Simon's P.O.V.
Of course someone had forgotten to book the right amount of hotel rooms and that someone made me and several of the others share rooms while they got off scot free- a double bed to themselves (with their girlfriend). So that was how I ended sharing a room with Lachlan and after a night out drinking and having some fun, he clambered into bed beside me. He passed out pretty much right away, exhausted from the night, and my thoughts turned to the fun we had had.
All of the Sidemen along with Lachlan, obviously, both Cals and several of our girlfriends had tagged along to LA to a convention and as this was the first night we decided to go out and celebrate. There were 12 of us in total, 4 already sharing rooms, but guess how many rooms were booked. 6. That left all of us without our girlfriends to share rooms and beds, and I had ended up with Lachlan. It wasn't a short straw or anything, he was a sweet boy and I really didn't mind, I was just annoyed that I had to.
We had club hopped for a few hours after we arrived, trying to get over the jet lag as fast as possible because the convention was tomorrow. Everyone was happy and quite happy to simply party, alcohol going down well after a meal together in some random restaurant we found. It was fun.
But now I was honestly exhausted and was quite happy to tuck myself into bed. I stole one last glance at Lachlan, curled up and fast asleep, before drifting off into sleep.
------------------------------------------------------
As I woke I knew at once that it was nowhere near dawn, the room was still pitch black and the only thing emanating light was Lachlan's phone- held to the side of his face. It took less than a second to realise he was sobbing quietly.
"Lachy?" I called softly, making him jump. He turned towards me, his face blotchy and red, tears dripping down his cheeks. "What's going on?"
He only shook his head and turned away, his chest heaving as he sobbed. I suspected he wasn't able to speak and my heart began to pound because I didn't know what was going on, why was he crying? He was sobbing his heart out and I had no idea what to do to comfort him. There was no way I could just go back to sleep or anything!
"Lachlan? Please, what's happening? Do you want me to go and get Vikk?" Vikk was the only person I could think of who might be able to handle this and he was only in the next room. But Lachlan shook his head.
"N-no!" He cried, hiccupping. "Don't-on't want Vikk."
He continued to sob for another few minutes before I finally worked something out. I very delicately leaned over him, latched one arm over his waist and very gently rolled him over so I could tuck him into my chest. He had no hesitation in pressing his head into my shoulder, a wet patch forming on my shirt as he continued to cry. I wrapped my arms around him and simply held him as finally, he finally started to calm.
It took almost half an hour but after all of that the words I got were-
"I want my brother."
I blinked, genuinely confused. His brother was back in Australia but what could have suddenly got him so homesick? Normally he was fine away from home.
"What? Mitch is in Australia isn't he?"
That brought on the sobbing again and it took another 15 minutes or so for more words to come.
"He's gone!" He sobbed, fighting his way out of my arms. I was confused.
"Gone? What?"
"He's dead." Lachlan finally whispered- before falling back on the bed. The tears were silent now, streaming down his cheeks. My heart fell into my stomach.
I didn't know how to deal with this so my first reaction was to grab my phone and text Vikk, hoping he was either awake or my text would wake him up. He apparently had heard it because there was a soft knock on my door which I ran to answer- Vikk was standing there, his eyes wide.
"What's going on?" He gasped, his eyes already over my shoulder to where Lachlan was crying.
"It's- it's Lachlan!" I hissed, my heart still pounding. "He said Mitch- is gone? Dead?! I don't know what's happening, I can't get anything out of him!"
"What?" He said, completely startled. "Dead!?"
I didn't have any time to say anything before Vikk pushed past me and clambered onto the bed beside the sobbing boy, doing the same I did- wrapping his arms around him. Vikk whispered to him, soft words that I couldn't hear, but words that seemed to comfort him a bit never the less. His sobs began to slow to the point where he was lying listlessly in Vikk's arms, and Vikk reached over him to grab his phone.
"Do you want me call Mitch?"
My heart jumped, confused and scared. Hadn't Lachlan just been saying that his brother was dead? What?
And then it hit me. It must have been a nightmare. The way he had reacted seemed so real and genuine that the thought hadn't even crossed my mind, that it hadn't been real. Vikk played around with the phone for a minute before someone picked up the call, Mitch probably, and he spoke softly.
"Lachy had a nightmare, he's really upset." A pause. "This is just to reassure him." He then held the phone up to the blonde boys ear and I saw him visibly relax as Mitch's quiet voice echoed through the phone, the tears slowing and the shaking coming to a stop.
Mitch talked to his brother until he fell asleep against Vikk, his head tucked right into his shoulder. I was finally able to sit down on the bed and stop pacing after I saw he was alright and was now asleep. Vikk smiled at me.
"I think that was the worst one so far." He admitted, sighing lightly.
"Wha what was that?" I asked, my eyes trailing over Lachlan. His chest still hitched even in his sleep from crying.
"Mitch... it's honestly something of a miracle he's survived childhood. He was in and out of hospital and even since Lachy first came to visit us in London he's had these awful nightmares about him passing away while he wasn't there. It's why they live together. He hates being away from home, but the nightmares normally aren't that bad."
I settled back on the bed in the only space there was left, right on Lachlan's other side. It was nice to see him calm again.
"So he doesn't like being away from Mitch in case he..."
"Yeah." Vikk gave a soft smile, removing himself from underneath Lachlan. "Either text me or call Mitch if it happens again. He should be alright in the morning, maybe a little quiet, but I think he'll still be up for the convention. Maybe not any partying though."
"Thanks Vikk." I whispered, gently tucking the covers up over the sleeping blonde. "I'll see you in the morning."
And with a smile the door clicked shut behind him, leaving me alone with Lachlan and the feeling that I knew him a little better than I did a few hours before. Finally I settled down on the other side of the bed
