Archive of Our Own

“You know, you’re making it very obvious-”

Ashton startles as soon as a voice comes out of nowhere. He looks over and rolls his eyes when he sees his best friend, Luke Hemmings, standing in front of the bleachers. “Go away, Luke,”

Luke huffs out a laugh. “Go away? Ash, I’m your ride home,”

Ashton glares at him. “You’re really, really annoying, you know that?”

“I know. You like to tell me that on a daily basis,” Luke says.

“Hm. Have you ever stopped to wonder why I call you annoying daily?” Ashton asks.

“Nope, absolutely not,” Luke says, shaking his head with an innocent smile on his face, before sighing. “Now, can you stop staring at Calum now so we can go home?”

Ashton huffs and shuts his book. He grabs his bag and walks down to look. “Thanks for the ride,”

“I’ve been taking you home for the past year, Ash,” Luke says as they start to walk out of the football field.

“I know, but I don’t thank you enough. So, thank you for taking me home,” Ashton says and laughs when Luke playfully nudges him. “Stop! You’re going to make me fall over.”

“We wouldn’t want that, would we? You’re already bloody clumsy enough on your own,” Luke says.

“Hey, Luke!”

Luke stops and turns around when he hears someone calling his name. He smiles when he sees Calum rushing over to him. “Hey Cal, what’s up?”

“Me and Michael were planning on hanging out at his house later. Wanna join us?”

“Oh, that’d be sick. I have to take Ashton home first but-”

Calum glances over at Ashton, who’s staring at him with wide eyes as he clutches onto his book. Ashton knows that Luke is buddies with Calum because they’re both on the football team.

Ashton has always had a massive crush on Calum Hood, the star quarterback. But, because Ashton is known as the nerd and someone way less popular than Calum, he’s always been way too shy to even think about saying anything to Calum. Calum would probably laugh in his face.

“Oh, well. Ashton can come along if he’d like?”

“That would be-!” Luke begins to say as he looks over at Ashton with excitement, but stops as soon as he sees Ashton frantically shaking his head. “Come on, Ash. It’s Friday-”

“Homework,” Ashton spits out. “I- I have homework.”

“No, you don’t. You already finished your homework, because you’re a nerd,” Luke says playfully.

Ashton glares at him. “Just take me home. They’re not going to want to hang out with me,” he hisses.

“Hey, it’s cool. We don’t mind if you join us. You must be alright if you’re friends with Luke,” Calum says.

“See?” Luke says, and he turns to look at Calum. “Yeah, we’ll meet you there?”

“Cool. See you there,” Calum says, smiling at Luke, before running back over to Michael, his best friend.

As soon as he’s gone, Ashton reaches over and harshly shoves Luke, glaring at him.

“Ow!” Luke shouts, rubbing the spot where Ashton had hit. “Dude, what the fuck was that for?”

“What were you thinking?” Ashton hisses. “I can’t hang out with Calum Hood! There’s a bloody reason why I’ve never said anything to him about liking him! They’re going to hate me!”

“No, that’s a little unfair,” Luke says. “Cal and Mike are really nice guys, and they’re going to like you. Now, come on. We’re going to go hang out with my friends, and you’re going to have fun.”

Ashton grumbles angrily to himself and turns to start walking toward Luke’s car.

Ashton’s not going to make a fool of himself in front of Calum Hood. He’s not .

Eventually, Luke and Ashton make it to Michael’s house. Calum and Michael are already there, and Michael lets the two into his house when Luke knocks on the door.

“You must be Ashton,” Michael says as the two walk inside. He shuts the door behind him.

Ashton turns to look at Michael and nods. “Ash- Ashton Irwin,” he says shyly.

“Please forgive Ashton. He’s kind of nervous,” Luke says sincerely, placing a hand on Ashton’s back. “But, thanks for allowing him to join us. We usually hang out together on Friday’s.”

“No problem. I remember you talking about him a few times,” Michael says, and he leads the way to the living room, where Calum is lounging on the couch, scrolling through his phone. “Cal, they’re here.”

Calum looks up, and he smiles when he sees the two. “Oh hey. Mike and I were just talking about what we were going to do for dinner. Are you guys cool with pizza?”

“Yeah, that’s fine. We both like pizza,” Luke says.

“I don’t think we could be friends anymore if you didn’t like pizza,” Michael says, nudging Luke playfully as he passes by him, flopping down onto the couch, and kicking his feet up onto the coffee table.

“Come on, you can sit down beside me Ash,” Luke says, gesturing for Ashton to sit down on one of the couches. Luke sits down next to him on the floor, wanting to make sure he’s being included. He knows Calum and Michael can be a bit loud, a bit rowdy when they’re together. He doesn’t want Ashton to feel  excluded, especially knowing that Ashton already has a massive crush on Calum.

The four boys settle down after they get the pizza ordered.

“So, Ashton-”

“Ash,” Ashton corrects him quietly, his cheeks turning bright red when all eyes are on him. “I prefer Ash.”

“Okay, Ash . You hang out with Luke a lot?” Calum asks.

Ashton slowly nods. “We’re neighbors,” he explains. “He’s my best friend.”

Luke grins as he looks up at Ashton, and gently nudges Ashton’s leg. “Damn right I am,”

“Unfortunately it means that I have to put up with you all the time. I had no say in this friendship,” Ashton retorts easily because it’s easier for him to talk when he’s just talking to Luke.

Luke scoffs and looks back over at Calum and Michael. “Don’t listen to him. He loves me,” he says.

Michael snorts. “Sure sounds like it,” he says.

“Hey, I can relate to you, Ash. I’ve had to put up with this idiot since we were little kids,” Calum says, and he yelps when Michael flicks him on the ear. “Don’t fucking do that!”

“Don’t be mean!”

The pizza finally arrives, and the boys eat their pizza in the living room. They put on The Walking Dead because Michael was shocked when Ashton had said that he’d never seen an episode.

After about two hours, Calum excuses himself to have a smoke in the backyard. Luke joins him.

“Ashton hates that I smoke,” Luke says once he and Calum are on the porch.

Calum chuckles as he puts a cigarette in his mouth, before exhaling the smoke. “Well, that doesn’t surprise me,” he leans against the house, crossing his legs.

Luke hesitates before looking over at Calum. “So, what do you think of Ash?”

“What do you mean?” Calum asks, looking up at Luke.

“I mean, you’ve never actually hung out with him before today. What do you think of him? I mean, people at school don’t talk to him because he’s like… nerdy,” Luke says.

Calum shrugs his shoulders. “It’s cool. He’s a bit… shy. But, he’s bullied. So, I can understand why,”

Luke nods, frowning. “I try to protect him whenever I can,”

“It’s good. That, you know, he has someone like you,” Calum says.

“Okay,” Luke says. “I shouldn’t say this but I can’t hold it in anymore. Ashton has a giant crush on you.”

“What?” Calum asks, his eyes widening as he stares at Luke. “What are you talking about, man?”

“Ashton,” Luke says, and he sighs when Calum nods for him to continue. “He has a crush on you and has for as long as I can remember. He’s just… he’s shy, and he has anxiety. Ashton deserves so much.”

“Why are you telling me this?” Calum asks. “Isn’t he going to be pissed at you?”

“Probably, but I’m only doing this for his good, and because he’d never say anything to you himself,” Luke tells him. “You’re single, and Ashton’s single. You’re both gay. Well, you’re bisexual. But still.”

“Luke,” Calum warns. “I don’t like where this is going.”

“Please,” Luke begs, and he walks over to Calum. “Can’t you just… give him a chance?”

“Give him a chance?” Calum hisses, and throws the cigarette down, putting it out with his shoes. “Luke, you’re asking me to date someone I don’t even know!”

“So, take him on a date!” Luke exclaims, throwing his arms up. “Or like, hang out with him. Anything . Just, get to know him. And if you don’t end up liking him that way, then you two can just be friends.”

“What’s in it for me?” Calum asks, crossing his arms against his chest.

Luke bites his lip as he thinks for a moment before he lights up. “Oh, I know! I’ve got it. Okay. Date Ashton for a month. If you date him for a solid month, then I’ll give you a hundred bucks at the end of it.”

“This sounds mean,” Calum says. “I- I don’t wanna get Ashton’s hopes up, or hurt him.”

Luke shakes his head. “Trust me. It’ll all be fine,” he says. “Ashton will be over the moon.”

Calum lets out a sigh of defeat. “It has been a few months since my last boyfriend, and Michael’s been really annoying about me dating again,” he mumbles. “Plus, I could use the extra cash.”

“Perfect!” Luke whoops in victory. “Thank you, Cal. This means a lot.”

“If this gets fucked up because of you, you cannot blame me,” Calum warns, pointing a finger at Luke.

“I won’t,” Luke says, nodding. “Should we go back inside?”

“Yeah, fine,” Calum grumbles.

“Maybe you can ask Ash to be your date for the home game this Friday,” Luke suggests as Calum opens the door, and the two walk into the house together.

“Don’t push it,” Calum warns, glaring at Luke. “But, that’s not a bad idea.”

Luke grins, and he follows Calum into the living room. Michael and Ashton are sitting on the couch.

“What do you mean Harry Potter is better than Star Wars? Are you out of your mind?” Michael screeches, throwing his arms up. “There’s no fucking way you actually believe that.”

“Oh no,” Luke groans. “This is not going to end well if Michael’s crying about Star Wars again.”

Michael looks over when he hears Luke’s voice. “I don’t think this friendship is going to work,”

“Because I said Harry Potter is better than Star Wars?” Ashton asks, frowning. “That’s a bit silly.”

“You’re a bit silly!” Michael shouts, pointing at Ashton. “Star Wars is far superior than Harry bloody Potter.”

“That’s your opinion, not mine,” Ashton argues. “Even if it is the wrong opinion.”

“Alright, break it up. You nerds,” Calum mumbles, and he walks into the living room, shaking his head. Calum hesitates, and he glances over at Luke, who nods encouragingly. Calum rolls his eyes, and then he walks over to Ashton’s side of the couch. “Hey, uh… Ash?”

Ashton blinks, and he looks up at Calum. “Uhm, yes?”

“Are you going to the home game on Friday?” Calum asks.

“Of course I am,” Ashton says. “I always go to the games to support Luke.”

“Right,” Calum says. “Well, uh… I was wondering if you wanted to go with me as my date this time?”

Ashton’s eyes widen as he stares at Calum. “Wh- What?”

“Everybody on the team is talking about bringing their date to the game. I just thought… it would be fun?” Calum says, starting to feel a little nervous because of Ashton’s reaction.

“I- I mean, I would- I would love to. I just… Why do you want me to go with you?” Ashton asks.

“Because despite what you may think… I think you’re pretty cool,” Calum says and nudges Ashton to scoot over, so Ashton does. “So, you’ll go with me?”

“Okay,” Ashton says, feeling his heart pound against his chest, because he’s been waiting for this moment for years, and now it’s finally happening. “Y- Yes. I’ll go with you.”

Calum grins, and he leans over to kiss Ashton’s cheek. “That’s great. It’s going to be fun,” he startles when Michael suddenly cheers loudly. Calum rolls his eyes at his best friend.

“It’s about damn time. I’ve been waiting for this moment for ages,” Michael says.

“Oh relax. We’re just going to the game together,” Calum groans.

“Shut up, Cal. Let me have this moment,” Michael argues, sticking his tongue out at his best friend.

Luke chuckles as he shakes his head, watching the scene. He can see the smile on his face, and he knows that Ashton deserves this more than anyone. He just hopes that it works out.

Ashton manages to get Calum’s number at the end of the night, and after that night, Calum texts Ashton, encouraged by Luke. Calum doesn’t really hang out with Ashton again until game day.

“Are you excited to see Calum?” Luke asks as he walks Ashton to his spot on the bleachers. Unfortunately, Calum wasn’t able to walk Ashton out to his seat as he prepared for the game.

“Come on, Lu. I’m always excited to see Calum,” Ashton says without hesitation.

Luke giggles. “Well, I mean… It's different now, right? Since you two are kind of dating each other,”

Ashton scoffs at that, and he shakes his head. “We’re not dating, Luke. He hasn’t even asked me to be his boyfriend yet, and I don’t know if he’s going to ask me or not, I’m not getting my hopes up,” he says. He looks over at his best friend. “But, I appreciate the confidence.”

“That’s what I’m here for,” Luke says, and playfully punches Ashton on the shoulder. “I’ll see you.”

“Thanks, see you, Luke. Oh, and good luck!” Ashton says.

“I don’t need it, but thanks!” Luke says, before taking off.

Ashton grins when he hears someone shout let’s go Hemmings ! Because that’s the kind of attention Luke deserves. He may not be the star quarterback, but he’s definitely one of the best footballers on the team.

Michael eventually finds Ashton before the game starts. “Hey man,”

Ashton looks up, surprised to see Michael approaching him. “Oh, hey Mike. What are you doing here?”

“I’m here to support Calum, just like you. Duh. What else would I be doing?” Michael asks.

“No,” Ashton laughs. “I mean, don’t you usually sit with your other friends? You don’t have to sit with me,”

“Well, I want to,” Michael says, and he nudges Ashton over and sits beside him. “Get used to it. Besides, we’re going to be seeing a lot more of each other now that you’re Calum’s boyfriend.

Ashton rolls his eyes. “Oh, bloody hell. Not this again. I’m not Calum’s boyfriend. We’ve only texted with each other so far, and Calum hasn’t shown any interest in being anything more than just friends,” he says.

“Oh trust me when I say this, he’s definitely interested,” Michael says, nudging Ashton gently.

“You don’t know that,” Ashton mumbles, looking down as he blushes.

“Of course, I know. Calum’s my best friend and I’ve known him better than anyone. Even his own sister,” Michael says, and chuckles. “Trust me, Ash. He likes you. He did ask you out tonight.”

“Funny, because I haven’t seen him yet. Luke walked me to my seat,” Ashton mumbles.

“Calum would have if he was able to but he was called in to come in early by the coach, I promise you,” Michael tries to assure him. He gently pats Ashton on the back.

Ashton cheers for Calum and Luke the whole game with Michael. And of course, their team wins, but Ashton’s not surprised. Their team has only lost a few games in the past year.

“Come on, let’s go!” Michael exclaims, grabbing Ashton’s hand.

“Mike, where are we going?” Ashton asks as Michael drags him down from the bleachers.

“To go see Calum and Luke!”

Ashton’s eyes widen at the realization, but he doesn’t stop Michael as he drags him down to the field, where Calum and Luke are celebrating their big win.

“Cal!” Michael shouts and grins when Calum turns to look at him. “Cal, you were amazing.”

“Thanks, Mike,” Calum says, and he pulls Michael into a hug. He pulls away, and he looks over to see Ashton standing there awkwardly. “Ash.” He walks up to him.

“You- You were amazing,” Ashton says, staring at him. “That final throw-”

Calum grins. “Thank you. I’m- I’m sorry that I couldn’t see you earlier. Coach wanted me to come earlier, and he ruined everything. I really wanted to see you earlier.”

“It’s okay,” Ashton whispers, blushing. “I understand. There’s always next time.”

“Next time?” Calum asks, raising his eyebrows at Ashton. “You want there to be a next time even though this was a total bust?”

“I- I don’t think it was a total bust. I uhm, I still got to see you,” Ashton says.

“Kiss him, you fool!”

“Michael, you cannot quote Friends at a time like this!”

Calum rolls his eyes, and then he gently grabs Ashton and pulls him in for a kiss, surprising the older boy. The kiss lasts for a moment, and Calum doesn’t even notice that the school’s photographer is taking pictures of him and Ashton. He pulls away from the kiss. “Wow, that was…”

“I-” Ashton gasps because that was technically his first kiss with a boy. He doesn’t count when Luke kissed him when they were younger, because Luke felt bad for him.

“Don’t tell me that was your first kiss-”

“No,” Ashton gasps out. “Luke kissed me out of pity. It- It was a long time ago!”

Calum lets out a laugh. “Of course he did,” he says, looking back at Luke, who’s beaming.

“Calum! Calum, can we take some photos? For the yearbook?”

Calum looks over at the photographer, before nodding. “Yeah, uh… of course you can. Uh- Michael! Luke! Get over here! They want to take our photos!”

“Because we’re so famous,” Luke says as he walks over to Calum and Ashton. He throws his arm around Ashton, grinning at him. “Told you Calum liked you.”

“Shut up,” Ashton grumbles, his cheeks turning bright pink.

After getting their photos taken, Calum and Luke are invited to a party, which doesn’t surprise Ashton, because Luke is usually invited to parties after their big wins. Ashton is usually dropped off at his house because parties aren’t really his scene. He’s the nerd of the school. He doesn’t belong at parties.

“You’re coming with us, right?” Calum asks when they get to their cars.

“Good luck,” Luke says. “This is usually the part where I take Ashton home after games.”

Calum frowns, and he looks at Ashton. “But, why not?”

Ashton scoffs at that. “Do you know who you’re talking to, Calum?” He asks, looking up at Calum. “I’m Ashton Irwin, the nerd of the schools. I don’t belong at parties, and nobody wants me there.”

“That’s bullshit, Ash. I want you there,” Calum argues. “And I’m sure Luke does too, and Michael.”

“That’s different. You’re my friends,” Ashton mumbles.

“Come on, come to the party with us. You don’t even have to drink or anything if you don’t want to,” Calum says. “And, if you want to leave at any point… we’ll leave. Right, Luke?” He looks over at Luke, who looks like he’s ready to argue with Ashton at any second. Calum feels the same way.

Luke instantly nods. “Yeah, Ash. You know I’ll take you home,”

Ashton huffs. “That means you can’t drink,”

“That’s fine. I don’t need to drink anyway,” Luke says, shrugging his shoulders. “I’ll have fun no matter what. You should come with us, Ash. You have to experience at least one high school party in your life.”

Ashton whines. “Fine, but only this one time!”

Luke whoops, and high-fives Michael. “I never thought I’d see the day,” he says.

Calum laughs, and he walks over to throw an arm around Ashton, who instantly blushes at the touch, because he’s not used to being touched by his crush. “You’ll have fun, Ash. We’ll make sure of it,”

Finally, they make it to the house where the party is being held.

Ashton instantly feels anxiety bubbling up in his chest as they pull up to the house. There are cars, and people, everywhere. Ashton can already hear the music blasting. People are drunk already, he can tell.

“Ash?” Calum asks, reaching over to shake him. “You coming?”

Ashton hesitates, before looking over at Calum. “I- I should just stay in the car. I’ll be fine. You guys go and have fun. Trust me. You’ll- You’ll have way more fun without me,”

“No,” Calum says. “You’re coming with us. Come on. It’s not that bad.” He gets out of the car, and walks around to open Ashton’s door, ignoring the way Luke coos at him for being a gentleman.

Calum opens the door and helps Ashton out of the car. He holds onto Ashton’s hand as they walk over to Michael and Luke, and then they walk up to the door. Calum knocks on the door, and a member of the football team answers the door, immediately letting the four of them in.

Ashton’s heart is pounding against his chest as they make their way through the house. He stays close to Calum and holds onto his hand tightly. He definitely doesn’t want to be alone in this place. He doesn’t know anybody but the people he came with, and no one is going to want to talk to him.

“Ash, let go for a second,” Calum says.

Ashton looks up, and notices they’re in the kitchen, and then he looks over at Calum. He hesitates, before slowly letting go of Calum’s hand. He instantly wraps his arms around himself, unsure of what else to do.

Calum gives him a reassuring smile before turning to get himself a drink. Luke and Michael are already off socializing with others. Ashton’s jealous. He wishes he hadn’t been deemed the “nerd of the school” because of his good grades, otherwise he might have had a chance to actually make friends.

“Here,” Calum says, and he hands Ashton a water bottle. “Drink it. It’ll help you calm down.”

“I’m sorry,” Ashton whispers as he shakily takes the water bottle from him. “I told you I wouldn’t be fun.”

“You just have to relax. No one’s going to hurt you, I promise,” Calum says.

“Luke’s already gone,” Ashton mumbles sadly. “And- And you’re the most popular guy in school, someone’s going to drag you away from me eventually. I shouldn’t have come.”

“I’m not leaving your side,” Calum says and puts his arm around Ashton’s neck. “I’m not an asshole.”

“Calum,” Ashton whines. “You’re being too nice to me for no good reason.”

“Because I like you, and I’m not going anywhere, so get used to it,” Calum says, and he kisses Ashton’s cheek, and then kisses the corner of Ashton’s mouth, which makes Ashton blush harder.

Ashton does okay once Calum starts dragging him around the party. He keeps to his promise, not leaving Ashton’s side, and when he does, it’s not for very long and he’s right back next to Ashton.

It’s about twenty minutes in when a very pretty girl walks up to Calum, getting right up next to him even though Calum has Ashton by his side. Ashton frowns as he stares at her.

“Hi Calum,” she says, batting her eyelashes.

“Ashley,” Calum says with no interest, which makes Ashton feel better.

“It’s been a while. Do you maybe wanna… go upstairs with me?” Ashley asks, smiling sweetly.

“Sorry, Ashley. I can’t do that anymore. I’m- I’m here with a date,” Calum says.

“A date? Who ?” Ashley demands, crossing her arms against her chest angrily.

“Uh, Ashton?” Calum says, gesturing to Ashton standing beside him. “He’s my-” He looks over at Ashton, seeming unsure, before looking back at Ashley. “He’s my boyfriend.”

“What?” Ashley shrieks, making Ashton flinch. “You’re dating that loser nerd? Wow, Calum. You really downgraded after your last boyfriend.” She scoffs, and storms away.

Tears instantly begin welling up in Ashton’s eyes. He quickly takes Calum’s arm off his shoulder, earning Calum’s attention. Ashton doesn’t say anything, only simply begins to walk away.

“Ash!” Calum shouts, quickly running after him.

Ashton starts looking around for Luke because Ashton can’t stand to be here for another second. “Luke?” Ashton shouts, looking around frantically. His heart is pounding against his chest, and he’s afraid that he’ll set off a panic attack, and he really doesn’t want that in front of all these people. “Luke!”

“Ash-!”

“Ashton,” Luke hurries over to him, appearing out of nowhere. “Ash, what happened?”

“Take me home,” Ashton begs, looking up at Luke with watery eyes. “Please, take me home.”

“Ash-”

“Ash, wait. Don’t go,” Calum begs as he walks up to Ashton. 

“What did you do?” Luke demands, pushing Ashton behind him protectively.

“I didn’t do it!” Calum hisses. “Ashley was being a bitch, and said some mean things. Ash got upset, and I- I guess he left to find you. I didn’t know she would say those things in front of him.”

“You didn’t try to stop her?” Luke asks, frowning.

“No, I… he left so fast after it all happened, and she was already gone-”

Luke scoffs. “Forget it, Cal. This whole thing was a bad idea,” he hisses and Calum knows that Luke’s not talking about the party. “Come on, Ash. I’ll take you home.”

“Luke, where are you going?” Michael asks, running up to them. “Why is Ashton crying?”

Luke looks over at Ashton with a panicked look, but Calum’s already rushing over to comfort him. “Hey, it’s okay,” he whispers, wiping away Ashton’s tears. “Ashley’s just a bitch. Her words mean nothing.”

Ashton gasps when someone bumps into him, and he quickly grabs onto Calum.

“Who let the nerd in?” The guy shouts, laughing loudly with the people who pass them by.

“Fuck off, Derrick,” Calum snaps, and he wraps an arm around Ashton. “Come on Ash, come with me. We’ll go somewhere quiet.” He glances over at Luke, before leading Ashton up the stairs.

Michael frowns as he looks over at Luke. “Okay, that was… odd. What was that all about?”

“Stay close. I don’t know how this is going to end,” Luke mumbles, glancing up at the stairs.

Calum leads Ashton up the stairs, and down the hallway to a bedroom. He pushes the door open, and they find a girl and a boy making out messily on the bed. “Get lost,”

“We were here first-!”

“You really wanna mess with me right now? Get the fuck out,” Calum demands.

“Oh, you’ve got a new boy toy? Alright, we’ll leave. Get it, Hood,” the boy says before grabbing the girl and drunkenly exiting the room, both giggling messes.

Calum closes his eyes before reaching over and shutting the door, locking it. He turns to look at Ashton. “Ash, I’m so sorry. I didn’t know this was going to happen,” he says, and he walks over to Ashton.

“I told you,” Ashton chokes out, and quickly wipes away a tear that slips out of his eye. “I’m a nerd, and nobody wants me around. Especially at a party that celebrates football wins.”

Calum frowns. “I- I didn’t know it was that bad. I’m sorry,” he whispers. “I knew you got bullied, but-”

“Yeah,” Ashton scoffs. “You might want to rethink dating me. It won’t be good for your reputation.”

“Reputation?” Calum asks. “I don’t care about my reputation, Ash. I’ve never cared about it.”

“You certainly seem to like the attention you get from being popular,” Ashton mumbles.

“Well, of course. Anyone would,” Calum says. “Look, Ash. I think you’re amazing. I know things have gotten off to a rocky start, but… will you give me a chance to prove I can be a good boyfriend?”

Ashton looks up at Calum, sniffing quietly. “I- I already know you’re a good boyfriend, Cal…”

Calum gently grabs a hold of Ashton and then he pushes him against the wall. “So, uh, I didn’t get to ask you properly earlier because of that bitch Ashley,” he whispers. “Will you be my boyfriend?”

Ashton gasps as he looks up at Calum. He’s been waiting for this moment to happen, but he never thought that it would actually happen to him. “I-” He whispers, and his eyes close when Calum presses his lips against his own. “Yes.” He breathes, nodding. “Yes, I’ll be your boyfriend.” He moans when Calum kisses him again, this time more passionately. Ashton melts into Calum’s hold.

“Ash, fuck,” Calum gasps, continuing the kiss. He pulls away for a moment, tugging at Ashton’s pants. “Earlier you said I was your first kiss. Have you ever-?”

“Luke kissed me out of pity,” Ashton says. “Do you really think anyone would want to…?” He stops, feeling too sorry for himself to even finish the sentence. “Obviously, I haven’t.”

“Do you want to…?”

“I’m- I’m not ready for the full thing yet,” Ashton whispers. “I don’t want my first time to be at a stupid party that I didn’t even want to be at. No offense.”

“None taken. I don’t blame you. But, we don’t have to do the full thing. How do you feel about a blowjob?”

Ashton’s eyes widen with shock at his bluntness. “Cal, you don’t have to-!”

“Ash,” Calum whispers, kissing Ashton’s jaw. “I would be more than happy to help you out.”

“I-” Ashton gulps, before slowly nodding. He gasps when Calum tugs at his jeans, and slowly starts unzipping his pants. He looks down and watches as Calum sinks to his knees, tugging his pants down with him. Ashton moans as soon as Calum’s lips are on him.

An hour later, Ashton and Calum finally make it back downstairs. Luke finds them immediately.

“Where the hell have you been? Is that a hickey?” Luke asks, touching Ashton’s neck.

“Stop it!” Ashton hisses, whacking at Luke’s hand. “It’s none of your business if it’s a hickey.”

“There’s no way in hell you two actually-” Luke stops, his eyes widening. “Did you two-?”

“No, we didn’t go that far. We just… made out, and shit. I wasn’t going to do anything without Ashton’s consent. Oh, and by the way. We’re officially boyfriends now,” Calum says. “We talked about everything.”

“Wow. This is not how I thought the night was going to end…” Luke says.

“Yeah, well that makes two of us,” Ashton mumbles. He looks over at Calum and blushes when Calum smirks at him. Ashton steps closer to him and allows Calum to throw an arm around his neck.

“Well, I’m happy for you, Ash,” Luke says, looking over at Calum. “Ashton has had like the biggest crush on you since… forever. I’m sure he’s freaking out about this on the inside.”

“Luke!” Ashton whines. “Please don’t embarrass me in front of Calum now that we’re dating.”

Luke smirks as he looks over at Ashton. “As your best friend, it’s my duty to embarrass you in front of your new boyfriend. I’ve never had this opportunity before, so let me have this.”

“Don’t worry, babe. I saw Luke and Michael making out earlier, so you can use that against Luke however you’d like if he ever teases you about us,” Calum says, smirking when Luke starts whining.

****

The next two months are a whirlwind for Ashton. After the party, the news spread pretty quickly about Ashton being Calum’s new boyfriend. He gets teased for it, but no one ever really does anything because Calum threatens anyone who tries to harm Ashton in any way.

After a while, the news dies down. Ashton’s grateful, because he doesn’t like the spotlight on him.

Everything with Calum goes smoothly the first two months. Calum is the perfect boyfriend. He takes Ashton on dates every weekend, and they hang out together when they’re not in school. Ashton supports Calum, and Luke, at practices and their games. He starts wearing Calum’s football jacket.

It isn’t until one day after school when Ashton is meeting Calum after football practice. The coach directs Ashton to where the locker room is, giving him permission to meet Calum back there.

Ashton is about to open the door, but he stops when he hears voices.

“Aren’t you dating that freak, though?” A voice asks.

“His name is Ashton,” it’s Calum’s voice. “And, I guess so. I’m not really…” He sighs. “I’m only dating him because Luke asked me to ask him out. Apparently he had some freak crush on me. But uh, Luke told me he would give me one hundred dollars if I dated him for a month.”

“And how long has it been?”

“Two months,” Calum answers.

“Did you get the money?”

“Hell yeah I got the fucking money, that’s a lot of cash,” Calum laughs. “Ashton’s great, but I’m probably going to break up with him soon. I just gotta find the right way to do it. I don’t wanna break his heart.”

“Well, let me know when you do. I’ll definitely take you up on that offer,”

Ashton gasps, backing up against the wall as tears begin pouring out of his eyes. He should have known, it was too good to be true. Luke set him up. Calum never really liked him. It was all a big lie.

Ashton quickly shrugs Calum’s jacket off of him, and throws it on the ground, before running off.

“I’ll see you this weekend?”

Calum grins as he looks up at Zach as they exit the locker room, nodding. “Yeah, man. This weekend,”

“Dude, isn’t that your jacket?”

Calum frowns, and then he looks down. He picks up the jacket and sees the name Hood on the back in big bold letters. Ashton had his jacket earlier, just over an hour ago, when Calum saw him last. “Shit,” Calum whispers. “That’s not good. This wasn’t here before.”

“How did it get here?”

“I gotta go. I’ll see you later,” Calum says, and immediately pulls his phone out of his pocket, calling Luke.

“‘Lo?”

“Luke,” Calum gasps. “Have you heard from Ashton?”

“No?” Luke replies, sounding confused. “I thought you were meeting him after practice.”

“Yeah, I- I just now got out of practice. I- I found my jacket outside the locker room. Ashton had it last,” Calum says. “I thought maybe he was with you or something.”

“I haven’t seen him since lunch, Cal. Maybe you should try calling him,” Luke suggests.

“Okay,” Calum says. “Thanks. I’ll let you know.” He hangs up on Luke, and he instantly calls Ashton. Ashton doesn’t answer, it goes straight to voicemail. Calum curses out loud and tries again. There’s still no answer. Maybe Ashton went home instead. Calum just can’t help but worry that something’s wrong.

Ashton runs all the way home. His legs are burning, and his face is a mess from crying. But, he finally makes it home. Ashton runs into the house, slamming the door shut behind him. He gasps heavily as he leans against the door. He hasn’t given himself time to process everything he just heard.

“Ashton?”

Ashton looks up with wide eyes, and he sees his mom standing there, looking worried.

“Ashton, sweetheart. What happened?” Anne-Marie asks as she walks over to her oldest son.

Ashton lets out a sob, before collapsing into his mom’s arms. He doesn’t care if he’s acting like a child, because he just found out that his boyfriend was only using him to get money, and it was all set up by his supposed best friend. His heart is broken. He doesn’t know if he’ll be able to recover from this.

When Monday rolls around, and Calum still hasn’t heard from Ashton, he starts to worry. He finds Luke at school on Monday morning. He’s waiting outside the building with Michael.

“Have you heard from him?” Calum asks the second he walks up to Luke.

Luke sighs and shakes his head. “I walked over to his house this morning to pick him up for school. Usually, I just text him and he comes straight out. I texted him and waited for like five minutes. His mum answered the door when I knocked and… she said Ashton wasn’t coming to school today. Ashton never ever misses school unless he’s seriously sick. Like, with the flu, or something. Whatever. Then, his mum, she didn’t seem very happy to see me. Anne-Marie loves me. She’s never… upset with, with me,”

“Shit,” Calum curses. “I don’t… I don’t know what happened.”

“Nothing happened between you guys?” Michael asks, frowning at Luke. “He seemed fine on Friday.”

“He was fine on Friday,” Calum argues. “We didn’t get into a fight or anything. I’m… confused.”

“Okay. Well, uh, I’m going to see him after school either way, hopefully, he’s not too sick and his mum will let me see him,” Luke says. “I’m worried. This never happens to Ash.”

Luke is anxious when school is finally over and he gets to Ashton’s house. He knocks on the door, and Ashton’s mom answers the door again. Again, she’s not very happy to see Luke.

“Mrs. Irwin. I- I know you said Ashton wasn’t feeling well. But, I- I would really like to see him,”

“I don’t think Ashton wants to see anyone right now. Especially not you, or Calum,” she snaps, crossing her arms against her chest. “What you two did to my son was cruel.”

Luke frowns as he stares at her. “I don’t… please. Can I see him? I need to see him,”

Anne-Marie stares at him, before sighing. “You’ve got fifteen minutes. If you’re not down here, I’m going up there and kicking you out. My son is heartbroken because of you,” she mumbles, and steps aside, allowing Luke inside the house. Luke hurries up the stairs to Ashton’s room.

Luke hesitates before pushing the door, luckily, it’s not locked. “Ashton?” He walks inside the room, and he frowns when he sees a lump on the bed. “Ash?” Luke walks around the bed, and his heart breaks when he sees the tears on Ashton’s face. His face and his eyes are red from crying.

“Get out,”

Luke startles. Ashton has never spoken to him like this before. “Ashton, I-”

“Get. Out,” Ashton demands, glaring at Luke. “I don’t ever wanna see you again, Luke.”

“Ashton, what happened?” Luke asks, frowning.

“Don’t fucking act like you don’t know!” Ashton shouts, angrily pushing himself up.

Luke’s eyes widen the moment the swear word escapes Ashton’s mouth because Ashton never swears. “Ash,” he gasps. “Please, talk to me. I… I don’t know…” Luke stops, and then he realizes. “Oh no.”

“It’s one thing to kiss me out of pity because you felt sorry for me. At least I agreed to that,” Ashton snaps. “But you went behind my back and told Calum to ask me out, knowing how I felt about him.”

“How- How did you find out?” Luke asks.

“Calum was talking to some guy in the locker room. I was going to surprise him early,” Ashton mumbles. “Sounded like he was trying to get with someone else, talking about how he doesn’t really like me and that he was going to break up with me soon. You gave him a hundred dollars to ask me out?”

“I’m sorry!” Luke cries out. “I- I didn’t think… I was only trying to help you. You really liked Calum, and- and you never had a boyfriend before. I thought I was doing a good thing.”

“Calum doesn’t like me, Luke!” Ashton shouts, tears forming in his eyes again, and he’s so sick of crying. “How did you think this was going to end up when only one of the people likes the other?

“I didn’t know!” Luke shouts back, throwing his arms up in the air. “I thought I was doing a good thing!”

“Fuck you!” Ashton shouts and throws a pillow at Luke. “Get out, Luke! Get out of my room! I’m never going to be able to show my face again in that stupid school because of you! Get out!”

Luke flinches, and he quickly hurries out of the bedroom, shutting the door behind him. He stops when he hears Ashton sobbing from the inside. He closes his eyes, before making his way downstairs. He stops when he sees Anne-Marie standing in the living room with her arms crossed against her chest.

“You are not to come near my son again,” she warns. “He’s asked me to put him through homeschool.”

“I didn’t mean-”

“I think you should leave now, Luke,” Anne-Marie tells him.

Luke looks down with guilt on his face. “I’m sorry,” he whispers, before walking out of the house. Luke pulls out his phone as soon as he walks off the porch, and he calls Calum.

“Luke?”

“He knows,” Luke chokes out. “Ashton knows about… he knows you don’t like him.”

“What are you talking about?” Calum asks.

“Ashton knows!” Luke exclaims. “He knows I gave you money and he knows you only asked him out because I asked you to ask him out. How did he find out?”

“Shit,” Calum curses. “He must have heard me talking to Zach in the locker room.”

Luke frowns. “Were you really trying to get with Zach while you were dating Ashton? Cal, what the-?”

“Come on Luke, you know that I’ve had a crush on Zach since… fucking forever! We were just… fuck,  flirting around in the locker room. I asked Zach if he wanted to hang out, and Zach asked about Ashton. Ashton must have heard,” Calum explains. “That explains why my jacket was on the ground.”

“You shouldn’t have done that while you were dating Ashton. You should have broken up with him first if you were planning on going out with Zach,” Luke snaps.

“Don’t make me the villain. You’re the one who pushed me to ask Ashton out,” Calum snaps. “I was perfectly fine with just being friends with Ashton. I thought he was a cool guy when we were hanging out.”

“I know, I know it’s my fault!” Luke mumbles, and he starts making his way to his house. “I just thought… he deserved it, you know? No one ever gives him a chance. He really liked you. It was stupid, and now I’ve lost my best friend. I’m never going to be able to see him again.”

Calum lets out a sigh. “We both fucked up, but Ashton’s the one who got screwed over in the end,”

“I gotta go. I’ll talk to you later,” Luke mumbles, before hanging up on Calum.

Ashton doesn’t go back to school for another two more days. Luckily, his mom agrees to let him finish his final year of high school through homeschooling. Ashton knows everybody must know what happened, and everybody’s going to think he’s even more pathetic that his boyfriend never actually liked him.

Ashton takes a deep breath as he walks into the school. He can already feel many eyes on him and can hear the whispers from fellow students. But he ignores them all. When he gets to the hallway, he instantly spots Michael at his locker. Ashton frowns as he watches him. Ashton hesitates, before walking up to Michael. He just has to know the truth about Calum.

“Did you know?”

Michael startles at the sudden voice, and he looks surprised to see Ashton standing there. “Ashton,”

“Did you know?” Ashton repeats, and he looks up at Michael. “About Calum?”

Michael lets out a sigh. “I didn’t know,” he says. “I’m sorry, Ash. They never told me anything, and I surely would have tried to stop Calum from doing such a cruel thing had I known. I’m his best fucking friend, and he didn’t even tell me that he was dating you because Luke told him to ask you out.”

“Oh,” Ashton mumbles. “Okay. That’s all I wanted to know.”

“Hey, I know things with you and Calum are over. But, we can still be friends,” Michael says.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Ashton mumbles.

“You’re worried about what people will think? Or Calum? Fuck them,” Michael says. “We can be friends.”

“But Luke-”

“Luke’s in the dog house right now,” Michael says. “I haven’t broken up with him, but I’m pissed at him. So, text me. If you ever wanna hang out. Okay? I can sit with you at lunch today…”

“I’m not going to be in school anymore,” Ashton tells him.

“What? Why not?” Michael asks, frowning.

“I’m finishing senior year through homeschool. I can’t… handle this. People must think I’m pathetic,”

“I don’t think people know what happened,” Michael tells him. “They just know you and Calum broke up, and it has something to do with Zach. I don’t know. You shouldn’t…”

“It’s too late. We’ve already started homeschooling for me. It’s just a couple months, anyways,”

As Ashton’s talking to Michael, Calum, and Luke walk into the school. Luke instantly spots Ashton talking to Michael. He gasps as soon as he sees him. “Ashton’s back in school,”

Calum stops, causing Luke to bump into him. “Ow. Dude, what the hell?”

“He’s there,” Calum says, pointing towards Ashton and Michael. “They’re talking. That can’t be good.”

“Oh shit,” Luke says, and Calum hurries over to the two. He grabs Michael’s arm, pulling Michael away from Ashton, causing Michael to yelp as he’s dragged away by Calum.

Ashton blinks, and he frowns when he sees that it’s Calum. He sighs, and turns around. He freezes when he sees Luke standing in front of him, but he’s too frozen to even say anything.

“Ash-”

“No,” Ashton mumbles, and he turns around to walk away, but he gasps when Luke runs in front of him. Ashton glares at him. “We are not doing this right now. My mum-”

“Please,” Luke begs. “You have to know I had good intentions.”

“I don’t care!” Ashton shouts, and he shoves Luke. He doesn’t care that people are staring at them, because he needs to let this out after crying his eyes out for days. “You knew how I felt about Calum, and you still went behind my back, and he didn’t even like me. You’re a fucking asshole, and so is he!”

“I know I am, and I’m so fucking sorry. I swear, Ash. If I could take it back, I would-”

“Well you can’t, and I’m never going to forgive you-”

Luke takes a deep breath. “I don’t deserve your forgiveness, Ashton. I know. I’m just sorry. I just need you to know how sorry I am. You deserve so much more than what I put you through. I’m a shitty best friend.”

Ashton looks up at him as tears begin to form in his eyes. “I have to go,” he whispers. He looks at Luke one more time before heading towards his locker. He just wants to leave this school for good.

****

Three months. Ashton is alone for three whole months. He focuses on homeschooling, making sure his grades are kept up, that he does all of his homework, and passes all of his tests. It’s easier for him because he doesn’t have a boy to distract him anymore. He doesn’t have to deal with bullying anymore. He still sees Luke often, because they’re neighbors. But, Ashton doesn’t say anything to him.

Ashton is sitting at a Mcdonald's on a Friday afternoon, working on some homework. He’s got his headphones in. He’s focused. He’s determined to get all of his homework done so that he has a free weekend. He’s promised Lauren and Harry that he’d take them to the movies on Sunday.

Ashton doesn’t even notice that Luke, Michael, Calum, and Zach have walked into the restaurant.

Luke instantly notices Ashton though. He stops as soon as he sees him.

“You should talk to him,” Michael whispers, gently placing a hand on Luke’s back.

“He’s never going to talk to me,” Luke mumbles. “Let’s just get our food.” He goes to walk to the counter, but he stops when someone pulls him back. He looks over and sees that it was Calum.

“Come on, please?” Calum asks. “Go over and talk to him. Maybe he’s not mad anymore…”

“Cal,” Luke hisses. “Between the two of us, and Zach being here. He’s going to think it’s a setup.”

“But, it’s not. I’m not even dating Zach. We’re just friends. We’re all friends. Besides you and Michael, but you two don’t count. Please talk to him. I-” Calum glances over at Ashton. “I really miss him.”

“You know what they say. You never know what you’ve got until it’s gone,” Luke mumbles. He sighs, before nodding. “Okay fine . But if he doesn’t want to join us, then he doesn’t want to. I’m not going to pressure him to do anything he doesn’t want to do.”

Calum nods and pats him on the back. “Go get ‘em, champ,”

Luke rolls his eyes. He takes a deep breath before making his way over to where Ashton is sitting by the corner window.  He doesn’t hear Luke walking up to him because of his headphones. Luke hesitates, before reaching over and tapping on Ashton’s shoulder, startling him.

Ashton takes his headphones out, and he frowns when he looks up and sees Luke.

“Hi,” Luke greets awkwardly.

“Uh, hi Luke. What are you doing here?” Ashton asks, blinking.

“I’m, uh-” Luke hesitates, before pointing over to where the others have gone to wait in line. “We’re just here to get some food. School just ended so… uh, yeah. I didn’t know you’d be here.”

Ashton looks over, and he tenses when he sees Calum, who’s standing with Zach. They’re standing closely together. Ashton turns away so he doesn’t see Calum, and he starts gathering his things up.

“Ash, wait,”

“Stop,” Ashton warns as he glares at Luke. “I’m not doing this. I’m not going to stay here when Calum is here with his new boyfriend. If you think for one second-”

“They’re not dating,” Luke says quickly. “They never dated. We’re just hanging out because we just finished practice, and Zach offered to pay for our food. I swear.”

“That doesn’t make me want to stay,” Ashton snaps.

“Ash,” Luke hesitates, before sitting down beside him. “Please, can we just… I miss you.”

“Maybe you should have thought twice before going behind my back and setting me up for heartbreak,” Ashton snaps, before looking away from Luke.

“You’re never going to forgive me, are you?” Luke asks quietly, before sighing. He stands up again.

Ashton hesitates, before looking up at Luke. “Wait-”

Luke perks up slightly, and he looks back over at Ashton with hope. “Yes?”

“I’m still pissed,” Ashton says. “What you did… I’ll never forget it, but I- I can learn to forgive if you can prove to me that you deserve my friendship back.”

“Ash, you don’t have to-”

“I’ve been lonely,” Ashton admits. “I’m only at home now, and I love my siblings, but… I miss my friends. Michael said we could hang out, but it felt awkward when you two were dating, and I didn’t know how to handle the thought of hanging out with Michael, and… it was a lot.”

“Ash, I promise-” Luke begins as he places his hands on Ashton’s arm. “I’ll never do anything so stupid like that ever again, and if I do, I give you full permission to punch me in the face.”

“I’ll take that,” Ashton says, a small smile forming on his face.

Luke squeaks, and throws his arms around Ashton, hugging him tightly.

Ashton laughs as he lets Luke hug him, and he can’t help but melt into the hold. “Luke, I can’t breathe!”

Luke pulls away, grinning at Ashton, and then he frowns. “But your mum-”

“She’ll be upset, of course. I can’t imagine it was easy for her to watch me go through something like that, so you’ll have to make it up to her too. She was the only one there for me when I needed someone. Lauren and Harry… they’re too young to understand. They tried to cheer me up when I was sad.”

Luke sighs. “I really fucked up, didn’t I?”

“Yeah,” Ashton agrees, nodding. “But, as long as you make an effort to make up for your mistakes, then… I think we’ll be okay, don’t you?” He looks up at Luke.

Luke nods. “Absolutely. Michael will be thrilled to not have to deal with me sulking around so much. But, Calum-” He bites his lip. “I’m not saying you have to forgive him. But, he misses you too.”

Ashton looks down. “I don’t know, Luke…”

“Give him a chance? You don’t have to if you don’t want to, he wants to try… it’s different this time,”

“I don’t know if I can give him another chance, but… I miss you, so… I’m willing to be civil,” Ashton says.

Luke lets out a soft sigh, before nodding. “Alright. Yeah. I’ll- I’ll take that,” he says. He glances back over at the others. “I should probably go help with the food. I’ll be back in a few minutes, okay?”

“Okay,” Ashton says, and he watches as Luke walks back over to the others.

“Well?” Michael asks as soon as his boyfriend returns.

“We can sit with him,” Luke says. “Things aren’t going to be how they were before, but Ashton’s willing to learn to forgive me. I just have to prove that I deserve his friendship. Which is fair enough.”

“It is fair. You two were idiots for what you did,” Michael says, and he flicks Luke on the ear.

“Ow,” Luke whines, and he pouts. “I deserved that.” He bites his lip as he looks over at Calum. “He’s… willing to be civil with you, so we can hang out with him. I don’t know if he’s ready to jump back into a relationship with you yet. But I’m sure if you prove yourself to him.”

Calum sighs. “No, that’s fair. I treated him like shit. I was a shitty boyfriend,” he says.

“You were a good boyfriend,” Michael argues. “It was just a shit situation. There’s a difference.”

“I guess I’m just going to have to prove him wrong, aren’t I?” Calum asks, no one in particular.

Finally, the four boys get their food and make their way over to where Ashton’s sitting. Ashton’s already cleared his school stuff out of the way so there’s more room.

“What are you working on?” Luke asks as he sets the tray down.

“Just homework. I’m trying to get it down so I don’t have to worry about it this weekend,” Ashton explains, looking up at Luke. “I promised Harry and Lauren that we’d go to the movies on Sunday.”

“Who’s Harry and Lauren?” Michael asks as they sit down.

“My younger siblings,” Ashton tells him. “I’m surprised you didn’t know.”

“Sorry. My fault. Must not have come up in conversation,” Luke says. He looks up at Michael. “Hey Mikey, Ashton has two younger siblings. Harry and Lauren.”

Michael glares at his boyfriend. “You are the worst. I’m breaking up with you,”

“Please, that’s bullshit. You wouldn’t last two days without Luke,” Calum speaks up, rolling his eyes.

“Oh, uh… Ash, this is Zach. He’s on the football team with us. I’m sure you’ve seen before,” Luke says, glancing over at Zach, before looking over at Ashton.

Ashton glances up at Zach, who gives him a friendly smile. “Yeah, I’ve seen him,” it’s quite awkward for Ashton to be hanging out with the guy who pretty much almost stole his ex-boyfriend from him. But, Ashton’s tired of the drama, so he’s trying to move past it all. Ashton glances over at Calum, but Calum’s too busy focusing on his food. Maybe they aren’t boyfriends, which is good for Ashton to know.

Calum offers to drive Ashton home when they’re all finished, and Ashton surprisingly doesn’t turn down the offer, as Ashton had walked to the fast food restaurant. It’s his only form of exercise at the moment. But, he’s certainly not going to turn down an offer from Calum.

“Thanks for the ride,” Ashton says when Calum parks in his driveway.

“No problem,” Calum mumbles quietly, and it’s silent for a moment. Ashton can sense the awkwardness. Calum finally turns to look at Ashton. “I never got to apologize for what happened. I know Luke did. But, it’s been eating me up inside. I really am sorry. I should have never let Luke talk me into asking you out even though I didn’t really like you like that. I was cool with being just friends with you…”

“Calum-”

“No, I needed to say something, Ash. Luke was right before. You deserved so much better, and I’m sorry that we treated you so badly. I know it doesn’t mean anything, but I even gave Luke his money back after everything went down. I wanted to come talk to you, but Michael said you were doing homeschool, and… yeah, I knew your mum wouldn’t let me near you,” Calum mumbles.

“You’re right. I may or may not have cried to her about what happened,” Ashton admits. “If she knew that we were out here together right now, she’d throw a fit.”

“You should get going then. I don’t want to get you in trouble,’ Calum says.

“I- yeah,” Ashton mumbles. He doesn’t move for a moment. He reaches down to grab his bag, but he stops and he looks over at Calum. “You didn’t like me? At all? Even after we started dating?”

Calum sucks in a deep breath. “I liked you, but not like that,” he says. “But… I- I guess, It kind of changed after we started dating. I was just so fucking hung up on my crush on Zach, that I didn’t think about how you would feel. I feel like such a dick for what I did, knowing you heard what I said.”

Ashton shrugs his shoulders. “I know how it feels to have a crush on somebody,”

Calum chuckles sadly. “So, friends? I swear, I won’t be a dick to you again,” he says.

Ashton can’t help the smile that forms on his face. “Yeah, friends,” he says. He holds his hand out and giggles lightly when Calum shakes it. “See you later, bud.”

Calum instantly cringes as soon as Ashton calls him bud , even if he says it jokingly.

“See you, pal,”

Ashton laughs, and he gets out of the car. He makes his way up to the front door. He opens the door and startles when he sees his mom standing there with her arms crossed against her chest. “Mum-!”

“What were you doing out there with Calum, Ashton?” She demands.

Ashton lets out a sigh. “Please don’t be mad,”

“Ashton Fletcher Irwin,”

Ashton flinches slightly as soon as she uses his middle name. Now he knows he’s definitely in trouble, and he’s probably going to get grounded now. “I was at Mcdonald's doing my homework, which I finished. But, then Luke, Michael, and Calum walked in and Zach was there too, but that’s irrelevant. So, yeah. Luke talked to me. I haven’t forgiven him, but we’re working things out.”

“After everything he did? Do you not remember how many nights you were up crying because of what he and Calum did to you?” Anne-Marie asks, frowning at her son.

“I remember,” Ashton grumbles, because how could he forget? “I’m just tired, mum. I’m tired, and… I just want my friends back. I know they’re sorry, and I know they’re trying to correct their mistakes.”

“I’m just worried, Ash. You quit public school because of how bad it was,” she says.

“I know mum, and I swear… if things get bad again, which I don’t think they will, but if they do… I’ll cut Luke out of my life for good. Same for Calum,” Ashton says.

“Okay, I’ll… I’ll take it. I just want you to be careful,” she warns, and she walks over to hug him.

“Thanks, mum, for being there,” Ashton mumbles as he hugs her back.

She chuckles and gently kisses his forehead. “I’m your mother. It’s my job to be there for you,”

Later that night, Ashton is surprised when he gets a text from Calum.

calum :

i miss u

ash :

are you drunk?

calum :

no im not drunk i just miss u 🙁

ash :

you just saw me earlier calum

calum :

no i mean like i miss u… and me… i miss us

Ashton sighs as he stares at the text, and then he startles as soon as he hears a thud from his window. He hesitates before standing up. He walks over to his window, and he sees Calum standing in his yard. His eyes widen as soon as he sees his ex-boyfriend. He opens the window, and yelps when Calum pelts another tiny rock toward his window, luckily he doesn’t hit Ashton in the face.

“Calum!” Ashton hisses. ‘’What are you doing here? It’s past midnight.”

“Oh, shit. Sorry Ash,” Calum waves shyly as he looks up at Ashton. “Can we talk?”

“It’s-” Ashton sighs as he stares at Calum. “Meet me at the gate to the backyard. We are not waking up my family.” He shuts the window. He grabs a hoodie and puts it on, before walking out of his room. Ashton makes his way to the kitchen and walks out to the backyard. He heads over to the gate and unlocks it. When he looks up, he sees Calum waiting for him already. “Calum, what is going on?”

Calum frowns. “You haven’t called me Cal all day,”

Ashton bites his lip slightly. “I didn’t think you wanted me to. We’re not… dating anymore,”

Calum lets out a sigh. “I wasn’t going to say anything after we talked earlier in the car. I thought it’d be fine to be just friends. I- I didn’t want to pressure you or anything. I just… I really fucking miss you.”

“Cal,” Ashton whispers. He glances around, and then he reaches over and pulls Calum into the backyard, and shuts the gate. He turns to look at Calum. “I thought you moved on. I thought… you and Zach…”

Calum shakes his head. “We went on one date together. It was fine and everything. He’s great and all. But, he wasn’t you, and I know that sounds stupid. But, it’s true. He wasn’t you, and I had time to think about how stupid I was and how wrongly I treated you. Luke’s right. You don’t know what you have until it’s gone. I know I’ve fucked up my chances though, huh?”

“You haven’t,” Ashton says. “I’ve had a lot of time to think too, you know?”

“Ash-”

Ashton shakes his head. “I’ll tell you the same thing I told Luke. If you can prove to me that you deserve my forgiveness, then I’ll be happy to forgive you. I won’t forget that it happened, but I can forgive. So, yes. You do have a chance to make up for what you did. Take me on a date. If you want,”

Calum perks up. “Really?”

A blush forms on Ashton’s cheeks, and he nods. “Yeah. I want the whole shebang. I wanna be wooed,”

“I’ll woo the fuck out of you, Ash. I swear to God,” Calum says.

Ashton giggles at that. He can’t help himself. He throws his arms around Calum, hugging him tightly because it’s been three months and he’s missed Calum too. “I’m glad you’re here,”

“I am too,” Calum whispers, pulling Ashton close as they hug.

“Mum’s pissed,” Ashton whispers into Calum’s neck. “But I think she’ll come around.”

“Hm,” Calum hums, and he kisses Ashton’s neck. “Good. Guess I’ll have to prove it to her too.”

Ashton doesn’t care how long he and Calum stand there, wrapped in each other's arms.

A few moments later, Ashton reluctantly pulls away from Calum’s arms. He shyly looks up at Calum. “So, do you, uhm, do you wanna stay the night? I- I mean, it’s just so late. You should stay,”

Calum smiles, and he nods. “I’d like that,”

“Me too. I mean, crap. I’m such an idiot,” Ashton groans.

Calum laughs softly, and he kisses Ashton’s cheek, before grabbing his hands. “You’re adorable.”

Ashton rolls his eyes, and he squeezes Calum’s hand once, before turning and leading the way inside.

Ashton knows they have a long way to go. Calum, and Luke, are both going to have to work hard to gain Ashton’s trust back. But, this is a start, and he’ll take it.