Promise » [cashton] √

1.0

[6th of July - Philadelphia]

Michael had been fine with him after they'd had their odd little 'chat' the day earlier. In fact, things had gone back to normal between them the second the conversation was over. He supposed maybe being around celebrities had given this group a weird ability to switch between cold, direct fact-finding and normal conversation. Oddly enough, Ashton was the least inclined to it, which was starting to make him realise maybe the others were doing the work for him. It didn't matter, he supposed; he'd get better at it; maybe if this job got him another job, he'd meet more of these types of people to compare them to.

All of that aside, he still intended to hang out with Ashton; he'd missed him this morning at an interview or a meeting, something like that. They'd never hung out in the evening, but he'd heard the others mention that they went out for drinks after shows from time to time. It was also his birthday tomorrow, and he had a feeling Luke would have something planned for him, so a quiet drink tonight couldn't hurt. 

Maybe they'd have to ask someone else to make Ashton feel more comfortable; Calum found he didn't mind though. Being friends with Ashton was actually more fun than he'd thought; the religious element had made him nervous, but Ashton was forthcoming with information, and the more time they spent together, the less often he was offended by Calum's obtuse questions. 

He was pretty sure Ashton was still in his dressing room despite mostly everyone else already being packed up and probably heading back to the busses. No one paid him much attention these days; in the first week, people had seemed confused by his presence; there apparently wasn't a lot of turnover of touring staff, so he drew attention, but now people mostly ignored him. And they did now, hurrying on by him as he made his way to Ashton's dressing room. A carefree way about him came from falling into a routine and feeling settled.

This feeling of ease was what had caused him to open the door without knocking, ready to let the words 'you were fantastic tonight' leave his lips when he let his eyes take in the room, the words quickly forgotten. 

Perched atop the small couch that came everywhere with them was Luke and Ashton, sitting with their knees pointed together and the heel of Ashton's palm pressed hard into Luke's knee. It looked painful, but the older man showed no sign of it bothering him. His eyes were closed, and his expression was soft. Ashton's, on the other hand, was more concentrated, eyes almost screwed shut they were so tightly sealed, his lips though were soft where they met Luke's.

Calum's mind was completely blank, so shocked he really didn't know how long he stood there. He'd been right; Ashton did have a crush on Luke. Panic settled in Calum's chest as thoughts of Luke's 'buttering bread' comment came to mind. Surely not; surely Ashton hadn't lied to him about his pact; there was no way all this timidness was for show. He stepped out of the room quieter than he'd entered, neither of them seemed to have noticed him, and he thought that was for the best. 

Standing on the other side of the door, he breathed deep breaths as though he had just walked in on a corpse and not his friend doing something entirely normal, natural even. Michael would know if Luke and Ashton were... and he seemed so worried about Ashton, surely... surely there was another more reasonable explanation.

"You waiting for something?" Sierra's voice asked, and Calum came back to himself.

His mouth opened, but he couldn't quite decide what he wanted to say. Sierra looked at him, clearly waiting, "your husband's in there kissing Ashton," he confessed, voice low as his eyes quickly fanned the hall, making sure no one would hear them.

Sierra let out a laugh, "Oh, thank god, I thought something terrible had happened; you look like you've seen a ghost," she explained, seeing Calum's confusion still on his face; she continued, "he came and found me earlier and said there was some girl he's talking to, came to ask about kissing. What's a husband good for if you can't loan him out?" She asked, laughing.

"Oh," Calum said, "I- I assumed he would have at least..." he didn't want to say it; it felt stupid, "kissed someone before," he confessed, feeling stupider still for saying it.

Sierra shrugged, not seeming to feel the stupidity Calum felt, "I guess not," and paused, "I feel like it goes without saying that you shouldn't mention this to anyone," she said it as though he were a friend she was asking a favour,  despite the fact it was very clearly an employer telling an employee that this was part of keeping his job.

"Of course, I would never do that to Ashton," he said quietly; she watched him with a curious look; maybe she was trying to decide if he was telling the truth.

She blinked the look away, "Did they say anything when you walked in?"

He shook his head, "No, they didn't notice me, and I was too surprised; I just walked back out," he was waiting for her to tell him what to do, but it didn't feel like it was coming, so he said, "I was trying to figure out what to do when you walked up to me, I didn't know if I should find you and tell you or not,"

"I'm surprised you did; if I'm honest, feel like most people would have just decided it was more trouble than it was worth,"

"Yeah, well, it just sort of came out. But also, I mean, famous or not, my boss or not. I don't think I could have seen you every day and not felt guilty; being cheated on feels like shit. Finding out other people knew and didn't tell you feels worse,"

She hummed, and he could feel she wanted to ask him more about it, but there was still an awkward tension hanging between them. Calum had technically just accused her husband of cheating, and she'd more or less lightly threatened him.

"Experience tells you that?" She was braver, bolder than he'd given her credit for.

He nodded slowly, "in a way," was how he decided to leave it. They all thought he was a slut, which he kind of was; he didn't need the story about Aled circulating. In thinking that, he realised what he really meant was he didn't need Ashton finding out; it would certainly shake the fragile trust, they'd built. 

She was sizing Calum up, and he was waiting to be dismissed, feeling that if he left, he was going to get in trouble, "You should head out for a drink; you've earned it,"

He held back the urge to let out a sigh of relief and nodded, "have a good night," he told her and made his way toward the back exit, throwing one last look over his shoulder and seeing Sierra gently pushing the door open into the dressing room. He turned his head back quickly, not wanting to be caught watching her. Was she going to tell them that Calum had walked in on them? He hoped not; he didn't want Ashton or Luke getting the wrong idea; if they had to know, he would rather tell them himself. 

A sigh left his lips as he pushed the heavy fire door open; Sierra was right; he'd earned a drink tonight. 

👀👀👀👀👀 uneducated guesses only, the most outlandish and unreasonable guesses as to why Luke and Ashton were really kissing.