When Skylar comes to, he is definitely not anywhere he is used to waking up. He expected to either be on the concrete by the pool or in the hospital. Possibly his own bed. The last option is kind of right, he does in fact wake up in a bed. However, it is not a bed that belongs to himself, his family, or any of his friends.

Skylar frowns, rubbing at his head as he inclines himself on an elbow. His vision is kind of blurry, so he has to blink a few times to get it to adjust. He finds himself in a dark bedroom, and it is vaguely familiar, but he can't figure out how. He's definitely never slept in here before, but he has been here.

It takes a solid minute before it finally hits him. This is the guest room. The first room Ashton escorted him to on the night of The Event.

He's at Ashton's.

Skylar's eyes widen at the realization, and he probably shouldn't be surprised. Wes did call Jessie, and Ashton is the person Jessie is closest to in the area. He should've known Jessie would enlist his help again, but still. This is absolutely not ideal. He needs to get the hell out of here, ASAP.

Skylar scrambles out of the bed, but he seriously underestimates how weak he is, so he ends up falling out of the bed and hitting the floor with a thud. He winces, rolling over onto his back and looking down at himself. He's still wearing his normal clothes, though they have blood on them. His arms and legs, on the other hand, are covered in bandages. Who the hell put bandages on him? Ashton? No fucking way.

Skylar begins to pull himself up so he's sitting, but it's a struggle. He has to grab onto the side of the bed for leverage, and is eventually able to pull himself up so he's holding himself up by his elbow. He leans against the side of the bed, trying to ignore how much his head hurts. It doesn't hurt as much as it probably should, however, and that's because he has a thick skull. It takes a lot.

Skylar is about to try and pull himself up so he's standing, but before he can, the door to his room is opening.

Skylar jolts, looking up to find none other than Ashton walking through the door. He has a phone up to his ear, but upon seeing Skylar's situation, pauses.

"Never mind." Ashton says, before swiftly hanging up on whoever he was talking to and pocketing the device. Skylar frowns at him, rubbing at his head when his headache gets slightly worse from the noise.

"Who's that?" Skylar asks Ashton as he begins making his way towards him. The guy scoops Skylar up in his arms, who lets out a soft, surprised noise. He probably should've seen that coming since he's lying on the floor, but he still didn't. Ashton lifts him onto the bed, but Skylar refuses to lay down again. He stays seated, and Ashton stands a few feet off to the side with his arms crossed. It feels strangely parental, like Skylar's in trouble. He feels like he's going to get lectured.

Honestly, going off the disappointed look on Ashton's face, he probably is.

"When is it going to be enough?" Ashton asks him, and Skylar is finally waking up enough that his vision isn't blurry and unfocused anymore. Nope, he can see the disproving and fed up look on Ashton's face plain as day. Definitely a lecture.

Skylar rolls his eyes, running a hand through his hair and down the side of his face. He does not want to fucking deal with this.

"What are you talking about? I am really not in the fucking mood—"

"I mean," Ashton interrupts, tone lower. It's because he's mad, but it's way too similar to his sex voice for Skylar to focus. Maybe he should try to make Ashton not mad anymore, so he doesn't have to worry about his mind going to the gutter now of all times.

"How bad does it need to get for you to finally fucking stop? One day your luck is going to run out, and you won't be able to come back. Is that what it'll take?"

Skylar gives Ashton a bored look. Is this guy trying to intimidate him or scare him or something? Skylar wants to leave already. He wants to go find Crimson's stash and steal from it so he can have some reassurance. He doesn't like it when he's running low.

"Sure," Skylar says, again, not in the mood for this. "I'll stop when I die. Where's my car?"

"Outside." Ashton replies easily, and Skylar frowns. Outside? Like, here? At his apartment complex? How is Skylar's car not still at the pool? "But you're not going anywhere until I'm done with you."

"What do you want me to say?" Skylar snaps, wondering if maybe his dad would have been preferable to this, after all. Actually, no, probably not. Skylar likes having a place to live. "You realize not even Jessie cares this much, right?"

Ashton looks down at him for a long moment with his same disproving look, and Skylar doesn't really know what to do. He's serious, though. Obviously his brother doesn't like it when he gets injured, but he has never made it this much of a big deal. The longer Skylar is awake, the better he begins to feel, anyway.

Sure, his entire body hurts when he moves, but it's nothing he hasn't dealt with before. Right now the only health issue at the forefront of his mind is his withdrawal, which is actually beginning to set in. Yeah, it's been a day since he had it last. That is definitely not helping his headache, He really needs to get more cyto.

"Jessie cares more than you think."

"Whatever," Skylar says easily, swinging his legs over the side of the bed and stretching. He winces at the strain it puts on his wounds, but the pain isn't bothering him that much because it's entirely surface level. Skylar is far more stressed when he thinks that he's broken a bone or something, but last night he just got really scraped up. He also has a lot of bruises, and he hit his head on something. Aside from that he's fine, and should not be receiving this lecture.

Skylar pushes himself up so he's standing, wobbling a bit but still able to keep his balance pretty well. Unfortunately, Ashton is blocking him from going anywhere. He's standing directly in front of Skylar, in the exact same spot and position. Arms crossed and disappointed glare.

Ashton is wearing a button-up shirt and dress pants, for some reason. His hair is kind of damp, and he smells really good, so he probably just got out of the shower. As Skylar continues to study him, the angry expression on his face begins to have the opposite effect. Skylar's mind starts to turn unclean, the dark look to Ashton's eyes and the lower tone of voice he's speaking with due to anger not helping one bit.

"Can I go?" Skylar asks him in irritation, though his desire to leave isn't entirely because he needs to go steal drugs. Nope, he's starting to resort to the frame of mind he always does when in the presence of this guy. Especially when they're alone, and close. He should leave before he does something he regrets, because Ashton doesn't really cross the boundary until Skylar does first. At least, that's what happened the first time.

"When you promise me this won't happen again."

"Yeah, sure whatever."

"And mean it."

Skylar lets out a noise of frustration, taking a step forward as his anger grows. He glares up into Ashton's eyes, and there's a satisfaction that crosses his features. What, is he happy he got a rise out of Skylar? Congratu-fucking-lations, it's not that hard.

"How about you fuck off and mind your business? You're not my dad."

"You're not invincible."

This stare down lasts for a little while, until Skylar's mind starts to wander as he looks into Ashton's eyes. He begins to observe intricate details of the man's face, stuff that he'd have no hope of noticing without their unnecessary proximity. The freckles on the guy's nose, for one. The small tattoo above his eyebrow. The length of his eyelashes, which has never caught Skylar's attention before. His perfectly straight nose, his narrow cheekbones and strong jawline.

It's not fair. It's just not fair that one of the hottest people Skylar had ever seen has to also be the worst person ever of all time.

Before Skylar knows it, he's looking at Ashton's mouth. His lips are really full, and soft, and Skylar knows that second part first hand. Ashton knows exactly how to use his mouth, and his hands, and—

Jesus fucking Christ. Skylar needs to get out of here.

"Fine. I mean it. Can I go now?"

"I told you," Ashton says, and his voice is still low, but in a different way. Skyler is about 60% sure it's due to anger, but they're kind of close, proximity wise. Typically Ashton only talks like that when the situation is intimate, and maybe that counts. "If you kept this up, I'd intervene."

Shit, alright, yeah. He did say that. Skylar's been involved in a few stunts since then, but this is the only one that has resulted in serious injury. He supposes that does count as keeping this up.

"Okay," Skylar says, raising an eyebrow at him and crossing his arms. "What the fuck are you gonna do?"

This time, Ashton takes a step towards Skylar. During this conversation, it's been Skylar doing all the advancing, but he was bluffing. It's not like he could actually do anything, not like he could actually overpower this guy. Skylar can defend himself pretty well, but not against someone almost twice his body mass.

So, when Ashton advances on him this time, Skylar can't ignore his immediate reaction. He takes a step back, and he doesn't have much more room to do that before he will end up running into the wall. Hopefully Ashton doesn't keep this up, because Skylar only has so much self control. He doesn't think properly when this guy is close to him, as he found out the night of The Event.

"You ask too many questions," Ashton says simply, and Skylar is growing distracted. He's stopped really giving a shit about the conversation, since it's not like it's actually going anywhere. They just keep circling back to the same shit.

Skylar's voice is quieter, and he's not really making eye contact. There's no heat behind his words when he says, "r-really? Coming... coming from you?"

His stammering doesn't really help his case, his mind is obviously elsewhere. It's not like he owes this guy anything, not like Skylar's personal life is any of his business, so wasting his time on this argument—or whatever the hell it is—wouldn't solve anything.

Anyway, Skylar is practically incapable of making eye contact right now. First he's looking at Ashton's mouth, and remembering the way it felt against his own, all those months ago. Then, his eyes trail down to his chest, and the button up shirt he's wearing.

In that moment, more than anything, Skylar feels the urge to unbutton it. He chooses to stare at the floor.

"I want you to answer something," Ashton says after a moment. Skylar still refuses to make eye contact, heart rate picking up as he tries to resist his unclean thoughts.

"...what?" Skylar replies, forgetting the fact that he hates this guy and owes him nothing.

"Why are you so mean," he says, "until we're alone?"

Skylar frowns, reluctantly looking up to make eye contact. Ashton has an eyebrow quirked, looking down at Skylar like he already has some idea of the answer. Still, Skylar doesn't really get it.

"What do you mean?" Skylar requests further clarification, though if he thinks about it he actually might be able to figure out what Ashton is getting at.

"I mean, you're so hostile all the time. You say you hate me, but then..." he takes another step forward, and Skylar stumbles back again. He only has room for one more step, and he's really hoping that Ashton doesn't do so again. Skylar's already having a difficult enough time focusing, he doesn't need it to get any worse. He will lose.

"It all goes away when we're here."

Okay, yeah, Skylar knows exactly what he means. He's also right, which makes it even worse. In every day life, Skylar is always in a shitty mood. He's in a constant state of angry, and Ash gets under his skin like nothing else. Skylar isn't particularly nice to him, ever.

Until they're alone. Until Ashton's close. Skylar genuinely can't argue, because he's technically the one who started this. That night, when Ash came to his aid, something just came over him. It was like he'd always felt that attraction, but it never processed. It stayed in his subconscious, until they were forced into close proximity via Skylar needing so much help that night.

Except, it has nothing to do with location. It has nothing to do with being alone, or even the proximity. That is what caused the realization, but at this point, it's just a lack of control. It's just an attraction he shouldn't have, but is unable to resist nonetheless.

"That's... you don't know what you're talking about. That has nothing to do with—I hate you, I swear, I just..." okay, why the hell is Skylar freaking out right now? It doesn't help when Ashton starts to look amused, and Skylar runs a hand through his hair, eyebrows furrowed. "You're actually so ugly, you're... the only reason that night even happened was because I was fucking delirious, okay?"

Dear god, Skylar is lying through his teeth, and it's so obvious. He even winces when he finishes talking, because you would have to be so stupid to believe him right now.

Then, Ashton takes another step, and it's over. Skylar can't go anywhere without cornering himself against the wall, and Ashton's close, and Skylar is about to prove his point correct if he's not careful.

He's losing his focus by the moment, and now he can't look away from Ashton's face. He still can't make eye contact. He's mostly just looking at Ashton's mouth.

Ashton isn't touching him, isn't advancing any further. He's not pushing any more, taking note of Skylar's boundaries conveyed by his words. Skylar finds himself wishing he wouldn't, wishing Ash would just do whatever he wanted without Skylar having to actually admit to himself that he wants this.

Oh god, he wants this. Kill him now.

"Okay, then I'll give you space."

Shit. Just like Skylar thought, Ashton will make him make the first move. To be fair, Skylar is very vocal about hating him and not caring and not wanting this. He can't blame him, but still.

Ashton makes to turn around and leave, but Skylar can't let that happen. He's already gotten his hopes up, is already far too invested in the moment to let it slip away.

So, before he can do so, Skylar grabs the front of his pants, before pulling him back to where he was. Ashton doesn't look surprised at all, which is kind of annoying, but whatever. Skylar doesn't care, the only thing going through his mind is Ashton.

So, keeping his hold around the guy's waistband, he reaches up with his other hand. Skylar grasps the side of Ashton's face, before moving his hold to the guy's hair. He uses the hold to pull Ashton down, which the guy doesn't resist at all, and—

Skylar is really going to regret this.