REHAB [5SOS]

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Ashton

He hated it.

He hated being scared. He hated sitting and being scared of his own mind.

He jumped every time someone came into his room to give him medication.

He was scared of Niall.

He was scared of Harry.

He was scared of Louis.

He was just scared.

So when the door opened and five people burst in, Ashton all but screamed and cowered in the corner.

"Dude, it's okay, it's just us," Calum said, immediately jumping onto the bed with him. "Ash, man! We've missed you!"

"Yeah," Luke agreed, and Ashton noticed he had a guitar on his back.

"Why're you here?" Ashton asked.

Hazelle sat on the edge of the bed. "How are you feeling?" she asked him quietly.

Ashton shrugged. "Okay, I guess."

That was a lie. He was scared out of his mind by his mind. How twisted.

Yeah, he was scared of all of them.

But mostly he was scared of himself.

"Ashton."

An all-too familiar voice made Ashton stiffen. "Niall?" he whispered.

"What was that?" Michael asked, helping Luke adjust the guitar strap.

"Nothing," Ashton murmured, rubbing his face. "So, uh, you brought a guitar."

"Luke wrote you a song!" Michael announced, beaming proudly.

Luke flushed. "It's nothing, really," he mumbled. "And Calum helped."

Clover shoved him. "Shut up, you know your song is beautiful."

"We're all going to sing it for you now!" Calum said, jumping off the bed.

Luke hesitantly started strumming the guitar, and slowly grew more confident.

"Even when the sky is falling down, even when the earth is crumbling round my feet," Luke sang.

"Even when we try to say goodbye you could cut the tension with a knife in here," Calum continued, looking down at the floor and shuffling his feet, clearly uncomfortable but singing clearly regardless.

"Cos I know what'll happen if we get through this," Michael sang.

"And if the earth ends up crumbling down to its knees baby we just gotta get out, we just gotta get out," the five of them sang, the girls singing much more quietly than the guys.

Ashton began tapping on the wall absentmindedly, creating a rhythm for the rest of the song.

"Hey, that was surprisingly good," Calum said, and everyone laughed.

Ashton smiled widely. "Wow. Thanks so much you guys. That was... the nicest thing anyone's ever done for me."

Hazelle motioned for him to stand up, and they all gave him a hug. "Get better soon," Calum said, patting his back.

"Or Luke will have to write you another song," Michael joked, and Luke elbowed him.

"Hey!"

"Alright, alright, we gotta let Ashton rest so he can get better. You guys wanna head back to the rec room? I'll join you soon," Hazelle said.