control - muke

Chapter 26

"Ashton, hey, Ashton," Luke begged. "Please stop, you've had too much to drink and you're scaring Michael."

"Whatever," Ashton scoffed, laughing at himself. But the others weren't finding it quite so humorous.

They were celebrating, so whenever Ashton asked for another drink, they complied. Why wouldn't they? The past few months had been a traumatic ordeal for all of them, and they were finally all learning to live like ordinary people.

Ashton, however, was proving to be a difficult drunk. He would've been hard to keep in check in any circumstance, but all of them, including Michael, had had a little to drink and so none of them were entirely steady on their feet. 

Basically, when Ashton started kicking off, everything fell into chaos.

Luke had had a really awful day, more so than the others, so he wasn't prepared to back down from any fight. Ashton had been fairly out of control from the minute they'd broken him out, and maybe that's just how he is as a person. But part of the blond believed he wasn't wholly sane, and that meant he could still be saved.

Michael gripped onto Luke's arm, burying his nails into his skin, as Ashton stumbled forward. Ben managed to intervene and catch the falling boy, pulling him back up onto his feet but making sure to keep a firm hold on his shoulders. "I think it's time to take you home, buddy."

Ben acted like a child whenever he felt like it, but at heart he took his responsibilities as a big brother very seriously - and now he had three more younger siblings to worry about. Ashton wasn't going to do anything stupid because he'd taken a liking to alcohol, Ben wouldn't allow it.

Ashton shoved Ben away, and he landed with his back on an empty table. Cursing loudly, the eldest Hemmings brother climbed back to his feet at the same moment that Luke threw himself forward.

He'd been aiming to smack him in the face, but Ashton threw his head back at the last minute and Luke fell to the ground. Had the situation been different, his brothers would've laughed at him and called him names, but when Luke climbed back up to his feet to try again, Jack slid his body between the two boys.

"He'll be nursing a pretty horrific hangover tomorrow, just leave him alone. That'll be punishment enough."

Luke rolled his eyes, wanting to argue but knowing that it wouldn't get him anywhere. So, instead, he allowed Ben and Jack to grab Ashton by each of his arms and drag him out the side door, and then followed them with Michael and Calum. 

Michael was still shaking a little - he'd always been scared of Ashton, and this certainly didn't help. But at the same time, he didn't really know what to think. The others had all had experiences with alcohol, and although Michael had only had one pint, it had gone straight to his head and he didn't feel quite right.

He didn't feel like himself - not that he ever did - and he hated it. More so than usual.

There were too many of them to bundle into one taxi, so they ordered two, and that eased the tension a little. Jack and Ben took Ashton, leaving the other three together, which none of them were unhappy about. Even Calum, who was probably closest to Ashton of all of them, didn't trust him drunk.

However, something else just had to go wrong.

The driver of the second taxi took a left when he should've turned right, so arrived at the flat a half hour or so after the first. When Luke and the others entered the living room, which in honesty was pretty much the whole of the flat anyway, they found Ashton sat at the dining table with a mug full of steaming coffee in his hands and his head hung with shame.

"Everything okay?" Calum asked nervously, staying firmly rooted in his place behind the blond.

Jack smiled. "It will be."

And with that, everyone went in their separate directions. Michael whispered to Luke that he had a headache and wanted to sleep, Calum went to the bathroom and Jack the kitchen.

Luke was about to slide into the seat behind Ashton, when Ben clamped a hand on his shoulder. "Don't be mad at him. We know not to get him drunk again, but he's just as lost as you right now. I think he's feeling guilty enough already, don't push him over the edge."

"You never had any faith in me," Luke sighed. "I can talk to my friend without losing my temper."

"Like you did earlier? Sorry, just, don't screw this up." Ben nodded at him approvingly and left to join Jack, leaving Luke and Ashton alone together.

"I'm sorry," Ashton mumbled into his hands, "I'm so sorry."

Luke took the chair apposite him and smiled as genuinely as he could. It wasn't fake at all, but something as simple as smiling wasn't exactly an easy task for the blond anymore. "It's good, Ash. I know you didn't mean it. How are you feeling?"

"Like I've been run over by a truck. Repeatedly. Jack said the coffee would help, but I don't know. Maybe I deserve it."

"That's not true. None of u-" Luke paused, before correcting himself. "You don't deserve any of this, and I'm sorry that I haven't been there for you when you needed me."

Ashton frowned, forcing eye contact. "You can't be there for everyone, Luke, that's not your job. You got us all out of this, we're here because of you, you've done enough."

"But he was my dad. I helped him with everything he was doi-"

"Not willingly," Ashton interrupted. "Stop, please, you can't keep blaming yourself for all of this. I don't blame you, and I know the others don't either, because it isn't your fault."

"I just wish I could believe that."

"It will come with time," Ashton promised, and was proud of himself for being strong - advice was never one of his strengths. "It will."

Luke smiled. "I hope you're right."

"As long as you have hope, you'll be fine," Calum said, drying his hands on a towel before ruffling Ashton's hair. "We all will be."

~~~~~~~

A/n: I'm so damn sorry for this taking ages and mostly being a filler, but my life is super chaotic right now

Anyway, I just wanted you all to see that Ashton isn't a bad character, he's just dealing with everything a little differently to the others

Hope this was okay xx