°⁂ [ 𝐓𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐒! ] ༄
-', ( lashton )
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
in which - two teenaged boys
sent to a mental institution find
comfort in one another 🥀 🚬
❝ blacking out in my room
...
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BREAKFAST THE NEXT morning was nothing if not odd. Everything just seemed to be off. Louis wasn't bickering with Ashton, Calum and Mikey weren't flirting with each other, and the only person making conversation was Sierra. All of this, Luke deducted, was because something was wrong with Ash. Though, despite his best efforts, Luke couldn't seem to figure out what.
It'd been a normal enough night. Luke went to sleep while Ash stayed up and read. The blonde didn't know if his roommate ever slept, but he was still reading by the time Luke woke up again. Luke had tried to question Ashton about it, but the redhead merely muttered something about his book and went back to it. He just seemed so sad, and Luke didn't know what to do to help. That hurt him because Ashton had helped him so much, but Luke seemed incapable of returning the favor. He couldn't help but feel like a failure as he watched Ash stare tiredly down at his untouched food.
His normally bouncy, red curls seemed utterly deflated, sticking to his forehead limply with dead weight. His vibrant hazel eyes were dull and lifeless, no longer staring around in wonder at everything around them. His perfectly tan skin was gray, and not just from lack of sunlight in this windowless place. All of him was so diluted, and Luke hated every second of it. He wanted his sweet, upbeat boy back — the boy who giggled at his jokes even when they weren't funny, the boy who sneakily held hands with Luke while they and the other kids secretly watched a horror movie, the boy who was constantly talking and asking such stupid questions, but Luke loved them because they came from Ash, and anything that came from Ash was perfect. Luke wanted that boy back. The happy, go-lucky redhead that seemed to be trapped inside of this sad shell.
Things remained like that — dull and lifeless — until it was time to head back to the day room. Ash was the first out of the door, ignoring any and everyone as he stuck closely by the tech, which left Luke to hang back and talk to Calum, who seemed equally as distraught as the blonde, if not more.
"Do you know what's wrong with Ashton?" Luke asked his new friend after he was sure everyone else was out of earshot. He couldn't stand to make Ash any sadder than he already was by letting him or anyone else catch Luke talking about him in secret.
Cal merely sighed and shook his head, brow furrowed in worry as he stared ahead of them, the pair trailing behind the rest of the group.
"He gets like this sometimes. Don't worry about it, alright? He'll be back to normal soon enough." Calum, though, seemed anything but sure of his words. His concerned tone gave him away easily, and Luke was sure the blue-haired teen knew that.
Luke shook his head and furrowed his brow in disbelief "You can't just accept that, can you? Your friend is hurting. Don't you want to do something about it?"
