Look At Us - l.hemmings + a.gaskarth

4:16 am

But Luke heard none of that. He woke up before Jack even mentioned his soulmate's name and stared at the wall. He curled in on himself and listened to the faint noises of Alex talking downstairs.

Sometimes, Luke hated sleeping.

But he still needed some. And, if he wasn't going to sleep in his bed, he might as well go cuddle with someone and make himself feel better.

So, Luke dragged his tired, depressed ass out of bed and into the hall. He heard Alex's voice catch at the sound of a door opening but soon launch back up into an explanation about some stupid drink.

Luke pushed open Ashton's door – he was a bit mad at Michael and didn't want to force Calum to comfort him again. His drummer was curled up under the covers, in a tiny little tight-knit ball. His fingers were wrapped in the end of his hair, and his pillows were nowhere near his head, scattered at the end of the bed. He looked as if he'd cried himself to sleep.

"Ashton?" Luke gulped, walking in and closing the door. "Are you okay?"

Ashton reached up and rubbed his eyes, pushing his hair out of his face. He lifted his head a bit and sniffled before making eye contact with Luke. As soon as that happened, he bolted upright and plastered a fake smile on his face.

"Yeah, I'm fine. But, why are you here at... 4:16 in the morning?"

Luke gave him a sad look and Ashton's face fell. Luke plodded his way across the room, closing the door behind himself, and pulled the blankets back, climbing in bed next to Ashton.

They both laid down, Luke with his arms around Ashton, the older boy curled up in his chest. After a while of silence, Luke was sure Ashton had fallen asleep, but then he started talking.

"I'm sorry," he said, voice small and timid. Luke's grip grew a bit stronger.

"There's nothing to be sorry about, babe. Just go to sleep, we can talk in the morning. Or not, whatever you want." Luke stroked his band mate's back until his breathing evened out and he started snoring. Luke actually thought it was kind of cute, but didn't say this. He held Ashton and thought through everything, not wanting to go back to sleep again, especially since Alex was right downstairs, awake.

When Ashton woke back up again, he appeared to be doing much better, but still didn't want to talk about it. Luke decided to mind his own business and spent some time with Ashton in his room before heading downstairs for breakfast.

Calum and Annie had already made it to the kitchen at that point, joining Alex at the table over some French toast and bacon.

"Morning, love birds." Alex giggled, like, fucking giggled. He smirked down at his food, but soon, his mind went blank, nervousness and worry taking over his features. The look was gone when he turned back to Luke and Ashton, who were still hesitating in the doorway.

Calum looked up and made eye contact with Ashton. Then he stuck his head back into his food, completely ignoring Annie, who had started firing words to them about something to do with Mikey's health. Ashton pried himself from Luke's side and got some bacon strips, sitting next to Calum. He appeared to be wishing for Calum to look at him, say something to him, but Calum refused, only paying attention to his fingers.

Luke poured some orange juice into a glass and sat as far away from Alex as possible. He was pretending, as Alex likely was, to listen to Annie as she ranted about something else.

"Oh my god! I totally forgot! Everyone else is going to be in town soon, right? Alex... Hey Alex? Are you even listening? I'll take that as a no. You should be proud, Luke. Alex has apparently decided your face is more interesting than his tour." Annie leaned back in her chair and pretended to pout while Alex started smirking and Luke blushed.