brave//5SOS

11

Ashton

"Tom, you need to come downstairs right now!" his mum called. I waited on the phone, my foot tapping as I sat on the desk chair.

"Hello?"

"Hi Tom, it's Ashton. Take a seat,"

"Is Emily okay?,"

"It's Emily's mum, she passed away last night,"

"Does Emily know yet?" he asked quietly.

"Yes. She wasn't supposed to know the way she did. We wanted to tell her when she was recovered more and had slept a good night. Instead, Jack told her,"

"I-I never told her how strong she was, o-or asked if she was okay. Ash I never, I never said thankyou,"

"That's not your fault," I said softly, welling up myself. I'd known her for a while too, and cared for her as much as Emily did because I couldn't help but not.

I heard him choke out his first tear.

Then a second.

Then a third.

They just fell and fell, seeming like they'd never stop.

"Tom, can you go and be with your mum? I'd love to talk, and I promise I will later, but I've got a lot to deal with,"

"Calum. This is bad, this is very bad," I stressed, pacing the room. After the phone call with Tom, I could hardly imagine what Emily would do.

"Mate, stop. She's gonna need all your focus right now," he said, grabbing my hand and pulling me to a halt.

We'd sent her brother home- he gladly agreed not to contact Emily for a while.

Both our pagers went off at once and I already knew it was from Michael.

"Are you able to deal with this right now? She's going to be in such a state and feeling extremely guilty and angry. I can go alone," Calum offered. I shook my head and smiled slightly before leaving the room.

We arrived at Michael's office and immediately went in. I expected her to be hysterical but... she wasn't. Quite the opposite in fact. Tears were slipping down her face but she wasn't saying a thing. Calum raised his eyebrow at me.

"Hey Emily, can I sit with you?" I asked. She nodded and wiped her tears, trying to smile at me. Calum also sat down.

"I'm sorry you just had a big argument... you are very welcome to live with us,"

"Thankyou,"

She sat there for a moment, her leg bouncing up and down.

"You know, I really want to be mad at you guys. I want to believe there was something you could've done and I want to be angry but I just can't be," she mumbled. I expected her to carry on, but she didn't, so we were left in silence again.

"Can I sleep in your bed tonight?" she asked me. I nodded.

I couldn't refuse, because I didn't know when she'd snap.

She was taking this incredibly oddly . Well not odd, just odd for her. Considering how much of a state she'd been in about it all before, I thought it'd be even worse tonight. It wouldn't last long though.

"Are you ready to go home? Do you want to stay for a bit... we don't mind," Michael asked her. She stood up and tucked her hair behind her ear. We were going to keep her overnight but she seemed well enough to leave and I knew she was uncomfortable.

"We can go after I've changed,"

We all got out bags while she changed, and then walked out of the hospital towards the car.

Calum sat in the back with her since she seemed desperate for a hug from him and since Luke already knew and was at home, he had ordered pizzaz

I was worried about her reaction once the initial shock had worn off. She'd not want to slow life down yet she would struggle to look after herself.

"Was she in pain?"

Michael tensed up but Calum swiftly answered.

"Truthfully yes , but I did everything possible to make sure she couldn't feel it. She just felt a bit weird,"

"That's good then,".

We arrived home and I quickly got out and went inside to find Luke. He was in the kitchen getting some water.

"Mate, she's taken this the complete opposite way to what I thought. She's calm- too calm and I feel like she will come to you at some point so just... be ready,"

Everyone came through the door as sat down on the sofa while Luke and I brought the food.

"You up to eating?" I asked Emily. She shrugged and took a piece before sitting on the seat away from us all.

"Just remember, talk to us when you need to," Luke said.