Clean ⇔ Cashton ✓

You Don't Love Me Like You Should

Luke doesn't seem to notice my hesitation, and he moves on to talking about bigger houses farther away from the city, and Andy mentions building one from scratch.

"Oh, and Calum, it would be best if you quit you job at the restaurant once you have kids. You'll need to stay home to take care of them," Andy says. My heart sinks.

"Quit my job?" I repeat.

"Of course," Luke agrees. "It's not like I can quit my engineering job. I'm only one promotion away from becoming manager, you know."

I sit back defeatedly, thinking about the restaurant. It's not that I'm that attached to the job, but... in all honesty, I look forward to working because I get to talk with Ashton. If I quit the job, I'd never see him again. Luke wouldn't ever let me leave the house to see him.

I cross my arms for the rest of the conversation, resigning to listen to the sports newscaster on television rather than Andy's voice.

Once Andy and Luke seem to have planned out the general idea of the wedding and the moving plans afterwards, Andy stands up to leave. Luke thanks him for coming over and walks him to the door. My eyes burn with exhaustion by the time he leaves, and my movements are sluggish from the need to sleep.

Luke returns after walking his father out, and he presses his lips to my forehead, his lip ring digging into my skin. He lifts my chin so that I have no choice but to look him in the eye.

"Tired?" Luke asks. I nod. In all honesty, the entire conversation Andy and Luke had completely wore me out. "Let's get you to bed, then."

Luke leads me up the stairs and watches me as I slip on pajamas and slide under the covers. He gives me a short but deep kiss before turning off the light and closing the door. I listen to his footsteps travel down the steps, probably going off to go work some more.

I roll over and dig my face into my pillow, shutting my eyes and willing myself to sleep. I stay like that for a few minutes, but sleep doesn't come.

My mind is too busy buzzing with all the plans Andy talked about, making my nerves go haywire. I wipe my eyes tiredly, trying to get my mind off things. I wish I could talk to someone about all of this, but the only person who would listen is Luke, and he is definitely not the person I could talk to about this.

I look over at my phone sitting on the nightstand. I know I shouldn't, and I know I'll probably regret this very very soon, but I grab it anyway and dial the numbers.

It rings a few times before it clicks. "Hello?" Ashton's warm voice fills my air.

Now that he's answered, I'm not sure what to say. I didn't actually think I'd get this far. "Hey, Ashton."

"Calum!" Ashton sounds pleased to hear me, despite it being almost eleven o'clock at night. "How are you?"

I fumble with my words. "I'm--" I stop. "Sorry for calling. I shouldn't have--"

"Hey, shh," Ashton interrupts. I cease my rambling. Ashton is silent for a few moments before he speaks again. "Wanna go for a drive?"

"What?"

"Would you like to go for a little drive? And talk and shit. I can pick you up," Ashton says. My mouth parts a little. I certainly wasn't expecting this.

"Luke doesn't like me being friends with you," I say, although it doesn't have much to do with the conversation.

"Sucks for him," says Ashton. I can practically see the mischievous glint in his eye.

"He thinks I'm sleeping," I tell him. Ashton is quiet for a minute.

"Do you have a window in your room?"