Luke's Pov
I sat on the ground in front of him and said, "What's going on Ash? Are you okay?"
He wouldn't look at me. I said, "Calum, Michael. Get over here." They both ran over to me and said, "What's going on?"
"I don't know. I need Crys and Laura. Maybe they know what's wrong with him." Cal said, "I'll get them in here. I'll be right back."
He ran out of the room and I tried to get Ash to snap out of whatever trance he was in. I grabbed his hands and they were so tense. Michael said, "Did anything happen that would've upset him?"
"No. Not that I know of. He was sitting over here while I got my hair done and then when I came over here, I found him like this."
Cal came running in with Crystal and Laura and Crys said, "What happened?" "I-I don't know. He was fine literally 10 minutes ago. He was my Ash. He was his old self."
"Luke, calm down. It's okay. Ash. Sweetie. I need you to snap out of it and tell me what's going on. C'mon." He still wouldn't budge.
I said, "Crystal. What's wrong with him?" "I don't know Luke. Was there anything here that might've triggered his PTSD?"
"N-Not that I know of." "Give me his phone."
I grabbed his phone that was right next to him and unlocked it. Crys said, "I think I found what triggered this... His dad texted him."
"HIS FUCKING DAD TEXTED HIM??" Mikey grabbed my arms and said, "Dude. Calm down."
"How the fuck do you expect me to calm down? All this man has done is screw with Ashton's life. And now he decides to fucking text him? This is not fucking okay." "I know dude. But you need to calm down. When Ash snaps out of this, he's going to need you to be calm and help him through this."
I took the phone from Crystal and read the text. I was so close to throwing the phone, but I knew I couldn't do that. It's Ash's phone. He needs it.
Crys said, "Luke. Deep breaths. Center yourself." I sat next to Ash and said,"Why would he do this to him Crys? How could he say these things to his fucking son?"
"I know it's terrible Luke. But we need to work on making sure Ashton's okay. That's the important thing right now."
She got down in front of him and grabbed his hands. She said, "Ash. Sweetie. I know it's hard, but I really need you to snap out of it. Just come back to us. Everything's going to be okay."
I felt his body relax and he fell into me crying. I said, "Shhh. Baby it's okay. I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere." I nodded and Crystal and she walked off with everyone else.
"Ashy. Just breathe. It's okay. I'm right here." He gripped onto me so tight, I could feel his nails digging into my skin. I rubbed his back and tried to get him to calm down.
After about 10 minutes, he had finally calmed down enough to talk. I wiped his tears and he said, "Why would he say that stuff to me?"
"I don't know Ash. He's a horrible man." "Luke, I-I don't know if I can go out there tonight."
"That's okay baby. If you can't go out there, we can use the backup drummer. We will just tell the fans that you aren't feeling well." "I-I don't w-wanna l-let them down."
"You're not letting anyone down baby. You can't overwork your body, and if you think you aren't strong enough to do this, that's okay." "C-Can I try?"
"It's up to you baby. I can't make that decision for you. If you wanna try, you can. If you don't feel up to it, that's okay too." "I-I wanna try."
"Okay Ash. Go over to Lou and get her to touch up your hair and see if she can make you look a little less like you just cried, alright baby?" "Come with me."
"Okay baby." I got him up and went over to Lou's station. She said, "Lucas! I told you not to mess up either of you guys's hair."
"It's not like I chose to do it Lou. It's not what you think." Ash said, "I just, um, I just had a bad moment. Can you fix my hair and um make my face look better."
She said, "Of course Ash." She got him all fixed up and then I got him to eat some more and drink some water. Mikey came over to us and said, "How's everything over here?"
I said, "We're good over here. It was just a rough moment." "Is he performing?"
Ash said, "I'm gonna try." "Sweet. We need to get back there soon." We both nodded and he went back over to Crystal.
Ash laid his head on my shoulder and said, "Do you think the fans will notice I'm not drinking anymore?" "As long as we put your water, or whatever non-alcoholic drink you want in a red solo cup, I don't think they'll be the wiser."
"O-Okay." Stage crew came and got us and we went backstage. They got us set up with our earpieces and everything and I said, "Ash, you sure you're okay to go out there baby?"
"Y-Yeah." I could see he was sweating a little bit. I took his jacket off of him and said, "How about we stick with just the tank top tonight baby. You still look badass."
"Yeah. That's probably a good idea." I kissed him and said, "I'll be keeping an eye on you. If you can't do it anymore, let me know. Just give me a look or mouth something."
"I got it." Soon we went out on stage and halfway through the show we took a quick break to change into clothes that weren't so sweaty.
I went over to Ash and said, "How ya feeling baby?" "I'm okay. But I don't think I'll be able to do the meet-and-greet."
"We'll play it by ear, okay baby?" He nodded. I wiped the sweat off his forehead and helped him change shirts. The crew got him a water and he chugged it pretty quick.
"I'm gonna try to do more talking in this set so you can get more water between drumming." "Thank you babe."
Cal came over to us and said, "We almost ready boys?" We both nodded. I helped Ash get up and said, "You're positive you can finish the set?" He nodded.
We put our earpieces in and went back on stage. An hour and a half later we finished the show and I could tell Ash was on the verge of passing out. Once we got offstage I ran over to him and helped him back to the dressing room. As soon as we got there he threw up in the trash can.
"Ash. Why didn't you tell me you needed to get off stage?" "I-I didn't want to upset the fans."
I rubbed his back and he threw up some more. "Just breathe Ash. It'll be over soon."
Once he finished throwing up, I got him over to the couch and got him a damp towel. I wiped off his mouth and dabbed the towel on his forehead. I got him a water and he drank the bottle pretty quickly. The guys came in and Cal said, "You guys okay?"
"We're good now. Ash just overworked himself." "Are you guys up for the meet and greet?"
I looked at Ash and he said, "I can do it. How long is this one?" I said, "I think an hour or an hour and a half."
"I'll see how long I can do." "Okay baby. If you need to get out of there, just tell Crys or Laura and they will get you out of there, okay?" He nodded.
I got Ash up and we went to the room where the meet-and-greet was being held. Before we knew it, the room was filled with fans. I kept looking over at Ash to make sure he was okay. After about an hour and a half, the meet-and-greet was finally over. We got back to the bus and Ash basically fell on the bed. I said, "Baby. I know you're tired but you need to shower and get into your pajamas."
"Can you just give me a bath instead? I'm so tired." "Sure baby."
I got him off the bed and got him in the bathroom. I sat him on the toilet and started the bath. I swear, these boys are treating us so well. We're the only people with a bathtub. Once the tub was full, I helped Ash in and started to clean him up. Once he was clean I helped him out of the tub and got him dressed. I got him over to bed and he was basically already asleep. I kissed his forehead and tucked him in.
I left him there and went in the bathroom and took a shower. I put on a pair of sweatpants and went back in the room. I laid next to Ash and he cuddled into me. I ran my fingers through his hair and I could feel his body relax. I scrolled through my phone for a little bit and soon I was asleep.