As soon as they'd walked through the door, it felt like a million pairs of eyes were settled on them. Though there were only about ten people, it had always been a fear of Ashton's to be watched by this many.

Calum noticed how angry Harry looked when they walked through the door, and as soon as Ashton pushed Adrian aside, Calum cowered behind him.

Adrian shot Ashton a confused and upset look. "What the fuck-"

"Ashton!" Harry interrupted, rage lacing his words. "I sent you to kill that twit, why the bloody hell would you bring him back to me?"

"Look at him, Harry. He's a kid. I understand that you need me to do my job, but he's so young." Ashton's voice stayed calm, even though he was so very worried. He knew what Harry was capable of. He had seen it. But he didn't want Calum to see it.

"I don't care!" Harry boomed, waving his arms as punctuation. "You-" He pointed at Adrian. "Come here. Now."

Adrian looked over at Calum.

Calum nodded. He was scared. More than he'd admit.

"I said: now!" Harry's voice continued to get louder. Calum shrunk further into Ashton's side, tightly gripping his hand.

Ashton pressed a gentle kiss to the top of Calum's head. "You're okay, angel."

Calum slowly nodded. Of course he was okay-for now.

Ashton knew that people were watching them, but he didn't care. He only cared about Calum.

Adrian stepped closer to where Harry and his goons stood. Harry grabbed his arm, tugging him directly in front of him.

"Do you know what you did?" Harry tauntingly whispered in his face.

Adrian winced and said nothing.

"Do you know what you did?" Harry repeated, louder.

Even the men that worked for Harry wouldn't dare get involved when he was like this. Harry could be a very nice person, but when things didn't go his way, he was a handful.

"Yes." Adrian croaked out.

"Tell me."

The freckled boy stayed silent.

Harry brought his gun up to Adrian's head. "Tell me what you did."

"I-I was just protecting my sister!" Adrian defended. "She was s-so young and you fuckers killed her!"

"I don't fucking care!" Harry lightly squeezed the trigger of the gun. "Do you want to die?"

"I-It doesn't matter-" Adrian mumbled, voice wavering.

"Can you get me my money?"

Adrian shook his head slowly, his mouth starting to form words. That small gesture was the biggest mistake he could've made. Before he could even make a sound, Harry pulled the trigger, and Adrian fell to the ground.

Calum let out a quiet squeak, burying his face in Ashton's neck. He wanted to see this, but he didn't think that the boy deserved to die.

Ashton wrapped an arm around Calum's waist, pulling him into his body. "I'm sorry, love."

"Must I do everything myself?" Harry asked, donning an astonished and amused expression. Ashton shot him an evil glare.

Calum mumbled something inaudible, then lifted his head reluctantly. The first thing his eyes landed on was the blood. A dark red liquid pooled around the boy's head, all colour drained from his face. His mouth still hung open, trying to form words that would never be spoken.

In mere seconds, Ashton turned him away, whispering, "Don't look."

But it was too late. Calum had seen it all, including the smug smirk that Harry wore afterwards.

He hid his face back in Ashton's neck and toyed with his hands between his and Ashton's chest. "Ash, he..."

"I know, darlin'. I'm so sorry." Ashton placed a delicate kiss to the top of Calum's head and began to draw patterns and little phrases on Calum's hips and lower back. Calum kissed up Ashton's neck to his jawline, finding great comfort here in the older lads arms. "It'll be okay."

"Don't be such a baby." Louis murmured, his tone sour and directed quite clearly towards Calum.

"Why'd you even bring him here if he's not gonna look?" Niall inquired, twirling a knife between his fingers.

"Boys-" Harry interrupted. "Leave the poor kid alone, won't you? You must remember that not everyone does what we do."

"M' not a kid." Calum fumed, but his voice was muffled by Ashton's shirt. He didn't want to turn around and face them.

"What did the princess say?" Liam taunted, sporting a wild grin.

"Fuck off." Ashton hissed, rubbing circles on the small of Calum's back.

"C'mon, princess-" Niall whispered tauntingly. "Look at us."

"Fuck off." Ashton repeated, his voice no longer quiet or restrained.

"I'm not going to complain." Zayn finally spoke up. "It's a nice view."

Calum spun around in Ashton's arms, shooting them all evil looks. "Shut the fuck up, you assholes. I can hear you."

"Oh!" Louis giggled. "He talks!"

"Didn't expect such profanities from such a lovely boy." Niall hummed.

"We're going to leave now." Ashton grumbled, squeezing Calum's hand.

"I'm not done with you yet." Harry murmured.

"Well, I'm done with you." Ashton pulled Calum in the direction of the door.

"Fine." Harry exclaimed, always thriving on drama. "We'll talk later. I'm quite disappointed in you." He pointed a ring-clad finger at Calum, but maintained eye contact with Ashton. "He's makin' you go soft, Ash. We can't have that, can we?"

"He's not making me go soft. I've always had a heart, just never showed it to you."

And with that, they headed for the door. Calum looked over his shoulder and stuck his tongue out at the five men staring at his backside, which made him incredibly uncomfortable.

Louis laughed and waved, Niall only smiled, Zayn's eyes never left Calum's back, Liam stuck his tongue back out at Calum, and Harry grinned.

Once they were outside and back in Ashton's car, Calum let out a breath of relief that he didn't know he'd been holding.

"I'm so sorry about them." Ashton apologized profusely, taking Calum's hands in his.

Calum smiled weakly, leaned over and pressed a soft kiss to Ashton's lips. "Don't be."

Ashton didn't know how he was going to survive this week with Calum, and he didn't know how he'd survive any period of time without Calum. The only thing he knew for sure was the he was totally screwed.

Calum tried to continue smiling reassuringly, but Ashton could tell that the boy was worried. Calum pressed a soft kiss to Ashton's cheek and the older lads heart fluttered.

He let out a sigh. So screwed.

Calum frowned and sunk back down in his seat. "Are you okay?"

"M' fine." Ashton whispered, clutching Calum's hand tighter.

"You didn't even flinch, Ash."

"Is that bad?"

"It's not great."

"I know." Ashton sighed. "I hardly even notice it anymore."

"That's bad." Calum let out a giggle despite the situation, and Ashton couldn't help smiling at the sound.

He brought their joined hands up to his lips, pressing a gentle kiss to Calum's tanned skin. "Yeah. I'm a mess."

"No. People are just complicated. You're only as bad as you've been told to be."

"You're amazing." Ashton hummed, registering but not acknowledging Calum's previous words.

They drove back to Ashton's apartment in silence, not even so much as sharing a glance, but their hands never left each other's, and it kept them sane.

Ashton's earlier thoughts mirrored Calum's present ones. Calum knew that he shouldn't be so happy around the older lad, because it had only been a few days since they'd met. But he couldn't help himself, Ashton was such an easy person to fall for. Everything about him was perfect in Calum's eyes. He didn't want to fall for anyone, but Ashton was making it so difficult.

And Calum didn't realize it yet, but he was falling hard.

-

oops. there it is. also, i'm imagining adrian as Cameron Boyce, though i guess it doesn't matter cause he's dead both in real life and this story
:-(

y'all we're at 1.93k. idk what to say.

i love you

-