bouquet of roses | cashton

chapter 4

june 21st

"very funny, michael. you made me look like an idiot. who the hell orders a pound of fried rice from panda and nothing else!?" calum huffed, staring at the tightly packed box from panda express on his kitchen table. "seriously! like, their fried rice is crap! not to mention the delivery woman had to tell me how her 'neighbor is asian and rich too.' i'm not fucking asian!" all michael did was snicker from the other side of the table.

"whatever, i'll just separate the peas and make you eat them later." calum grumbled, playing with his food. he let out a sigh, the slightest bit of concern on his face as he peered at michael again. "hey, how's luke feeling? itmust suck to have a fever in the middle of summer?"

-

as mentioned, luke was indeed sick. he wheezed out a cough as he stripped his shirt off and threw it on calum's floor. turning over, he caught sight at the vase on calum's nightstand. the roses had begun to wilt already. luke frowned, picking up his cellphone.

as it rang, he wheezed again and sat up. finally, the line picked up. "hello? yes, i would like another delivery for calum hood ... one dozen roses. yes, just like last time. thank y-" he quickly fell into another coughing fit.

he quickly hid his phone under the pillow and shut his eyes when he heard footsteps coming towards the bedroom. he heaved out a sigh of relief as he felt michael's presence next to him. "luke? are you alright? i heard you coughing and mumbling to yourself."

"m'fine..." he muttered into the pillow, peering up at the red head. michael smiled softly, patting luke's head and kissing his warm forehead before turning to leave. "if you need anything, calum is watching TV. i have to pick up my mom from the airport." and with that, he was gone.

luke smiled to himself once the door shut, sitting up. now that michael was gone and calum assumed luke was unconscious, maybe he wouldn't mess up talking to the flower boy. he had always been good at reading people, and solely based on how calum seemed to lighten up at the mention of the cute boy, he knew there was a connection of some sort. now, if only calum would stop trying to come off as rude.

soon enough, there was a knock at the door, and luke listened as hard as he could through the open window next to him.

-

"delivery for calum hood! gosh, it feels like this is becoming a routine." the boy gushed, and calum felt his chest tighten as he gripped the doorknob.

"a-again? really?" calum sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. the boy just let out a giggle, and calum nearly died in that moment. after a moment of silence and the two staring at each other, the boy ruffled his curly hair and smiled. "well, you're mr. popular! this is your third bouquet this month! your girlfriend must be very lucky." before calum could stop himself, though, the words slipped out of his mouth.

"i don't have a girlfriend. i'm gay."

god, what an idiot. what a complete idiot. calum cleared his throat awkwardly. "i- oh god, i'm sorry. i didn't mean t-"

the boy stopped him, though. "its fine, its fine! i'm... i'm gay too. ... one step closer to getting to know each other, amiright?" he laughed uneasily, but his face went red once he realized what he had said. "sorry, that was unnecessary for me to say."

calum waved him off. "nah, its fine. but really, for now on, if you get orders for here, you don't have to deliver them. you can just toss the bouquet."

"i can't do that!" calum could easily hear the hurt in his voice, as well as he noticed the pained look on his face as he shrunk back. "i-i mean, flowers are so important. they hold so much meaning! throwing them away is like throwing away someone's feelings."

"well there's nothing you can do once they wilt. no matter how many times i changed the damn water, they still died."

now it was calum's turn to feel like a loser again. the boy's eyes lit up and he smiled wider than the kiwi had ever seen. "y-you actually took care of them? i knew you had a heart! but, as long as you don't know, flowers can't survive long after they're cut and put in bouquets. someone didn't pay attention in biology!~" he cooed, and calum rolled his eyes. "but, if you don't want me coming around anymore, then i'll just take care of the roses put under your name, i guess. ... i have to go deliver some tulips to a wedding, so, i, uh.... i guess i'll see you around. goodbye, calum." there was evident disappointment in his voice as he placed the bouquet in calum's hands and walked away.

calum was about to close the door when the familiar golden orbs were looking at him, along with a sad smile. "ashton."

"... w-what?"

"my name is ashton. i'm supposed to introduce myself to regular customers, i-in case you call the store to give feedback on the workers." and with that, the dirty blonde curls disappeared around the corner and to the driveway.

calum stood in the doorway, lost for words. "ashton..." he repeated under his breath, not noticing a disheveled luke enter the front room.

"calum thomas hood, i am so disappointed in you."

"l-luke! you're supposed to be sleeping! mikey said you weren't going to wake u-"

"calum."

and of course, calum froze completely. luke was never a man of many words, but when he was upset it was very much terrifying. calum shut up and followed luke in silence to the kitchen. he noticed the vase of wilted roses usually at his bedside sat at the center of the table as the two took seats across from each other. calum hardly noticed how tight he was clutching the bouquet of roses in his arms until he felt a thorn stab into his thumb. he yelped, sticking his now bleeding thumb to his mouth. luke stared him down, deciding to speak first. "you want to get to know that flower boy. don't deny that. ... but why did you tell him not to come around?"

calum avoided eye contact. "i... i'm just scared." he mumbled the last part, hoping luke wouldn't hear him. except he did. luke coughed a few times, but responded calmly. "i never thought i'd hear you admit that. i do think you owe him an apology, though. last time i checked, you don't get a guy to like you by being a dick to them."

"but that seemed to work with you and mikey!" calum snorted, causing luke's face to redden. luke stared at his lap, embarrassed. "t-that's different! let's not talk about that!" luke finally eyed calum again. "what matters now is you basically banned an attractive boy that shares your feelings from seeing you again. honestly, calum, if you want to fix this, its all on you at this point. so if you'll excuse me, i'm going back to sleep. i think you should come to sleep too."

"wait." calum stood with luke, fumbling with his new bouquet as he replaced the flowers in the vase. he picked up the vase and placed it shakily in luke's hands. "can you... put these back on my night stand? i... i can't sleep without them in my room. i'll be there soon." calum scratched the back of his head awkwardly as luke nodded at him, trying to hide his shock. "i- yeah. i will."

"thanks lukey," and with that, calum sat at the table again. when he heard the soft click of the bedroom door, he put his head in his hands and found himself lost in thought until michael came home an hour later.

at the early hour of 9 PM, while luke was fast asleep and michael threaded his fingers through the boy's blonde quiff subconsciously, calum stared at the new bouquet of roses next to his bed. "his name is ashton." calum whispered just before he fell asleep.

michael swore calum was smiling in his sleep that night.

--

so i got a 5s today, which means expect many more updates this week because i'm enjoying typing on my new phone!!

don't worry, there will be a lot more ashton in pretty much every chapter from now on.

this feels a little rushed though?? i'm really sorry if it does. it'll start slowing down a little very soon btw <3

also i've been thinking about writing a muke prequel for this once i'm done with this fanfic??? idk yet but yeahhh,

nobody comments on my stories, but it makes me happy to know people are at least viewing my story! i hope you like it, if you're reading it! i'd love feedback!

i'm going to try updating almost every day this week. hopefully.

much love! xx