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“Luke, are you there..? Lukee..?”
Ashton gently shut the hotel door behind him, wanting to hear if Luke called back. He slowly walked inside the hotel, growing more nervous. He was already nervous getting back from the interview Luke never showed up to. He never missed these things, because they couldn’t. It was especially weird that Luke wasn’t there out of anyone else. They had to go ahead and quickly improvise on something without him, as the interviewers were already there. When the whole process was over, Ashton told the others he would find out what’s going on with Luke while they wrapped things up. He went to the hotel right away to check up on him.
Walking into the room, he couldn’t find Luke anywhere. There was no sign he had even been there in the first place, and it made Ashton reasonably confused. He slowly walked further into the small room, closely scanning his surroundings. Suddenly, the strong, sour smell of sickness hit him, and his heart dropped. He looked over to the bathroom door, shut with the light peeking out underneath.
After all the years of having to practically live with his friends, he knew what the smell meant. Someone was vomiting, and they had it bad. But this time it wasn’t just anyone, it had to be Luke. All the boys have had their bouts of sickness while on tour, it comes and goes and it’s surely a pain to deal with but it’s something they’ve all come to get used to. While Luke always helps out when his friends are sick, he’s never had so much as a cough. A faint whimper broke the silence, and Ashton’s mind spun as he went to unlock the door. He didn’t care about what Luke would think, he needed to help him. He ran in to see the sight of a terribly sick Luke, head in his hands, sitting hunched over with a half-full vomit bin sitting next to him. His back was to the sink, it looked like he had thrown up in there too. Luke looked up at the door opening, now eye to eye with Ashton. He was so pale, seemingly flushed of liquids and embarrassed that his friend is seeing him like this. Ashton frowned and sat on the floor next to him. He looked down and gently grabbed Luke’s hands, trying to calm his head.
“..you have it bad, I know. I’m sorry.” Just from feeling how clammy Luke’s hands were, Ashton could tell he must have been feeling sick for hours. It all made sense now why he wasn’t at the interview with the others, there was no way he wouldn't have spilled his guts all over the floor. It surely would have been much more embarrassing happening in a professional setting. But no call? He probably couldn’t think properly, and Ash felt so bad.
Just as Ashton was thinking about the possible mishaps of the interview, it’s like Luke’s body synchronized with his mind as he suddenly shot forward with a hand covering his mouth. Ashton quickly grabbed the bucket and held it up to Luke’s mouth. Luke shook his head weakly before gagging, spewing what seemed like a mixture of sour water into the bucket. He wiped his mouth and his stomach uncomfortably gurgled.
“Ash, I’m okay.. it’s okay. please.” Luke weakly choked, seemingly pleading for Ashton to leave. Luke was blushing from embarrassment, barely being able to make eye contact with the older boy. Ashton could understand how awful this was for Luke, but he made no efforts to leave. He needed to be here to watch over him, even if he was embarrassed about it.
“It’s fine, Luke. I don’t mind. You’re terribly pale, anyways. I'd feel horrible leaving you here alone with how sick you are,” Luke took a moment to reflect, although he couldn't focus much with the sickening pain surging through his body. He quietly whimpered, as the gurgling sounds of his stomach filled the room.
“Use the bucket if you need to, it’s okay..” Ashton gestured to the bucket on the side, and rubbed a hand over Luke’s back sympathetically. When Luke made no efforts to reach for the bucket, Ashton realized maybe his stomach was just cramping. “Do you want some medicine? I don’t know if you could keep it down, but.. it’s best to try if you’re making sounds like that.” Ashton smiled sympathetically and reached under Luke’s shirt, rubbing circles on the side of his stomach. Luke squirmed, trying to hide his face. Truthfully, the pressure in his stomach was because he needed to use the bathroom. He felt a shiver go down his spine as the pain gurgled throughout his lower stomach. He was so sick, he didn’t know if he’d have an accident. He didn’t want to mess himself in front of ash, but he had too much pride to tell him what was happening. He just hoped that maybe Ashton would leave soon.. he could hold it until then.
“..the medicine would be great, actually. Thank you Ash.” He rubbed the back of his neck as he smiled, hoping he was convincing enough. Ashton got up and left the room, happy to help his friend. Luke slumped down and groaned once Ashton left. He tightly wrapped his arms around his stomach, trying to mask the pain. He should have locked the door and went to the toilet then, but Ashton would be back in the room any time now. There was no point anyways.
Ashton returned with two pills, a cup of water, and a rag. He put them on the counter, bent down to give Luke the water cup and pills, and returned to the sink. “Go slow with the water lukes, I’ll help you in a second if you need it.” Luke nodded and tried to take them himself, but he had trouble swallowing the second pill. He couldn’t help but spill the water in his mouth and on himself, as he couldn’t swallow it down. Ashton sat back down with the now wet rag and took the pill from Luke’s hand.
“It’s fine, we’ll try it again later. I don’t want it to be too much for your stomach anyways.” Ashton put the cup and pill aside and placed the rag on the back of Luke’s neck. He weakly smiled at Ashton, he truly just wanted to be helpful, and It eased the tension Luke was feeling. After sitting together silently for a few minutes, Ashton spoke again.
“Are you okay for me to go now?” Luke lifted his head to nod at the question. He loved the comfort of his friend being there for him, but he knew he needed to be alone so he could use the bathroom and clean himself up. Ashton smiled and got up to collect the things he would take back out to the kitchen. Luke started to get up to help him, because he wanted to reassure Ashton that he was fine. That's before his body rebelled, reminding him he was not fine. Both boys were taken aback by the sudden heave of vomit spilling out of the younger boy, half of it completely missing the sink. It was so sudden. Luke was tightly holding onto the sink now as his mouth pooled with saliva, and his legs were shaking.
Ash couldn’t tell if he still wanted privacy, or if he needed reassurance. It didn’t matter.. he wasn’t gonna leave him, it was such a worrying sight. Again, he had never seen him this sick before, and he didn’t know what to do in a situation like this. No matter what, he just wanted to help. He didn’t know that it was hurting his friend even more, though. Luke looked up at Ash through watery eyes, not being able to voice what was wrong. He spewed more vomit into the sink, getting some onto his hands and shirt. As his stomach violently lurched, he suddenly felt burning liquid release into his pants. His eyes widened, and he cried out as he looked around in shock of what just happened. Ashton clearly noticed something was wrong, and he went over to run the sink and clean off Luke’s hands. He thought maybe he was stressed about the vomit getting all over him.
“Ashton, stop, stop! Stop!” Luke tried to nudge him away as he choked out cries. It really didn’t take long until Ashton noticed what happened. His nose scrunched up and he realized Luke had an accident, and that's probably why he was acting so stand-offish this whole time.
“Oh, that’s not..” Ashton cut himself off before he could finish. He quickly hoisted Luke up and around to the toilet, unbuttoning and pulling down his soiled pants. Luke quickly slumped down as Ash let go of him, his body naturally releasing what was left of his sick insides. He felt all gross, he was sticky, and his body was exhausting all that was left of him. He even felt like he could vomit again, but it was just circling in his chest for now.
This was, quite literally, the shittiest day he could have ever had.
Ashton left the bathroom for an unknown reason, and Luke looked up and around the room. God, he made it such a mess.. He never got sick, he just didn’t. The one time he does, why is it this bad? Thoughts circled his mind as liquid practically spewed out of him. It burned, and despite how much better it made his stomach feel, it was rather uncomfortable.
When Ash came back, Luke looked down and blushed as his body went through another round of sickness and emptied itself rather loudly. Ashton was unbothered. He seemed to have left to get a plastic bag, which he then placed Luke’s pants and boxers in. Luke subtly watched as he did this, upset that they were most likely being thrown away. He really liked those pants, he wore them all the time. He truly wasn’t expecting to get so sick. He frowned and felt his eyes water as he thought back to what seriously just happened. He wasn’t a baby anymore.. he could hold it. He could always hold it, what was wrong with him? He cried and looked away, soon feeling a hand running through his hair.
“I know, lukes. I know it’s uncomfortable, just let it out. It’ll be over soon. I’ll be back, okay?” Ashton gave Luke’s hair a shake before leaving with the bag and the bucket. Luke sighed and kept his eyes to the floor. He knew all he wanted to do was care for him.
After letting the sickness run its course, he cleaned himself up and went over to the sink to wash his hands. He stood up straighter and wiped his teary eyes, examining himself in the mirror. He still had on his messy shirt with vomit soaking the collar. That could be saved, he figured. He carefully took it off, not wanting to make a bigger mess than he already did. He balled it up and put it on the counter to take to the laundry later. He reached into his unpacked bag tucked away in the corner of the room, pulling out clean boxers and an oversized shirt. Soon after getting dressed, he took paper towels and quickly cleaned the extra vomit on the floor that didn’t make it into the bin. Ashton walked back in, towels in hand, not noticing Luke had already cleaned it up.
“Oh, Luke, I was gonna clean it up..” Ash smiled and pulled Luke into a warm hug, rubbing his back. “Are you feeling better?” Luke nodded, and Ashton squeezed him before letting go and grabbing onto his hand. “Let’s get you outta the bathroom then, you need fresh air.” Ashton led him into the open space in the hotel room, setting him on the bed. He grabbed Luke a water bottle from the small fridges and handed it to him, before sitting down next to him. He gestured for Luke to dampen the rag he had, which he then used to rub down Lukes face and chest.
"You're still all teary, you sure you're alright?"
"m'just shaken up,,"
Ashton pulled Luke into another hug, not letting go so quickly this time. He slowly rocked him side to side, warmly comforting him and rubbing his back. When they pulled out of the hug, Ashton held Lukes face in his hands, gently wiping the tears from his eyes.
"It happens, you're sick and its not your fault. As much as the others wont admit it, they've gone through the same. You're easier then them to deal with though." Luke looked down and giggled as Ashton smiled at the reaction. He got up, undoing the covers and gesturing for Luke to lie down. When Luke was pulling the covers up over himself, Ashton checked the time on his phone, and narrowly stared through the curtains on the window by the door.
"Now, the boys will be back here any time now," Ashton said as he started to tuck Luke into bed. "You need rest, are you fine to be left alone while I go put your stuff into the wash? Its just down the hall. I'm gonna meet up with the lads and bring them back here, so I'm sorry if id wake you up." Luke nodded and smiled sweetly at the older boy tucking him in, only focusing on how warm it made his heart feel. He felt so safe, Its just so nice of him..
"Thank you, Ashton.." Luke curled up and placed his hands by his head for comfort, but he could barley keep his eyes open anymore. His body was exhausted.
"You're welcome. Sleep tight." Ashton smiled and softly pet Lukes hair before gathering his things.
And as Ashton left the room, Luke was out like a light.