Broken//5sos ✔️

11.

charlotte's pov

i laid in the bed with tears in my eyes when luke and calum came in.

"why the tears?" luke asked as he sat down next to the bed.

"argument with my mom, but it's fine." i shrugged as i wiped them away.

"you're okay babe." calum whispered as he patted my back.

"i feel bad that michael has to be with someone who's such a liar." i mumbled as i curled into a ball.

before either of them could respond, ashton came walking in with a sympathetic facial expression.

"what's wrong mate?" luke asked quickly once he saw ashton's facial expression.

"i'm going to need everyone to leave the room for a second." ashton spoke softly.

calum and luke gave him a look before nodding slowly and leaving.

mom came walking in looking extremely guilty.

what the fuck did she do?

"so, your mom told us she wants to start you in counseling for your self harm." ashton spoke quickly.

"you did what? you've got to be fucking kidding me!" i shouted as i sat up.

"i'm not. please don't make this difficult." ashton stressed as he sat down next to the bed.

"i'm not a fucking cutter! if anyone is, it's her." i spoke firmly as i pointed at mom.

"see? lies." mom sighed as she put her hands on her hips.

"i've covered for you since the day you started this habit. don't you dare do this to me." i spoke deathly cold.

"forgive me for being direct right now, but what is going on between you two? i honestly don't know who to believe from a psych's point of view because you've both been lying." ashton spoke immediately making himself known in the conversation.

"roll up your sleeves and let him see mom. i'm done hiding and covering up for you. i'm tired." i whispered as tears rolled down my face.

"charlotte just please stop with this nonsense. i'm fine baby. we're both going to be okay." mom spoke trying to convince ashton to believe her.

"roll up your sleeves." i repeated.

mom gave me a death glare before sighing.

"i'll even leave the room." i suggested as i began to stand up, but mom pushed me down lightly.

"don't worry about it baby." mom whispered as she sat down beside ashton.

"she's right, it's me. i'm the one with the problem. she cut herself to cover up for me." mom confessed as she hung her head low.

"i appreciate your honesty, but why the hell were you trying to pin this on your daughter?" ashton spoke gently.

"she would get sent away and i would be okay ashton. if i'm sent away, she's on her own. i don't have anymore family, her father wants nothing to do with us, so i have to be here." mom replied quickly.

"bailey, you have a very loving boyfriend who is committed to you forever and always. besides that point, i think you should go talk to michael then we can talk about how to proceed." ashton suggested as he stood up.

"can you go with me?" mom asked softly.

ashton nodded before giving my arm a tiny rub and mouthing that i did the right thing.

as soon as they left the room, i let that sinking feeling come in.

i could potentially lose my mom.

bailey's pov

i walked with ashton to michael's office and entered the office and sat down.

"what's going on?" michael asked slowly as he joined us in the seats.

"it was me michael. i'm the one with the problem, not bailey. i'm sorry." i whispered as i played with my sleeves.

michael stared at me softly for a couple seconds before responding, "i had a feeling. charlotte didn't strike me as the type of kid to lie like that. thank you for telling me."

"you're not going to leave?" i whispered as tears threatened to fall down my cheeks.

"of course not love. what type of person would i be if i did." michael sighed as he sat next to me and hugged me.

i looked over at ashton to see him thinking.

"i don't want to go in a hole." i spoke quickly.

"okay, um, we can try keeping you at our house for a bit just to see if we can help you stop self harming, but if that doesn't work, i think going to a psych ward for a couple weeks wouldn't be such a bad thing." ashton spoke quickly.

"so you want me to move in with you to pretty much be on suicide watch?" i spoke stiffly.

"either that or a psych ward." ashton pointed out.

oh gosh, what was i going to tell charlotte?