Ease [Cashton/Muke]

Chapter twenty

Thursday is a blur. Calum only has one meeting so spends most of the day just reading over documents, analysing data and approving decisions.

Ashton's day is in some ways harder than the day before but the knowledge he won't be at school next week gets him through it -even if he knows that tomorrow with Cory will be a nightmare. The words from his peers are few and far between but the hostility makes his skin crawl. Even if he could get through this level of harassment, being only verbal and steady but not constant, he wouldn't want to because of everything else. Like the way he's still sent dirty looks by just about everyone of his peers at every opportunity they have to do so. Or the way they think they're being sly and quiet when they talk about him in their cliques. Ashton thinks they're either super dumb or deliberately want him to hear, could be both.

Calum is out of his office before it's even five minutes past five o'clock, the fact he started at 7am catching up with him. He's on the phone to Ashton before he's even out of the work garage and is instantly more at peace than he had been all day. They texted a little but nothing of note came up so thus far their conversation had been limited today.

Ashton mentions how his day was in terms of his peers treatment of him but consciously omits the detail that he's already firm in his decision to leave school. He figures that can wait till he sees Calum tomorrow. Calum is, as expected, gutted to hear that Ashton is still suffering at school but he too is comforted by the knowledge it doesn't have to go on much longer.

Calum thinks, right now, that if Ashton is still hesitant to leave school at the end of tomorrow then he'll perhaps have to be a little more persuasive and perhaps even start to explore his more dominant and authoritative side. That being said, he doesn't think Ashton will be hesitant to leave.

Their phone call is similar to the night before, having a lot of empty spaces. They both have a lot on their mind but, same as before, their soulmates virtual presence is enough to calm them.

Friday morning comes and Calum texts Ashton before the younger is even awake.

Calum - Ashton: I'm so proud of you for getting through this week Sweetheart. You can do it. You can get through today. Can't wait to see you again. 3:30pm and I'll be ready and waiting to kiss your beautiful face. Xoxoxo

Ashton sees it when he wakes up at 7:30, by which time Calum is already at work, and giggles at his dom's words. It's exactly the reassurance that he needs and it takes his mind off the fact that Cory will be back at school today. Ashton wonders if anything about his two day suspension did anything to change him.

Ashton - Calum: Thank you for the reassurance. Can't wait to see you this arvo xoxo

Ashton does feel more positive about the day ahead. It's only seven hours. The first hour is good. Too good in fact. Ashton is on edge because no one has said anything mean or negative to him all morning. He even had a couple of sorta, before this all happened anyway, friends smile and say good morning. Who knows, maybe Cory did change. Maybe he's a new person and he arrived early this morning to tell everyone to stop creating nightmares for Ashton.

The second hour he relaxes a little, lets his guard down. Decides that maybe he can trust some people a little. Still, he stays to himself and thinks that hopefully recess will be kind of alright today.

He was wrong. He was oh so very wrong. Couldn't have been more wrong. Ashton sits where he had all week, on the edge of a garden bed to the side of the downball courts, texting Calum a little and smiling fondly.

"Who you texting?" Ashton hears Cory whisper in his ear, not having noticed him approaching, and he freezes. His blood turns cold and he quickly locks his phone and tries to put it in his pocket.
"What are doing here?" Ashton sneers, trying to mask how truly terrified he is.
"You're a sub Ashton." Cory taunts. "A submissive. Is that anyway to speak to a dominant? Besides, don't you always need a dominant to protect you? You're so weak you should be thankful I'm here next to you."
"I don't need anyone, let alone you, to protect me. Dom's and subs are equal." Ashton grits, moving further along the plank wood and away from Cory.
"Is that what your rich dom told you?" Cory scoffs. "He lies Ashton. Just told you that so you don't realise how weak you are."

"You're the only liar here." Ashton seethes.
"Oh but I'm not." Cory smirks sickeningly. "You do need a dominant to protect you all the time. Come on, didn't you wonder why you had it so easy this morning? I've been protecting you Ashton."
"What did you do?" Ashton gulps
"Protect you, I just said that. Jesus Christ, I didn't realise you were so stupid as well."
"Get away from me." Ashton says, going to stand up but Cory's quick to grip his bicep tightly to keep him put.
"You're the weakest of any sub because you didn't even realise you were a sub. You don't know how to be a good sub and you will never be good enough for your dom." Cory spits in his ear before walking away as if the whole exchange never happened.

Ashton - Calum: Four hours

Ashton types out shakily, still trying to catch his breath back after all that just happened.

Calum - Ashton: Four hours, I hope you're doing okay Sweets :( xoxo

Calum frowns at Ashton's message, an uneasy feeling in his stomach; the feeling that something really isn't right.

"Maggie." Calum mumbles, not even sure if his voice is loud enough to be heard. "Maggie." He calls out quietly again. Then he presses the intercom on his desk phone. Maggie looks up but Calum forgets to say anything while the button is pressed so she just furrows her brows but refocuses on her computer after a moment. Calum slumps his body against his deck and presses the intercom again. This time he holds it long enough for it to pick up his weak and long drawl of his assistants name.

"Oh my god what happened?" Maggie says when she walks into his office, finally having worked out that something was quite wrong. Calum barely has the effort in him to properly turn his head towards her as he speaks.
"Something's not right." He mumbles, voice muffled by how his face is mushed against his desk.
"Ok-"
"I don't know what's wrong. But something is really really really wrong with Ashton." Calum goes on.

Maggie takes a deep breath and shuts the door behind her before depositing herself in a chair directly in front of her boss.
"You can't explain it but you know that he's unwell. That he's in pain and all you want to do right now is make it all go away." Maggie says empathetically.
"I- yes- that's exactly- how did-" Calum says, sitting up and staring at her with more surprise than she feels is warranted.
"It's like you forget I have a sub of my own. Who, because she's older than me, I've been matched with since I was 18. Cal, I've been a dom for seven years now."
"Oh." Calum chuckles a little at his own stupidity. "Yeah, how is Carla?"
"She's great," Maggie laughs, "but that is not the point right now."

"At 2:15 I'm gonna let you walk straight out that door and go rescue your sub but as of right now, you're going to let him be." Maggie says firmly. "It's only a few hours. Don't doubt his strength. The hardest thing to learn when you first get a sub are the moments you need to let them be on their own. I have no doubt you told Ashton that you were equals, now is the time to prove that. All dom's want to do is protect their subs but sometimes the most protecting thing we can do is let them protect themselves."

A/N: I'm soft :( babies :( anyway I hit 100k words writing ease yesterday so don't think it's going away anytime soon, but I'll keep delivering it in 1k-2k word chapters three times a week. Thanks for the love as always

-Grace Williams xo