Ease [Cashton/Muke]

Chapter four

"Message me anytime gorgeous. Are you sure you'll be okay to tell your family? Remember, there's nothing to be ashamed of." Calum says reassuringly as he pulls up outside Ashton's house, where he lives with his mother and younger sister and brother.
"Yeah, I know. Thanks."
"See you tomorrow night then, I'll pick you up at 6:30." Calum smiles, giving Ashton's hand a gentlemanly kiss.
"Okay." Ashton replies shakily as he gets out of the car. Calum watches on fondly as the younger boy shakily makes his way up his front steps and into the modest house.

"Ashton!" His mother squeals the moment he steps inside the house.
"Hi." Ashton mumbles. It's not like his mother wouldn't support him but just that well, it's not what anyone was expecting. It was school holidays now but he was dreading going back to school next week.
"Oh, is everything okay? You were there a while, is something wrong?" His mother's concern only makes him feel worse.
"Not exactly," Ashton says, not meeting her eyes as they walk into the living room. "I-uh-Mum I'm scared I don't know what to do." Ashton defenses are breaking.
"Darling, what is it?" She asks, rubbing his back comfortingly. "Is there something wrong with your sub?"
"Mum," Ashton croaks out, "I'm a sub."
"Oh-"
"It's okay. I have a nice dom, his name's Calum. We already met, he wants to give me space. He's understanding. We're going out for dinner tomorrow. If that's okay with you..." Ashton says, his voice a little shaky.
"Of course sweetie. A good dom will take such good care of you." She smiles sweetly.
"You're not like... mad or disappointed?"
"Oh of course not. It might not have been what I was expecting but the universe isn't wrong. Now when can I meet this man?  I am your mother and I need to have a chat with him."
"He's picking me up tomorrow night, you can say hello then." Ashton chuckles, embracing his mother in a tight hug before going to his bedroom.

Calum drove back home, deciding work was done for the day. Potentially the whole rest of the week, or even longer, but it would depend on what was decided on when he and Ashton talked things out the following day. Calum went down to the bottom level of his house, that was open at the back due to the slope of the block, and fixed himself a drink at the oversized marble bar. He was a little stressed from the day but knew he had a lot to think about so needed to keep a relatively clear head; he settled for a glass of devastatingly expensive red wine he wouldn't even attempt to pronounce.

A dom never really has that much warning about when their submissive and soulmate will walk into their life, provided the pair follows the trend of the dom being older, but Calum would like to say he's more surprised than most. Maybe part of that is who Ashton is but also the fact they've already met. Typically the sub would take the test, by which time they could be up to six months past 18, and then the dom gets a letter and still has up to four weeks to contact the sub -though it is usually done sooner. Calum got a phone call and then had met the boy half an hour later. Given the way mail works, Calum wouldn't even know he had a sub for another few days at least if Ashton wasn't such a curveball.

Ashton. Calum thought he was beautiful. Perfect. Not what Calum was expecting, because some inkling deep within him always told him he would have a particularly submissive soulmate, but perfect nonetheless. Calum was excited. He had high hopes.

All the high hopes Calum and Ashton have for one another don't leave and then suddenly Calum is pulling up outside Ashton's house again, it now being one day later and a Thursday. The doorbell rings and Ashton's mother lets out a fairly almighty squeal, causing Ashton to blush and groan. Anne Marie runs up to the door, opening it with a grin.
"You must be Calum." She beams, causing Calum to chuckle slightly.
"That's me." He smiles, oozing confidence and charm.
"Hi." Ashton says meekly as he walks closer to the door. Ashton feels inferior, pathetic even. Here he is in just cheap jeans and a scratchy button up, trying desperately to impress his dom. Calum looks flawless; in a suit which Ashton worries costs more than his mother's house, paired with a plain t-shirt to make the look more casual.
"Good evening, you look lovely. Shall we?" Calum asks, sticking out his arm for Ashton to latch onto.
"Yes, thank you." Ashton blushes before turning back to his mother. "Bye." He says, kissing her on the cheek.
"Bye, it's not a school night so I'll allow you to be out until midnight." She replies sternly, causing Calum to butt in.
"We'll be not a minute later than 11:59."
"Great. Have fun you two." Anne smiles as they walk down the front steps towards Calum's car.

"How are you feeling about going back to school? It's already crunch time, not long till graduation now." Calum makes conversation as he drives towards a fancy restaurant for dinner.
"Yeah, a little stressed." Ashton says quietly, suddenly having a lot of apprehension about going back to school. He doesn't want to burden Calum with his problems so he doesn't say anymore.
"What else is it? I can sense there's more to what you're saying." Calum frowns.
"Oh. Uh... how-"
"I'm a dom, we're good at reading people. Not to mention that I'm your soulmate, I understand you Ashton."
"I'm just scared because everyone knew I was gonna test and everyone assumed I would be a dom and I'm not and what if they make fun of me for it?" Ashton mumbles.
"It's gonna be okay." Calum says, turning to Ashton as he parks the car. "I will be by your side through it all and if anyone says anything that makes you uncomfortable or is inappropriate you have to promise you'll come tell me and I'll sort it out. Okay?"
"Okay." Ashton smiles softly, making Calum grin in return.

A/N: still a slow start, reading these older chapters is low key painful for me BUT I love that people are loving it and if you're into it now then just wait because it's only going to get better I swear. I've also now posted this on Inkitt, my user is Grace_Williams and Ao3 of course too.

I'm gonna stick with updates Wednesday's and Saturday's for now. See you in a few days. Vote, comment, share and THANK YOU FOR THE LOVE

-GW xo