Progress / Regress

1 • Depressing Dilemma

Luke has just come out of a bad breakup. He felt worthless & useless. He was stuck in a rut, it effected his work performance, his social life; everything.
Ash, being the oldest of the band, noticed this. He understood that Luke was having a hard time, but he didn't realise how bad it was until he saw the state he was in.
It was decided as a band, that they would all move in together. Ashton owned a big enough home, to welcome the three other boys to live with him. Luke was the main priority here though, they wanted to make sure that he wasn't isolated & even if he needed alone time, he knew that there was always someone around to be there for him.

After spending a few months together, they didn't see much progress. Luke would spend days in his room, sometimes he wouldn't even leave to get food. Ash's concern grew, the older man checked in on the blonde regularly, but it never eased his worries. Luke had always been the lively type, Michael always tried to encourage him out of his room to go do something stupid, or what Michael would call "fun", but not even Michael's enthusiasm was enough to lure the man out of his room.

Cal spent a lot of time with Luke, but currently, Luke's main hobby was sleeping. Cal had convinced them all to go on a walk somewhere, just in the hills. Luke hadn't left the house in weeks, so the fresh air would do him some good. 

"So, how's life?" Ash questioned Luke, he was happy that Luke was finally out of his room. 

"okay, I'm just tired" Luke responded, kicking random rocks across the dusty path. 

"It's nice to see you out from your room" Ash placed a hand on the taller man's shoulder.

"Yeah, we love you, Luke" Michael added, smiling, Calum nodded in agreement, sending a 'I told you so' look over to Luke. 

 They carried on with their walk, talking about the next steps for 5SOS & their plans for the rest of the year, light-hearted conversations. To be fair, it did refresh Luke, but that didn't stop him from retreating immediately to his room as soon as they got home. He was mentally exhausted, he tried so hard to hold himself together, he wanted space, but he needed attention and affection, things just didn't make sense. 

Meanwhile, Ash, Calum and Michael sat in the backyard, drinking beer, 

"We need to do something about Luke. He's on a path of self-destruction. I'm not going to let him get any worse" Ash expressed, taking another sip. "It's not good for him, nor is it good for the band" 

"I agree, he faked those smiles today. I want our Luke back, Shall we message his mum? Maybe he's homesick. He has had a hard time recently, she knows him best" Michael questioned. 

"No, don't do that. I've been looking up some solutions recently and I think I've found something. It's a bit weird, but it's always shown good results" Cal added. The other two men, moving slightly closer to Cal, anticipating what he's going to say. 

"uh, it's called AgePlay. I don't think he will willingly do it, it depends how desperate he is. You basically treat them as a kid or just younger and it's called a headspace. It's-uh- a lot of work, but it has good results. He can change between "little" space and being his usual self. Most people usual um, regress to around 2/3 years old" Cal informed the tense men, leaning back slightly on his chair. 

"Okay, we all know it's going to be difficult to get him to conform to this, I think we should speak to him first. If he denies it, we will have to force it on him.  It's getting to the point where it's so unhealthy for him to be living like this" Ash responded. 

"Are going full-on toddler? Or are we going to ease him into it?" Michael asked, sipping at the cold beverage. 

"hm, we'll ease him into it first and then we'll quicken the pace a bit" Cal decided, relaxing a bit.

Ash pulled out his phone, texting the introverted man, telling him to come down into the backyard. 

Soon, Luke's tired, pale face appeared from round the door. Ash pulled a seat up net to him, ushering the taller man to sit down next to him. Luke shuffled his chair closer to Ash, looking around nervously, "What's wrong?" he tensed

"Well, we really want to help you get out of this, Luke. Cal has found something called AgePlay. It involves you regressing mentally & we'll basically take care of you. You'll start being like a toddler. I know it sounds scary, but we're here for you and it's to help you. We love you." Ash informed him, passing his hand through Luke's golden, messy locks. 

Luke thought for a moment, it would be a big change, but anything is better than his current situation. He was a mess. "Okay" he agreed to everyone bewilderment and shock. They had all prepared themselves to restrain him and force him into it. 

"Thank you for cooperating, Lukey. Good Boy" Ash praised, causing the younger man to blush slightly. 

It was a big step forward into progression.