Ch. 14 - My Nightmares Are About Losing You

                                    

                                          
*Calum's P.O.V*
                          
The sound of Luke & Michael talking quietly to each other wakes me up. I open my eyes slowly.
                          
Ashton & I were still in the same position on the couch we were in when I fell asleep, only now, there is a warm blanket draped over our bodies and tucked in slightly underneath us.
                          
I groan quietly as I pull away from Ashton so I can sit up. Michael & Luke stop talking.
                          
"Did we wake you up?" Luke asks in concern. I shake my head.
                          
"You were the first thing I heard" I tell them, pulling the blanket off of me. "But that doesn't mean you woke me up" I finish. I look around the room in confusion, looking though the gaps in the curtains on the windows, it looks dark outside.
                          
"It's 8:17pm" Luke tells me before I had a chance to ask what the time was.
                          
"The kids are all fed, bathed and asleep" Michael adds.
                          
"Oh.. Where did the blanket come from?" I ask. I swear if one of them makes a smart arse comment like 'from the cupboard' I will slap them.
                          
"Michael put it on you, he thought it was a little chilly" Luke replies, smiling softly at Michael.
                          
"Oh, thanks" I say, smiling at him.
                          
"No problem... You hungry?" Michael asks. I shrug my shoulders. "I'll just make you a vegemite sandwich" he tells me.
                          
"Okay" I reply quietly. As Michael stands up from the couch he & Luke were sitting on, Ashton starts twitching slightly and whimpers quietly, like he's having a bad dream.
                          
"Ash" I say softly, shaking him gently.
                          
"No!" He cries, eyes still shut tight. He starts to squirm, like he's trying to run away in his dream.
                          
"Ashton, wake up!" I half shout, shaking him more. He gasps in fright as he springs up into a sitting position.
                          
"Cal" he says in bemusement. Realising it was just a bad dream, he sighs in relief.
                          
"I'm here" I tell him, pulling him into my lap. He snuggle up to me.
                          
As Michael walks off, he mouths the words 'I'll make him one too' and I nod at him, mouthing the word 'thanks'.
                          
I run my fingers through Ashton's curly hair while he steadies his shaky breathing. I can feel his heart racing against my chest.
                          
A few minutes later, Michael returns with the sandwiches he made us. "Ash, time to eat" I say softly.
                          
"Noo" Ashton cries quietly, burying his head further into my neck.
                          
"It's just a sandwich, come on" I say calmly, pushing him up so he is sitting. He sighs.
                          
Michael hands us our sandwiches and sits back down beside Luke. Ashton eats his reluctantly.
                          
"Do you want to go to bed or watch some TV" I ask Ashton when he finishes eating.
                          
"TV" he replies, shrugging his shoulders. To be honest, I thought he would say bed, because he looks extremely exhausted.
                          
Luke grabs the TV remote off the coffee table and turns the TV on. He flicks to one of the music channels and sets the remote back down. Ashton chuckles weakly.
                          
"Look how young we were then" Ashton says, smiling softly at the TV.
                          
It was our music video for 'She Looks So Perfect'. It was #13 on 'Throwback Top 20'.
                          
"We still are young" Luke scoffs, although I can tell he's tearing up a bit, thinking about how far we've come since then.
                          
"You, maybe" Ashton rolls his eyes with a slight laugh. "You're- what?- nearly 23?" Ashton continues. Luke nods. "I'm nearly 25, I'm so old" Ashton whines.