~Chapter 10~
*The Late Night*
"At what time should I be ready?" Ashton asked, peeking out the bathroom. He was going to take a shower before going to see their friends for Late Night. He was not sure what that was, but he was excited to see them, nonetheless.
Luke turned around, shocked to find the prince standing in the doorway with his belt unbuckled, still hanging through the loops on his pants and shirt around his neck. Luke couldn't help but run a glance down his body, noting his toned muscles. Not in a creepy way, just innocent admiration and curiosity about what his roommate looked like. He was impressed, which he wasn't expecting. For a dude who sat in conference rooms running a country, he looked surprisingly good.
He cleared his throat, meeting Ashton's confused glance.
"Uh, I don't know, I'm going to look up what time it is and I'll let you know."
Ashton frowned but nodded and closed the bathroom door. He'd wanted to know how long he could take in the shower, but he supposed he would take a relatively short one just in case.
Luke pulled his laptop out of his bag and opened it up, going to the Connection website and seeing if it said anything about late night. The home screen advertised it, telling him late night was from 10pm-12am.
"ASH!" Luke hollered, having heard the water turn off a couple moments ago.
"What is it?" He opened the door a crack, steam escaping into the bedroom. Luke couldn't see him and assumed he was still in his towel.
"We're not going,"
A second later, Ashton popped his head out of the room, confused frown gracing his face.
"What do you mean we are not going? I have made plans for us to go to late night,"
"Yeah, well apparently late night takes its name literally, and it starts at 10pm. That's far too late, it's dangerous going out at night, Ash."
Ashton groaned, slamming the door shut. Luke shrugged, figuring he was going to have to deal with a pouting prince all night. He didn't figure his roommate was used to being told 'no', but it was something he'd have to deal with. He couldn't always get what he wanted.
The door flicked open and Ashton, now fully clothed, returned into the room.
"Well I am going," he announced. Luke had been watching something on his computer, but he looked up at the prince before returning his attention to his screen.
"No you're not. We aren't allowed to go anywhere without each other, and I'm in charge and I say it's too dangerous."
"Well I do not care. I am a person, I have rights and it is not necessary for me to always bend to your whims. My friends have told me to visit them tonight, and I will be doing so,"
Luke scoffed.
"No, you're not. Because as I said, I call the shots and we're staying in."
Ashton pursed his lips together, mind spinning. He glanced at the clock, it was 7:50. He had to wait about 2 hours before initiating his plan.
A bit before ten, Ashtons eyes zoned in on his roommate, watching as he sat up, stretching and set his laptop beside him. The brunette tried to stay calm and poised, attempting not to stare as the blonde lazily padded into the bathroom, shutting and locking the door.
Ashton was quick to spring into action. He jumped up from his bed, not caring to replace the covers and grabbed his phone, wallet, and the dorm key before grabbing his shoes and slipping out the door. He shut it gently and shoved his feet into the sneakers Luke had made him buy, not even bothering to undo the laces. The back of his heel was hanging out, but he didn't care as he grinned and ran down the steps to the first floor.
He was really doing it, he was escaping his guard and was going to hang out with his friends. He was free for the first time in his life!
Once he got to the first floor, he grinned, feeling happy and free. He resisted the urge to giggle like a madman, only because there were a couple people lounging on the chairs and couches the lobby provided, but he was loving the carefree feeling this gave him. He pulled out his phone to text Calum to see where to meet when he almost walked into somebody.
He startled, lowering his phone and bringing his face up to apologize, the "I am so sorry," on the tip of his tongue until he saw who it was in front of him. The words died in his throat as he stared up at the cross face of his guard.
Luke.
Of course.
The blonde had his arms crossed. His brow was furrowed, ever-present scowl on his red lips, and he was tapping his foot, almost asking his charge what he was doing without words.
Ashton babbled incoherently, the good-mood he hadn't felt since before his 18th birthday when he'd been forced to flee his home, disappearing. Luke had found him, followed him clearly. Why had Ashton thought he could outsmart the security guard who's literal job was to watch him at all times?
"Well?" Luke drawled, wondering what excuse he was going to come up with.
"I was trying to be sneaky," the prince shrugged casually. "I wanted to go to late night and I thought that I could wait until you were not in the room and I would escape,"
The obvious truth wasn't what Luke had expected, but Ashton had never been a liar. He would own up to what he did. Luke begrudgingly respected that about him.
"I know this is new to you, but we need to stick together. You can't just do what you want, there's precautions we need to take,"
"Yeah," Ashton knew that. But why was it so dangerous to go out with his friends?
Luke watched as Ashton fixated on a group of three people walking out the lobby, talking and laughing. They were so innocent, care free. That was all he wanted, something he never had. Why had he thought that being incognito would give him the chance at something new? If anything it was worse here. Before there were places he could go, like his room, studio, or study and sure there were guards around, but they respected his privacy and let him be. Here, Luke was always with him, teasing, judging, waiting for him to mess up and scold him. It was a different kind of scrutiny the young prince wasn't used to, and it was too much.
Luke watched the way Ashtons emotions started to play across his eyes, then shut down. The prince shut up the loss he felt and displayed a blank look, and for some reason when he looked at his guard, the taller man winced. He didn't like Ashton like that, he was growing slightly fond of the overly curious, proper boy. He shouldn't have to feel like this.
Luke was used to watching when his clients realized that they couldn't use their protection time as an excuse to do whatever they wanted, but it had never hurt him like it did with Ashton. Usually they got upset, yelled, some threw things. He could handle that, even the fact that most of them got mad at him, like it was his fault they were in this situation. But he'd never seen anyone close up and turn it off like Ashton had, and it wasn't good.
"M-maybe we can see if Calum can meet up for lunch tomorrow," Luke offered. He needed Ashton to feel something, to get that horrible blank stare off his face.
Ashton blinked twice before shrugging.
"Yes I suppose that would be all right." Cold, robotic, stoic. He had to do something to fix it.
"Let's go upstairs, we can maybe watch a movie together on my laptop," he offered. Ashton shrugged, his posture falling for the first time Luke had ever seen. The kid had amazing posture all the time. Luke was about to put his arm around the brunette and walk up with him when he heard a voice.
"Hey, mates!" Ashton perked up and looked over his shoulder, beaming when Harry walked into the room. "Didn't know you both lived here,"
"Yeah, we are on the second floor," Ashton volunteered. Luke was surprised at how quickly his mood changed, but he was glad it was for the better at least.
"Cheers, I'm on the second floor. Left or right wing?"
"Right,"
Harry groaned.
"I'm left. Explains why we haven't seen each other." He shrugged.
The curly haired lad was sporting a more feminine look that evening, and it worked on him. He had a navy and off white paisley patterned shirt with the shoulder cut out tucked into black slacks and a pair of black dress boots. Nestled into the curls on his head was a light blue, bordering on purple flower crown. The entire outfit looked great on him, both Ashton and Luke were in awe of the vibe he was able to put off, and his green eyes looked even more vibrant.
"You look very nice today," Ashton said to Harry with a pointed look at Luke. Any time anyone dressed up fancy, he had to point it out and would argue that he should be able to dress like that. Every time Luke told him to remember that he was supposed to keep a low profile.
"Thank you, I had a job interview at the library this afternoon so I dressed up. I haven't changed yet, I like this outfit," he shrugged as he looked down, lopsided smile on his lips as he looked back. "So you heading to Late Night?"
Ashton looked at Luke, eyes wide and pleading. He bit his lip as he looked at his security guard, he wanted this more than anything. He was loving having friends, he wanted to see them so badly.
Luke sighed, closing his eyes momentarily. He knew this was a bad idea. He knew he should just stick to his gut and make Ashton go back to the room. Something bad might happen, it was much easier to stay in their dorm and not do anything risky.
But Ashton had a point—normal people went out, normal people didn't hide in their rooms.
He was torn, but when he opened his eyes and saw the resigned look in Ashton's eyes, he made up his mind.
"Unfortunately, tonight we are not, so--"
"Yeah, we'll walk with you, mate," Luke said. Ashton's frown literally turned upside down and he looked at Luke with such adoration and glee, Luke was pleased with his decision. He just hoped it didn't turn out poorly.
***
"What do you mean you've never had wings before?" Calum asked the brunette who was sat next to him. They all had a paper boat of barbecue wings in front of them, and Ashton was the only one not digging in.
He looked at his friends, wondering how they could be so messy with this food. He really wished someone had given him a fork and knife.
"I do not know, it just seems so..."
"Awesome?" Michael volunteered through a mouthful of food. He had a wing in both his hands, elbows on the table, and sauce dripping down the side of his face. There was a book on the table under his elbow, somehow not covered in barbecue. Ashton tried his best not to cringe.
"That doesn't seem like the word he was looking for," Harry teased, rolling his eyes at Michael. The boy was a mess, but wings weren't a clean food.
"Just try it, Ash," Luke nudged his tray towards him.
"Where are the utensils," he whispered.
"Just pick it up," he shook his head and Ashton sighed.
Ashton hesitated before picking it up, grimacing at the slimy feel. He had watched everyone enough to know to just bite into it, and he was pleasantly surprised at the tangy taste.
"It is not bad. I only wish it could be less messy,"
Calum laughed.
"So have you and Luke been friends for a long time?" Calum asked.
The two shared a look. They knew this was going to happen at some point, someone would question their relationship. Luke decided to speak up.
"Yeah, we were neighbors growing up. Been friends forever."
"That's cool,"
Michael looked at them in confusion.
"If you've been friends so long, how do you know what wings are and he doesn't?"
Ashton's eyes grew wide in panic, but Luke stepped in smoothly with a cover story.
"Ash's mum is really strict and overprotective. They ate clean, like real clean, and he wasn't always allowed at my place because my mom didn't follow her, sorry Ash, crazy restrictions."
Michael nodded.
"But Luke would come to mine often so that we could hang out," Ashton continued. "But since he did not have the same restrictions I did, he is aware of more."
"Right,"
"Makes sense."
They continued on with the evening, laughing and talking and Luke and Ashton shared numbers with everyone at the table so they could all talk to each other if they wanted.
They walked back to the dorm, Luke having forgotten his anxious feelings he'd felt earlier. It hit him like a truck when he got back.
He wished he hadn't been in such a good mood when he saw the note on his pillow saying someone knew who Ashton was.
***
So. Lukey is growing fond of our little Ashy and making risky decisions...that should be fine. I can't foresee anything going wrong here.
Hope you're all doing well! This chapter is in honor of the fact that I was off from work today and I'm going in early tomorrow to do a double. Yay for 16 hours shifts ☺️☺️
~ashtonfortherwin