After what they considered their most successful and by extension uneventful meeting with his dad, his mother seemed to think that was something worth celebrating. She'd handed him a $50 note and told him to go 'hang out with those new friends of yours'. And Ashton had never gone without anything, his mum made sure he had clothes that were clean and fit, that he had plenty to eat and even a few luxurious, but he'd never been given $50 to go and spend as he wished. Which made the evening even sweeter.
He texted Crystal immediately, praying that she and Michael weren't off having sex somewhere and that she'd be free. She replied almost immediately saying she'd organise the others and get back to him, which she did twenty or so minutes later, informing him that they'd meet at Coogee around seven that night. He wasn't sure what anyone could get up to at the beach that late at night, but he was in no position to be picky, this was the first time he'd had friends to invite anywhere.
He caught the train and then the bus out to the beach, and made sure he arrived at quarter past seven, not wanting to be waiting alone on the beach for the others to arrive. The others were waiting on the beach, standing around in a circle, laughing and chatting loudly.
"Hey!" Luke called out, "didn't think your mum would let you out after dark," he chuckled, flagging Ashton over with his hand.
He chuckled in what he tried to make a casual way, "she doesn't care much where I go, as long as she knows when I'm going to be home," he shrugged and wondered if that was normal for teenagers or not. He and his mum had never had a very conventional relationship, he really could have gotten away with much more If he'd really pushed it, but he didn't like taking advantage of his mothers' guilt.
"That's so fucking cool, wish my parents were like that, I had to tell my mum that Calum and Luke were definitely going to be here, or she said I couldn't come," he rolled his eyes, "If I were you I'd never be at home," he laughed.
"Not to play the loser card again, but, I don't really have anywhere to go to be out of the house unless I want to watch you and Crystal make out," he laughed, and the others joined in, "I mostly just study and play my guitar,"
"Really? Luke asked excitedly, "We all play guitar too!"
"Yeah I was taking drum lessons for a while as well, but it's a bit expensive, I have got a pad I still try and practice on a bit, I want to save up and buy a kit though," he tried to explain, his excitement getting the better of him.
"Fuck that's be cool, we should all jam together one day," Michael said excitedly, and Ashton couldn't help but grin and nod, Michael was talking to him like a person.
Calum wrapped his arms around Luke and Michael's shoulders, "Ready to go order?" he asked, looking around and everyone, a goofy smile on his face.
"Oh, that reminds me," Ashton dug through his pockets and pulled out the fifty dollar note, "my mum said it's her shout,"
"Wow, are you sure, Ash?" Luke asked astonished.
"Yeah, this is what she gave it to me for," he laughed pushing it into Luke's hand, he didn't dare press it into Calum's, afraid he'd hold it too long, or his hands would be sweaty, or- or just anything terrible would happen.
"Alright well we'll go order then, what do you two want?" Michael sighed leaning his head back against Calum's arm.
"I don't know about Ash, but I want plain cheese, I don't feel like any meat today," she said, making a face.
"Yeah I don't mind, I'll have a bit of whatever anyone else gets,"
"Cool, we're just going to head up to the Dominos, so we won't be long," Luke said happily, Calum let his arms fall from the other two's shoulders, and they all turned to head up the steep hill toward the street.
"Uh, good now they're gone we can just hang for a bit, so what'd you do to get that much money from your mum? Did you steal it?" Crystal asked as she gently pulled Ashton down to sit on the sand with her.
"I had to see my Dad today, we- we uh, see each other twice a year, and we don't get on very well so my mum thought that it'd be nice for us all to get pizza, make the day a little better, I would never steal from my mum," Ashton said defensively.
"Sorry, I just- it seemed random," Ashton thought his defensiveness had put a damper on the conversation, but she continued, "so how long have they been separated then?"
"I don't know, almost as long as I can remember. It's the last time I have to visit him. I'll be eighteen before the next visit, so if I want, I never have to see him again,"
She didn't respond, and they both seemed to mull over the words and the silence, and Ashton appreciated that sometimes just having someone hear you was all you needed. He didn't want to deal with her apologising. She had a pretty typical family, so he doubted she understood what it was like, and she definitely didn't understand the 'being the cause of you parents breaking up because you have a literal magical curse on you' of it all either. Instead, she leant her head against his shoulder as they leaned back on their elbows, watching the night waves roll in and out.
After a while though he could feel her shivering slightly and she sat up, wrapping her arms around herself, "those guys are taking forever like Dominos are so fast, this is ridiculous," Crystal sighed.
A voice answered back almost immediately, "you'll forgive us once you see what we've brought babe," Her head whipped around at the sound of her boyfriend's voice.
"Oooh, wine," she said happily, and Ashton slowly tuned to see the three guys walking back, Michael with wine bottles in hand, Luke with the pizza in his arms and Calum with seemingly nothing.
"And a little something else," Calum grinned gently shaking a little baggie in his hand, "We thought it was only fair we pitch in for something, and only if you want to Ash, you don't have to,"
Michael handed Ashton one of the bottles of wine, "drink up," Ashton rolled his eyes and undid the bottle, taking a large swig. He would have had a drink anyway; he didn't need to be told to have a drink. He took a few deep breaths and had to remind himself that the others didn't know what their phrasing did. Ashton went to pass the bottle to Crystal, and she shook her head and started to stand up, dusting herself off as she went.
"We're going to go and have a chat," Crystal said, grabbing Michael's hand and leading him further down the beach, and out of sight with the other bottle of wine.
"Well more weed for us then," Luke said with an eye roll putting the pizza boxes down before he and Calum joined Ashton on the sand.
Calum passed the little clear bag to Luke, "I'm assuming you've never smoked before Ash? If you don't want to, I won't either," he gave the older boy a soft, reassuring smile.
"it's alright; I mean, why not really?" Ashton said, trying as he might be casual.
Calum just nodded and opened the pizza box taking a slice of pepperoni out before Luke took one as well and finally, Ashton. Luke was trying to cut up the small bud as well as eat his pizza, and it was painful to watch, Calum beckoned for the wine in Ashton's lap, and he handed it over still watching Luke.
"Have you ever drunk alcohol before?" Calum asked through a mouthful of pizza, he washed that down with a swig of wine.
"Nah, I've never really had anyone to do this sort of thing with," Ashton shrugged, taking the bottle back from Calum again, the tan boy had tried to offer it to Luke, but the other boy was far too focused on his cutting.
"Well at least you have interesting hobbies, you could have stayed out of trouble, and I don't know... made bad macaroni art, guitar and drums are much cooler. I play the bass unlike the other two, but I can play a six-string, it just makes for a better sound when we jam though if I don't,"
"Yeah, I really want to get more into the drums, but it's just so pricey, like a guitar is like sixty bucks, albeit a crappy one but like even a kids drumkit it like close to seven hundred dollars," Ashton sighed sadly taking a swig of the wine before handing it back.
Luke finally looked up, "I reckon you'd be an absolute maniac behind the drums," he'd said laughing.
Ashton blushed slightly laughing and looked at Calum who gave him a nod and an eyebrow wiggle, "all that pent-up rage," he'd added.
The older boy rolled his eyes, "Do you think those two are ever going to come back for pizza?" he asked.
"I think Michael's already eating out," Luke chuckled, it took Ashton a moment before it clicked, and he dissolved into a fit of giggles. Luke was laughing at Ashton laughing, and Calum was watching them both grinning. It took another few moments before they settled back down, and Luke finished cutting and started rolling and once he was done he said, "okay it's been real you two, but I'm going to a party of one of Si's friends, I rolled two other joints, they're in the bag, I'm going to take this one alright?"
"Didn't invite the rest of us?" Calum asked jokingly.
"It's Emily's party, you really want to go to that?" Luke asked, raising his eyebrows.
They both just laughed, and Ashton wondered what the joke was that he'd managed to miss. Instead of asking though, he gestured to the pizza, "do you want to take a pizza with you? We all know those two aren't going to come back for it,"
"Are you sure?"
Ashton just nodded so the other boy took a box out from underneath the pizza Calum and Ashton had all but destroyed and gave them a wave saying thank you, after thank you as he left.
Luke hadn't been gone more than a minute, and Calum was turning to Ashton with a grin, lighter in hand. He flicked it a few times, running it under the palm of his hand, Ashton wasn't sure what sort of response he hoping to get from him, but he went with an eye-roll. Which he was met with another massive grin. After he lit one of the joints, he took a long draw himself and then passed it to Ashton.
He took it unsure in whether he was going to get laughed at or not and brought it gingerly to his lips, taking a long draw. He'd always heard people make fun of anyone who couldn't inhale properly, and he really didn't want to embarrass himself in front of Calum. As he passed it back as exhaled, coughing as he did. He blushed as they made eye contact.
"Happens to everyone their first few times, don't worry," Calum reassured as he took another draw.
They passed the joint back and forth between the two of them over and over, until it was finished, and they both laid back in the sand. Ashton had shifted himself, so they were laying top and tail until Calum complained about being near his feet. Ashton moved to lay down beside him, and his nerves started to build, they were less than a foot apart, and it was all Ashton could think about.
"So, what do you think of weed so far?" Calum hummed, letting his eyes drift closed.
"It's not what I thought it'd be like, it's fewer dragons and more I don't know chill," Ashton admitted embarrassed.
"It's good, hey? I'll teach you how to roll next time,"
"Mmmm," Ashton said, feeling his eyes droop closed, and a sigh leave his lips.
They were quiet for a long moment, both staring up at the sky, a small collection of stars visible despite the light pollution from the city.
Calum rolled onto his side, and Ashton could feel his breath on the aide of his face, "what would you say if I said the moon landing was fake?"
His eyes flicked open, and he turned his head to the side, so they were face to face, "I'd say prove it,"
"Okay so, like the Arms race right? I think the Americans were like we have to prove that our long-range missiles can go further than Russia's or the Soviet Union whatever they were and so they were like, we have to beat them so let's just pretend. And they faked the moon landing and like waved their dick in Russia's face and then like six months later they snuck up to the moon once they could make it," Calum rushed all his words out as quickly as he could, keeping their eyes locked the whole time, an excited glint in them.
Ashton started to giggle and nodded, "what? What's funny?" Calum asked a smile still on his face.
"I'm not sure; I think it's just the weed. Or maybe it's that you're so cute getting all excited about the moon landing," Ashton admitted.
"Yeah?" Calum asked, leaning in as he grinned.
Ashton nodded and went to speak, but was interrupted by Michael's voice from behind him, "did you guys eat all the pizza and smoke everything?"