some before... He quickly shoved them in his mouth as he walked out of his room" he tells me.

"How many did he take?" I ask.

"I don't know, two or three" he says, shrugging his shoulders. I pull away from him and look at him worryingly.

"Should we worry?" I ask. Michael bites his lip nervously.

"I have no idea" he replies quietly. I bite my lip and snuggle back up to Michael.

I feel like we should worry, but I don't want to make Ashton angry by asking or worrying about him.

But, I mean, maybe he was just taking aspirin to relieve a headache or something.

I kind of want to cry, because I don't want anything bad to happen to Ashton, but I don't know what to do to prevent anything bad from happening to him.

Maybe we should just keep an eye on him for a while? Or should we just talk to him about it? Or tell Calum? Or should we just drop it and hope it was just aspirin he was taking?

*Calum's P.O.V*

"What's this?" I ask Ashton, picking up the small bottle that fell out of his jacket pocket as he closes Ariana & Leighton's bedroom door after we put them to sleep for a nap.