Loose Lips Have Sunk This Ship {muke}

Chapter 4:

Calum drags Luke from his bed when the sun hasn't yet filtered into the sky and heavy darkness still clings to the clouds. He shoves a mug of coffee into the blondes hands, thick aroma wrapping around his senses and forcing him awake.

"Why did you wake me up?" Luke asks, shuffling into the kitchen after Calum. He's in shorts and a baggy t-shirt, probably one of his older brothers, and barefoot. The wooden flooring is cool against his feet and he scribbles a mental note to wear flip flops in the morning.

Calum busies himself with the coffee pot. He's far too awake for someone up before the sun, and Luke's quick to leave that remark for the older boy. Calum laughs, a soft smooth sound. "If you sleep with me, you workout with me."

"Workout?" Luke questions as if its a foreign word. He shakes his head, sips at the steaming mug. "I don't-"

Calum cuts him off. "We'll only run today, preferably on the beach."

There's no if, ands or buts, Calum's already turned to look out the back sliding door at the pool. Luke shuffles around the kitchen, rubbing at his bleary, sleep encrusted eyes and sets the coffee mug down before flopping down in one of the chairs. He gives himself five minutes, at most, before he'll peel himself from the wooden chair and stumble back to his room to dress.

The sun's begun peeking up from behind the shade of houses and horizon blurred out with the waves crashing in from the ocean. Luke moves to his room slowly, eyes fixated on his neatly made bed and the sudden urge he feels to fall face first onto it. He knows Calum will drag him off if he catches him and decides he isn't about face planting onto the carpeted floor. He pulls off his pajamas, feels the cool air brush his skin and knock goosebumps across his flesh before he pulls on a fresh pair of shorts and a tank top, running a hand through his wildly strewn hair before picking up his sneakers from where they've been pushed partially under his bed and unlacing them to pull them on.

"Socks." Comes Ashton's sleepy voice. He's perched against the doorframe, blinking slowly and holding in a yawn. He smiles. "Calum tricked you into a run?"

Luke nods, giving a huff of defeat. He packed enough socks to last him three weeks yet he couldn't find it in himself to pull them on before he went running. Overly tired, that would be his excuse and maybe a little loopy from his adventures last night with James. He pulls open a drawer, rifles through for a pair of socks and tosses them on the floor beside his abandoned sneakers. Ashton steps into the room, pets Luke's head, gently pushing some of his messy hair into place and scratching the blonde's scalp when he leans into the touch.

"C'mon," Ashton noogies Luke's head. "Cal will throw a fit if you take too long."

~~~

Running in sand is not at all like it seems to be in movies. There's no balance, no time to correct a misstep before you launch into the quickly heating up grains, and it's like fucking quicksand, pulling you down and making you stumble.

Luke's laying in the sand, arm slung over his face, downright miserable. Hes at least ten yards behind Calum and can't figure for the life of him how the older boy seems to glide over the sand like cement. It's unreal and Luke wants to scream, flop down on the hot mess and roast alive. He's panting, completely wrecked and his hair is dangling in his face, the cute sleepy fringe Ashton had been playing with earlier that morning is soaked with sweat and possible tears that leave it matted to his cheeks and forehead. The whole idea of running in the morning itself is a torturous subject, but adding the beach to the equation will most definitely leave Luke scarred for the next few years when he ventures out with his family for a beach day.

"I don't know whether to pity you or laugh." Calum remarks. He's jogged back, is now jumping in place and swinging his arms back and forth, and is clearly set on the idea of teasing Luke until he pries himself off of the hot sand and wipes the grainy mess from his sticky body. Luke grumbles, sits on the idea of swinging an arm out into Calum's leg and knocking him to the sand but quickly pushes it back knowing he'd end up on top of Luke and they'd both be hot, sand covered, sticky boy messes with aching body parts and nasty bruises.