baby, I'll show you the world [muke af]

Salzburg, Austria (Saturday, June 15th, 2019)

Salzburg, Austria (Saturday, June 15th, 2019) 

The back lounge was a fairly large space, it was the most open space on the bus. Calum was able to spread out his legs and rest his arms while giving enough room for the girls to lay on their stomachs and read him picture books. Ashton was very keen on making the girls intellectual, he wanted their reading scores much more superior than usually expected for three-year-olds. 

Bella's hazel eyes scanned over the colorful pages as she read slowly and cautiously. She stopped when her younger—by one minute and seventeen seconds—sister poked her side. "Dad is asleep," Ivona pointed out. Her voice was quiet, barely above a whisper. 

Bell looked up at Calum, his arms were crossed over his chest, his head resting upon the seat of the couch. His legs were crossed over each other, slowly moving every time the bus switched lanes. "Should we wake him?"

Ivona shook her head, "No, let's get Uncle Mikey." She stood up, her legs wobbling as she balanced herself. It was weird for her to always be on the bus, it felt like she was walking on water. 

Iv held out her hand for her sister as she began to pull her up. They were in matching outfits today, grey leggings adorning their legs with a white, loose tank top on their upper bodies. Ivona's brown curls were in a pony tail on the top of her head, while Bella's more straight hair was braided in a fishtail down her back. 

The two wobbled out the lounge room, past the bunks, then plopped in front of Michael and Luke. Luke was laying on top of his husband, his hand over the edge as he mindlessly scrolled through social media sights. Their stomachs were against each other, their breathing perfectly in-sync. Sometimes, Luke would try to get their breathing off sync, but it always found its way back. 

"Hey, why aren't you two with Cal?" Mike asked once he noticed two pairs of eyes staring up at him. 

"Dad fell asleep," Bella answered, a pout forming on their lips.

"Do you want to read to us?" Luke asked this time. He turned off his phone, wiggling around to slide it back into his skinny jean pocket. 

Bella shook her head, "Reading is boring."

"True," Michael responded.

He received a slap to the chest and a death glare from his husband. "Not true."

Ivona swayed on her standing two feet. "Do you have any markers?" She rounded her r's, making everything come out of her mouth about 200 percent cuter. 

"Probably in your bunk—why?" Luke stopped himself, not trusting them with any type of permanent marker. After their last coloring session on Michael, that marker didn't come off for weeks. Thanks, Crayola.  

"Creativity!" Iv bursted with excitement. 

Michael started to push Luke off of him, ushering him towards the opposite side of the bus couch. He stood up, cracking his back and fingers, then headed towards the bins Ashton kept by their bunks. He dug through a few color-coded bins (shoutout to Lucas R. Clifford). "Do you want markers or permanent markers?"

"Michael, do not give them any markers."

"Don't be such a dick." Michael came back with a bin of permanent markers, all colors of the rainbow plus more sorted throughout. 

"Yeah, don't be such a dick," Bella spat. She reached up her grabbing hands towards the bin, quickly taking it from Michael. 

The older two men bursted out in laughter, Luke held his stomach as he held in a bellowing sound. "Look what you did!"

Ivona and Bella wobbled back towards the lounge, giggles flying from their mouths. Luke sat up, his feet flat on the ground as he ran a hand over his tired eyes. "Should we go make sure they don't, like, poison each other?" He asked as he played with the fabric of his sweat pants. It was a lazy day for everyone—even Ashton was asleep in the bunks. 

"Eh, they have Calum."

"He's asleep," Luke pointed out. He stood up, grabbing Michael by the belt loop and dragging him through the short bus. Soft snores, giggles, and the hum of the bus was the only sound filling the small space they called home for three months. 

The duo sat on the ground, Luke in Michael's lap. Luke opened up his phone, going back on his social media sites. Everyone, even the girls, made fun of Luke for his constant need of the internet. He was proud of his many followers, even if they were only there in hopes of Michael. 

Mike leant over, grabbing a camera body laying casually on the floor. The problem with living with two dorks like Calum and Ashton is that their stuff is always on the ground. Sure, they could say the same about Michael with his loop stations under couches or wires hanging in the cabinets. But, in his defense, his $7.99 1/4" wires are not the same as Calum's $850 T6S.

Michael switched the views into record as he started to film the girls crawling over their father, their permanent markers tight in their bawled hands. Luke chuckled as he moved to the side, away from the view. Mike had tendencies to just pick up a camera and film their adventures. He figured Cal would end up placing it in a tour diary, but he didn't really care if he didn't. 

Mike truly thought of Calum as his brother. He often forget that they weren't actually related. Cal pushed him through the hardest years of his life, Michael isn't 100 percent that he'd even be here today if it weren't for the tan boy with markers over his skin. 

That thought scares him. He's scared to imagine a single day with Luke. It petrifies him that in a matter of minutes on some of those dark, long nights, he could have easily ended it all. 

He's glad he didn't. He's glad he suffered through those awful hours and made it to daylight, where Luke and his career and his happiness were patiently waiting. 

Luke snuggled closer to his husband's chest as he put down the camera, ushering it up on the couch cushions. "They're so cute."

Mike agreed.

"I can't believe they're getting so old, so fast."

He wrapped his arms around Luke's torso, interlocking his own fingers as he held the boy tight. "They've got quite some more time, too."

"Don't remind me." Luke watched Bella and Ivona interact with each other. The way they knew to stay quiet, but continued to talk in hushed tones about which tattoo to color in next.

Needless to say, Calum woke up a little less than happy at his two girls. Ashton taught the girls about 'karma' on that fine Saturday afternoon.

(a/n) my friends are making fun of me for learning SAT words for fun and watching documentaries. lmao ok as ur being illiterate, i'll be over here actually doing something w my life.