I Wish You Liked Boys // cashton

chapter four

Ashton was smiling at him, beautiful as ever in just his casual outfit of a button up and jeans. His curly hair was messy on his forehead, reminding him of how he'd look after ling nights inside of old shared hotels. He looked younger than he was, almost like he was nineteen again.

"Cal, guess what?" He said excitedly and the younger of the two hummedz

"What?"

He held a hand out, a key dangling between his fingers as he wore the key ring as an actual ring upon his forth finger. Calum's eyes followed it's swing before he met his best friend's hazel ones. They glittered with excitement and happiness. They looked like little galaxies, and he could feel his heart race as he gazed into them.

"Uh, new car?" Calum tried, wondering what he could possibly be so excited about. "The Bentley you wanted?"

"No silly." He shook his head in an almost cartoonish way as he rocked back and forth on his heels. "Beside, the Bentley was for Morgan."

"Morgan?" Calum asked and as if on cue, there was footsteps thundering down the stairs to his right.

"Dad, Jacob is blasting his music again and I have tests coming up. Can you tell him to turn it down?" A teenage girl complained, blue in her hair with a black ring around her pointed nose.

Calum looked between them and then took a deep breath as he looked at the key Ashton held. He took his hand and then looked at the ring finger, finding a silver band wrapped around the digit snugly, flowers engraved within the shimmering metal. He ran his thumb over his... husband's knuckles.

"Is it a house key?" Calum asked and looked up at Ashton. "Did you buy a new house?"

He nodded and Calum looked to the girl, who's name was clearly Morgan. "A new house? Can I drive the cars over there? I'm the best driver here!" She gasped and Calum smiled as she gave him wide, puppy dog eyes. "Please, dads?"

He nodded and she smiled as she threw her arms around him, her embrace warm and making his heart flutter. "Yes!" She cheered and then ran back upstairs. "Jacob, you dweeb, turn your shit down and pack your stuff! Dads bought a new house!"

"Watch your language, he's barely fourteen!" Ashton called and Calum looked around the house that resembled his apartment. "It's a two story house off Mariposa and Marigold. It's the one you said you wanted, and yeah it's a little price-y, but I don't care. I love you."

"What's that?"

Calum walked towards a small table and then looked at the vase full of flowers. It was on display, and as soon as the front door opened, there they were. "Scorpions Grass. You said it's your favorite." Ashton told him as Calum touched the petals. "I need to pick more from the garden, these are dying..."

He looked into his palm as petals began falling into his hands, and he ran his thumb through them as he imagined them blotched with red. He can feel the choking feeling in his throat and the after burn of a coughing fit within his throat.

He looked to Ashton as he began picking them from his palm, his teeth biting into the inside of his lips as he watched. "He loves me." He tossed one petal out on to the table. "He loves me not."

Calum jumped when he heard the sound of something falling from upstairs, a loud 'thump' echoing through the house. He furrowed his eyebrows and then turned around, finding that Ashton was gone from behind him. Wasn't he just picking petals from his hand? Where did he go?

"He loves me."

He saw a photo hung standing up beside the vase and he picked it up carefully. The two were sitting in chairs at a studio, guitars in their laps and sleepiness obvious in their eyes. They probably hadn't slept in days it seemed, but they still smiled. He actually remembers asking for his own copy of the photo after their producer had snapped it.

"He loves me not."

Calum felt a sharp pain in his chest and he gasped as he dropped the picture frame to the floor. The glass shattered around his feet as it hit the hardwood floor, and he gasped in discomfort. He immediately held on to his chest, his back hitting a nearby wall as he heard his own heartbeat in his ears. He could feel something crawling beneath his skin, wiggling into cracks and crevices within in.

"He loves me."

He took in a deep breath, throwing his head back in pain as he heard the sound of footsteps approaching. "Ash?" He hoped.

An answer soon filled the room. "Yeah, I'm here."

"Help me."

There was no reply.

"He loves me not."

He saw him as he came from around the corner, and he smiled until he saw a hand wrapped around his arm and another person beside him. High heels on her feet and a diamond ring on her finger, the jewel glistening as the sunlight hit it. "How can we help you?" He asked and he could feel his knees giving out from beneath him.

The wedding band from earlier had disappeared from his hand, the silver now replaced with a matching gold band.

He squeezed his eyes shut as he coughed, his skin burning red hot as he looked down. He could see it. He could see the movements through his shirt, and when he ripped it open, he could see them within his body. His akin was moving and he coughed into his hand, but nothing would come out.

"Calum?"

He fell on to his hands, glass cutting into his palms as he gasped for breath. He could feel himself suffocating, his face red with strain as he tried hacking up whatever was clogging his throat.

"Calum?"

"Calum!"

He shut his eyes, but as soon as they closed, he was jumping up from a bunk and sprinting to the nearest bathroom. His band mates were yelling his name, but he couldn't really hear their echo'ed voices through the ringing in his ears and the dizziness spinning around him.