Beating Heart// Lashton

Chapter 8

Rockin' out and hangin' out, that's what I'm all about

I'm in the band and we demand you hear the Weasel shout

We blow out amps, 'cause we're the champs at losing all control

We crank it loud when there's no crowd, because that's how we roll

I can't stop rockin' with my boys, can't stop makin' so much noise

-Weasel Rock You By Weasel 

Luke's POV

We were talking in hushed voices so that Ashton and Nia couldn't hear us, or at least we hoped. I looked over at Ashton, who was smiling his beautiful smile. I barely ever get to see him smile. He's always so sad at school, and that is the only time I ever see him. I understand why he's sad, I mean my brothers are absolutely awful to him and all the other kids aren't much nicer.

"Luke?" Calum asked

"What?"

"Thoughts, Ash or Nia?"

We had already discussed in detail how they're both fucking amazing, so talented. If we needed two drummers, they would be them. But we only need one.

"I vibe well with Ash," I answered honestly.

Michael laughed, "Of course you do."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked, getting defensive.

"Nothing, mate. It's just funny how we both want our crushes in the band."

Calum nodded, "I guess I'll have to make the decision to break the tie.

"Only fair," I say. 

Calum doesn't even tell us his decision first. He just turns around, us following, and announces he has a decision.

I was anxious to know who was going to be in our band.

And suddenly Ash was crying, and Nia was holding him as they jumped up and down.

"So, you're in the band, mate?" Michael asked with excitement.

"I didn't realize how much I wanted this," he said, peaking his head out over Nia's head.

Michael came over and joined their hug. He's a hugger.

"We loved you both, but-" Michael started

"Don't worry about me, I'm more than happy that you decided on Ash. Like, literally, so fucking happy!" She said, beaming. She truly was. That's a great friendship.

Calum and I joined the hug before we broke apart, Ash smiling as he wipes his happy tears away.

I felt excited, not just because this means more time with Ashton, but because I really think he's what our band needs. Calum made the right decision. 

We played some video games, Nia kicking our butts with each and every game. Ashton was doing terribly, on the other hand. I'm guessing that when those two play, it's always like this and he doesn't even get upset that he's losing cause he's just having fun. I smiled at how joyful he looked.

Michael wanted a snack so we stopped the games and all went into Ashton's kitchen. He was showing us the limited amount of snacks he had. And when I say limited, I mean limited. Like he barely has any food and that kind of concerns me. All the snacks were healthy: Cashews, apples, 70 calorie brownies, pretzels, that was basically it. 

I grabbed an apple, Michael took one of everything, Calum got some pretzels, and Nia went for the cashews. Ashton did not take anything.

The others went back to the couch, but Ashton stuck around, so I did too. He grabbed a glass and filled it with the tap water. I couldn't stop myself.

"Don't you want an actual snack? Like, aren't you hungry? You only had half an apple."

"Oh I'm not hungry," he responded as if he's rehearsed this line thousands of times.

"Are you sure?"

He nodded.

I picked up a pretzel and reached it out to him. "Please," I said. He looked at it with pure terror. I slowly started taking it back, thinking I may have pushed it too far. Then I was surprised. He reached out and took the pretzel. He cautiously took a bite. Then another. And one last bite. I beamed. 

"Thank you," I said. He just nodded, took a huge sip of water, and then walked back out to the living room. 

We ended up watching a movie. I didn't really know what was going on because I was sitting next to Ashton and our thighs were touching. I felt the electricity course through me. I was so focused on that. And if touching like that wasn't enough, at some point I felt his head drop onto my shoulder and heard little snores. Oh my fucking god. This day is going perfect.

I sneakily kissed his forehead. 

He's absolutely amazing and I'm falling even harder for him. This is more than a crush.

Ashton's POV

He kissed my forehead. I snuggled deeper into his neck to try and hide my smile.