"Michael, have you eaten at all today?" Ashton called from the kitchen. He had invited me back over to hang out, because apparently Michael wanted to see me again. I didn't know if that was true or not because Michael hadn't shown any interest in me at all, but I practically jumped at the chance to come over here.

"Do you want me to make you a sandwich?" Ashton yelled, he was doing everything in hopes that Michael would respond to him somehow.

Michael turned to me and rolled his eyes, then returned to his video game.

"I don't think he's hungry!" I called back to Ashton.

"Michael," Ashton sighed, opening and shutting some cabinets in the kitchen. "You have to eat something. You can't take all your medicine on an empty stomach."

Michael's lips formed into a small smirk as both of our eyes traveled to the multitude of pill bottles laying out on the table. Ashton told me Michael had to take all of them twice a day, to keep everything in check. I honestly felt bad for Michael, with Ashton constantly pestering him about these things. But I knew he was only trying to do what was best for him.

Ashton entered the room again, surprisingly empty handed. "You'll make yourself sick if you don't have any food when you take them." He shook his head at Michael and sat down between us.

Michael shrugged, not taking his eyes off of his video game.

"This happens everyday." Ashton whispered, leaning into me.

I would like to think that after our "date" Ashton and I would at least act a little more than friendly with each other, but we didn't. I just thought it would be different, considering that we both knew we had definite feelings for each other. But Ashton hadn't done anything more than hold my hand a few times while we were waiting for the bus. I guess I couldn't blame him, he obviously just got out of a relationship, he probably wasn't ready just yet.

"Does he ever eat?" I asked, remembering that Michael didn't eat very much when we went out for lunch a few weeks ago either.

"Hardly." Ashton whispered back. "I just want to help him, you know?"

I nodded.

"Michael, come on. Please eat something. If you eat, we can go to that park you like to walk around in. We used to go there all the time." Ashton offered, trying again.

Michael scoffed and took his phone out of his pocket, typing away on it quickly before putting it away again.

Ashton's phone went off a second later. He picked it up from the coffee table and read over the message quickly, his eyes growing wide at whatever Michael said. He stood up and threw his phone down on the ground, stepping in front of Michael.

"Can you just talk to me? Please? I'm so sorry, Michael, I really am. How many times do I have to say it? Please, just say something to me." Ashton begged. Michael just looked up at him and shook his head, his lips set in a straight line.

"Michael," Ashton whined. "Please. Please, you can't just leave me alone like this, you're all I have. You can't ignore me for the rest of your life. Talk to me, please."

I didn't know how often this happened between them, but now I felt really bad for Ashton too. Michael was basically all he had left, and now he was being ignored. Whatever Ashton did to hurt Michael probably wasn't worth this, they didn't need to be in this constant battle with each other.

"Michael, you have to talk to me, please say something. You can't stay mad at me forever." Ashton pleaded with him one last time.

Michael still didn't speak, he only tried to look around Ashton and back at his video game. Ashton's face twisted into a look of sadness and confusion when Michael ignored him.

"I need a cigarette." Ashton muttered, grabbing his pack and lighter off the table and rushing out the backdoor.

I sat in silence with Michael for a few minutes, giving Ashton the chance to cool down a little. I didn't try to say anything to Michael, because honestly I was a little angry with him. Ashton was trying so hard to make things between them right again and Michael was totally shutting him out.

Finally, I couldn't take it anymore. "I'm going to go check on him." I said, standing up.

Michael nodded, really not caring if I left him anyway. This was clearly what he wanted, to be alone. If he wasn't going to accept help from anyone than he shouldn't have it offered to him.

I walked out the backdoor and almost hit Ashton, who was sitting right in front of it. His head shot up the second I came out and he turned around. There was a hopeful look on his face, but that didn't distract me from seeing the tears falling down his cheeks.

"Mich - ? Oh, hi Murphy." Ashton sniffed.

"Sorry." I chuckled. "It's just me."

"Just go back inside." Ashton sighed, putting his head down in his hands.

I ignored him and sat down next to him, letting my head rest on his shoulder. He stiffened at my sudden presence, not expecting me to lean on him like this.

"I'm crying, Murphy. You don't want to sit here and listen to me cry." Ashton shook his head, attempting again to get me to leave.

"It's fine." I whispered.

"It was an accident, I didn't mean it. That's why they're called accidents." Ashton coughed. He gave up and threw his cigarette down on the ground in front of him, watching it burn away on the ground.

"Tell me what happened." I wasn't pushing him this time. I knew what he needed, he needed to let it all out. And the only way he could do that would be by telling someone exactly what happened that night.

"It was late, and we were drunk and arguing because Kenzie missed her period and was already planning to get an abortion and I wanted to keep the baby and I started yelling at her and I swerved and hit another car." Ashton explained, his voice coming out just barely above a whisper. "I broke three ribs and needed a few stitches, she died. How fair is that? I came out with a few bumps and scratches and Kenzie didn't come out at all."

"Was she really pregnant?" I asked quietly. I knew Luke had mentioned something about that before and I was just wondering. I silently prayed that she wasn't, I would feel awful if she had been.

Ashton nodded.

"It's not your fault." I whispered.

"I killed my girlfriend, Murphy. I killed one of the only people I've ever truly loved. If I could just go back - " Ashton's voice broke, and he began to sob even harder than before.

He turned his body into me and I put an arm around him while he cried. Ashton cried for a long time, but I didn't mind. I wasn't sure how often he let all of his emotions out, so maybe this was a good thing. He just needed to get it out, and I was glad that I was here for him.

"I haven't driven a car since that night, and Michael can hardly look at a car without freaking out. He hates me, I took his only family...and killed it." Ashton sat up, wiping at his eyes with the back of his hand.

"But like you said, it was an accident." I assured him.

"I shouldn't have been driving, I was drunk. We should have stayed home." Ashton said, then repeated the exact same sentence over again. "We should have stayed home."

"It's okay, Ashton." I said, almost finding it weird that I finally wasn't calling him by his last name. "You didn't mean to, it wasn't on purpose."

"I loved her so much, I would never even think about hurting her and now she's gone. It is my fault." Ashton said, wiping under his nose.

"I know you loved her, and it was an accident. It's okay, these things happen for a reason." I assured him once more.

"I wish it was me, not her." He whispered.

"Don't - don't say that." I stammered.

"Then Michael wouldn't hate me. He wouldn't be so depressed, he wouldn't be on all those meds. I hate seeing him like that, I hate seeing him in pain." Ashton shook his head. He stared down at his lap, like he was too scared to look me in the eyes.

"Michael will be okay. You're taking good care of him." I nodded.

"He thinks I'm trying to replace her with you, and I'm not, I promise I'm not. I'm just so lonely, I hardly get any attention from my own parents and now my best friend ignores me. I don't have anyone else. I can't just go through life being ignored." Ashton continued, "I just need someone."

"I won't try to replace Kenzie." I shook my head. "I promise." That wasn't my intention at all, I just wanted to be a friend to Ashton. He needed a friend more than a girlfriend right now.

"I'm sorry, Murphy, I don't cry often. Sometimes I just...need to." Ashton apologized.

"It's fine." I nodded, rubbing Ashton's back. He leaned into me and kissed me quickly on the cheek, but moved away almost before I could react.

"Okay." Ashton sighed, drying his eyes one last time. "No more crying."

He stood up and brushed the dirt off of his pants, holding out a hand for me to take and pull myself up. I stumbled over a little but Ashton grabbed my my hand to steady me, laughing softly as he did so.

When we came back inside Michael wasn't on the couch anymore, and I could tell Ashton became worried the second he saw the empty living room. Everything was exactly how we left it, except for Michael.

"Michael?" He called, looking around the room. Ashton let go of my hand and rushed into the kitchen, hoping that he would be there.

And Michael was. He was sitting at the table, eating a sandwich that he had obviously made for himself while we were outside. Michael noticed us walking in and nodded, acknowledging that we were there. He took out his phone and typed something on it quickly, then waited for Ashton's phone to go off.

Ashton slid the phone out of his pocket and held it out so we could both see the message.

Sorry.

-

Man I don't know I just really love Ashton.

I hope you all liked this, sorry if it was a little short!