The Setup » [lashton] √

2.4

6 months later

"He was really nice, Cal! Definitely more than welcome to come here again," Crystal told Calum, wrapping an arm around him and rubbing up and down comfortingly.

"Yeah, definitely, round out our group dates well," Michael said, grinning; he had made a particular point of showing Ashton and Luke how pleased he was that they were on even better terms than he'd thought. Luke often joked that Michael had struggled during the divorce. 

Luke rolled his eyes at Michael and was about to say something, but Calum interrupted them, "it's not our fault we didn't know double dates were happening right in front of us," he laughed good-naturedly, and the others joined in. 

He turned to look at Ashton, whose waist he had his arm around and saw that he wasn't laughing, an uncomfortable smile on his face. Luke squeezed him with the arm around his waist, leaning in to press his nose against Ashton's neck, "it's okay," he told him quietly, finding himself smiling. 

"We're just teasing Ash," Crystal said, grinning, reaching her own hand out and squeezing the tips of his fingers before letting them go. 

Luke's hand left Ashton's waist and came up to squeeze playfully at the back of his neck, "no one cares," he assured him, "anyway, we should be helping Michael and Crystal clean up," his eyes fell on Calum, trying to say 'you're roped in too'. 

"Don't be stupid, you guys head home; we wouldn't have offered to host if we weren't happy to clean up," Michael insisted, moving them towards the door. 

"Please, at least let us leave Calum to help," Luke offered jokingly.

"It's fine," Crystal reassured. 

"Luke, let's go; they want to have sex," Calum told the room, ushering both he and Ashton toward their shoes by the door. 

Everyone chuckled, Michael and Crystal not bothering to try and deny it, as they all said their goodbyes at the door, hugging and thanking one another for coming or inviting them. Until the other three were on the otherside of the door and making their way to the train station the block over. 

"How's everyone getting home?" Calum asked as they continued past all the mismatched townhouses. 

"We need the T2; what about you? Can you even get a train?" Luke had put Calum between him and Ashton, each of them walking a decent distance apart as though they were just heading home from a bar; none of them were all that close until Calum held out his hand, and Luke took it. 

Calum laughed, "yeah, I need the bus; I'll leave you guys at the station and head up the street," he explained, and they both nodded. 

"Such a nice suburb; shame there's not really any trains," Ashton said thoughtfully, and he and Calum looked to him, his hands buried deep in his jacket pockets. 

Calum hummed, "yeah, there's the tram though," he reasoned and then they started to talk about the trams and how often they found themselves forgetting they existed. They laughed amongst themselves until they reached the station, and Ashton and Luke hugged Calum goodbye. 

"Text me when you get home safe," Luke said, and Calum smiled and nodded before disappearing around the corner and assumingly up to his bus stop. 

Luke and Ashton then made their way inside the station, a comfortable silence between them as they found their platform and sat side by side on the awful metal bench. They had a few minutes before the train would arrive, and Luke was fighting the urge to take Ashton's hand in his own. Instead, he slid himself closer to Ashton on the bench, their shoulders touching. 

"So, what did you think of Calum's new boyfriend?" Luke asked quietly. 

Ashton's eyes stayed watching the tracks, "he seemed nice, bit of a blockhead, but nice," he said honestly.