Unpredictable (A Lashton Fanfic)

Chapter Sixty-Two - Time.

*Luke's POV*

Seconds turned into minutes. Minutes turned into hours. Hours turned into days, and days turned into weeks. All that time passed, but yet nothing changed. We never moved from our positions in the waiting room unless it was to take turns sleeping in the room back at the hotel, and even that wasn't enough to stop a sort of cabin fever from taking hold of all of us. We were all exhausted; none of us admitted it, but it was obvious by our bloodshot eyes and sleep deprived expressions. We had been in this room and in this hospital for so long I had almost lost all sense of time-if it wasn't for the calendar on my phone and the small clock on the wall I would've given up on keeping track of days and hours a long time ago.

It was on the tenth day that Dr. Cavanaugh finally gave us an update on Calum's condition. Up until now nothing had changed; he had come in at least once every day to check on us, but never uttering a single word about Calum. Michael had spent almost every day by his stretcher, holding his hand and trying to tell him about all of the memories he had seemingly lost, and that's where he currently was when Toby stepped in and closed the door softly behind him. "How are you guys doing?" he asked conversationally, taking the empty seat between Austin and Camila.

"We've been better," Colin half-smiled, closing the sports magazine he was reading and placing it on the table at his feet. "I think staying in one place for ten days straight has kind of worn us out, though."

"That's understandable," Toby smiled, glancing at his clipboard ever so briefly before focusing his attention back on us. "Well, the good news is that you won't have to stay here much longer." I took Ashton's hand as he continued speaking, for once again a reason I couldn't explain. I was nervous to hear what the doctor would say, but I was also very excited and hopeful as well. "Calum has been reacting very well to the antibiotics we've been giving him, and according to the tests and private conversations we've been having with him throughout the week he seems to be regaining his memory, one small piece at a time. Like I said on the very first day you all came in here, everything's not going to magically fix itself overnight, but I'm proud to say Calum is healing. We're actually planning on releasing him Monday, unless there's a drastic change in his health before then."

I breathed a sigh of relief and tightened my grip on Ashton's hand. "That's amazing. Do you think he'll be able to perform right away, or do we need to postpone the tour for a few weeks or so?"

"The only problem I see with him being onstage is not remembering the song lyrics," Toby half-smiled. "but other than minor things like that, he should be fine to go on performing. Try to treat him like nothing's changed; work with him, and make sure he's comfortable. If you see he's struggling with anything, call me and we'll make an appointment as soon as we can." He stood up and started to exit the room once more, but not before giving us one of his trademark reassuring smiles. "I know this sounds like something I have to say, but I can promise you it won't be like this for much longer. You all will be out of this hospital and back on the road performing in no time."

Ashton returned the smile. "Thank you, Dr. Cavanaugh. I have to say, you're probably one of the nicest doctors I've ever met."

"That's what I'm here for," Toby laughed, walking back out into the hallway.

After he left we fell into another bout of silence, and I had become so accustomed to the quiet by now that it didn't even bother me anymore. Instead I leaned my head on Ashton's shoulder, breathing in the comfortingly familiar scent of his cologne, and focused on making sure I was as close to him as possible. His presence never failed to relax me no matter how tired or ill I was, and the feeling must have been mutual because he wrapped both of his arms around me and kissed the top of my head.

Colin was the next one of us to speak up, repositioning himself so that he was facing the black haired girl across from him. "Camila, have you heard anything from Lauren?"

"No," Camila admitted, and I could hear the sadness and worry in her voice. "I haven't. I've texted and called her a million times, but she's not answering. It's almost like she's disappeared off the face of the earth, and to be honest I'm really worried. We've always been especially close, and I feel like unless something bad has happened to her she would've let me know where she was by now."

"Cody's disappeared too," Austin said, trying to hide the concern on his face by reaching over to kiss Camila softly on the cheek. "I've been trying to get up with him for almost a week now, but his phone keeps going straight to voicemail. I've also been checking social media, and he hasn't been on Twitter either. I don't know where he is, or why he would leave without telling any of us anything."

Michael rolled his eyes and turned up the television. "You guys overreact and worry over the littlest things. I'm sure he's fine."

"I hope you're right," I heard Austin whisper as he sat back up and pulled out his phone. "I really, really hope you're right."

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Thankfully the next few days passed without major incident; Calum had indeed been released from the hospital on Monday, and he had spent the next two days recuperating and getting his strength back. It was currently late Thursday evening, and Ashton and I were sitting outside on the patio of our hotel room while the others were inside planning what would hopefully be our final attack on Nathan.

"You haven't said much these past few days," Ashton said to me, breaking the comfortable silence. "Are you alright, Lukey?"

"I'm fine," I reassured him, forcing what I hoped was a reassuring smile on my face. "There's no need to worry about me, Ash. If something was wrong I'd tell you."

Unfortunately, my words did little to deter him away from his obvious concerns. "Don't lie to me. I know you better than I know myself, and I can tell when something's on your mind. Is it the fight this weekend that's worrying you, or something else?"

I sighed deeply. "I don't know, Ashton. I guess it's just a mixture of everything that's been going on these past few months. I've been trying not to let it bother me, but I think now that it's almost over with all of the things that have happened are catching up with me and it's just making me tired. We've all been through more things this summer than most people will ever have to deal with in their entire lifetime, and I can't help but feel like most of the events that have happened are my fault."

"None of this has been your fault, Lukey," Ashton said, reaching over to take my hand. "None of it. You can trust me on that."

I nodded, still not quite believing his words, and decided to change the subject to one slightly more cheerful. "The sky's beautiful here, isn't it?"

Ashton smiled and returned his attention to the dark, starry sky. "It is, but you know what's a shame?" When I glanced at him curiously, he started laughing. "It's a shame that these stars dim in comparison to your eyes."

I stared down at our intertwined fingers to hide the fact that I was blushing. "Thank you, but I think you might be a little bit biased."

Ashton rolled his eyes. "I'm your boyfriend, I can't help but be biased."

I had one of my sudden and frequent urges to kiss him, but before I could do that the screen door opened and Colin stepped out. "Sorry if I'm interrupting anything," he apologized, noticing the aggravated expression I was giving him. "I just wanted to tell you that Russell has agreed to fly down here and help us this weekend, and Danielle's talking to Dan and Shay for me so hopefully they'll be doing the same. We need all of the help we can get, so I've also called up some other friends of mine and recruited them as well."

I was quiet for a few moments before saying anything. "Do you really think this will be over soon?"

"Of course I do," Colin replied quickly. "As long as we stick to the plan, everything will be fine. Speaking of the plan, Austin and I were talking and we've decided that the best course of action would be to take Carter down first since he's probably the most vulnerable of Nathan's crew, and then work our way to Nash, Cameron, and Shawn."

I nodded and stared up at the dark clouds that had started to appear, making the stars all but disappear. "Whatever you say, Kaepernick."