Tents | calum hood

1.8

When I got back to the main camp Ashton was sobbing in Amy's arms and a very concerned Luke and a very sorrowful Michael stood around him. I guess they'd finished before me. Calum must've just left. I ran to my friends, and clung to Michael's arm.

"What happened?" I asked him quietly, my lips brushing agaisnt his ear.

"Amy got a call that Ashton's younger sister was just diagnosed with cancer," Michael whispered back to me.

"Holy shit," I said.

"Two months," Luke added.

"Oh my God..."

"Come on, Ash, let's go get you calmed down, come on," Amy decided. She wrapped one of Ashton's arms around her shoulder and carried him down the path that lead to the lake. He could harldy pick his feet up off the ground.

"Holy shit," I repeated.

"Do you think he's gonna go home, Michael?" Luke looked over to Michael.

"I mean, I would. I don't know why his mother wouldn't pull him out. I mean, I know he's probably done some shit to get in here..." Michael shook his head and I thought about how much Ashton wanted to get better. "He's probably going home, I don't see why he wouldn't."

"He wanted to get better..." I mumbled, feeling so sorry for Ashton.

I can't even make a joke about this one; this is really sad.

"Why was he here?" Luke asked me.

"He, um, he's depressed. Really depressed...." I didn't want to go into details because it very simply wasn't my business to be telling them. I liked Ashton, he was really nice. It was a shame to see him go.

...

"Where's Ash?" Calum asked, returning to the table.

"Packing," Michael sighed.

"What?" Calum questioned. He seemed confused, and I understood why.

"He's going home, Calum," I clarified.

"Why?" he panicked, looking to his tent and then back to us.

"His sister has cancer, apparently. Two months to live. Not something a big brother wants to miss out on just for a camp. Lucky for you, you didn't have to watch him hear the news," Luke explained.

"I need to talk to him," Calum said suddenly. He ran to his tent and I saw his silhouette hugging Ashton tightly as Ash's shoulders started to shake.

"He's actually nice to Ashton," Michael noted.

"Yeah..." I nodded, still watching the two silhouettes holding each other in the tents.

"You think he's gay?" Luke wondered.

"Um..."

"Luke?"

"Just wondering, ya know?" Luke shrugged, blushing.

"Luke, are you?" I wondered.

"I, um, maybe. Bisexual, I guess, kind of," he shrugged, not looking up from the table.

"Luke, that's cool dude," I nudged his arm. "Not gonna stop being your friend because you like dudes, too. I like dudes. Dudes are chill."

He looked to Michael for approval.

"Who you're fucking doesn't really make a difference to me at all, mate. You wanna bang Calum, fuckin' go for it," Michael shrugged, a smug little smile on his face. "But Ashton might've beaten ya to it if Calum is interested in men."