Fallen [Malum+Mashton/Cake] ✔️

~7~

Chapter Seven: Breaking Me Down

For years Michael had been balancing his life with the weight of two worlds that continuously crashed into his own. He knew first hand how devastating addiction was, and how it truly broke a person; shattering them piece by piece until they were nothing but destruction's ashes on the floor with a dead heart and an empty mind where life once lay.

He struggles, a crashing ocean some days and a deathly silence across calm waves other days, but he's become so accustomed to the violence of the world around him that if he ever felt anything more than sadness or numbness he would fear the Reaper. But even through all that he has suffered, he could never look Death in the eyes... He couldn't bear to glance up and see the dying souls of his friends.

It exhausted him to no end, constantly pulling Calum and Ashton from the depths of the ocean shore whilst they flailed and reached out desperately to dive back in or drown him with them.

He knew that the moment Ashton hung up on him was the moment he lost his friend once again to the demons that lurked within Ashton's mind. He wasn't a monster, but he had monsters inside of him, dancing and singing and mocking him with each fresh hit he yearned for.

Michael tried so hard to stop him, rapidly calling Ashton's phone over and over again until he was met with the operator telling him the phone was no longer available. It was then he knew fear, and though he could guess what was going on inside Ashton's house he was guessing two separate scenarios.

It had been over two days since Ashton last gave in to his demons, which meant that he would be violent. He would be screaming and clawing and howling with rage; ripping at the furniture and pulling on the wallpaper whilst screeching for the insects to get out of him. He would be a bleeding and screaming mess of pure fury, and Michael knew--he knew--he wouldn't be able to see Ashton for a couple of days, not when he was like that. Michael would end up dead, and it was shameful that he wasn't guessing that. He just knew.

But then it left him with nothing but panic and ever-reaching anxiety that skyrocketed more and more with each passing second. Ashton could either be wide awake and screaming or lying dead on the floor. Michael had no way of knowing the truth until the next day, he couldn't risk his own life to check and see if Ashton was alive, it was a 50-50 chance that he highly believed would be against his favour. If he wanted to check on Ashton he needed someone to go with him, but there were a few issues in regards to that solution.

It's been just over a year since the last time Ashton went more than two days completely sober, and the last time he had fallen into his violent fit of rage Michael had someone to back him up--someone to help hold Ashton down while he frantically dialled the hospital to save his friend he swore would have killed themself that night.
And the person who had been there to help back Michael up had been Calum himself. Back when things weren't so bad. Back when Calum's drinking problem was light with only the odd vicious breakdown. Back when Calum still held some form of love and care for the friend both he and Michael had lost together only two years prior.

Things had gotten so unbelievably out of control since then...

Michael had barely moved from his position on the kitchen floor for the past eight hours since Ashton had hung up on him. His microwaved food was cold on tip of the bench his back was leaning against, and his phone felt as heavy as a brick in his hand as the tears on his cheeks gradually dried and he felt his body go numb with the need to keep Ashton safe.
Calum's ID was waiting patiently on the screen of his mobile, Michael's green eyes gazing at it as though waiting for it to disappear or explode or at least do something unexpected. His thumb hovered dangerously close to the call button, a war raging in his mind as to whether he should ring a man who would either still be undeniably drunk or extremely hung over.