You Can't Save Me..

Chapter 49

Luke's POV

I was scared awake by screaming beside me.

"No!"

"Fuck!"

"Shit!"

"Stop!"

"Sky?!"

Ashton kept screaming through her shallow breaths as I tried to wake her from the nightmare.

Finally I succeeded in waking her, but she didn't stop. She jumped up and started looking around the room yelling out for her family.

"Ash baby?" I question softly.

She doesn't respond.

"Ashton?" I say, stepping closer to her.

She still doesn't respond.

"Ashton." I say more sternly, this time taking hold of her shoulders and successfully snapping her out of whatever trance she was in.

"What happened love?" I ask softly as I pull her into my chest.

"S-sky is g-going to have another p-panic a-attac-ck." She sobs out.

"What makes you think that honey? I'm sure Sky is just fine." I try to comfort her.

"No she's not." She says softly.

"How do you know?"

"I just.. I just do."

"Ba-" I'm cut off by her cell ringing.

She steps back away from me and clears her throat so she can answer with a strong voice. She doesn't want her crying to be evident to anyone.

"Hello?" She answers.

...

"Yeah baby? It's me. You're okay."

...

"I know honey. I know."

...

"I'm sorry I'm not there."

...

"Breathe baby doll. I don't want it to happen again."

...

"Okay hun. Can I talk to Jake or Evan for a minute?"

......

"Hey Evan."

...

"Separation anxiety again or is there more to this?"

...

"I don't believe that. There has to be a reason other than me. She's a strong girl and she's been without me before. She goes to church camp for 2 weeks every summer."

...

"Well they're wrong. You can either argue with the assholes or give them the damn phone, but something is wrong with Sky and I want to know what."

...

"I don't care what time it is! Their job is to take care of my sister and they're not doing it."

...

"Fine. Call me when you find out."

...

"I love you too. Tell Sky, Addi, Court, and Jake I love them too."

...

"Bye."

She hangs up.

"How did you know??" I ask, completely shocked.

"I don't know. That happens sometimes. Like how some parents can tell when their kids are lying without even looking a them. Or they know they're planning to sneak out without hearing anything. I just kind of.. know when something is wrong with them I guess." She let's out, rubbing her temples.

"Do we need to go back?" I ask, not really wanting to, but I completely understand if we should.

"Of course not. You planned this trip and I'm enjoying it and so are you." She said, looking into my eyes.

I nodded, still worried about Sky, but happy we're staying.

"God, what time is it?" She asks looking out the window with a sigh.

"It's about 4:30." I say sadly.

"Okay. Are you gonna go back to bed?" She asks.

"Are you?" I counter.

"No. By the time I fall asleep it'll be time to get up." She says with a shrug, like it's nothing that she's only slept like 3 hours.

"Then no." I say, yawning a little bit. I'm still tired, but she's stressed right now.

"Luke, you're obviously still tired. I'm used to running on half an hour of sleep every two days and going to school, working 3 hours a day, and caring for a family. I got 3 hours and I'm just chilling. This is great. Don't worry about me. You're not used to it. You need sleep. I'll be here when you wake up." She says, stepping closer, taking my hands and looking up at me.

I just nod lightly, too tired to argue. I kiss her forehead and walk slowly back to bed. From the room I can hear her quietly move around before settling on the couch. I'm sure she's reading. I chuckle slightly before falling into the darkness of sleep.

-

Ashton's POV

I settle on the couch after Luke goes back to bed. I'm worried about him. I know his mom's boyfriend is bothering him a lot. He won't talk about it though. He acts as though just because my problems have been going on longer and are "bigger" as he says, that his don't matter.

They do though. They really do. And he's losing sleep for me. I think he feels like I'm his responsibility now. But I'm not. He has his own troubles, but I don't want that.

If my troubles are his, his should be mine.

I rub my temples. This is all stressing me out. And sky's panic attack.

Dear fuck.

The poor girl is following in my footsteps and I'm scared to hell and back.

I hear her up at night tossing and turning. She hasn't said anything to me yet though. I was hoping she would. Yunno? She would trust me with it. But I understand why she hasn't. It's the same reason I never said anything.

"People have their own problems. These are mine. I'll deal with them on my own." That's what's going through her head. I know because that's what I thought. We're both so damn stubborn. So stubborn it might kill us.

Soon I'll have to confront her because I won't let it go to far. I won't let her become like me. I'm to far gone to help, but she's not yet.

So I need to talk to Luke about his mom. I need him to share with me. And I need to talk to Addi about sleeping. I should have a talk with Addi and Jake as well.

I used to have a day a month where I would have private talks with each of them to make sure everything's good, but when my mother ditched and everyone got more stressed, it stopped.

I just have to straighten some shit out. I feel like I've fallen back the past few weeks. I've been too focused on me and I've forgotten about them.

Deep breaths. In. Out. In. Out.

Okay. Mental checklist time.

1. Luke about his mom and about me.
2. Sky about sleep and any other problems.
3. Addi about anything and everything.
4. Jake about anything and everything.
5. Evan for thank yous.
6. Luke's mom about her new boyfriend.

Maybe we should all have dinner. Luke's mom, Luke, her boyfriend, and me. Luke won't tell me anything yet so I don't know if he really is an asshole or if he's just afraid of losing his mom.

Speaking of moms, I need to call my mother. See if she's ever coming back.

Okay. I need my notebook. I walk slowly over to my bag and remove my current book. I have thousands of these things full. I write a lot. And no one reads them.

I take the book and walk back to the couch and begin writing.