Promise » [cashton] √

1.3

[11th of July - New York]

Calum had been to New York before, but he'd never been... in a good enough state to go for breakfast the mornings he was there. They'd left from Holmdel right after the show the night before so they could have a full day off in New York; Ashton had messaged him the night before and mentioned going for an early breakfast the next morning, 'it's New York; I'm going to be the least interesting person there, we can do whatever we want all day'. He'd laughed when he'd read that, he'd done a little more googling about Ashton, and what he found reassured him that there were definitely people who would find him the most interesting person in New York City, except unless maybe Beyonce was sighted, then he'd be safe.

They met at a cafe closer to Ashton's hotel, he was staying in a nicer part of Manhatten than Calum, and therefore, the cafes were nicer. There was also the fact that Calum was pretty sure Ashton didn't know how to use the subway, and he didn't want the younger man getting lost on his way; he was sure he'd be blamed for losing the talent. He managed the walk from his hotel okay, because he was already there when Calum arrived, sipping on a glass of water and reading his phone over the top of Calum's sunglasses; he supposed they were Ashton's by this point.

As he saw Calum approaching, he shifted them up on top of his head, pushing the hair from his eyes, "the cab driver kept looking at me in the rearview mirror, and I can't tell if he was just a weirdo or if he knew who I was," Ashton told Calum as he sat down next to Ashton rather than across from him.

It was because he wanted to be closer, the part of him that didn't care if Ashton was his friend; it just wanted him naked and close. He was getting better at ignoring the rotten part of his brain that yelled WANT, WANT, WANT when he walked into the room, but he clearly wasn't entirely immune. Maybe he should have talked to Sierra before they got to New York. A quick, dirty and what he was sure would be incredibly satisfying night with Luke, might have fixed things.

He soothed himself by reasoning it was easier to have hushed conversations next to one another rather than across the table. "Cab drivers are just a bit weird; maybe he had kids, half recognised you from Disney Channel," he said, silently proud of himself for being able to pepper it in casually.

Ashton eyed him, menu forgotten in his hands, "so you know I was on Disney Channel, but you don't know any of my music?" he sounded like he was teasing, but Calum felt bad; Ashton was probably much prouder of his music than anything he'd done on television.

"I only found out a few days ago," he shrugged.

"So you're googling me?" he asked. 

Calum was getting better at knowing Ashton's tones; he was being playful, quick as a whip to try and torment Calum. He shook his head, not letting the younger man bait him, "Nah, Luke mentioned it; I googled you before the tour started, but it didn't come up," shrugging, he took a sip of his water content when he heard Ashton's easy laugh come.

"You have no shame," Calum turned to look at Ashton as he spoke; he looked lively, sliding his phone from his pocket and taking a photo of his cheery face as he continued, "I wasn't a main character or anything; I was just a supporting character on a couple of shows, the quirky best friend," he made a goofy, self-deprecating sort of smile at Calum as he explained.

"How were you a supporting character? You're so good looking; I swear when I was the target demographic, the side characters all had terrible bowl cuts and bad posture," Calum told him, laughing and placing his phone back on the table. He probably shouldn't have said it like that, but it was true; he was no Jackson Stewart or Oliver Oken, that's for sure.

Ashton rolled his eyes, "tormenting aside- that's why I was able to do this; I was a terrible actor, I mean, compared to my costars. But I went to Disney because I wanted to be a singer and their deals are for everything, singing, acting, dancing, so I had to do my time on the show, and then I did a part in a musical movie. Again just supporting, but It proved to record labels I could sing, and I was already popular, so the day my Disney contract was up, I signed with Columbia, and the rest is history." He shrugged as though it were nothing, but then rounded on Calum again, "so why was Luke gossiping about me?"