Disconnected ; Lashton

19. My Nightmare

It's not even ten o clock yet and Ashton is rushing me out of my house. I don't mind it since it's him and the more time I get to spend with him the better, but I'm rightfully confused. I don't try to question what's going on as I shove my feet into my shoes and tie them faster than they've ever been tied before. As soon as I'm buckled up he's driving us to Michaels without a moment to spare.

"Okay, why exactly are we up this early on a Saturday?" I ask.

"Michael called me and told me to get you to his as soon as possible, said it was an emergency and hung up. If he's awake right now and willing to do anything other than watch The Office, it must be important." Ashton explains.

"Is it- do you think something bad happened?" I ask worriedly.

"I don't know... I don't think so, though? Mikey's weird like this but I didn't get any bad feelings from him on the phone. If I had to guess about what's going on I'd say maybe something to do with school? You were really good at consoling him before so maybe he feels like crying on your shoulder, who knows? All I know is that he owes me a coffee." I nod at Ashtons words, calming down a little. Whatever Michael wants us for, it can't be that bad, right? He's calling us over to his house and not a hospital room so it's highly unlikely anyone's hurt. If this is to do with Mikey's school troubles, I'm more than happy to help, but I can't guarantee I'll be able to get a word out like last time.

We arrive at Michaels house and I race out of the car after Ashton but the front lawn is still damp so I stumble forward and latch onto the back of his shirt. He nearly falls with me but we manage to compose ourselves and make it the rest of the way up to Mikeys front door without biting the big one.

"Clumsy," he teases. I roll my eyes and poke him in the side as he knocks on the door. Michael answers in half a second. He stands in the doorway with a flushed face, his usually perfectly straightened hair sticking up in places it shouldn't be, curling at the ends. I almost giggle at his appearance, especially because he's only wearing a sock on one of his feet, but the urge fades away when he yanks Ashton and I into the house.

"Finally, you're here! Attic, now!" He demands. We scurry up the stairs and up the ladder into Michaels attic to find Calum lying on the floor. I let out a gasp as Ashton quickly leans down to check for his pulse.

"Calum's not dead! He's napping, you idiots!" Michael exclaims, like it's the most obvious thing ever. I sigh in relief and shake the tension out of my hands as Calum groans and forces himself up.

"Well, when you call me early in the morning and tell me to rush over with Luke and the first thing I see is Calum passed out on the floor, of course I'm gonna be worried!" Ashton retorts.

"Not important right now!"

"Then what's so important? You scared the hell out of Luke!" Ashton gestures to me where I'm still staring at where Calum was sprawled out and he's not wrong- my heart did stop and restart for a second there.

"Sorry, needed to catch some Z's lads." Calum apologizes. We break out into smiles and share a collective group laughter at his naturally laid-back attitude.

"Alright, everyone get seated. I think you'll all want to be sitting down for what I'm about to say." Michael instructs, an air of leadership surrounding him. Ashton and I sit unnecessarily close to each other on the couch and Calum plops down lazily onto his bean bag. We watch Michael pace around for a moment before taking a deep breath and facing us.

"I got a phone call this morning, right before I drug Calum out of his bed and up here with me where I proceeded to call you, Ashton." Michael begins.

"A very interesting phone call indeed," he continues.