Luke's somehow able to pull Ashton down to the beach later that day when the sun's still blazing and the sand is scorching. He grumbles to the older boy about his terrible morning, points out a hole dug deep into the sand and claims it was there for when he died.
Ashton laughs, of course he does, and pats Luke's shoulder sympathetically. He's had a goofy smile on his face since Calum rescued Luke from Michaels sleepy grip and it didn't seem to be fading anytime soon. Luke comes to the conclusion that Ashton's gone nuts, probably listened to one too many of Calum's heavy bass cd's with the windows closed and the volume turned high.
"But what if you threw a ball out into the waves and a shark grabbed your dog." Ashton's been ranting nonstop for the past ten minutes about the safety hazards dogs are placed in being on the beach. "They won't run from it, they don't know sharks are bad."
Luke rubs his eyes, sighed dramatically. "I don't think there's going to be a shark this close to shore." He gains a loud scoff from Ashton, the older boy not going along with Luke's thoughts but not bothering to challenge him.
They walk along the wet sand, flip flops in hand. Luke squeegees his feet in the wet mush for a few seconds when they pause, Ashton having pulled out his phone to take a picture of the setting sun. The sand is cool between his toes the further he lets himself dig.
"Your feet." Ashton grimaces, tucking his phone back in his pocket. Luke looks down, not all too bothered with the grey gunk coating his toes and parts of his feet. He rolls his eyes when Luke gives a shy smile, an almost apologetic one. "You'd better wash them off with the hose before you even think of stepping foot in the house."
Luke whines, shaking his feet off quickly as Ashton begins to walk. He pushes Ashton's shoulder once he's caught up, receiving a laugh from the older boy. "Let's go to the boardwalk tonight."
"Let's not and say we did."
"Ash." Luke pouts, picking at his nails. There's sand under them. He follows Ashton up the beach, thankful the sand had cooled down drastically from earlier that day and the bottoms of his feet weren't going to melt off or peel --probably the latter. "I want to win a stuffed toy."
They cross beneath the boardwalk. Already the thick scent of funnel cake and popcorn waif below, and Luke angrily hums, annoyed at Ashton's lack of a response. "And Bubba's has really good burgers and fries."
Ashton sighs, small smile gracing his lips. "How about I buy you some ice cream now, and we sit down to talk." He gestures to the Kohr Brothers' stand with his head.
"But I-"
"And we can come back tonight," Ashton sounds like a tired father, and Luke suspects he feels the same way too. The younger agrees quickly, bouncing over to the stand and waiting. He reads the menu, beaming at the girl behind the counter who's gone heart eyed staring at Ashton and orders his cone.
After Ashton orders a soda they scoot to the side, Luke crowding in around Ashton closely. He pokes the older boy in the side playfully. "Thanks Ash, I love Kohr's." Ashton grumbles but smiles and moves to grab the order when the number is called.
"Do you want to sit or walk?" Ashton asks. He looks serious, enough so that Luke's stomach has begun twisting itself up into knots.
"Sit."
Kids run in front of them as they move towards tables shaded with umbrellas. There's a piece of pizza crust on the table that Ashton pushes to the ground with a napkin as they sit down. "Are you having fun?"
Luck cocks his head to the side, eyebrows raising in question. "We've only been here a day." When Ashton does nothing but stare Luke shrugs and licks the cone. "Yeah, I'm having fun, are you?" Vanilla ice cream dribbles down the side of the cone onto Luke's fingers and Ashton hands him a napkin.
"Do you like the partying?"
"Ashton," Luke starts with a sigh. "What's this about? I'm having fun, okay? I liked last night, I liked being out until the middle of the morning and partying. I liked running with Calum, albeit I almost died, and I liked-" He trails off suddenly, resting both of his hands on the table top and ignoring the dripping cone. "I liked hanging out with you guys, even Michael."
"You were cuddling earlier."
Luke switches the cone between his hands, raising the covered one to his lips and licking it off. Ashton raises an eyebrow, cheeks flushing. "Indeed, I was cuddling." Luke confirms. He grins when Ashton looks away, shaking his head.
"With Michael."
"Yeah." His voice is suddenly tiny, close to a whisper and holding a scared tone. "I didn't-"
"You're not in trouble, Lu." Ashton laughs, reaching over the table to pat the younger boys arm. "It was just- We weren't expecting cuddling, more like your body chopped up into tiny bits. Michael's not that bad, you know. He's a doll a majority of the time if he likes you." Ashton shrugs half heartedly. "And Calum seems to think he's warming up to you."
Luke ponders the idea for a moment before shaking his head. "I don't think so. He probably thought I was Calum at the time, I mean, you should've heard him last night. He kept shooting insults at me because of James." Luke's stomach twists anxiously as Ashton's eyebrows met in confusion. "And then Calum-"
"Calum what?" Ashton presses. He takes a sip of his drink and Luke shook his head. His ice cream is beginning to puddle beneath his hand.
"He said he wasn't on the table dancing." Luke looks over to the table beside them. A family of five sits with salt water damp hair and beach bum smiles on their faces. He turns back to Ashton. "Cal said Michael left in a bad mood so he followed him home."
Ashton blinks repeatedly, a smile dancing onto his expression. "This is news to me." He hums, taking another sip of soda. "Eat your ice cream before it's all melted."
"It's already melted," Luke pouts and switches the cone between hands, carefully licking the droplets from his fingers. Ashton watches him with playful eyes, teasing and ready to comment. Luke speaks again before Ashton can. "Do you think that's weird?"
It's weird to him. Nothing seems to make sense, it's like the past two days are puzzle pieces for different puzzles and no ones told him yet.
"How you eat ice cream? Absolutely insane." Ashton jokes before sighing. His playful expression has fallen, a weary one now on his face. "Honestly, yes, it's weird and completely questionable. Why would Michael say Calum was going wild if he wasn't? What was the point in lying?"
Luke squirms, giving a weak shrug of his shoulders. There's a puddle of white on the table from the dripping cone, and with a sorrowful expression, Luke tosses the treat in the trash can behind him, shooting Ashton a remorseful smile. The older boy smiles easily, clearly not bothered by the waste of money. The conversation seems to die off then, the two of them sitting in silence until a seagull lands on a table a few down and starts squawking at the three girls sitting there before rushing away in a fit of laughter.
"Are we going out tonight? After the boardwalk?" Luke scuffs the soles of his flip flops on the street to rid them of the wet sand. He wants to see James again, wants to sneak off with him to the backyard or an empty room for a bit, wants to touch, be touched.
Ashton's quiet for a moment. "Don't see why not, I'll text Derek and see what parties are happening tonight." He smiles at Luke and shoves him with his shoulder, jostling the younger boy. They walk back to the house, laughing about the girls and bird, and about the new flip flops Luke's wearing and how the sand seems to stick to every crevice of them.
~~~
"Shove over," Michael's pushing a pillow against Luke's arm and trying to burrow himself into it. His hair is sticking up everywhere, eyes still heavy with sleep and hands tucked under his shirt. Luke whines, a tiny, pitiful sound and scoots over, giving the older boy room. "Not that much, Christ, Hemmings, I'm trying to lean on you."
Michael unfurls a hand from beneath his shirt and wraps it around Luke's waist, effectively holding him still as he worms closer, snuggling down against the pillow. He hums contentedly, eyes falling shut and sleepy smile on his lips.
"It's literally four in the afternoon." Luke says, only to have Michaels have on his cheek, patting around soundlessly before landing on his lips and staying there. "Have you even been outside today?" His words come out slightly muffled and his tongue accidentally darted out, grazing Michael's palm.
"Kinky, Hemmings but I'm not into that."
Luke doesn't know what Michaels not into, isn't sure if he really wants to know. He stays quiet and waits for Michael to talk.
He doesn't.
~~~
Literally Halloween owned my ass,, I think I'm still drunk and I left my phone in my guy-friends dorm and he's incapable of anything rn, so I am slowly getting twitchy and nervous, plus my contacts are killing me. Sorry for whining.
Hope everyone had a great holiday weekend! Tell me about your costumes??
I was a daisy bug, it was pretty cool, haha.
Hope you enjoyed, leave some feedback!