"I know this really nice coffee place along here," Ashton told Luke excitedly as he led him down the boardwalk. "It's not too pricey and their milkshakes are amazing!" He glanced over at Luke who had begun to shiver violently and bit his lip. "Maybe a hot chocolate might be better."
Luke's stomach decided to have an input then and rumbled loudly. Luke groaned, embarrassed, but Ashton just laughed. "Hot chocolate it is then," he grinned and Luke glanced over at him. It was still fairly dark but he could see the hazel of his eyes and the caramel of his curly hair in the light of the shops and restaurants they were passing.
And damnit if he wasn't cute! Luke went paler and looked down at the ground instead. 'All the more reason to leave now,' he thought bitterly but, before he could make his escape, Ashton had guided him into a small coffee shop that Luke hadn't caught the name of.
"Ashton," Luke protested weakly as the boy - who looked a little bit older than him now that Luke thought about it - ushered him towards the cashier. "Ashton, wait. I don't have any money." Luke chewed his lip then, sighing softly. The statement was true in more ways than one.
His sneakers were supposed to last him until the end of term and Luke frowned as he looked down at them and wondered vaguely if he could dry them with a hand dryer or something. It wasn't looking promising.
"Then it's a good job I just got my pay check, isn't it?" Ashton said cheerfully, apparently impossible to sway, and he fished around in the messenger bag he was carrying and pulled a pair of black-framed glasses out. He settled them on his nose and Luke's heart gave a pathetic little flutter. They suited him. They really suited him.
"Do you want anything with your hot chocolate, Luke?" Ashton asked as he peered up at the menu board on the wall. "Marshmallows and whipped cream, maybe?"
Luke went red. "Hot chocolate on its own is fine," he muttered, embarrassed.
Ashton considered this. "I'll get you the same as me then," he said suddenly and, frowning slightly, Luke mumbled something about finding them a table.
Ashton returned several minutes later with two enormous striped mugs of hot chocolate, the scent of them mouth-watering as he set them on the table carefully, a pleased smile on his face. Luke groaned when he saw the marshmallows, whipped cream and what looked like chocolate flakes adorning the liquid.
"Ashton, you didn't have to -"
"I know I didn't," Ashton said and he smiled again, a big, crooked, beautiful dimpled smile and Luke was so, so screwed. "But I wanted to."
