((YOOOOOOOO so I'm pretty sure most of you know Sophie/Soapy aka fivesecondsofsheeran ?? Like who doesn't, bae af, but she has like a super good voice and a super good face and you should watch her sing. Because I love her and you should too.

Video on top or at the side!

-Mel))

The hotel room door swings open and slams against the wall, making Michael let out a string of curse words and annoyed mumbles. Ashton cringes and grips tighter to Calum's shirt at the sound.

"Shit, sorry, we're back!" Luke announces, like they didn't already know. Calum rolls his eyes and shifts a bit to see what they're doing. He's sitting on one of the beds, leaning against the headboard, with Ashton completely gathered up in his lap. He's burying his face in Calum's shirt to avoid making eye contact with anyone.

Michael and Luke are stopped at the foot of the bed, just watching them closely. Michael's got blood staining his shirt and pale skin, with a small piece of metal taped to his nose. There's tissues shoved up both of his nostrils, which makes Calum want to laugh, but now is probably not the time.

"His nose is broken," Luke jerks a thumb in Michael's direction but doesn't take his eyes off Ashton. Ashton tenses and pushes into Calum's shirt even further.

"Does my broken nose make me look manly?" Michael wiggles his eyebrows and grins, then grimaces at the pain in his face. He brings his hands up and sets them on his cheekbones, right next to his nose, with a pout. "Okay, smiling hurts. Luke, add that to the list of things I can't do."

"Should I put it before or after 'get into fights'?" Luke rolls his eyes.

"That was so not a fight!" Michael scoffs. "That was me protecting my best friend and the brutal retaliation!"

Ashton's back heaves slightly before Luke can respond, and he makes a muffled sort of screaming noise into Calum's shirt. It brings his attention to the way Ashton's shaking and cringing into his chest. Calum gives the other two a helpless look, because this is the third time Ashton's started crying since they left the club, and Calum's not sure what to say to comfort him anymore.

"I'm going to change and then we'll talk," Michael informs them, glancing down at his bloodstained clothes. Ashton sobs loudly and Michael frowns at him, twisting his mouth in consideration. "Cal, where's your bag?" He asks after a short pause. Calum jerks his chin towards it to avoid petting go of Ashton.

While Michael and Luke change out of their blood stained club clothes and into Calum's sweatpants, Calum rubs his hand up and down Ashton's spine slowly, in the most comforting way possible. He sets his chin on top of Ashton's head in order to tuck the boy even closer, then shuts his eyes lightly. Ashton moves to sob into his neck and grip the edges of the shirt on his waist tightly, like he's trying to get as close as physically possible.

The bed dips and Ashton flinches with a sharp gasp, wet lips dragging across Calum's throat and fingers gripping his sides tighter. Calum squirms slightly, flinging his eyes open and looking over at Michael, who's perched on the edge of the side of the bed, watching them curiously. Like he doesn't know how to approach them or comfort Ashton.

Luke crawls into bed on the other side and lays right next to Calum, hitching his leg up and booking his thigh over Calum's feet. He sets his head next to Calum and pushes his nose against Calum's hip gently. one of his hands reaches forward and tangles into the soft fabric of Calum's sweatpants.

"Okay," he says quietly, after situating himself. "Let's chat."

Ashton makes a watery wheezing noise and shakes his head almost frantically. Calum almost wants to forgo talking and just hold Ashton until he feels better.

Michael frowns and crawls a bit closer, still keeping his distance and staring at Ashton nervously.

"Ashton got felt up," Luke deadpans, because Luke is honest and straightforward and probably wants to get this conversation over as much as the rest of them. "It was shitty and I hope that guy dies in jail, but there's nothing we can do about it now. Ash, how do you feel?"

Ashton's shoulders slump even more when he realizes Luke is addressing him. He huffs and sniffles a bit, then mumbles, "Michael got his nose broken and it's my fault."

"It's my fault," Michael says before Calum can even protest. "I don't drink enough milk, I have brittle bones, like a bird." Ashton seems unconvinced in the empty silence that follows, so Michael continues. "Besides, I could have, like, asked him politely to stop harassing you. Or gotten a guard like Luke had. Or really anything, but my first instinct was to protect you. My immediate reaction when seeing you in a bad situation, was to roll up my sleeves and take one for the team, because you needed help. I'd do the same thing a million times over if I had to."

It's quiet for a few seconds, and then Ashton's gritting his teeth and spitting out, "But I put myself in that position, I chose to give that guy attention, I chose to let him touch me instead of running when I had the chance, I-"

"Ash, that was his fault," Michael cuts him off. " That was completely his fault, and he was a huge piece of shit. He chose to put you in that bad position, even though you were clearly uncomfortable, and he chose to continue advancing. None of this is your fault, and don't ever think it is."

Ashton swings and arm out suddenly, which makes Michael flinch a little like Ashton's going to hit him (again). He wraps his arm around Michael's neck and then tugs him forward until he can successfully climb off of Calum and onto Michael.

Michael looks startled by the sudden affection that he doesn't usually get from Ashton, but he wraps his arms around Ashton's waist anyways, setting his chin on top of Ashton's head and humming in approval. Calum would probably feel cold now that Ashton's gone, but Luke's still plastered to his side and keeps slowly inching closer and closer. Calum gives it two minutes before he's got a lapful of Luke.

"I know I don't say this a lot, but I love you," Ashton announces. "I love you guys. Or girls or whatever you are, I love you."

Calum smiles and Michael presses a kiss to the top of Ashton's head for all three of them.

••••

Calum's laying on the floor in utter despair when Luke walks in, steps over him, and continues onto the fridge. Calum hadn't expected anything less, honestly.

Luke's wearing a cute black skirt with a blue flannel shirt tucked into it, which gives Calum a chance to look up his skirt when Luke walks over him, which is a plus.

"Quit wearing my panties," Calum demands, been though there's absolutely no force behind the statement.

Luke turns around with the gallon of milk in his hand and looks down finally, frowning at Calum and unscrewing the cap of the milk. Luke looks incredibly girly in his skirt, with his long smooth legs and thin waist. He looks feminine and pretty and everything Calum strives to be.

And then he throws his head back, takes a long drink of the milk, and burps loudly.

Calum sighs.

"Why are you on the floor?" Luke asks finally.

"We all drink out of that, Luke," Calum points out, ignoring the question blatantly.

"Yeah, well," Luke shrugs and starts screwing the cap back on. "Michael's had my díck in his mouth and you've licked my molars, get over it."

Calum looks at Luke curiously, glancing him over and raising his eyebrows. "You're kind of a slut, Luke."

"Only for my boys," Luke hums. He spins on the balls of his blue flats and opens the fridge door again to put the milk away. Calum rolls over onto his stomach while Luke isn't looking and brings his hands up to set his chin on top of them. He may be distressed, but he's still not about to let his face touch the kitchen floor. Luke steps over him delicately again and hops out of the room, leaving Calum alone and sad again.

Before his mind can even start running again, another pair of footsteps starts coming towards him. They're heavy and loud, indicating that its not Luke and his fairy princess walk or Ashton and his emo trudge. Which leaves Michael. His suspicions are confirmed when a strong hand grabs his shoulder and flips him over, leaving him facing Michael.

Michael drops to his knees and swings one leg over Calum's thighs, then sits on his knees gently. He leans forward and rests his hands on either side of Calum's waist and smiles at him gently. "How's my princess doing today?"

"She's dead," Calum mutters, because it's really more Ashton's thing to call him princess. But, he supposes, since Ashton's sleeping and frowning, someone's got to do it.

"Shame," Michael smiles widely, despite the statement, and starts walking his hands forward, leaning down so he's closer to Calum. He stops when his chin hits Calum's chest and grins widely from under his eyelashes. "I got you a crown!"

Calum scoffs. "Yeah, right."

"I did!" Michael defends. His voice goes a pitch higher in defense. Calum finds a smile creeping onto his lips at that. He reaches down and threads his fingers through Michael's hair, pulling through the tangles. Michael's bleach blonde hair is slightly stringy and warm, despite the small knots Calum's hand gets tangled in.

Michael hums a little and scans over Calum's face, checking for any hints as to why he's sad. "Are you ready to get off the floor, yet?"

"No," Calum responds quietly. "Think I'm just going to lay here for a bit."

"Okay," Michael agrees easily. He shifts his head so his cheek is flat against Calum's chest, then rubs his face against Calum's shirt and hums a quiet tune while Calum rubs his head.

Calum doesn't know what to do, honestly. He's kind of pissed off, because he feels so alone, even with Michael on top of him, rubbing against his chest, humming one if their songs. He feels alone in Luke's bunk too, holding Luke close, slotting their legs together, pressing a gentle kiss to Luke's bare shoulder. He feels alone in Ashton's bed, pressing his nose gently along the edge of Ashton's jaw, feeling Ashton's hands on his lower back to pull him close.

And it doesn't make sense to him, how he can feel so alone with everyone so close.

He thinks maybe he's, like, depressed or something.

"What's wrong, Cal?" Michael must sense his distress, because he's pouting when Calum looks back down at him again. Calum resists the urge to kiss him.

He shrugs instead. "Dunno. Just sad."

"Just sad," Michael echoes. He gets it though, Calum knows he does by the sudden frown on his face. He shifts to crawl up Calum's body and presses a kiss to Calum's forehead. "Better?" He asks gently, in the most vulnerable voice Calum's ever heard in his entire life. Calum almost wants to lie and tell Michael that the tiny, chaste kiss to his forehead made him feel a million times better.

He shrugs again. Michael starts pressing more tiny, fluttering kisses all over Calum's face and neck, mumbling little comments about how much he loves Calum. Calum squirms a little and smiles at the effort and the small tickling feeling that brushes across his face with Michael's lips.

"Getting there-" he gets cut off with a warm mouth on his, making him let out a loud "oof!" Michael smiles against his lips and nudged him gently. Calum kisses him back for a few seconds, but it doesn't make him feel any better or any less alone. He pulls back and turns his head dramatically, setting it on the floor again, despite how dirty it probably is.

"Come on, princess," Michael starts to crawl off of him, ignoring the younger boys whines of protest. "We can go cuddle in bed and watch some Danny Phantom on my phone until we get to the venue, if you want."

Calum smiles at how Michael always knows exactly how to make him a little happier.

((IDK IF YALL KNOW THIS BUT THIS IS THE NUMBER ONE OT4 FIC ON WATTPAD RN CRIES IN PUNK))