the sound, settle down [mashton af]

// t w e n t y - s e v e n //

27. A soft sound/ To the way that she wears her hair down/ Covering up her face

Michael sat on the end of Timothy's bed a night later. Tim was curled up in the sheets, leaning up against the wall. He moved his laptop aside from his lap when he saw his father come into his room.

"The lights look nice," Mike said, pointing up at the icicle lights trimming the majority of his bedroom, "I guess I've never seen them at night."

Tim nodded, "They're cool. Do you need something?"
"Wanting to see my son isn't enough of a reason to come into your room?"

"Nope," Tim responded. He smiled at his father with pure love in his eyes.

Michael let out a quick chuckle before going back to a poker face. He looked down at his hands, tearing at a hang nail on his index finger. "So, it's about your father."

"Okay."

Mike took Tim not correcting 'your father' to 'Ashton' as a good sign. Maybe their midnight game of office soccer helped a bit, maybe Timothy didn't hate his other father as much as he did last week. "Things are moving up for Ashton and I, relationship-wise. You know I care about Ashton very, very much."

Timothy sighed, "Yeah, I don't understand why."

Michael scooted back on his queen sized bed until his own back hit the white walls. He turned his head and faced the teenager. "You've never been in love. I know you probably think you've been, I know you probably think you are. But, you haven't ever been in love.

"Ashton was my first everything. We created you, you're the most precious thing out there to me. I will always love your father, it was hard when he was away, it was hard when we didn't speak for months, years. But, he's in my life again—he's in our life again—and I want it to stay that way."

Timmy clenched his jaw and took a few breaths. "But he hurt you, he hurt me. He left, Dad, he left."

"He came back, for good this time."

Tim didn't continue to argue, just stayed silent.

"I'm sending him to my therapist, just to see if it can help. We're going to take it from there." Michael looked away from his son and at the pictures on his wall instead. "I offered to let him move in, too."

"Great," the dirty blonde said, "awesome. I love when my neglectful, junkie father moves back in with us. It's my favorite thing in the world, Dad."

"You used to ask so many questions about him, you used to bring me to tears because you wouldn't stop asking about him. Why did he leave? Where did he go? When was he coming back? I brought him back for you, Tim! I'm just trying to be a good father, a good lover, a good person."

The fifteen-year-old could feel a flash of guilt boil up in his veins. "Ashton hasn't proved that he's here to stay, wasn't he supposed to?"

"He agreed to therapy, that's something."

"Therapy is shit, Dad." Timothy had his own round of therapists through his life. Michael didn't want him to ever be trapped in his own head, in his own life. Tim was fine, though. Tim didn't let a lot of things get to him.

"Just tell me what you want. Tell me what you want to do."

Tim shrugged, not sure what to say.

"Will your life be miserable if Ashton moves in? Will you hate me?"

He shook his head, "I'd never hate you. It's you and me against the world, right?"

Michael's eyes filled with tears as Tim recited the words Mike preached to him every night as a kid. "Yeah, Buddy, it's you and me against the world. It's okay to let other people in, too. It's okay to let them see our world."

He sighed, "Will it make you happy if Ashton moves in?"

"I think it will," Michael responded, "I really do. We can be one step closer to the family we were always supposed to be."

"Then okay," the teenager agreed, "it'll be okay."

Four and a half days later, everything of Ashton's was moved in. And, for some odd reason, everything felt so right. The last piece of the puzzle finally fit, everything was where it was supposed to be.

Ashton and Michael laid in their bedroom, staring at each other and smiling. "This is nice," Ash spoke first.

"Are we dating, Ashton? What are we?"

He shrugged, "What do you want to be?"

"I want to be together again."

"Then let's be together again." Ashton smiled at his not-ex-anymore-boyfriend. "Were we official way back when?"

"I'm not sure, I don't remember asking you to be my boyfriend and I don't remember you asking me to be your boyfriend."

Ashton let out a short, quiet laugh. "Nice." He rolled onto his back, looking up at their ceiling. "I used to question my sexuality a lot."

"Yeah?"

"Like, I wasn't sure if I was able to be romantically attracted to anyone. I knew I wanted to fuck everything, but I'm not sure if I wanted to love anything." Ashton rested his hands on his stomach, continuing his reflection of his life. "I met you, though, and most of my questions disappeared."

"I didn't know this." Michael continued to look at the beauty next to him.

"I just wasn't sure I was able to truly feel a connection with someone that was more than just friendships." Ashton could feel Michael's eyes on him, he turned his head to find the green hues. "I look at you, though, and I know that I am so in love."

Michael leant in, pecking at Ashton's lips. "I've always been in love with you," he said with stars in eyes, "and I think I always will be."

Do you think Ashton is genuine or bullshitting?

How do you think Tim really feels?

Is there room for Ashton in Tim and Michael's life?