I laid flat on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. There was a huge thunderstorm going on outside and I wasn't able to sleep no matter how hard I had tried. Every time I was close to drifting off to sleep the loud sound of thunder woke me up again, so I had given up. Luckily I was awake when my phone started to quietly vibrate against the table. I picked it up without checking the caller ID, just thankful to have anyone to talk to.

"Can I call you?" Ashton's voice came through the phone, sounding surprisingly awake for this time of night.

"You are calling me" I said quietly, sitting up.

"I want to hear your voice" Ashton continued, and I was sure that he hadn't realized he was actually talking to me yet.

"I know, you can hear it. I'm on the phone." I sighed.

"Dani, I don't know what to do." Ashton's voice dropped. A clap of thunder was heard from outside and the sky lit up for a moment before returning to its dark, rainy, state.

"What's wrong?" I asked, not bothering to mention how he had actually called me by my first name for once.

"I'm such a fuckup. I killed my pregnant girlfriend." Ashton muttered, and I heard a door slam behind it. I could hear the wind and rain pelting down on the sidewalk through the phone, telling me that Ashton had gone outside.

"It was an accident." I said.

"I'm drunk." Ashton blankly stated, in case I hadn't known.

"I figured that out." I admitted, having a feeling all along that Ashton was a little under the influence.

"Fuck, I can't smoke in the rain." Ashton groaned at himself and I heard another slam.

"Where are you?" I asked, curious about all the door slamming.

"I'm in the car and I can't bring myself to start it." His words were slurred and made it a little hard for me to understand him, but I eventually got what he was saying.

"Don't, Ashton. You're drunk. Go back inside." My voice got louder as I hopped out of bed and began to search for some shoes.

"No, I want to drive." Ashton whined, I could practically see him pouting.

"Ashton, where are you?" I asked again. I was assuming that he was just outside of his house, but I wanted to be sure. I didn't want to go out in the rain for nothing.

"I don't want you to come find me. I just wanted to hear your voice. I can't even remember what Kenzie's voice sounded like anymore. I killed her...I killed her..." Ashton drifted off, the sound of his voice getting harder to hear through the rain coming down on his car.

"Ashton, I'm serious. Where are you?" I demanded. I wasn't even conscious of the fact that I was talking so loud, that didn't matter anyway. My parents had left for a business meeting upstate earlier that morning and wouldn't be home until tomorrow.

"I'm in the car, Dani. I'm going to try and drive again." Ashton said, the sound of my name still sounding strange to my ears.

"Are you in front of your house?" I asked, finally finding some shoes. I slid them on and grabbed a sweatshirt I had hanging off the corner on my dresser and slid in on my arms, zipping it up.

"My house?" Ashton questioned.

"Yes, your house. This isn't funny anymore Ashton, please just tell me where you are." I groaned as I began to make my way down the stairs and to the front door. I had no idea what Ashton was going to try, I had to get to him as soon as possible.

"I'm drunk." He repeated.

"Where are you?" I asked one final time, but I was already on the way to his house. I slammed the front door behind me, putting my hood up before I stepped out into the rain.

"I'm in the car." Ashton giggled at this little game he was playing with me, probably finding this a whole lot funnier that it really was.

"Ashton, stop it. I'm coming to your house." I said as I walked, stepping over a puddle.

"Oh, you want to come over? I can pick you up." Ashton said, and I heard the sound of him fumbling around with the car keys.

"Don't you dare start that car!" I yelled. I could see Ashton's house at the end of the block, and the car sitting in the driveway.

"Why not?" He asked.

"You're drunk, I don't want you driving." I said, lowering my voice once more. I didn't mean to yell at him, I was just scared.

"I'm okay." Ashton insisted.

"No you're not. Hang on a minute, I'll be there soon." I dodged one more puddle as yet another clap of thunder sounded above me, making me jump.

"Are you religious?" Ashton asked suddenly, still on the phone.

"What? I don't know, maybe a little." I chuckled slightly, taken back by his odd question.

"Do you think I'll go to hell when I die? I mean, I did kill someone." He continued to babble on about killing someone until I stopped him, not able to take it anymore.

"Can we please not talk about this? You're fine Ashton, stop talking about dying." I cut him off.

"Where are you? Are you driving?" He asked. I was nearing his car now, and I could see the outline of him inside.

"No, I'm walking. It's raining Ashton, you should get out of the car and go inside." I walked around the other side of the car and opened up the passenger side door, bending down to look inside. I hung up the phone and slid it into the pocket of my sweatshirt, which was now completely soaked.

"I'm okay in here." Ashton shrugged.

I got in and sat down next to him, waiting a few seconds before deciding to speak. Ashton sat completely still, with his pack of cigarettes and his car keys in one hand and the phone his his other. "Hi."

"Hi, Murphy." Ashton said into the phone which was still pressed up against his ear even though I had hung up. "I'm kind of drunk right now."

"I know." I sighed, reaching over and taking the phone out of his hands. I set it down on his lap, which was covered by the big t-shirt he was wearing.

"I thought maybe I could go drive somewhere, but I can't. I'm too scared." Ashton's hand was shaking as he dropped the keys from it, letting them fall onto his lap as well.

"That's okay, I don't want you to drive right now. We can try again when you're sober." I said, taking the cigarettes out of his hand too and putting them down on the dashboard.

"Where are we? I can't remember." Ashton looked around, a look of confusion on his face.

"We're in front of your house, come on, let's go inside." I let go of Ashton's hand and opened the car door, once again stepping out into the rain. He hesitantly followed after me, finally getting out of the car. I grabbed his hands and intertwined our fingers, pulling him with me.

"Why does this happen to me? Why doesn't anything ever turn out right?" He mumbled as I lead him back inside. I shut the door quietly behind Ashton, trying not to wake Michael or his dad.

"It's just like that for now, things will get better." I whispered. I walked down the hall and eventually found Ashton's room without his help as he shuffled slowly down the hall after me.

Once we were inside his room Ashton shut the door after us and immediately sat down on the bed, not bothering to change out of his wet clothes.

"I don't think they will. I'm so lonely, Dani." He whispered, putting his head down in his hands.

"You have me." I stood before him, looking down as his breathing began to get heavier.

"I know." Ashton's head snapped up. He reached out and grabbed my hand, pulling himself up from the bed.

"And I know that I'm not going to be able to completely fix things for you but I promise that everything will turn out fine." I said, taking my own seat on the edge of the bed.

Ashton opened up a few of his dresser drawers and pulled out some new clothes for both of us to wear. He threw a shirt and some sweatpants at me and turned around while I put them on, still wanting to give me privacy even while he was slightly drunk. While he was turned around he took off his jeans and kicked them to the side, pulling on a new pair of sweats.

"I hate myself, I hate this. I should have died that night, not her." Ashton rambled on as he tugged his shirt over his head, replacing it with a big oversized sweater. Despite the position we were in at the moment, he looked cute, cuddly even.

"Stop saying that." I sighed as Ashton crawled back onto the bed. "What about Michael? You can't die, he needs you."

"Michael doesn't need me, he needs his sister. I fucked up his whole life because of one little fight. I'm never going to be able to fix any of this." Ashton grabbed a nearby blanket and rolled in up into a ball, hugging it close to his chest and bringing his legs up around it.

"He'll come around. He's just angry right now, he needs time." I said quietly.

"I've given him time, god dammit! It's been almost six months! I can't keep this up much longer!" Ashton's voice raised again and a few tears slipped out of his eyes. He was breaking down right in front of me again.

"He isn't going to magically be okay again after something this big, he won't go back to normal that quickly." I tried to explain, but Ashton wasn't really having it.

"He's my best friend! He can't just ignore me like this!" Ashton shouted, then quickly lowered his voice. "I need him too!"

"He won't ignore you forever, I promise Ashton, he'll eventually warm up to you again." I reached out and put my hand on top of Ashton's, but he swatted it away.

"I can't do this." Ashton tugged at the ends of his hair and groaned, falling over on the bed.

"Stop, you're getting yourself all worked up." I sighed, helping Ashton sit up again.

"I'm sorry, I can't help it. I'm a little drunk." He sighed, looking down at his lap. He was still drunk, but I could tell it wasn't as bad as before.

"I know, Ashton, I know." I nodded. "Things will get better. I promise."

"God dammit, Murphy." Ashton wiped away the tears on his cheeks, sniffing a few times.

He leaned forward and grabbed the sides of my face in his hands, pulling me into him. His lips attached themselves to mine and moved hungrily against them, like he was trying so hard to use me to forget about everything else. I crawled closer to him until my body was resting on his lap, my legs on either side of him. One of his hands snaked down my side and up under my shirt, his fingers working their way farther up and giving me goosebumps. I grabbed at his sweater with my shaking hands, tugging him even closer to me.

"You're doing a good job, Murphy." Ashton whispered against my lips, suddenly seeming more sober than before.

"Of what?" I asked quietly, tilting my head back as Ashton began to kiss down my neck.

"Fixing me."

-

I woke up the next morning with Ashton snoring softly beside me, one of his arms draped over my stomach. I rolled over and sat up on the bed, careful not to wake Ashton. He had a tough night, I wanted him to get all the sleep that he could.

I slowly made my way out of Ashton's bedroom and into the kitchen, where I searched through the cabinets to find a glass to fill with water.

"You slept over?" A voice came from behind me. I turned around and was met by Michael, who stood before me wearing nothing but a pair of shorts.

"Jesus, don't sneak up on me like that." I said, putting a hand on my chest. I felt like I had just had a heart attack.

"You slept over?" Michael repeated. He walked over to a cabinet and pulled out a glass. He filled it up with water before handing it to me.

"I did, yeah." I nodded, taking a sip of my drink.

"Did you guys have sex?" Michael questioned, his lips forming into a small smirk.

"Is that really any of your business?" I snapped. "No, we didn't. Ashton had kind of a breakdown and I came to make sure he was okay."

"He's always like that. Was he in the car again? He always goes out there and just sits in it. Like that's going to make any of this better." Michael scoffed.

"He does this a lot?" I asked. I set down the glass on the counter and took a step closer to Michael, still not able to figure him out.

"He's always crying, Dani. He's only okay when you're around." Michael shrugged.

"Why are you talking to me?" I asked, changing subjects.

"You haven't done anything bad to me yet. I don't talk to people who do bad things." Michael smiled.

"You're practically tearing Ashton apart with all of this, he needs you." I said. Michael just rolled his eyes at me and turned around, leaning up against the counter on the opposite side of the room.

"He deserves it."

"He didn't mean to get in the - "

"Don't!" Michael yelled, clapping his hands over his ears. "Don't talk about that."

"I'm sorry." I said quietly, not realizing how my words could have affected Michael before I said anything.

"You should be." Michael muttered, taking his hands away from his ears.

"Oh, Michael, you're - who's this?" A man that I had never seen before walked into the kitchen, looking between the two of us. There was a moment of silence between all of us before I realized that Michael wasn't going to answer.

"Hi, I'm Dani Murphy. I live down the street." I said to the man, who I was assuming was Ashton's father. I stepped forward and shook his hand, awkwardly looking over at Michael.

"I'm Jack, Ashton's dad." He said, dropping my hand.

"It's nice to meet you." I said, suddenly feeling uncomfortable standing there in Ashton's clothes.

"Is this your friend, Michael?" Mr. Irwin asked, turning to the purple haired boy.

Michael shook his head and nodded in the direction of Ashton's room.

"Oh, right. Ashton talks about you all the time. He adores you." Jack laughed, glancing over at Michael who only rolled his eyes again in response. "Well, I'm going to get going now. Can one of you tell Ashton I said hi? I hardly even see him anymore."

"I'll tell him. Goodbye Mr. Irwin, it was nice meeting you." I said, giving him a small wave as he walked out the front door.

"'Goodbye Mr. Irwin'." Michael mocked me, making his voice go up higher like mine.

"Why don't you talk to him?" I asked. I wondered if Ashton's dad had done anything that to Michael to make him not want to talk to him.

"I told you, I don't talk to people who do bad things to me." Michael shrugged.

"What did he do?" I questioned, again stepping closer to Michael.

"Have you told Ashton that I talked to you?" Michael asked, completely turning the conversation in a different direction.

"No, I haven't mentioned anything. I figured that you wouldn't want him to know." I shrugged. Michael and my conversation from last weekend was out little secret, Ashton didn't need to know about it.

"You're right." Michael nodded. "I'm not going to talk to him for a long, long, time."

"You're stubborn, aren't you?" I laughed, and so did Michael.

"Very." Michael nodded.

"Did you talk to Calum at all? Or has he secretly done something bad to you that I can't know about either?" I asked, rolling my eyes at Michael.

"Calum? Who's that?" Michael cocked his head to the side, honestly not remembering Calum.

"The boy you were with at the party last week. Dark hair? He looks Asian but he's not?" I laughed a little, hoping that this would he able to jog Michael's memory.

"Oh, right. Calum. No, I didn't talk to him just because I didn't want him to think we were going to be friends. He was just too nice for me." Michael bit back a laugh.

"He's a good kid, give him a chance." I said.

"Does your friend know that we all know she's pregnant?" Michael asked another question and changed the subject yet again. I was getting tire of this, we couldn't stay on the same thing for more than a few minutes.

"No. I don't know how to approach her about it." I said, my stomach feeling nauseous at the thought of Brooke and Luke having a baby. I just wish she would come to me for help, I was her best friend.

"It's not Luke's baby." Michael spoke quickly and startled me for about the third time today. This kid had a bit of an issue with dropping bombs on people like this.

"Do you just lurk around and get into other peoples business? What's wrong with you?" I asked.

"I just wanted to let you know, I'll let you find the rest out for yourself." Michael smirked.

"You're so damn mysterious." I shook my head at him. And with that I turned around and began to head back to Ashton's room. I was done talking to Michael for now.

"Dani?" Michael called after me as I walked away, obviously not as done with the conversation as I was. I looked back, waiting for him to speak again. "I got a new high score on Flappy Bird. 260, try and beat that."

-

I WAS GOING TO NAME ASHTON'S DAD STEVE IRWIN AND IM STILL LAUGHING AT MYSELF BUT SOMEONE TOLD ME THAT WOULD BE OFFENSIVE ((??)) SO I RENAMED HIM BYE

BASICALLY MICHAEL'S STILL SKETCHY AF AND ASHTON IS EMOTIONAL AF