prey ✄ calm

twenty-four

ashton choked on his spit and hurriedly stood up. he shoved michael and wrapped his arms around himself, "i-i have to g-go ch-ch-cheer!"

michael grunted as he got up from his spot on the ground. he mumbled an apology to ashton and rubbed his head and harshly hit the bleachers. ashton nodded and rubbed his legs.

ashton awkwardly looked around. he bit his lips and kicked the ground, "so.. let me go cheer.. and i'll be back.."

ashton trailed off before grabbing his stuff and hurrying away. he mentally scolded himself for being awkward. he went over to his position and went over what he had to do in his head.

he followed all the steps he learned and took a deep breath of warm air as he held onto someone's shoulders and got lifted into the air.

luke, calum, and michael watched as ashton cheered happily. calum crossed his arms, "this is the happiest i've seen him since everything happened."

luke agreed, "i can't believe that he's so happy even though he went through all of that."

michael sighed, "you can't dwell over it forever. maybe it's just best to still enjoy your life, even if that did happen. i mean, there's no law that if that happens you still can't have fun, be in a relationship, or have great friends."

luke and calum agreed. they heard the whistle and knew they had to go back out. calum ran his fingers through his curly hair, "we gotta get back out there."

luke nodded and went to hug michael. michael jumped back, "ew, no. you guys are sweaty and i don't wanna smell like sweat also."

luke raised an eyebrow, "so, you would hate if we did this?"

luke and calum launched toward the eldest out of the three and squished him between them. calum ignored the cries of michael and spoke over him, "hey luke, do you think michael would be mad if we did this?"

calum pressed his head to michael and released all the sweat in his hair onto michael. luke followed and laughed while doing it. they pulled away and kissed michael's lips once before leaving.

michael huffed in frustration and wiped his face. he crossed his arms and glared at the pair as they kicked the ball around. michael scoffed as he tried to get the sweat off of him, "i fucking hate them." the boys winked at his glare and continued to play, calum scoring a goal.

michael sighed and tried to keep his deathly stare, but he couldn't help but to let the sides of his mouth curl up, "but still, i can't stop myself from loving them."

+

it was after the game and the four boys were walking home. the boys had won against the team they were against and everyone was extremely happy about it. ashton was being given a piggyback ride since his legs was sore.

ashton groaned loudly, "my legs and feet hurt so bad!"

michael panted as he was out of breath, "mine do too. you know, as small and light you look, you're actually heavy as hell."

ashton hit michael's shoulder and kicked his hip, causing the male to yelp in pain. he let go of one of ashton's legs to massage his hip and shoulder. he grabbed the boy's leg again and continued to trudge along.