REHAB [5SOS]

AGONY

AGONY

Ashton

The next day, Ashton sat down next to Calum at lunch. "Hey, how're you?"

Calum looked up at him, eyes tortured, dark circles under his eyes. His hair was messy, and he lazily raised an eyebrow at Ashton.

"Calum..."

"I'm fine," he croaked, ruffling his hair and blankly staring down at his lunch. "Fine."

Ashton frowned at him. "Eat."

Calum flinched. "That's what I told her," he murmured sadly. "I told her. And I thought she listened." He looked back up at Ashton, frustrated. "Why didn't she listen?"

"Some people don't understand the truth when they hear it," Ashton said.

Calum sighed and pushed his past around his plate, staring at it morosely. "I miss her."

"She'll be back," Ashton said immediately.

Calum sighed, setting his fork down. "I wish I could know that for sure."

Hazelle slipped into the seat next to Ashton silently.

"Hey," he said, and she looked up at him.

"Hi," she whispered. She looked at Calum. "You look awful."

"Thanks. So do you."

"I know."

Ashton frowned. Hazelle's usually bright eyes were dull, and she picked at her food, barely touching it.

"Hey everyone," Harry said, sitting next to Hazelle. "How are we all?"

Calum glared at him, seeming pissed off. "What do you think?" he snapped, irritated.

Harry frowned, and, flustered, stuttered, "I, I didn't mean it like, just trying to make things sound normal, I didn't mean to make it awkward, I don't want to ignore what happened last night but nobody looks ready to talk about it, and I just-"

"Dude," Calum interrupted with a sigh. "It's okay. Sorry. Just... in a bad mood." He picked up his tray, still filled with food. "I'll see you," he mumbled, and them walked off.

Harry watched him go, eyes sad. "I feel bad..."

A moment later, Michael and Luke sat at the table. "Hey guys," Luke said.

Michael looked around at everyone. "Whoa, why is everyone so upset?"

Silence.

Michael shifted uncomfortably in his seat and said, "Does this have to do with last night?"

Ashton nodded. "Yeah."

Michael frowned, taking a bite of his lunch. "What even happened?"

"A lot of things," Hazelle muttered, rubbing her eyes. Ashton noticed that she was blinking back tears.

"Like?"

"Drop it," Harry said quietly, his gaze fixated on Hazelle, who was beginning to cry.

Hazelle pressed her lips together into a tight line and shook her head. "I'm sorry, I just need to, I need to go." Abruptly, she stood, whisking her lunch tray away and walking off, head bent.

"I'd better go check up on her," Harry muttered, grabbing his tray and hurrying after her.

Luke was glaring at Michael. "What?" Michael asked.

Luke rolled his eyes. "You are literally the most insensitive human being on the planet."

"I didn't know she was going to start crying!"

"Hey Michael." A blonde girl slid into the seat next to Michael.

"Shut up, Clover."

"Don't be rude," Luke said.

Ashton stood. "I think I'm going to go-"

"No!" The girl, Clover, looked up at him with wide eyes. "Wait... I know you."

He frowned. "You know me?"

She shook her head. "Well, kind of. We haven't met, but... I recognize you from somewhere. Oh god, where was it?" she murmured, scrunching her nose in thought. "Ah! That's right. You were Lauren's fiancé."

"Erm, yeah-"

"She passed away a few months ago," Clover said casually. "She was my older sister's best friend."

Ashton was horrified. It wasn't like he could just tell her that he'd been the one to murder her.

"I've got to get going," he mumbled, picking up his tray and walking off.

"Nice to meet you!" Clover called after him.

"Yeah, no," Ashton muttered, dumping his half-eaten food into the trash and dropping his tray off before walking back to his room.

Harry was already there, checking his hair in the mirror.

Ashton watched Harry for a while before asking, "Did Louis ever ask you to do anything... weird?"

Harry's expression morphed into one of pain. "What do you mean?" he asked, turning to face Ashton.

Ashton shrugged. "I don't know," he muttered. "Just... weird things."

Harry grimaced, looking uncomfortable. "Yeah," he admitted, sitting on his bed, closing his eyes. "Yeah. Louis told me to do a lot of weird things. But I loved him so much, I never even questioned it."

Ashton frowned. "Nothing dangerous, though?"

"No, not dangerous," Harry said. "Dangerously stupid sometimes, yeah. But we always had a good laugh about it. Liam doesn't like Louis."

Ashton's frown deepened. "Doesn't? Present tense?"

Harry clenched his fists. "I... might have slipped up," he admitted.

"How?"

Harry shrugged, playing with his fingers, avoiding Ashton's eyes. "Last time he came and visited, I called him Louis. Several times," he mumbled, upset.

"You haven't been taking your medication, have you?" Ashton asked.

Harry shook his head. "No," he murmured. "I don't like it, without Louis. Louis was and is my best friend. He was always there for me, through everything. When my parents would fight, he was with me when I was hiding from them in the closet. When they got divorced, they separated me and my sister, but Louis stayed with me. Louis stayed with me when I had these big, dorky, thick glasses and dressed like a proper geek," he said with a little wistful laugh. "Yeah, Lou, remember when Liam tripped over the fence?"

Ashton looked at Harry in alarm. "Uh, Harry?"

Harry ignored him, a wide grin on his face, eyes lit up in adoration. "Lou, stop it!"

"Harry, seriously."

His eyes focused on Ashton. "Oh, sorry." He beamed at him. "Ashton, this is Lou. Louis, this is my roommate Ashton. But don't get jealous, we're just friends," he said to thin air, giggling.

Ashton whispered, "I have to tell them-"

"No!" Harry interrupted, expression panicked. "Ashton, if you tell them, they're going to make me take the medication, and I can't-" he choked off, looking beside him, utterly pained.

It was painful to watch.

"Harry-"

"Please, Ashton. I've just gotten him back, and I can't lose him again," Harry pleaded.

Ashton sighed and ruffled his hair, conflicted. "Ah! Okay, fine, Harry, but the second something goes wrong..."

"Fine! You can tell. But don't worry, you're going to love Lou."

Ashton didn't know what to do.

He really wasn't going to tell. He knew how it felt. He knew it hurt to have your favorite person in the world ripped from your side. After all, he'd gone through it with Niall.

But then he woke up alone in their room, and found blood on Harry's empty sheets.