AN: Hey friends! Ellena here. I just wanted to put this little message up here as a trigger warning because this chapter does talk about depression/suicide, but it's not an intention to leave suggestive thoughts for this is all for the sake of the story's plot and character development. If you are sensitive to that stuff you can totally skip over the part that discusses it (so I would suggest skipping over the scene of Ashton in his hotel room – you'll know when you see it). Other than that I have to say this chapter is pretty fucked up but by now I'm assuming you're all into that kinda shit considering you have read this entire story up to this point. Enjoy :D
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It was past midnight by the time Zach was settled into his hotel room for the night, finally alone and away from the rest of his crazy band. After walking in on his bandmates' heated argument earlier, Zach had spent a good hour or two trying to consolidate Luke, who had quickly broken down into tears as soon as he was far enough away from Ashton.
He knew what the argument had been about. Even if he couldn't have clearly heard every word they were yelling from down the hall, Zach still would've been able to guess Ashton and Luke were fighting about Michael. They always seemed to fight about Michael, even to this day.
In some ways, Zach was pretty tired of it. He knows its not respectful of him to feel that way, but sometimes he can't help it. It seems as though every conversation somehow finds a way to be about Michael. Of course he feels bad about what happened...but it happened over 4 years ago. He just wishes his bandmates could accept it and move on.
Maybe then they'd all be happy for once. When Zach first joined the band, he was at the height of his life. He felt like he was on top of the world. However, he fell just as quickly as he rose; within just a few months Zach could understand why producers avoid this band and why Michael probably ran away while he could. There was something about fame and fortune that ruins everybody who's in the industry in some way, shape, or form, but even Zach could tell these three boys had been plagued the worst.
Zach avoids them as much as possible. At this point he's just trying to make it by with the little fans the band still had left. After Zach joined, a lot of them gave up on 5 Seconds of Summer. He got a lot of shit for 'replacing' Michael, though that was never his intention. In some ways, Zachary wished he never did.
With a heavy sigh Zach flopped down on his bed and stared up at the ceiling, thinking. His mind was spinning with so many thoughts at once: Why does his band hate each other so much? What was he still doing with them? And, most importantly, why did he agree to check into this place?
Zach was aware of what hotel this was. This is the place where Michael Clifford apparently disappeared back in 2015. And if he didn't flee the country like Luke is convinced he did, then this might just be the place where he died.
His room was spooky. The light in the bathroom kept flickering on and off, and there were cold breezes constantly running up and down his arms. Zach almost wished he was rooming with one of his crazy bandmates just so he wouldn't be completely alone in this place. He kept feeling as though something very, very bad was going to happen.
To shake those feelings off, Zach sat up and looked across the room, luckily spotting a tray of alcohol sitting on his dresser. He wasn't sure if it had been there just a few minutes ago, but he was too tired to question it. Zach got up and walked over to it, flipping over the decorative tag that was attached to the top of a bottle of wine. Somebody had written a small, personalized message on it.
Free of charge. Enjoy your stay. X
- M
Zach titled his head and stared at the bottle in confusion. Had he seen it earlier this evening? Or did somebody drop it off in his room while he was down in the lobby? Either way, Zach couldn't pass up free alcohol, so he popped the bottle open and poured himself a glass.
