A/N: the gif I'm laughing

ASHTON

I've imagined this moment probably a thousand times in my head, but now that it's happening, I have no idea what to do.

Calum sits in the passenger seat of my car, curled up against the window and hiding his face in his hands. His shoulders are shaking and a few sniffles leave him, and I'm not sure whether touching him would be comforting or annoying. So I sit in the driver's seat and drive to the other side of town where my house is, glancing at him occasionally and silently panicking.

After the whole scene with Luke, I brought Calum to my car and drove him away, but I wasn't expecting him to start sobbing right as we left. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but it certainly wasn't that.

My heart breaks for him. I know he put every ounce of courage left in his bones into the last few minutes, and now everything has shattered like glass around him, and he's stepping in the shards with bare feet.

I pull into my neighborhood, a group of run down houses that the Hemmings would probably spit at if they saw. I nervously drive until I get to my house, a small two bedroom house with red bricks, only one floor. And it's not like that one floor is that lovely either. I'm suddenly embarrassed as I park on the curb, looking at my yard, patches of dirt and overgrown weeds passing as grass.

Calum lifts his head when he feels the car stop, and I see teardrops stuck in his eyelashes.

"This is my house," I say lamely, and Calum looks at the building with an expressionless face. "I know it's not nice, but-- it's all I can afford right now."

Calum doesn't say anything, but he doesn't get out and start running away either, so I take it as a good sign. I pull out the keys and hop out of the truck, rounding the car and opening the door for Calum. He slowly gets out, looking as small as I've ever seen him as he wraps his arms around himself.

We start walking up to the front door, Calum occasionally bumping into me and mumbling apologies, and me saying "It's okay," way too many times and way too loud to be smooth. Once we get to the front door, I fumble with my keys to unlock it while Calum stands behind me, staring down at his feet. I open the door carefully, and I hold the door open as Calum walks inside.

I leave the lights off as to not irritate Calum's concussion, but I lift the blinds on the windows so enough light is filtered in to see where you are going.

"It's not very impressive, but..." I trail off, watching Calum look around with wide eyes. I shrug a little. "It's home."

It's not that my home isn't nice, because I think it is. But everything Calum has had has been extravagantly expensive and beautiful, and my house definitely doesn't quality for that. I have plain fabric-covered couches and bar stools I got for sale at some home store, and I have a flat-screen television that you would think is nice until you turn it on and realize it's got horrible quality and has to be years, many years old. And Calum certainly is not used to that.

But when I look to Calum, he's smiling. "I love it."

I blink. "Oh. Good. Good, I'm glad." I quickly dart forward and grab some cups and plates lying around, dumping them in the sink with red cheeks. The only people I've had over is my family, and I've never felt the need to clean up for them.

Calum sits down on the couch, tucking his knees under his chin. He looks sad and small and miserable, so I inch my way over to him. I sit down beside him, not too close to be uncomfortable, but close enough to let him know that I'm there, and I exhale heavily.

Calum blinks away some tears. "I still love him," he says. He wipes his eyes. "I don't want to. But I do."

I stay quiet, afraid of saying something wrong. Calum looks at me, big brown eyes shiny with tears. "I know you probably find that insane. But it's just-- Luke was the first person who gave me any attention. Ever. My family never did that, nobody from school ever did that. And then I met Luke, and he went out of his way to care for me, and--" he stops. "I still love him for that."

It makes sense, his explanation. But it doesn't hurt any less. The thought of people being rude to Calum, and the thought of the boy having to deal with that and grow used to it his entire life makes me want to break down and cry.

"He didn't get... angry until after I moved in with him," Calum says, and I see him run his neck where the necklace once was. "And, Ashton." He turns to me and gives a mixed look of sadness and gratefulness. "I didn't realize there was anything wrong with that until I met you."

"Calum..." I trail off, not knowing exactly what to say. The boy hugs his knees closer to his body and smiles.

"I'm sorry. I'm rambling. I just-- I need to tell you all of that so I don't have to later," he says. The boy lets his eyes close, and he leans against the pillows.

I swallow roughly and say, "You didn't deserve anything Luke did to you. None of it, alright?"

Calum doesn't open his eyes. He doesn't do anything but move his head just the littlest bit, so I try and take that as a nod. I lean back and cross my arms, staring at the dimly lit room around us and trying to think of what the right thing to do is.

"Thank you for letting me stay here, Ash," Calum says softly, and then he yawns. When I offered he could stay with me in the car, he had nodded but he hadn't said anything else, so I'm relieved to hear his words.

"Of course," I say, and I take notice to how tired he is. "Do you want to get some sleep? It's getting a bit late."

Which it isn't, really, but the poor boy has been in the hospital for the past few days and had the most terrifying experience of his life standing up to his fiancé and then breaking it off. I can't imagine how tired and sad he must feel.

Calum opens his bloodshot eyes, and I see the dark circles under them. "Yes, please."

So I take him up to the guest bedroom, the only room in the house that is perfectly organized and untouched. I grab a pair of pajama pants and a t-shirt of mine for Calum to sleep in, considering every time Calum looks at something that reminds him of the blonde, he looks like he wants to start crying, suitcase included. I leave the room so he can change, staring at the wall in the hallway in silence.

Once he's done, I go back in and make sure he's well situated in bed. I can't help but think about how tiny he looks, all bundled up with only his eyes and nose peeking out from the covers.

"Sleep well, Calum," I say gently, and turn around to walk out of the room.

I'm slipping through the doorway when I hear Calum call out, "Wait, Ashton."

I look back at him, and I can see his bright brown eyes through the darkness of the room, wide and as pure as ever. He lifts a hand to me before letting it drop back on the comforter. "Can you-- can you stay? Please?"

I freeze, staring at him in surprise. He looks honest enough, looking at me with all of his guards down, and I realize just how fragile he is in this moment, shed free of everything he's ever known and loved, leaving just a shell of a broken boy behind. He looks like he might start crying any minute if I don't say yes.

"Okay," I say quickly, and I move carefully over to him before he pats the spot beside him on the bed. My heart beat is loud enough to wake up all my neighbors as I round the bed, climbing under the covers and laying beside Calum.

"I'm sorry," he says, his voice sounding heartbroken. I can hardly see him through the darkness of the room. "I just really, really hate sleeping alone."

"It's fine," I say gently. "I'm here."

For a few moments, it's just Calum's steady breathing in the room, and then he rolls over and presses his nose against my chest, curling his hands against his own and closing his eyes, his feet touching mine. I stay as still as I can, not wanting to disturb him. It's like having a butterfly land on your hand, knowing very well you could hurt it with a single flick of your wrist, and wanting to do everything in your power to keep it safe.

The warmth of his body envelopes us both, and I find myself feeling more at ease than I've ever felt in my life. I slowly let my eyes flutter shut, listening to Calum's even breaths and the distant sound of crickets singing out into the night.

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A/N: when the main ship doesn't even start til 21 chapters in

yall are patient as hell

I hope ya'll liked the character ask! hopefully you're excited for the cashton portion of the story coming up and glad LUKE is gone haha woo

Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it. Please vote & comment your thoughts.

I love you to the moon.

-Grace