Luke's POV
Night of Graduation
It's just inevitable by now that I panic before our shows. My hands are shaking as I try to warm up my fingers to play the chords on my guitar. My mind is in too many different places as I do my best to keep myself upright. I can't believe that Ashton didn't come back. I was more hurt than anything because I've gotten my hopes up for two solid years.
"Where's that drummer you found Michael?" Calum snapped and Michael narrowed his eyes at his boyfriend without a word. I felt like I was gonna throw up as I gripped onto my microphone stand to keep myself standing.
"Guys I'm going to go get some air." I mumbled and excused myself. I hopped off the stage and pushed through the small gathering of people until I found a side door. My clammy hands pressed against the metal of the door freeing myself from the stuffy theater.
The cool air surrounded me, temporary soothing my state of mind. How could I let myself believe that he'd be back? It's like being a little kid again and your parents make you a promise that they never keep. You try not to let it hurt you but in the back of your mind it's nagging you to the point of insanity. I fisted my hair and let out a muted scream. How the hell could he do this to me, to us? I never heard the door open so imagine my surprise when I heard Ashton's voice from behind me.
""Hope I'm not too late to be the new drummer." His voice cracked from behind me and I felt every part of my body go numb. No, this can't be real. It's just my fragile mind playing tricks on me.
"No, this isn't real." I whispered and felt tears gather in my eyes. My breath was coming slower but my hear was beating faster.
"Luke, it's okay to turn around." He said with a small giggle and I felt my stomach flip. Believe it or not Ashton's voice had matured but his giggle was still the same. If I turned around and he was completely different I didn't know if I could handle it.
I took a deep breath and screwed my eyes shut before turning around slowly to face him. When I opened my eyes I felt all the air leave my lungs. Ashton was the same. His hair was a little longer then usual but still messy as usual, his body was a little more built but the stupid grin on his face was the same. His hazel eyes darted toward the pavement then back to me and he smiled even deeper. I'm sure I looked like a deer in the headlights because I had no clue what to do or say.
"You're really here." I breathed out lamely and Ashton giggled again. He nodded his head and I chuckled humorlessly. Before I could control my body I rushed over and wrapped my arms around Ashton, pulling his body against mine. He felt the same. He smelt the same, everything felt exactly the same.
Time stood still as we stood wrapped in each other's arms. I swear I breathed in every single inch of Ashton's being before he pulled away from me. He was still grinning like an idiot but his eyes wondered up and down my body in inspection.
"You grew!" He exclaimed and both of us burst out laughing.
"You finally got some stubble." I teased and reached out to stroke his jaw. He sucked in a sharp breath at our contact and it took all I could not to pull away from the electricity. Ashton's eyes fluttered closed and he leaned his cheek into my palm so I could let my thumb ghost over his skin.
"I missed you." He whispered smiling at me. I smiled back and leaned down to press my lips softly to his. The spark that everyone always talks about was more like a fire when our lips touched. My heart sped up because my fears were gone, Ashton was still mine.
"I missed you too." I whispered against Ashton's lips. He smiled again before kissing me softly for a second time. Just as we pulled away, the door swung open revealing a frazzled Calum.
"Luke, oh hey Ash," he waved at Ashton who waved back before turning back to me. "We go on now." Calum said rushed and I nodded. Calum disappeared and I looked back to Ashton.
"We better go then." Ashton said pulling me behind him. We made it to the stage and I got behind my mic while Ashton went straight for the drum kit.
"What are you doing?" I asked and Ashton grabbed up his sticks with a smirk.
"Drumming." He shrugged taking a seat. Michael and Calum were also looking at him confused but they turned around to get started.
"You don't know any of the songs." I whispered and Ashton giggled.
"Yeah, I've been watching your covers just in case you allowed me back in the band." He said and I felt my mouth drop open. He's been watching our covers?
"You were never out of the band." Michael assured. "Now let's get started." He added and Calum nodded.
"What's first?" Ashton asked.
"Out Of My Limit." Calum said and Ashton nodded with a smirk. He sounded off our cues and we began to play.
Our performance was seamless and the crowd loved it. It was as if nothing had even changed.
4 months later
"Babe what's in this box?" Ashton asked picking up the box that was filled with all the letters I had wrote him. My cheeks heated with embarrassment as I moved across the room to grab the box away from Ashton.
"Nothing." I said shortly and packed the box over to put in a different box.
Ashton and I were moving into our new apartment we are renting. I'm starting college classes in a couple weeks so we decided to get everything situated before I start school. Ashton got his old job back at the video store while I still world part time at the theater. Everything was falling into place for us and we are inseparable.
"Come on Luke, it's obviously something important." Ashton pressed and I turned back around to my smirking boyfriend.
"Not that it makes any difference now, but it's full of letters that I couldn't send." I admitted.
"What?" Ashton asked, tilting his head to the side in confusion.
"Not that it makes any difference now but I felt like I should've made you stay and those letters are everything I wanted to say to you." I explained and Ashton nodded hopefully in understanding.
"But why can't I see them now?" He asked with a smirk and I shook my head.
"Why would you want to see them now?" I scoffed and he shrugged.
"To see if you were feeling the same thing I was." He admitted and I felt my chest tighten. I handed him the box slowly and he sat cross legged on my bed to open the box. His hand ran over the outside of the box where there was a red A.
Finally he removed the lid and grabbed up a folded piece of paper. The song, I had forgotten all about the song. While Ashton was away I wrote too many songs about I felt and on that folded paper was one of them. His brows scrunched up as he read the lyrics then he looked up to me with burning hazel orbs.
"Everything I Didn't Say?" He asked and I nodded.
"I might have wrote a song or two about you." I smirked and sat down next to him on my bed. He dumped out the letters into a pile on my bed and grabbed one up.
"Well let's see what you had to say about me Mr. Hemmings." He smirked and I nudged his shoulder playfully.
Plenty of tears and laughs were shed over those letters but great love was made as result of the words on the pages.
2016
Ashton's POV
"Has anyone seen my beanie?" Calum shouted, waking everyone up on the bus. Well except for Luke because he can sleep through anything. I rolled over in my bunk and slapped Calum on the head even while I was still asleep.
"Here, now can you leave us to sleep?" Michael groaned, handing Calum his beanie with his eyes still closed.
"No Michael, we have a show today." Calum said shaking his sleeping boyfriend. Michael whimpered and whined but eventually climbed out from his bunk. I pulled myself from my own bunk to beat Michael to the bathroom, getting a shoe tossed at my head.
When I returned from the bathroom Luke was nowhere to be found. His bunk was empty and he wasn't in the lounge in the back of the bus. This was unusual for Luke. I pulled on a pair of jeans that I hoped were mine and tugged a shirt over my head before going to the front of the bus in search of Luke. Calum was making himself toast but there was no sign of Luke. I sighed and rested against the counter to steady myself.
I was so freaking tired. We've been on a 5 show headlining tour around the US and we all are running on little sleep. Tonight was our final show and we get to fly back home tomorrow for a break. Calum smiled at me but I'm sure I had a confused look on my face.
"Where's Luke?" I asked and Calum shrugged.
"We seemed pretty upset when he woke up so he said he was going for a walk." Calum said and I suddenly felt myself panic. We were in LA, Luke could be lost or hurt or mobbed. We weren't the biggest super stars but in LA people were always searching for celebrities.
"Shit." I mumbled and pulled on my shoes before heading to the door of the bus.
"He took Preston with him Ashton, Luke isn't stupid." Calum called out before I shut the door. Our other guard Shane offered to drive me while Dave stayed with the other two lads. I knew exactly where Luke would go, the beach.
Shane did his best to get us through traffic and when we pulled up to the beach I hurried out of the door. I didn't really care if anyone spotted me I just took off down the sand until I saw a blonde lad dressed in all black. I chuckled at how overdressed he was for the beach as I came within feet of Luke. He had his knees bent up to his chest hugging them tightly. I loudly took a seat down next to him on the sand and his blue eyes glanced over to me.
"Please tell me you weren't reading twitter again." I sighed and Luke's silence was conformation that he was. People always say nasty things about his on twitter but Luke takes it the hardest.
"How could I not Ash?" He shouted unintentionally. "They're all right anyway." His voice softened. I wrapped my arms around his shoulder and tugged him into my chest.
"They are not right Luke." I said sternly and Luke tried to nod.
"They are so mean it makes it hard not to believe them." He said sadly and my heart swelled. Luke had always been so sensitive which is something I've loved about him from the beginning.
"You can't listen to them." I said holding him closer.
"I know." He admitted with a small voice.
"I love you." I said and kissed his forehead softly.
"I love you too." He muttered back.
I lost track of time as we sat there in the sand. Luke finally cheered up and that night we played the best show we had ever played.
2020
Luke's POV
"What do you mean you two got married?" Ashton shouted at a cowering Michael and Calum.
"Babe calm down." I said grabbing his arm but he shook me off. By the way his face was turning slightly red I could tell he was angry.
"No! This is such a slap in the face Luke. How could you guys get married without telling us?" Ashton shouted and Michael finally stood up.
"Because we are adults Ashton! We don't have to get your approval if we want to get married." Michael snapped back and things were silent. The two of them just stood in silence staring at each other while Calum and I exchanged confused looks.
"But I wanted to be your best man." Ashton said sadly and all eyes darted to him. Michael chuckled and hugged the pouting boy. Well I guess he's 26 years old, he's hardly a boy anymore. We are all in our mid twenties now as painful as that us to admit.
"Awe Ashy." Michael cooed as they hugged like the brothers they are.
"I am happy for you guys. You are the first married couple in the band who knew?" Ashton giggled and pulled Calum into a hug. I moved around the table to hug the newlyweds tightly with congratulations.
"We should go out and celebrate!" Michael suggested happily and while Ashton was excited, I agreed reluctantly. I was in a mood today and didn't feel much like drinking in a noisy bar but I'd do anything for my friends.
We all piled into our large SUV and headed out on the Vegas strip. We were only here for two days because of a show that's why Calum and Michael decided to run off and get married. In two days we were off to New York to perform on some morning television show but I really just wanted to go back home to mine and Ashton's apartment. Even with our rising fame Ashton and I still live in our same apartment with Indie. It was cozy and comfortable and so us and right now that's where I want to be.
"You okay?" Ashton whispered in my ear catching me off guard. I nodded and smiled to assure Ashton I was fine when I was terribly homesick.
We all pushed through the crowd outside the club to enter the stuffy atmosphere. Alcohol, sweat and sexual tension filled the air and I felt myself getting sick to my stomach already. My group of friends pushed up to the bar and I followed slowly. Ashton ordered me a beer and I immediately pressed my lips to the bottle and took a huge swig.
I don't know why I was feeling so incredibly jealous as I watched our now married friends smile at each other lovingly. Do Ashton and I still smile at each other like that? Is our love fading away? I mean it's weird to see your close friends wanting to spend eternity together and Ashton and I have been dating so much longer. Is Ashton getting bored of me. When I looked down my fingers were turning white as I clutched onto the beer bottle. I chugged down the remaining liquid, slamming the bottle against the bar and headed for the exit.
I couldn't be in here anymore, the room was spinning around. Ashton noticed me as I turned to go but I wanted out. I pushed through the sweaty bodies until I reached the cool air of outside. A bench was vacant only a few steps away so I moved over to take a seat on the cold metal.
"Luke." Ashton's voice appeared behind me and I tensed up. I wasn't mad at Ashton what is wrong with me?
"What?" I sighed and ran a hand over my face. He took a seat next to me but I couldn't make myself look his direction.
"What's wrong? You've been on edge all day." Ashton said and I instantly felt bad that he caught onto my mood. I glanced at Ashton and felt my heart flutter like it always had when I looked into Ashton's eyes.
He may be closing in on his thirties but he still looked as young as he did when we met. His hair was a little darker and shorter and more stubble outlined his jaw but he still looked 18 to me. I sighed at how ridiculous I was acting and ran my fingers through my much longer hair.
"Do you still love me like you used to Ashton?" I blurted and out and Ashton's face went blank.
"Of course Luke why would you think that?" He said, resting his hand on my leg.
"Because we aren't married yet." I said quietly feeling ridiculous that I said that out loud.
"Babe, we've been on tour off and on for four years, we are busy. Would I have gotten this stupid tattoo if I didn't want to spend the rest of my life with you. I love you like I did when you were 16." He admitted and I let out a sigh of relief.
"I love that stupid tattoo." I said in reference to the arrow heart tattoo on Ashton's wrist. At first I wasn't too fond that Ashton got a L on his wrist for me but eventually it grew on me.
"Let's go inside, I have something I've gotta do." He smirked and tugged me off of the bench and back into the bar. I was confused when Ashton sat me down on a barstool and took off towards the stage. What did he have planned? Calum stumbled over to me and threw his arms around my shoulders in his tipsy state.
"Lukey, what is your boyfriend doing?" Calum kind of slurred making me shake my head.
"Have no idea." I sighed just as the music clicked off leaving the crowd in confusion. I heard Ashton giggle through the microphone and I froze. What the hell was he doing?
"Hello everybody, my name is Ashton Irwin." He said and the crowed screamed out. "I uh, I'm here with my boyfriend Luke and we've been dating since we were in high school." Again more screams. "Now I have something special to ask him." He said and a familiar song started to play.
Every night I almost call you
Just to say it always will be you
Wherever you are
He sang briefly before the song stopped leaving the room in silence again. I was speechless. Ashton's eyes connected with mine from across the room and then I felt breathless. He giggled softly before bringing the microphone to his mouth again.
"Luke Hemmings will you marry me?" He said and I felt everything go numb. Marry him? Of course I'd marry him. I nodded and the room erupted into delighted cheers.
2026
Third Person
A nervous Luke paced the hospital floor in waiting. Ashton told him a million times to calm down but there was no way he could keep still at a time like this. Not when their live was about to change forever. I mean sure the band, the fame and all the screaming girls were all big changes but this was a different kind of change.
"Luke would you please try to relax? Everything will be just fine." Ashton assures and tugs on his worrying husband's hand. Luke finally gave in and took a seat next to Ashton but fidgeted
"What if we are terrible parents?" Luke asks but Ashton just giggles. Over twelve years of being together and six years of marriage but Ashton was still the one keeping Luke calm.
Neither could've imagined that their love would blossom into something so much more incredible than it already was. Much older now but the two of them still resembled their teenage selves. Luke blond and lanky, Ashton muscly with his brown hair as curly as ever. The band was still going strong and finally only recently they had been adjusted to the fame. They finally gave up on that dinky little apartment when they decided to become parents and moved into a house across the street from Luke's childhood home. It was the perfect setting for the second half of their love story.
"Anything yet?" Calum asked as he and Michael appeared in the waiting room. They may have been the first to get married in the band but were not set to become parents any time soon.
"No and Luke is about to chew off all of his nails." Ashton teased his frazzled husband. The four of them sat in silence until finally the doctor ushered them to come meet the newest addition to their family.
A daughter. A baby girl. What did Luke and Ashton know about raising a little girl? Ashton was paralyzed with fear when they stepped into the room to meet their daughter for the first time but Luke was overjoyed. He was the first to hold her. They had spent months looking for a surrogate before finally finding the perfect woman. She was a friend of Jades who was more than happy to help. Luke was the biological father but Ashton knew he'd love the little human being no matter what.
Luke cradled the beautiful little girl in his arms and did his best not to cry tears of joy right then. Ashton smiled down at the small bundle with teary eyes for he was already in love with their daughter. She had Luke's nose which made her even more beautiful. Ashton was apprehensive about holding his daughter at first but once Luke placed her in his arms it was a different feeling. She belonged to the two of them.
Boston Rose Irwin-Hemmings.
Luke absolutely fell in love with the name Boston and it grew on Ashton the more his husband brought it around. Rose was after Ashton's late grandmother. She passed a couple years prior which caused Ashton to relapse into his dark ways. Two months in a rehab facility did put a strain on their relationship but with Luke by his side Ashton knew he could beat anything.
"Hello baby girl, welcome to the band." Ashton cooed making Luke laugh softly. They shared a quick kiss before Ashton pressed his lips softly to Boston's cheek, making her stir slightly.
Just another chapter in the book that was Luke and Ashton.
2030
"Please do not tell your dad that I let you play with my drumsticks." Ashton pleads a four year old Boston as he attempts to clean up the lamp she broke.
"But daddy, won't he see we broke the lamp?" She asks her father and he sighs.
"Yeah of course but he doesn't have to know I let you play with my drumsticks again. The last time he was so mad." Ashton explains but the little girls attention is waning. She scurries off to play with some of her toys while Ashton continues to clean up the mess. Just as he empties the final pieces into the trash, Luke comes walking into the kitchen.
He's been out at a photo shoot all way leaving Ashton to watch over Boston. Even though the band had slowly faded out, Luke found other work in modeling while Ashton was an advocate for depression. Now in their late thirties raising a four year old daughter they were finally settling down. Calum and Michael moved to LA but were due back this weekend for a visit which Ashton was thankful for because he desperately needed a break.
"Hey babe." Luke greets his husband with a kiss and Ashton has never been so thankful to see him.
"Hey, would you mind getting Boston to bed? She wanted you to read to her." Ashton asks Luke who nods. An excited pajama clad Boston climbs into her daddy's arms as he carries her off to bed.
Ashton is tidying up the house when he pauses at a picture of him and Luke at his graduation. It was the same picture that he'd packed around with him when he went to Australia and adored all these years. They were so young and so in love from the very beginning so it was rewarding that it lasted this long. They only lived across the street from where their love first began and it couldn't be any better.
They had travelled the world, lived out their dreams, got married and had a child all while falling deeper and deeper in love. Even all those years before it may have seemed impossible, it had been done. As Ashton stares at the picture he's joined by his husband who snakes his arms around him. Ashton leans into Luke's touch letting it consume him like it always had.
"I can't believe we've made it this far." Luke said and Ashton smiled.
"And you still love me." Ashton teased making them both laugh. "Is she asleep?" Ashton asks and Luke nods.
"She's asleep." Luke assures.
"Who says nothing lasts forever?" Ashton asks but Luke smirks.
"Well there is this song by this really shitty band." Luke teases making Ashton giggle like only he can.
Luke swears that he falls in love with Ashton all over again every day. The way his hazel eyes still shine still makes Luke weak in the knees. He knew he loved him all those years ago and he loves him more than ever now.
"I love you Lukey." Ashton whispers against Luke's lips.
"I love you too Irwie." Luke says with some teasing in his voice.
"I'm so glad that all those years that you asked me to stay with you." Ashton smirks and pecks his lips against Luke's.
"Thanks for staying." Luke adds and kisses him again.
While the two are watching television curled up with each other their daughter wakes up from a nightmare. Both lads are forced to climb in the small bed with their daughter and stay until she falls asleep. Most nights are spent this way, together. Luke kisses Boston before kissing Ashton and both of them fall fast asleep with their daughter between them. Just as it should be. Just like something out of a novel.
Love couldn't have been more pure as it was between Ashton and Luke.
>>>>
THE END
okay this is official end guys. Thank you again for all the support. This story is my life. Feel free to read it re read it... Read it again. This has been an incredible experience
Thanks for everything... I love every single one of you and you are all beautiful I hope you know that. This is where I say until I update again but there isn't anymore of that :(
Until I see you again :)