lost without you {5sos au}

fifteen

so i know it doesn't snow in Australia, but i have way too many snow scenes in my brain. perks of living in MN. dedicated to CalviLindsay  (what timezone are you?) and hugsnkissesclifford

"January is just so depressing," I sigh, staring out Michael's bedroom window. The Christmas lights are gone, the sparkling snow has turned grey, and the joy of the holidays is over.

"February is pretty bad too," Michael says from his bed. He's lying under the covers watching Shameless. His mom says that's all he's done the past three days. "Let's just fast forward to March."

"No, to summer," I sit beside him.

"Yeah, summer would be nice. I need some vitamin D."

"You okay, Mikey?"

"Yeah. You okay?"

"Yeah," I say softly, resting my head on his shoulder. It's incredibly hot in his room, and he's still under the covers.

Mrs. Clifford calls us down for dinner and, of course, Arzaylea's there too. Clifford family dinners are my thing! She's currently telling the table this annoying story about how she bought a pair of shoes in the city and saw Charlize Theron buying the exact same pair.

Ashton catches my eye and crosses his eyes. I wipe my mouth with my napkin so Arzaylea doesn't see me smiling. My smile quickly fades, however, when I see Michael just pushing his food around on his plate. It's spaghetti, his favourite food.

Mrs. Clifford notices too, because she frowns and says "Mike, don't play with your food. Eat."

"I'm not that hungry," he mumbles, but takes a bite anyway. Mr and Mrs. Clifford exchange a look.

"Not hungry for spaghetti? That's not like you," Mr. Clifford looks at him with concern. "Do you want mom to make you something else? Or we could order in something."

Michael just shakes his head. "I'm not hungry for anything. Can I be excused?"

"Of course," Mrs. Clifford sighs. "Let me know if you want anything to eat later, okay?"

It's so silent at the table that we can hear Michael walking up the stairs. Ashton gets up. "I'm done too," he takes his plate into the kitchen.

No one really has an appetite after that.

-o-

"Miss Winter, there is someone at the door for you," Missy pokes her head into my room while I'm trying to do my History homework.

I shut my laptop and make my way downstairs. "Oh! Hey!" I'm surprised to find Ashton standing in the foyer.

"Hey. Sorry to just show up like this. You busy?"

"Uh, no. What's up?"

"Do you want to do something?" he asks. He looks tired.

"Sure. Um, have anything in mind?"

"Not really," Ashton shrugs. "I just didn't want to be in my house."

"Gotcha," I murmur, following him outside to his car. Things must be bad at home. I'll have to call Michael when I get home.

We drive aimlessly around town, not talking. Some annoying Selena Gomez song plays softly on the radio. I'm tempted to turn it up just to see if Ashton will say anything. He doesn't. He just drives and smokes what I think is his third cigarette.