Seventeen

10

"No," Michael says without hesitation. "I already love the baby, I want it. Of course I do, it's part of you. But you know Nine hates you- he's going to hate it even more when he learns he's not the youngest anymore- and Twenty still wants to kill you. I don't know what they'll do and- Ashton, getting rid of the baby is the best option."

Ashton curls his hands around his small tummy, through the big sweatshirt, almost instinctively. "What about adoption?"

Michael shakes his head and takes another drink while thunder continues to roll outside. "It's inside of you. As long as it's there, I might- they might- try to hurt you, and the baby. I just want you to be safe."

Ashton makes a small gasping noise, pulling his hands tighter around the visible bump. "Michael, I-" he cuts off and shakes his head. Michael throws his head back to finish the beer, then turns to look at his smaller boyfriend. Ashton's got his feet on the edge of the coffee table, spread wide, and his arms crossed over his belly. He looks up when Michael looks down and they make eye contact for the first time in probably a week.

Ashton's hazel eyes are glazed over with tears, but Michael doesn't know if he's allowed to touch him, yet. "Michael, I want this baby. Really bad."

Michael stares at him blankly for a few seconds. He understands why Ashton wants to keep it, but it hurts that Ashton would chose the baby over his own health and Michael's sanity. He turns back to the storm rolling in outside and Ashton let's out a quiet noise, similar to a dry sob.

"Ashton," Michael says softly, vision flickering and turning the clouds above a bland shade of blue. "I need you to leave."

"No," Ashton cries, grabbing Michael's forearm and digging his fingers into the skin. "No, please, can we just talk about this, I-"

"Ashton," Michael replies sharply, shutting him up and making Ashton flinch. "We can talk about it later, but I need you to go, now."

Ashton whimpers and scratches his blunt nails into Michael's arm. "No, no-"

"I'm about to-" Michael cuts off, not really sure of how to explain it. His heart is pounding in his chest, slamming against his ribs in a way that makes a ball of anxiety crawl up his throat. His vision is flickering with shades of blue, and there's a black curtain circling the outer edge of his vision, slowly squeezing inward. He uses his free hand to gently pry Ashton off of him. "I'm not going to be me in a few minutes, Ash, I need you to leave."

Ashton's eyes flick up at that, but Michael focuses on prying Ashton's fingers off his arm. "Please let me stay," Ashton whispers. It thunders outside again and Michael shakes his head. "Please, let me talk to them, I just want to- let me reason with them, please."

"No," Michael says firmly. It's a weird, feeling, knowing he's being overtaken in his own body. He knows it's not Twenty, because he controls them, and not Nine, because their aura is usually red. Seventeen was just out (painting a coat of white straight over Ashton's portrait) so he doubts it's her. He doesn't know what this is, but he knows he's slowly being forced to give up control of his own body.

Ashton finally pops off, but instantly starts scrambling to grab hold of Michael again. Michael shoves him back by the shoulder and Ashton cries out like it hurt (really, Michael's being gentle). "Please," he cries, reaching for Michael again.

"Ashton, no," Michael hisses. His vision is still closing in and he can feel himself start to get weaker, slipping away with every second that goes by. Ashton is relentless, and Michael rubs out of energy quickly.

He slumps forward, cheek pressed against Ashton's shoulder, and let's the darkness reach his mind.

☆☆☆☆

"He's what?" Calum demands, flickering his eyes around the room carefully. Ashton's on one couch in Seventeen's studio with a bowl of fruit in his lap. Luke falls onto the couch next to Ashton and reaches for the fruit, only to get slapped away. He quickly reroutes and pushes his hand up Ashton's sweater to feel across the little bump of a tummy.

"I don't know," Ashton replies as he chews happily on some pineapple. "It's hard- he said someone was overtaking him, so I thought it was Seventeen or Nine or Twenty, but he just asked what I wanted to eat, went to the store, and now he's..." Ashton trails off and looks over to where Michael's crouching next to the wall. His stance doesn't make him look closed off and unapproachable, so Calum risks it and strolls over.

When he gets close enough, he asks, "What are you doing?"

Michael- or whoever is using his body- looks up and smiles. It's different than anything Calum's ever seen before, not the tight lipped smile that Michael usually gives him, not the giddy grin that Nine uses, and not the gleeful smile that Seventeen had sent his way. It's a strange sort of happy greeting, face soft and open, and Calum feels warm inside at the expression.

"Baby proofing," he says proudly, gesturing to the electrical socket in front of him, now plugged with clear protectors. Calum raises his eyebrows curiously at that, because none of Michael's Personalities should care about the baby. This is weird. Luckily, he stands up and holds his hand out like they're just meeting. "Calum, right? Michael talks about you a lot."

"Right," Calum pushes his hand into this man's and allows his knuckles to be squeezed and shaken appropriately. "And who might you be?"

"I'm Twenty Five," he announces. "That's kind of a mouthful, so you can call me Raven for short."

"Raven," Calum echoes. He drops his hand and nods at the electrical covers approvingly. "Can I ask why you're doing that?"

Raven laughs, like it's a big joke, and starts walking towards the couches and coffee table. Outside, the rain is finally letting out and the sun has started to drift through the windows, shining on Luke and Ashton. Raven bends down in front of Ashton and grabs Luke's wrist, then pulls it away from the smaller boy carefully. His hands cover Ashton's tummy through the sweatshirt and looks up to Calum with a smile.

"I need to make sure my baby's safe," he hums. Ashton's cheeks flush pink, so Raven's green eyes flick to him and his smile softens fondly. His hands drift up and cup Ashton's sharp jaw gently, so he can lean in and place a kiss on Ashton's forehead. "I'm going to keep you both safe, okay?" He whispers.

Calum stands back and watches them slowly, frowning when Ashton nods. Calum's hands find Luke's shoulders from where he's standing behind the couch and squeeze tightly, but Luke doesn't even flinch. "Twenty Five. Raven. Not to be rude, but where did you come from?"

Raven taps at his blue hair. "Michael didn't think he could be a daddy, so he created me."

"You," Calum echoes slowly, piecing everything together. "The daddy."

"Yep," Raven responds to Calum, despite how he's smiling directly at Ashton to make the smaller boy flush pink. Calum feels his head spinning a little at that. Ashton likes him of course he does, but Raven might not be the best thing. Michael should be raising his baby, not a personality.

"Can I?" Luke's hand inches back over. Michael- Raven- nods at him, so Luke shoves his hand back up Ashton's sweater to pet at his soft tummy again.

Calum stares at the three of them and wonders when they'll realize Raven might be the worst personality Michael has.