Ease [Cashton/Muke]

Chapter one hundred and eleven

Ashton was now sitting in Michael's office, freaking out and desperately begging them to not call Calum. He definitely didn't want to wake Calum up for this.
"But he-" Ashton doesn't have the opportunity to finish another protest because his phone starts ringing. It's 3:38pm and Carla's calling him.

"Hey, is everything alright? Has something happened?" She was worried from the minute she read Ashron's text.
"Sort of... there's photos in The Star Observer that make it look like... Calum's cheating. But I'm at Michael's office, and he and Luke are assuring me that that's not the case." Ashton explains, it all sounding silly when he says it out loud.
"I will be there as soon as I can. Have you talked to Calum yet?" Carla instructs.
"No, didn't want to wake him just because I'm insecure and paranoid." Ashton says quietly, feeling more comfortable confiding in Carla than Luke or Michael.
"That's basically the main reason to wake him but it's fine." Carla says nonchalantly.
"See you soon." Ashton adds quickly before hanging up the phone and sighing exasperatedly.

Michael and Luke look over curiously, thinking it's probably Carla but they're not completely sure.
"Carla?" Luke asks curiously.
"Yeah. She's on her way over." Ashton mumbles, fiddling with his phone nervously.
"What else did she say?" Michael hums, somehow still managing to get some work done.
"She didn't give her opinion because she hasn't seen the photos but she did think I should call him." Ashton pouts.
"So-" Luke grins, starting to find Calum's number.
"Don't." Ashton hisses venemously.
"Now now, let's all be civil." Michael says, voice a little authoratative.

"You can't tell me what to do. You can't even legally tell Luke what to do!" Ashton snaps, the room instantly going dead silent.
"A-" Michael tries to start softly.
"I'm so sorry." Ashton chokes out before running out of the room. He and Luke were both close to tears. Ashton quickly looks around and ends up going to the only bathroom on the floor. He sinks down to the tiles and holds his head in his hands. He can't believe he just did that. He fully starts to cry.

"Jeanette." Michael takes a deep breath as he walks into his assistants office. He's not exactly sure what's happening or when he signed up to take part but it's happening anyway.
"I smell the drama. I'm exhausted already." She deadpans.
"Carla's on her way over, make sure she has no troubles getting up here. I'm going to call Calum and I have a feeling it'll be a long call." Michael explains, tired just thinking about it.
"And Ashton?" Jeanette asks, glancing towards the bathroom.
"I'll leave him. Carla can go talk to him after I explain what happened." Michael sighs, going back into his office and frowning at his own sub.

"Do you mind that I left?" Michael asks Luke softly, staring at the way Luke sat quietly. Clearly there was a lot on his mind, his eyes were glassy and emotional.
"Not really." Luke answers numbly. "You're not the one who said it. And it's not like you were gone for long."
"He-" Michael tries to reassure him.
"It's true. None of us can deny it." Luke scoffs as Michael steps closer. Michael towers over Luke and the chair he sits in but Luke doesn't mind, it feels protective.

"Is it something that bothers you? Should I be worried?" Michael whispers, pulling Luke up and into a hug.
"No. I respect you. I respect your authority. I just hate that we're soulmates and starting a family together but just because I'm younger we're denied our basic rights. It's not fair." Luke grows increasingly frustrated, wanting to scream in agony by the end of it.

"Am I interrupting something?" Carla pokes her head into Michael's office as she knocks on the door.
"No." Luke shakes his head rapidly, wiping his eyes and going back to sitting in the corner. He had grown quite fond of this corner.
"Should I be worried? Are you okay? Where's Ashton? Is he okay?" Carla asks a lot of questions.
"We now," Michael claps his hands together, "have two issues."
"Oh god what happened?" Carla groans.

"There's the original issue, that of The Star Observer pushing Ashton's buttons, and then Ashton snapped. Technically it was at me but really Luke's the one he hurt." Michael sighs unfortunately.
"I've seen the photos. I came prepared for that. What do you mean snapped? And that doesn't answer where he went." Carla digs deeper, narrowing her eyes.
"After he snapped he apologised and left the room. He's in the bathroom. By snapped I mean that he got a little mad at Luke after Luke teased him by trying to call Calum and then I told them both be civil. That's when he snapped."
"You're not giving me anything. I'm just gonna go talk to Ashton." Carla rolls her eyes.

"I was planning to call Calum. It's less than an hour before he would wake up at this point." Michael says as Carla reaches for the door handle.
"Okay, I'll go talk to Ashton. I think it'll be better if he can pull his thoughts together before he talks to Calum. Sometimes our partners voice should be the last one we hear, so by that point we value it even more."
"You're full of wisdom." Michael concedes fondly.
"Or maybe it's just bullshit." Carla laughs loudly as she walks out and heads for the bathroom.

Michael sits back down at his desk and calls his best friend. It's 5:15am in London and Calum doesn't pick up, even after a second attempt at a call. It's possible Calum has his phone on silent for everyone except Ashton, that wouldn't surprise Michael, so he tries Maggie. After trying them both twice and failing all four times, Michael decides he can't do anything but wait. He sends some texts to pass the time.

Michael - Calum: It's about Ashton.

Michael - Carla: Calum and Maggie both won't answer, just an fyi

A/N: Ashton did an oopsie :/ please stay safe and isolated, 1.5m (5feet) from other people. If I end up getting covid-19 (though it's still growing differently in Australia because of our small and sparse population) and settle in hospital then I'll either have way more or way less time on my hands. This could happen to any of us, wash your hands and isolate. My reading lists are full of fics and I'm happy to DM you ao3 fic recs until the cows come home.

-Grace Williams xo