calum and michael spent most of the night crying into each other's shoulders.
luke spent most of the night watching over ashton.
ashton spent most of the night reading. he heard michael crying, but his first thought was that he missed his boyfriend. his first thought was not that his dead boyfriend had visited him in the middle of the night to tell him that he was going to protect him. because that's just weird, right?
luke sighed. despite everything that's been happening, ashton looked so peaceful. luke wanted to let ashton know he was there. he wanted to be there for ashton, like calum was there for michael. but he knew he couldn't, not yet anyways.
as he watched silently, he heard a giggle from behind him. luke turned around, smiling down at the young ghost.
"hey, ella."
ella smiled back, "hi luke! what are you doing?"
"looking over ashton, so nothing bad happens to him while he sleeps."
"can i help?" she asked excitedly.
"of course, kiddo."
ella was seven years old. she died four months before ashton moved into the house. she drowned in the tub, when she fell and hit her head, her babysitter thinking nothing of the loud thump. she had curly blonde hair that fell to her waist, always dripping wet. she wandered around the house naked for a while, until luke found her old clothes in the basement. ella was like luke's little sister, he always wanted to see her smile and laugh.
"so what do we do?" ella asked.
"we just watch him," the older ghost answered.
"that's boring," she huffed, walking out of the room.
luke chuckled, shaking his head. he was smiling until her heard crying from downstairs. he sighed again, taking one last glance at ashton before making his way downstairs. there, he found ella stomping her feet angrily. "it's not fair, uriah! give it back!"
luke walked over, taking the teddy bear from uriah's hand and giving it back to ella.
"really, uriah?" he asked.
uriah smirked, "she's such a baby."
"she's seven, you idiot. you're fourteen, act like it."
"yeah," ella muttered into the stuffed animal's fur.
"oh shut u-"
"hey!" luke interrupted. "none of that."
"you aren't my dad," uriah retorted.
"no, but i'm the oldest."
"calum is the oldest."
"calum doesn't count. he's new."
uriah scoffed, his body shooting upwards into the ceiling, disappearing upstairs. luke turned to ella, "you okay?"
she nodded, still holding her teddy close to her chest. "uriah is mean."
luke sat down on the couch, ella immediately jumping up and sitting on his lap. "uriah just had a tough life, kiddo. he doesn't mean it. and i know it doesn't seem like it, but he likes you more than he likes me."
uriah died in the house a year before luke had. his dad threw him down the stairs, not unusual, considering that his dad came home drunk almost every night, then leaving again to wander the streets. uriah usually mustered the strength to get to the phone and call his best friend, but this one time, he was too tired, too sick of his dad. so he stayed there, closing his eyes, and dying. he really was a sweet kid on the inside, with soft brown hair and light green eyes. he did care about ella, like luke said. he wanted to keep her safe. but god, could she be annoying.
uriah decided to apologize, so he went downstairs to see ella asleep on the couch, her teddy bear close to her side. he sighed, leaning down and kissing the young ghost's head. "goodnight, weirdo."
luke smiled, seeing the whole thing. he made his way upstairs to check on ashton, his eyes widening when he saw the sleeping boy. nothing was unusual about him, except that he was floating two feet above his bed, blanket still draped over him. and when luke got closer, he noticed ashton's eyes were open. he got slower, and noticed that the irises and whites of his eyes were no longer green and white. his eyes were no longer beautifully bright and calming, but were now an eery, unnerving black. ashton's mouth opened, then snapped shut again. he seemed to struggle, but opened his mouth again, and painfully whispered two words.
"help me."
-
lol bye
