pulling his phone out of his hoodie pocket, he answers it
"hello" he asks, tentatively
"hey, it's nick" the caller replies, bringing a smile onto ashtons face, not that it wasn't welcomed.
"hey nick, did you miss me that much?" ashton jokes, ignoring the flutter in his stomach
"of course i missed you, how could i not" nick says, causing ashton to turn slightly red in the face
"oh, okay. is there any particular reason you called?" ashton says, lightly pushing himself on the swing with his foot
"uhm actually yes, miles called" nick starts, then pauses, before continuing, "said he couldn't get a hold of you; he said food's at the house." the boy says, causing ashtons smile to fall slightly
"oh, i didn't realize the time." he mumbles, looking around trying to pinpoint where he was
" is, uhm, is everything alright ash?" nick asks, softly as to not startle the boy on the phone
"hmm? oh yeah, just not quite sure where i am. i went for a walk and didn't pay attention to where i was walking" ashton softly says
"describe to me where you are, matt and i will come get you, alright?" nick softly instructs, "text miles too please, let him know you're alright and on your way back with us"
"okay, i'm at some park, playground thing behind an elementary school. not sure which one" ashton whispers, still trying to figure out where they are
"i know where your talking about, it's down the street from my house. we'll see you soon okay?" nick continues to talk in a calm voice, not knowing if the boy on the other line is panicking or not
"yeah, okay. i'm on the swings" ashton replies, just as soft "i texted miles, he hasn't responded"
"i know, he's on the phone with chris, i'll tell chris to let him know okay" nick says, not talking anymore, but not hanging up the phone
"okay" ashton says, done talking
after a few minutes of quite creaks from ashton on the swing and the shuffles of feet, followed by the opening and closing of doors, nick finally speaks up again "hey ash, were coming to get you right now okay" nick says, listening to the quiet mumble of an "okay" which comes from the boy
not even 5 minutes later, the dial tone coming from ashtons phone lets him know that nick and matt had arrived, looking up from where he was shifting the dirt with his feet, he spots a figure walking towards him, which he recognises as nick
"hey, ready to go" nick says softly as he stops in front of ashton who is still on the swing
"is he mad?" ashton asks in a small voice
"i don't think so. it was an accident, i don't think he'd be mad about that" nick says, crouching in front of ashton, so he can see their face
"i don't know nick, he was annoyed before i left" ashton mumbles out
"why was he annoyed?" nick says, before adding "if you want to tell me, maybe i can help"
"i didn't want to eat" ashton says so quietly nick has to strain his ears to hear him
"any particular reason why, or just not hungry?" nick says, now sitting on the ground instead of crouching
"just didn't feel like it" ashton lies, not that nick knows that
"that's alright. although, miles told us what he made for dinner, it sounds really good" nick tries, succeeding in getting ashton to stop avoiding his eyes, "how about, matt drops us off at your's and miles' and i'll spend the night so we can hang out tomorrow." the dark haired boy says
ashton looks as though he's debating the offer or not, reluctantly nods his head, before standing up off the swing, and offering a hand to the boy on the ground, and grabbing his board with their free hand
"all good?" nick says, not removing his hand from ashtons, but using his free one to remove the dirt from off his pants
"yeah, i think so. sorry for making you guys worry. didn't mean to" ashton mutters, sounding tired
"hey, it's alright. it's what friends do" nick says, sending a soft smile towards the boy as they walked towards matt's car
"hey ash" matt greets, as his brother and new friend climb in the backseat, noticing how drained ashton looks, but not saying anything.
"hi matt" ashton mumbles, feeling as tired as he sounds
"uhm matt, i'm going to ashton's tonight, just a heads up" nick tells his brother, before glancing at the boy next to him, smiling once he sees them leaning on the window
"that's cool, we're postponing filming tomorrow. just make sure he's alright, yeah?" matt says, looking in the mirror at his brother
"yeah" nick says, turning his attention towards the sleeping boy
"do you think he knows he walked thirty minutes from his apartment?" nick says aloud after a few minutes of driving
"i don't know man, he seems out of it honestly" matt says, quickly glancing at his brother in the mirror before focusing on the road again
"he think miles is upset with him" nick informs
"why's that" matt curiously asks
"he didn't want to eat, said he didn't feel like it and miles got annoyed. then he left, and didn't text miles back so miles called us" he informs, a small frown making its way onto his face
"oh" matt says, before stopping the car in the parking lot of the sleeping boys apartment. "want to wake him up, while i text miles?" matt asks
"yeah" nick says, unbuckling both of their seatbelts before lightly shaking ashton awake to not startle him, "ash. hey ash, we're at your house" he whispers, as the boy comes back to the land of the living
"thanks for coming to get me matt, i appreciate it. sorry for disrupting your night" ashton says, rubbing the sleep from his eyes with the back of his fingers
"hey, it's cool. i don't mind, wasn't doing anything anyway" matt says, knowing he was in the middle of editing a video when miles called
"c'mon, miles is waiting" nick says, when he opens ashtons door and gets him out of the car
"thanks again matt, goodnight" ashton says with a wave, before nick shuts the door
getting a half asleep person up a flight of stairs without tripping and falling over is a struggle, but thankfully miles comes down to help nick get ashton up into their shared apartment
"thanks for the help man, matt said you'd be sleeping over?" miles questions
"yeah, figured it be alright. i can call him back if it's a problem" nick informs, after setting ashton onto the couch where he falls asleep again
"nah it's alright. i'll get them into his room" miles says, making his way over the couch again, "c'mon you big lump, your bed is more comfortable than the couch" he prompts the boy on the couch, getting him to stumble to his room
"thanks for getting him home nick, i really appreciate it" miles says once he returns from ashtons room
"it's no problem really" nick says, from where he's leaning against the kitchen counter
"uhm, ash has a pullout in their room, it's more comfortable than the couch out here." miles says, looking exhausted
"ashton won't mind?" nick asks, not wanting to make the boy he's becoming fond of to be uncomfortable
"nah, i sleep in there all the time. he shouldn't mind" miles says, gesturing towards ashtons room with his head, and walking towards his room, which is across the hall, "im calling it a night, see you tomorrow nick" miles says, before entering his own room and closing himself in
end of chapter notes:
i didn't forget about this book i promise, it's mid term week and i'm stressing 😭😭
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lover boys | n.sturniolo
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