thinking about you [muke af]

twenty three

twenty three

Calum looked over at Ashton, the sun was illuminating the side of his face perfectly. His golden skin was radiating with shades of orange and red as he licked upon the ice cream cone on his hand. 

Calum had a smile on his face as he looked back on his cup of ice cream. "So, you have another year here? What're you going to do with your masters?"

He shrugged, "Just be a teacher. If you've got a masters, you get paid a bit more." 

Ashton crossed his legs and looked around the ice cream parlor, there were a few kids running around, a few couples looking at each other with hearts in their eyes. The seat next to him was empty, the one across from Calum as well. Luke and Mike were in those seats only moments ago, but after too many obnoxious pick ups, Calum simply told them to get a room.

"What about you?" The older boy asked. 

"I'm gonna travel with Mike, do his tour diaries and co-direct his music videos. Nothing special."

Ash laughed, "That's pretty special, Cal. You're literally going to be traveling the world with your best friend, what's better than that?"

Traveling the world with you, was the only answer he could think of. 

The ate in silence again. A very soft breeze was blowing as the sun continued to set. Calum scooped up the last piece of his cookie dough ice cream before looking back at Ashton. He was just so beautiful. Each bone in his body must have been crafted by the Gods themselves. "When—When you said you were straight, were you joking?" Calum looked down at his empty container, still scraping the spoon.

"No, I wasn't joking," he bit into the cone, "I was just confused."

Calum's head perked up as he looked into golden hazel eyes with hopeful brown ones. "What does that mean?"

Ashton licked his lips, leaning back in the bright blue outdoor chair. "I guess before I met you, I just figured I was straight. I never really thought romantically about anyone, sometimes I questioned if I was even attracted to anyone. "

The sun was setting more, most of the families were packing up and leaving. The street lights turned on as the hum of the busy city stayed constant. 

"I really like you, Ashton. I don't just mean that like I want to be inside you, I want to hold your stupid hand and kiss your stupid face. I want to send you ugly selfies and embarrass you in public. I just want to date you, like really badly."

Ashton laughed at the boy's eagerness. He sounded like a teenager, a young teenager not capable of knowing what love truly is. "I like you, too."

A blush rose to Calum's cheeks, but Ashton couldn't tell in the darkness of their spots. Cal stood up grabbing his empty container and their dirty napkins. Ashton admired the broad back of the younger boy, he wondered if there were still raised red lines in the shape of his nails crawling down his tan skin. 

Calum held out his hand once he got back to their table. He had a smile on his face and so did Ashton. Their hands fit perfectly together as Ashton stood up, feeling his back pockets for his keys, wallet, and phone. 

Cal started to pull him away from their seats, headed closer to his car. He unlocked the doors, holding the passenger side for Ashton. 

The brunette sat down so delicately, inhaling the smell of Calum. The younger, more tattooed boy sat in the drivers seat. He turned on the engine and radio, All Time Low's 'Tidal Wave' was playing on a slow hum. 

Ashton looked in the back seat—mostly to make sure there were no bad guys ready to shove a knife to their throats. "Why do you always have so much gear in your car?"

Calum's eyes shifted down to the back seat once he was fully reversed out of the space. "I'm not sure, I guess I learned from my mistakes and now I know to always be ready for a shoot."

"I'll model for you anytime," Ashton said. He faced the road ahead of them again, his eyes closing in the soothing tones of Mark Hoppus' solo. 

Cal didn't want to admit he had a dozen photos of Ashton sleeping, and a few dozen more of him simply being cute. The sleeping photos were probably a little weird, but the tan boy looked so peaceful, so harmless. His mouth was always open adjacent, his two front teeth barely sticking out. His nose tilted up ever so slightly, his cheekbones quickly filling the space underneath his closed eyes. His eyelashes were so perfectly alined, not a single one out of order. One word to describe him: perfect. 

Calum had his left hand on the steering wheel, the right leaning on top of an empty water bottle in the cup holder. Ashton moved his left hand, entwining their fingers. "Ask me to be your boyfriend," Ash whispered.

"No, you ask me to be your boyfriend."

Ashton tilted his head up, "Nope. You've gotta do it."

"Maybe I don't want you as my boyfriend."

"Maybe I don't want to be your boyfriend."

"Ashton, the—most likely—love of my life, will you do me the honor of being my lovely boyfriend?" Calum asked, a smile on his lips. His cheeks were round as he smiled. Ashton couldn't understand how he went from having a sharper jaw than a Calvin Klein model to looking like a small puppy. 

"Yeah. I guess I'm not straight," he responded, looking at Calum. 

He stopped at a red light, saying a quick, "tell me if it turns green." His hands fumbled with his Canon 60D II, he took off the protective cap, quickly pulling on his 35-75mm lenses. 

Calum leant as close to the window as he could, aiming the lenses straight at Ashton. The twenty four year old had his eyebrows furrowed and his mouth opened the tiniest bit in the first photo. The second was a smile on his face as he told Calum to stop. The third had his abnormally large hands covering his face. The last took some effort and begging from Calum to move his hands, the last was Calum's favorite. It was the infamous Ashton face, a small smirk stitched upon his lips as his eyes glowed looking at Calum. 

Michael thrusted into Luke. The blonde threw his head back on Michael's couch as he arched his back closer to Michael. He was letting out high-pitched whines at every movement his boyfriend made. 

Mike leant down, his warm lips pressed to Luke's warm neck. He whispered soothing words into the older boy's ears as his rhythm picked up. His elbows were locked as he pushed deeper and deeper into the blonde boy. 

Calum unlocked the door, engaged in a conversation with Ashton on why one human needs four camera bodies and thirty two lenses. 

They were met with grunts from Michael and an orgasming scream from Luke. 

"Ugh, they're doing it again." Calum rolled his eyes as he walked further into the apartment. 

Ashton grabbed his arm, "We can't just watch them."

"We're not, I just want my telephoto lenses, then we can go back to your place and I'll paint you like my French girls." Calum continued to walk into their small apartment, ignoring the duo on the couch. 

Ashton shielded put his hands over his ears and closed his eyes. He did not need to know what his best friend sounded like doing such things. "You don't even paint," Ashton responded. 

Calum looked back, giving him a wink. He disappeared into his bedroom, coming back with another full case off lenses. He gave Ash a slap on the bum. "Bye, boys. Be back tomorrow!"

(a/n) i'm just so happy right now. an interview i did was just posted and people seem to like me and that's yay! people don't usually like me!

i feel confident about my set this weekend. i feel like i found my reason to be on this earth—to create music.

xoxo,

sophie