Wether you call it PetSmart or PetsMart, is irrelevant.
All Luke cares about is adopting that sweet little white dog, until his hands reach for it at the same time another pair of hands do.
"Hey, I had dibs first." He snapped at the tanned brunette.
The other boy scoffed, fixing his messy curls. "Yeah right, I've had my eye on Pompi for months now."
"Pompi?!"
Or an AU where Luke and Ashton fight to adopt the same dog.
(Take a shot whenever I type "glared")
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Luke's P.O.V.
I burst into the pet store, excitement propelling me to the back of the store where I knew she would be.
"Slow down there, Luke," a voice chuckled.
My friend, Michael, kept one hand on the back of my shirt as I speed walked/ran down the shiny tile floors, trying to slow me down.
I huffed, and settled for a fast power walk. "You know I've been wanting this dog for months now, Mikey. Don't hold me back."
He shrugged and let go of my shirt. "Just promise me you won't trip."
Ever since I saw the little white puffball of a Pomski in this store six months ago, I couldn't imagine anyone else owning her but me.
Unfortunately, my mom said if I wanted her that badly I would have to save up for her by myself.
Which I finally did, today. I had been doing payments of sixty bucks a month for her, slowly saving up the total eight hundred that she was priced at. Less than twenty minutes ago I had cashed my paycheck and finally had the last payment for my little Snowphelia.
When I arrived at the back playpen, where the other dogs all were jumping around and getting exercise, I sighed in relief when I saw my little snowball excitedly yipping and chasing her tail in the corner.
My hands reached for her, and out of the corner of my eye I saw another pair of hands do the same.
"Hey, I had dibs first." I snapped at the tanned brunette, slapping his hands away.
The other boy scoffed, fixing his messy curls. "Yeah right, I've had my eye on Pompi for months now."
"Pompi?!"
I shrieked in disbelief. "Her name is Snowphelia!"
He gave me a weird, judging look. "What kind of renaissance-era-fantasy-fucking-high end-way too many syllables name is that?"
I snorted. "Its better than stuck up Pompi. You're two vowels short of calling her a volcano!"
I snatched up my pup, holding her tightly in case this fucktard tried to grab her.
The boy gazed at me. "Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to put my dog down before I have the manager call security."
I snorted. "Snow is my dog. I saved up for her for months and today I'm officially buying her. Ask anyone who works here, I've been visiting her every day since I met her and giving sixty bucks a week straight to the owner in payments!"
It was then the worker who knew me the most walked by and I smiled. "Hayden!"
She glanced, saw me, and headed over, waving.
"Hey Luke, long time no see." She joked, since I was here yesterday.
I nodded at the new boy. "Please inform this dog stealer that Snowphelia is my dog, not his."
Hayden's smile dropped and she looked at the ground, adjusting her brown ponytail awkwardly. "Uh, actually Luke..." she trailed off and my heart froze.
"What?" I snapped, squeezing Snow so hard she yelped.
"Ashton here just adopted Pompi." She said, sounding apologetic. "We just finished the paperwork in the office a few minutes ago."
Ashton smiled and held his hands out for the dog in my arms. "Like I said, Pompi is mine. If you hand her back now, I won't call security."
My mind was running at a billion miles an hour.
No.
No this wasn't possible.
Snow was-is mine! I saved up for her! Fuck this Ashton guy! He doesn't love her like I do!
Michael finally caught up to me. "Damn Luke, stop having long legs."
"Snowphelia belongs with me," I said slowly.
Michael looked at me, at Ashton, at the dog, and understood.
"Luke-" he tried but Ashton cut him off.
"Give me my dog!" He snapped, stepping closer. "I paid for her and she's mine! I love her too! You're just a thief now!"
"You're the thief!" I shouted, twisting my body so he couldn't grab Snowphelia. "She's mine!"
"The law says otherwise!"
"Fuck off!"
"Eat my ass!"
"Guys!" Hayden shouted. "Enough! Both of you!" She glared at us, hands on her hips. "Until this matter is sorted out, she's neither of yours. My boss is on vacation for the rest of the week, so until she gets back I can't do anything about the payments you both have made for this dog. Until then, she'll just have to stay here."
My mouth dropped open. "No! I don't want to leave her here!"
"She's mine! She's going to live with me!" Ashton insisted, reaching again for the dog.
Hayden stood between us, blue eyes blazing. "Then you both will take her home and take care of her. I'll call you in a week and we can sort this out. Technically since you both paid for her, she's both of yours. I don't want to hear any arguing from either of you, or she spends the rest of the week back here, got it?" She raised an eyebrow at us.
"....fine." Ashton mumbled.
I wasn't fine with it at all, but I managed a quick nod.
"Good." She leaned back, satisfied. "Now take her home."
-
Ashton and I made it as far as the sliding glass doors that led to the parking lot before we started to argue again.
"We're taking her to my place." Ashton growled. "Who knows what kind of a dump you live in."
I glared. "My parents house isn't a dump! It's clean and big and pet friendly!"
"You live with your parents?" The curly haired boy scoffed and crossed his arms. "Yeah, we're definetly taking her to my apartment then."
"You have your own place already?" I asked, momentarily forgetting I hate him. "How? Aren't you like eighteen?"
"I'm twenty." He said, looking me up and down. "And you're, what, twelve?"
I glared. "Try nineteen, assbutt."
He rolled his eyes. "Assbutt. Nice. You sure you're not twelve?"
Michael slapped me upside the head. "Can you guys not fight in front of the baby?"
"Ouch!" I rubbed my head and glared at him. "Fuck you!"
Ashton seized the opportunity to grab Snowphelia from me and held her close, petting her fluffy head and rubbing their noses together.
"Hey!" I gasped. "That's my dog!"
"She's my dog!"
"Bite me!"
"Suck my dick!"
"She's both your dog!" Michael shouted. "My god I need a fucking aspirin." He rubbed his hands over his face. "Let's just take her to Ashtons since we won't be bothered."
Ashton smirked at me and I stuck my tongue out at him.
-
Ashton parked the car in a spacey lot, and I peered out the window to see the beautiful, newly renovated apartment complex he called home.
I hated to admit it, but it was really nice. Snowphelia would love it here, there was a small playground behind the building, and walking paths all around.
We all climbed out and Ashton locked the doors behind us as we headed into the building.
"I'm on the top floor." Ashton explained, scanning his key card so the main doors opened and allowed us into the air conditioned lobby.
He led us to the elevator, and when the doors opened with a ding, he suddenly gasped and shoved me behind him.
"Ow! Hey, what-"
"Ah, hello Mrs. Smith." Ashton said evenly, keeping Snow behind his back.
"Mr. Irving." A stuck up old lady said slowly, glaring down at us as she stepped out of the elevator.
I didn't know what to puke at first, her neon purple and green cheetah print jumpsuit, or the perfume that smells like it could raise the dead.
"Irwin." Ashton mumbled.
"Out of my way please, I have important business to attend to. Something a young kiddie like you wouldn't understand." She sniffed, pushing us to the side.
She strode off, her pink heels clicking across the marble floor.
"Hate that hag." Ashton muttered, guiding us into the elevator.
"Who the hell is that?" I cringed, hugging my dog close. "She smells like the inside of a nasal cavity."
"Mrs. Smith, she owns this place, and she hates me."
"Oh," I perked up. "We have a lot in common."
Ashton rolled his eyes and hit the button for his floor.
We all lurched forward as the elevator slowly started to ascend.
"Ashton," Michael said suddenly.
"Yeah?"
"Am I correct in assuming this place doesn't allow pets?"
I gasped.
I whipped to Ashton and glared at him. "What?!"
Ashton looked at his shoes, rubbing his hair awkwardly. "Uh, well...define 'This place doesn't allow pets'."
I slapped him. "You can't even keep her! Snow is mine!"
He glared at me and rubbed his arm. "She's more mine than yours! I'll just hide her in my room!"
"Where she can't get fresh air and exercise or go to the bathroom?" I snorted. "That's animal abuse. You aren't fit to keep her. This settles it, she stays with me."
"Over my dead body." He stepped close to me and we glared at each other, staring deep into the others eyes.
The elevator stopped and the doors opened, but neither of us moved.
Michael coughed awkwardly, and again when it didn't work the first time.
We broke apart and I held Snow close, refusing to let Ashton take her.
We walked down the hallway to Ashtons room, with me complaining the whole way.
"How does this not automatically make her mine?" I ranted. "Snow isn't even allowed here! You can't honestly think no one will ever find out you're hiding a whole fucking dog in your room! What about when she barks? Or what if there's a fire? Wow this place is really fucking nice- how much is your rent? And what if you have people over, can they keep a secret? How are you going to sneak her out to use the bathroom, hmm?"
Ashton unlocked his door and rolled his eyes, pushing me and Snow inside.
Michael followed, appreciating the art Ashton had hung on his walls.
"I've been planning this for a while now, trust me." Ashton said, kicking off his shoes.
Michael did the same, but I kept mine on, hoping to track dirt across his floors.
"Can I get you anything to drink?" Ashton walked to the fridge and opened it. "I got Coke, water, Apple juice, some beer."
"Water is fine, thank you." Michael smiled.
"I want a Coke!" I gasped.
"You get nothing." Ashton shut the fridge door with a glare at me.
"Mehmehmehyou get nothingmehmehmeh," I mimicked under my breath, sitting on his couch and setting Snow on my lap.
She jumped right off and ran around the living room, excitedly sniffing everything.
It was then I noticed he had a drum set all set up against the back wall.
Impressed, I rose up and walked over to it.
"You play?" I asked, admiring the glittering red kit.
Ashton noticed and nodded, walking over. "Just got her for Christmas."
"I play guitar, and so does Mikey." I said.
"We've been looking for a drummer." Michael spoke up. "You should-"
"No he shouldn't and he shalln't." I cut him off with a glare.
Snow started barking suddenly and Ashtons eyes went wide.
I quickly scooped her up. "Shhh! Shh, baby, sh!"
"She sees a bird!" Michael pointed to the window.
Ashton quickly pulled the blinds over the window, blocking the view.
Snow huffed but calmed down.
"That was close." I murmured.
I faced Ashton and glared. "You can't keep her here."
"Considering she's my dog, I think I will." He retorted.
"Well then," I walked over to the couch and draped myself across it. "Since she's mine too, I'm staying here."
"What?!" Ashton shrieked. "You can't just do that! Not without paying half the rent at least!"
"Unless you would rather me tell Mrs. Smith you're keeping a dog in your room..." I raised my eyebrows.
Ashton grit his teeth at me. "You wouldn't."
"We both know I would." I smirked.
He glared at me for a moment, then sighed. "Fine. Whatever. But only for a week, until the manager comes back from vacation and can sort this all out."
"Fine. Wouldn't wanna stay in this dump any longer than I have to." I said, grabbing the remote and turning on the TV. "Jesus Christ, you have so many channels!"
-
Birds chirping woke me up, and I snorted, blinking my eyes open slowly. "Wha- who am why? Where are what?"
Ashton gave me a disdainful side glance. "Attractive. Good morning Sleeping Beast."
"What time is it?" I asked, ignoring his jab. I patted my pockets for my phone.
"I took it out to charge it." Ashton said when he noticed me searching for it.
"Thief." I hissed, getting up to take it back.
It was then I noticed my shoes were off now and there was pillows and blankets strewn across the couch.
"Did you do that?" I asked, blushing slightly.
"Yeah. I didn't want you to get cold or uncomfortable." Ashton shrugged, pouring some dog food into a bowl for Snow.
"Oh...thanks." I mumbled.
"Don't mention it." He said, and I saw he was just as bashful as I was.
"So, what are we doing today?" I asked, sitting at one of his barstools.
He was in the middle of making waffles in a waffle maker.
"I was thinking of sneaking Pompi out and taking her on a walk on one of the trails, let her sniff out her new home." Ashton explained.
I snagged an apple from his bowl of fruit and took a loud bite. "How do we sneak her past that old gremlin Mrs. Smith?"
Ashton put a plate in front of me and slid a waffle onto it. "I was thinking one of us wears a coat and hides Pompi inside it."
I barked out a laugh. "What is this, a child's cartoon? That'll never work."
Ashton glared. "Then what do you propose?"
I dug into the waffle and spoke through bites. "We need a distraction, so we can safely get Snow outside without anyone seeing. Once we're on the trails, we'll just blend in."
"A distraction sounds harder to do than just hiding her in a coat." Ashton said, taking a seat beside me.
"Unless you're pregnant, no one will find a bulge under a jacket suspicious, and since you're a man...." I trailed off and shrugged. "Heckn suspicious."
Ashton rolled his eyes. "Fine. But what are we going to do as a distraction?"
I looked around his apartment, searching for something we could use, and then my eyes landed on a box and I smiled.
"I know just the thing."
-
"This is fucking crazy," Ashton muttered, shaking his head.
"Shut up, this is going to work." I grunted, struggling to pull the costume over Snows fluffy head.
She kept trying to lick my hand, and was making it difficult to yank the bat costume on her.
"This is not going to work."
"Well not with that attitude." I huffed. "Ouch, Pompi, no biting!"
"You called her Pompi." Ashton pointed out smugly.
I glared at the floor. "Because she bit me. Pompi is a bad name for bad dogs."
I sat up. "Okay, now hand me the fireworks."
Ashton shook his head. "This is a terrible idea."
"Nonsense!" I threw open the door. "I toss these fireworks down the hall, everyone thinks it's gunshots and stays inside their rooms, and then we can hurry outside with Snowphelia cleverly disguised."
"As a giant ass bat?" Ashton raised one eyebrow.
"Well it's not my fault you didn't have any other costumes available." I stuck out my tongue.
Ashton smirked.
Before I could ask at what, Snow suddenly barked loudly and attacked the pile of fireworks we had.
"Snow, no!" We both cried, diving for her but it was too late.
She knocked into the table that had a couple lit vanilla scented candles over, and they fell right on top of the foreworks.
The fireworks caught the flame from the candle and burst out the open door and down the hall.
The sound was piercing loud from this short distance and the smoke made Ashton and I cough, stinging our eyes.
"Where did Snow go?" I cried. "Snowphelia! Come to daddy, baby!"
"Shut up, I'm daddy!" Ashton coughed, pushing me aside and stumbling into the hallway.
I quickly followed, and we hurried down the smokey hallway.
"I told you this was a stupid idea!" Ashton yelled.
"Snoooow!" I called, ignoring the fact he was right. "Come here baby!"
"What's going on?" Voices cried.
The smoke alarms in every room on this floor were going off, causing mass confusion and panic.
People raced out of their rooms, making it hard to move down the hallway.
The elevators were jammed with people when we arrived, so Ashton grabbed my hand and pulled me towards the stairs. "This way!"
I followed blindly. "Has anyone seen a giant bat?" I called out.
"There's a rat?" A lady gasped.
"What? Where?" Another voice was horrified.
More panic.
Ashton grit his teeth at me as we hurried down the stairs, sliding down the banister. "Great job Luke. Really. Astounding."
"Hey, it's distracted them has it not?" I snapped. "Let's just find Snow."
Even more people were in the lobby, calling out to family members and getting in each other's way.
"Snow? Snow!" I called out. "Where are you?"
"What's going on?" One voice demanded, louder than the rest.
"Oh no," Ashton mumbled.
Mrs. Smith came into view, and people parted like the Red Sea to avoid her perfume.
She stormed right up to Ashton, who leaned back.
"What did you do?" She snarled.
"Hey, how do you know he caused this?" I cut between them, and immediately regretted it once her perfume hit my nose.
"Because he's a child. He's too young to have a place here, if only my husband realized that and kicked him out." She adjusted her hot pink glasses and glared.
"I pay my rent on time and in full every month," Ashton glared. "I'm responsible, I've never caused any issues before, you have no right to hate me."
Just then, Snow came flying out of nowhere.
I saw what was going to happen a split second before it did.
She dug her teeth into Mrs. Smith's fake bear jacket, and growled deeply.
Mrs. Smith shrieked, slapping her arms around wildly. "Rat! There's a rat! Help me!"
"Pompi, no!" Ashton hastily pried her off.
"It's your skunk perfume," I said. "She thinks you're an animal."
"Well I never!" Mrs. Smith gasped. "Ashton Irvine! Harboring a filthy dog in my beautiful apartments!" Her eyes glittered and she grinned evily.
Ashton gulped and held Pompi close to his chest.
"Now I have all I need to throw you out on the streets where you belong!" She hissed.
"Wait!" Ashton cried. "I can explain!"
"That won't be necessary." A new voice stated calmly.
Everyone turned to see an old man slowly walking down the lobby to us.
"Richard!" Mrs. Smith hurried over to him. "I told you that kid was no good! Look! He's been hiding a dog on our premises! Even though he knows our rules clearly state-"
"Ah, he's fine," Richard smiled at us.
My eyebrows shot into my hair. "Wait, really?"
Mrs. Smith gaped at her husband. "Wh-what? Richy-poo, you can't be serious. Our rules-"
"Are stupid and I've never liked them." Richard cut her off promptly. He smiled warmly at us and held his arms out to Ashton.
Ashton carefully transferred Snow to his hands, and he cuddled the dog who licked his face excitedly.
"This here is a very good dog, owned by a very good kid," Richard smiled.
I pointed to myself. "Me. Not Ashton."
"She can stay." Richard decided. "Pets of any kind are now allowed here!"
Mrs. Smith nearly had a heart attack. "Richard you can't mean that! Think of the arachnoids! The reptiles!"
"The more the merrier." Richard said.
Ashton beamed. "Thank you!"
I scooped up Snow. "Well, this is wrapping up quite nicely."
Ashton tugged on my arm, and when I faced him, I was surprised to see he had tears in his eyes.
"Ash?" I asked, frowning. "Are you okay?"
Ashton rubbed his eyes. "I...I want you to keep Snow."
I was shocked. "What? But...you just won against Mrs. Smith, you're allowed to keep Pompi here!"
"I know but," he sighed. "I only got Pompi because I was lonely here. I just wanted company, but I can see that you wanted her for better reasons. You wanted a friend. You deserve her more."
I frowned, still in thought.
Snow leaned forward in my arms to lick Ashtons face, and he smiled despite his tears to kiss her face.
"No." I stated.
"What?" He looked up at me.
"She's not just my dog. She's ours." I pushed her into his arms, and he took her, still confused.
"But-"
"But what?" I shrugged. "I don't have the right to just take her from you. And you're good to her, she'll miss you. So she should stay with you."
"But...then you'll just miss her." Ashton said.
I smiled. "It'll be hard to miss someone who's sleeping at the foot of your bed."
Ashton paused. "Are you saying you want to move in with me?"
I was suddenly embarrassed. "Um...yes? Not to impose or anything, but this way we both get to keep her and you get company and I gain a friend and uh..."
Ashton laughed and I fell in love with the sound.
"Well I accept that idea. It's the best one you've had yet."
I beamed. "That's-"
"Also your half of the rent is five hundred a month."
"-fuck."