"I don't know what to do,"

    "We just have to keep trying,"

    The trio was gathered in the kitchen, watching the other boy lie curled up on the couch. It had been two days since the dinner where Ashton kidnapped Calum, and things weren't going much better now.

    Calum refused to speak, all he would do was lie on the couch when they made him get up and out of the bedroom. It was a chore getting him to eat, and he would plug his ears and shut his eyes when one of them would try to say something to him. It was starting to piss Ashton off.

    "Shit, work is calling Calum's phone," the brunette gasped when the phone on the kitchen counter began vibrating. They'd taken it away from him when he tried to call 911 earlier in the week. He had passed out due to anxiety and the three weren't watching him closely. Fortunately, Michael had noticed and tackled it away from him before any damage could be done.

    Luke blanched. "I thought you were going to tell them he's sick,"

    "I was, then he tried to escape again yesterday and it slipped my mind," Ashton bit his lip. "Pretend to gag," he commanded Michael before picking up the phone, "Hello, Calum Hood's phone, Ashton speaking," he listened for a moment before laughing quietly. "Hey, Liz, yes, I actually meant to call, Cal and I are going to be out for the rest of the week," he told their unit clerk. "We got a nasty case of food poisoning," he waved at Michael who doubled over and made fake retching sounds. "Cal, hang on, I'll be right there! Yeah, we got seafood after our shift the other night, we've been sick since," Ashton rolled his eyes as the woman kept talking. "Yeah, I'll call you when we can come back. Thanks so much, Liz, we will...see you soon. Okay, bye."

    Michael coughed weakly as Ashton hung up.

    "Throats sore now," he rasped.

    "I'll make you tea with honey," Luke offered, hopping off the counter he'd been sitting on and walking to the stove. "Honey," he added with a smirk that got an eye roll from his oldest boyfriend.

    "Thank you, baby," Michael watched him. "So what did they say, Ash? Is it okay?"

    "Yeah, they wanted to know where Cal was since he didn't show up for his shift today, but they're cool with us taking a bit of time. Liz said for us to help each other get better."

    "Great, so we don't have to worry about that, at least."

    Ashton shook his head.

    "Now we just need to get him on our side. We need him to talk to us,"

    "I'm making him some tea, let's go sit with him and remind him we love him and we're doing this for his benefit." Luke said. He hated that his Cally was so upset, especially because he'd never been upset at him before. He looked like a wounded puppy when he was sad, it broke Luke's heart.

    "This sucks," Michael sighed as Luke finished getting things together for tea. "I mean, if Ash hadn't broken him, then maybe we could—"

    "I broke him?" Ashton squealed, pressing an indignant hand to his chest. "How is this my fault? You two were the ones who wanted him to be part of us, Luke was the one who was making him uncomfortable trying to pressure him,"

    "You locked him in a room!" Michael exclaimed. "You kidnapped him and scared the shit out of him. Now he won't even look at us,"

    "And I didn't hear you saying anything about it when it happened," Ashton countered.

    "Shut up, both of you," Luke slammed a pink mug down on the counter so hard Ashton thought it was going to break. "Right now, it doesn't matter how it happened, what matters is taking care of our boy. He's alone, scared, and confused. We need to be a united front when we go in there, and we need to be soothing. So relax, drink your fucking tea, and when you're ready, join me." Luke picked up two mugs and marched into the living room. He heard Michael apologizing to Ashton as he left and grinned.

    Luke's heart clenched as Calum curled more into himself as he heard someone enter. A small whimper escaped and he shuffled away as Luke sat down on the couch.

    "Cally, I have some tea for you, baby. Do you think you could sit up and drink it for me?"

    Calum shook his head, but Luke took that as a good sign. Before he wasn't even acknowledging them when they spoke to him.

    "Well, it's here if you want it. We're not going to force you to do anything," he said, sitting back down. He flipped the TV on as the other two walked in meekly, hiding their heads. Ashton blew him a kiss as he went to sit on the other side of Calum and Michael pecked his forehead in apology, sitting next to him and draping his arm around Luke's shoulders. He set his mug on the table in front of them.

    "Cal, Lukey made some hot tea, doesn't that seem nice?" Ashton asked, reaching out to rub Calum's shoulder, but the boy flinched, crying out when he was touched.

    "Hey, baby, relax, no one's going to hurt you," Michael told a writhing Calum. He tried to scoot off the couch to get away from them, but Luke caught him before he could hit the floor and pressed him to his chest, forcing him to stop squirming and accept it.

    "All you've d-done is h-hurt me," Calum whimpered.

    Luke exhaled sharply.

    "Cally, we would never! We haven't done anything except try to love you in the best way we know how. We know it seems like a lot, it seems bad maybe, but we have your best interests at heart, my love. We will never do anything to harm you."

    "We want you to thrive, munchkin, there's no need to be scared of us," Ashton said, coming on the other side and hugging Calum. He stiffened, but once he realized nothing bad was happening, he relaxed into the hold.

    As much as the curly haired captive hated to admit, he did enjoy the attention from the other three. It was weird, something very new, and it made him uncomfortable, but he hated how his brain thought he could get used to it eventually.

    Everything was confusing. He didn't understand what happened two days ago, or why he wasn't allowed to leave. Why couldn't he go to work? Would they ever let him back into the world, or was the last thing he'd ever see the inside of this house?

    "We care so much about you, baby, we won't let anything happen to you," Ashton promised.

    "I h-have some questions," he mumbled into Luke's shoulder.

    "Of course, Muffin, ask us anything you want, yeah? We won't hide anything,"

    Calum peaked his head up, biting his lip and frowning. He had so many things to ask he didn't know where to start.

    "How about we go first, explain some things, and then you can ask whatever you want when you think of it," Ashton offered, gently running his fingers through Calum's hair. The man almost purred at how soothing it felt.

    He needed comfort. He was scared, absolutely terrified of the situation, but his body reacted so strongly to these people who he'd thought were his friends. Before the other day, he thought he could trust them. Could he still? Everything was a mess.

    "Okay, so I think it's obvious that we want you, Cal. We want you to join us, to be our boyfriend." Luke confessed.

    They'd said it before, but it always seemed like a joke. He couldn't believe they wanted him, he was nothing compared to them.

    "R-really?"

    "Of course! We felt something with you the moment we met in the cafeteria," Michael chuckled. "It took Ashton a minute to warm up to you, but he came around."

    Ashton frowned.

    "No, it really didn't. That's why I was so mean to you at first. I was pushing you away because I knew it could be bad if I let you in,"

    Calum giggled slightly, surprising the other three.

    "Like a middle school crush? You had to tease the girl on the playground to let her know you liked her?"

    Ashton's jaw dropped as his other boyfriends laughed.

    "Good one Cally. See? You belong here, with us. We fit well together, huh?" Luke bent down, pressing his nose into the crook of Calum's shoulder, nuzzling there since the boy was still seated on his lap.

    "That's something for you to think about," Michael told him, picking up his tea. "We know it'll be an adjustment, but we all want it, and we're hoping you do too. You can't deny that you feel something with us,"

    Calum froze, but nodded.

    "I was upset with m-myself when I realized it at first, because I figured it would n-never be," he swallowed, not able to look in any of their eyes. "Because sometimes it seemed like y-you were, um, interested in m-me, but I couldn't b-elieve it because...because just I'm m-me, and you all are s-so...much better,"

    "Calum," Luke scolded, pulling away and looking him in the eye. "Never think that. No one of us is better than another. We're all the same, we all have faults, ticks, quirks, but we all have wonderful redeeming qualities as well. Ash is a hot head, but he's the most caring boyfriend. He'll always take care of you." Calum couldn't resist the urge to look over at him, and the man only smiled at him, causing Calum's face to heat up.

    "Michael is very stubborn, sometimes he says little things just to get under your skin, but he's observant as hell, and if he's gone too far, he won't stop until he makes it up to you." Ashton told Calum.

    "And Luke gets so shy, sometimes he holds things in and then just explodes over something that seems inconsequential. Like a dish in the sink, but really he's still upset over a huge argument we'd had two days ago. But he forgives quickly and loves hard, so it makes up for it."

    Calum nodded. He was starting to understand.

    "And you," Luke tipped his head up, fingers under his chin, forcing their eyes to meet. "We still have to learn about you. But already we know you're kind, compassionate, and funny. We're so excited to have you in our lives, baby, if you'll let us."

    Calum exhaled, half shrugging.

    "You don't have to answer now," Ashton told him, drawing his attention away from Luke's crystal clear eyes. He felt like he could get lost, looking into their depths. "Because there's still one more thing we have to explain. It's extremely important to us, and it's kind of a package deal,"

    "Ash, are you sure this is the best time?" Michael asked.

    The brunette nodded.

    "Yes. If he can't accept all of us, then that's a big deal. It's not right for us to lie to him any longer, especially if we're asking for answers,"

    Michael shrugged, deferring to Luke.

    Luke hummed, thinking it through.

    "Ash is right, we gotta tell him sometime."

    The blonde man felt the person in his arms start to shake, pure anxiety flowing through his veins.

"Cally, are you okay?"   

"Th-that makes me n-nervous, I'm c-confused,"

     Despite the circumstances, Luke smiled.

"Thanks for admitting that, lovely. I'm proud of you." If Calum thought he was blushing before, his face was on fire now. They always provoked that reaction from him, using those nicknames, and he thought he kind of liked it.

    "We'll explain, okay, Cally? We just want you to keep an open mind." Michael said. "Ash, how about you explain why you became a nurse?"

    Ashton took a deep breath, sitting up. He held up his hands, gesturing for Calum to come to him. He scooted over, Luke helping guide him like he was a child. It made Calum feel some sort of way. He wasn't sure, there was so much going on, he didn't know what was going to happen next.

    Once he was comfortably seated in Ashton's lap with the side of his body pressed against Ashton's broad chest and his head tucked under the man's chin, he began his story.

    "I've always loved helping people. Even as a kid, I would open the door for the old person in the store, pick up the books the teacher dropped, volunteer on Saturday morning at the local pantry. It made me feel good to know others were taken care of, and I was the one doing it."

    Michael and Luke were watching Ashton with a fond smile on their face. It made Calum feel at ease, to know they weren't confused or upset about what Ashton was going to say. They'd built it up to be this whole thing, but it couldn't be that bad. Could it?

    "I've always been that person, so even when I was small, I said I wanted to be a nurse. That seemed like the ultimate way to help people, you know? Sick, hurt, people who have no one to turn to, except for me. I get to control the fact that they get better."

    "I was the s-same way," Calum whispered when Ashton stopped for a moment. Ashton titled his head down so he could see Calum's face. "I always knew I wanted to be a nurse, because I like helping people too."

    "That's great, Cally. We're practically the same,"

    Calum smiled, ducking his head. As if he could be the same as Ashton. He was so confident, and Calum stuttered when he got even a bit nervous.

    "So I did it, I got into an accelerated program, got a great job as a nurse right away, and I've been helping people ever since."

    "That's such a great thing, I'm sure your p-patients really appreciate you."

    Ashton hummed, bringing his hand up to rub small circles on Calum's back.

    "They do, baby, that they do." Ashton paused, looking at Michael and Luke as if asking, 'are we really doing this?'. They each gave him an encouraging nod. Ashton took a deep breath. "Do you remember when you called that code on my patient while I was on break a few weeks ago?"

    Calum tilted his head, trying to remember. This felt like an out-of-the-blue question.

    "Oh, yes, of course. The man was having a seizure, and when you came back you were so upset. I told you it wasn't your fault, because you had to go on break. And then...y-you g-got upset at...it." Calum couldn't believe he almost admitted Ashton took it out on him. How could he almost say something like that in front of the man? Would he hate him now?

"Yes, I was upset, and I took it out on you, because I was frustrated. But it wasn't because of what you think." 

    Calum frowned, trying to figure out what could have upset him.

    "Doug had bad seizures. He already did before his encounter in this hospital, and was taking medication to stop them. Those orders were released, and his medication got switched. Instead of Carbamazepine, he was taking Tramadol."

    Calum thought about that for a minute. Why would they discontinue his anti seizure meds when he was such a high risk?

    "He was given Tramadol? That's got seizures as a side effect. I knew something was off about that situation. But he should have been taking something else, Ashton, I don't understand..." The doctors and any of the other nurses should have noticed that the medication would have been bad for poor Doug. No one had thought to question it, and he paid the ultimate price.

    "I'm going to ask you another question. Would you do whatever it took to help people?" Ashton's gaze bored into Calum, forcing him to stay still. He couldn't look away even if he wanted to. "Sometimes, people want things and they can't or won't ask for it, because it isn't 'right' according to societies standards. Is it helping them to ignore their cries, ignore what they truly want, just because some people might think it's wrong?"

    "A-Ash, I'm c-confused. Wh-what does--"

    "Shh, Cally, it's okay, you're okay," Luke cooed, scooting forward to hold his hand.

    "Patients ask you for things you can't give them, right?" Ashton questioned again.

    "S-sure, sometimes they w-want me to do things only a d-doctor can do."

    Ashton chuckled lightly, eyes still blazing. It didn't quite match, seeing his eyes so intense and the half grin stretched across his lips. Something felt wrong.

    "Right, there's that. But then there's also things they ask for that you won't do, because you don't want to. Like when they're in so much pain, and so miserable, that the only thing that'll bring them relief...is death."

    Calum went still for a moment.

    Ashton wasn't saying what he thought he was saying...was he?

    He didn't reply, waiting for Ashton to continue.

    "Helping people achieve their goals is a noble thing. We just talked about that, didn't we? You said you grew up wanting to help people."

    "Y-yeah," whispered Calum.

    "There's nothing wrong with Helping people, giving them what they want when other people are too scared to. It's what they want."

    "No, Ash, n-no, what you're s-saying is..." it was crazy. He was implying he murdered people because they asked for it. Almost every patient asked to die, especially when they were in so much pain before or after their procedure.

    Michael chimed in, "It's not, Cal. Sometimes people want things, and who is Ash to deny them that?"

    "Y-you, so you..."

    "We Help them, Cal. It's as simple as that. And we want you to help us Help others." Michael spoke quietly, not wanting to scare him.

    Calum didn't respond. His mind went blank, he couldn't process what he was just told. Luke looked at Ashton in confusion, but the man only shrugged. It took a few minutes, but Calum finally spoke up, his face contorting into shock.

    "You kill them? That's what you mean?"

    "We call it Helping," Ashton stated indifferently. "These people don't want to be here anymore. They're tired of their life, tired of the pain. We don't Help anyone who doesn't ask for it, it's only people who we know need the Help, but have no where else to find it."

    Calum was shaking his head the entire time, unable to believe what he was hearing.

    "You murder people, and you actually think it's okay?"

    "Don't yell, Cally, there's no need for that," Luke cooed. "We have a whole system, it benefits the patient. We only do this on people who we know are miserable and need Help. Sometimes families won't let them go, so we help push them over the edge and get them where they want to be,"

    "By murdering them?"

    Michael tsked. "By Helping them, Cal."

    "I want to go h-home," he whimpered brokenly.

    "Aww, baby," Ashton cradled him against his chest as small tears leaked down his face. "You are home, Cal, this is your home now." Those words only caused more tears, and Calum tried to break out of the hold, growing more and more distressed when he couldn't move. Ashton had trapped his arms against his side and he couldn't even thrash side to side.

    "I w-want my h-home, l-let me go,"

    "Cally baby, you're ours now. You're not getting away. You might as well just accept it," Michael told him sadly. He hated to see their baby so afflicted. It caused them pain to see him in pain. Unfortunately, there was nothing they could do for him at the moment. It was up to Calum to accept it...or not.

***

Well yep. That happened lol

I am not gonna lie. I forgot about this book for a hot minute. I promise I'll make up for it with more updates soon!!!

~ashtonfortherwin