Loose Lips Have Sunk This Ship {muke}

Chapter 1:

Luke pulls out his phone as Ashton starts the car, listening to the sound of heavy bass fill the enclosed space. He knows it was one of Calum's CD's because of the bass intro and how Ashton reaches over automatically to turn the volume down. Luke can almost hear Ashton gritting his teeth as Calum shouts 'hey!' and reaches for the dial.

"We are not listening to this monotone shit the whole ride." Ashton says, smacking at Calum's hand. "We haven't even left yet and you're already a pain in my ass."

Calum huffs, slumping down in his seat angrily.

Michael leans forward, one of his earbuds dangling around his neck and down the front of his shirt. He pats Calum's shoulder softly, eyes fluttering softly like he's struggling to keep them open. "s'ok, I brought my speaker. You can blast your bass-y crap in the house."

Luke scratches at his chin as Michael leans back, sinking into the seat. Michael's always sweet to Calum, probably because of the years of friendship between them, but still it's annoying to watch them mess around like brothers and then receive dirty glares from Michael when he tries to hold a conversation.

"You mind?" Luke looks over at Michael. The boy has stretched his legs out, his socked feet hidden beneath the front seat. It's the first thing Michael has said to him all morning, and the fact that it hasn't been something obnoxious or rude left Luke mumbling out a questioning "no?"

"No you don't mind or no I can't." Michael huffs, sliding his legs onto Luke's lap, clearly uninterested in his answer.

Ashton and Calum are talking animately in the front, neither paying attention to Luke's dazed expression or Michaels indifference. Michael presses his feet against the door paneling, stretching out the soft white fabric as he extends his toes. Luke can feel Michael's calve muscles tighten as he stretches, feel the slight pressure of his legs on his thighs, the curves of his heels pressing into Luke's left thigh, the way he sighs, leaning back against the other door, a red sweatshirt bunched up as a makeshift pillow.

Luke grumbles, looking out the window as they back out of the driveway. He can see his parents waving, and his niece playing in the grass with some toys. Michael's ankle presses into his stomach slightly and Luke looks over at him. He's playing around on his phone, one earbud in his ear and the other on his chest. Luke rests his arms on Michael's legs, silently waiting for the older boy to snap at him to get off.

"Pass me a water, would you?" Ashton asks, breaking into Luke's thoughts.

Luke turns slightly, pulling the turquoise cooler open and grabbing a frozen bottle of water. He passes it to Ashton, smiling softly when a condensation rolled down the bottle and dripps onto Michael's bare leg.

The older boy grumbles softly, jamming his foot into Luke's stomach. "Fuck you, that's cold"

"I didn't mean to-" Luke starts only to have Calum cut him off.

"Can you stop being a dick for one minute, Mike? It's just water." Calum snaps, turning in his seat to glare at the green-eyed boy.

It isn't often that Calum says anything to Michael's behaviour and attitude, and Luke figures Calum had dealt with enough of Michael's bull on the way over and was finally going to lay into him.

Michael grits his teeth, eyes narrowing as he glares back at Calum. He looks ready to make a smart remark, one that would probably result in the two of them bickering for a majority of the car ride and then cuddling on the couch later on that night.

He keeps quiet though, slumping against his makeshift pillow with a huff, and Luke lets out a breath he didn't realise he was holding in.

~~~