Chipped Nail Polish (Lashton)

Where Luke Kisses Ashton's Cheek

Luke was excited that next morning, so excited that his fingers were shaking when he tried to peel away the rest of the nail polish that he didn't get to last night because he was too busy thinking about Ashton and getting to see him again. 

His mum noticed the change in her son's behavior, telling him with tears in her eyes that she hadn't seen Luke this happy in a very long time. Luke sent his mum a small smile and stopped pacing by the front door so he could see when Ashton arrived. He walked over to her and gave her hug, wanting her to stop crying. Luke didn't like when his mum cried, even if it was just happy tears.

She wanted to meet this friend of Luke's but Luke wasn't sure he was quite ready for that. Ashton and his mum would probably get along really well but it made Luke nervous. He could only handle being nervous about a certain number of things at a time before a panic attack would crush him down.

Before Luke left, his mum told him to have a good time. He nodded because time with Ashton was always good to Luke.

"Hey." Ashton greeted him with a smile, waving to Luke before he even got into the car.

"Hi." Luke said, his greetings becoming much more natural and confident the more he used his voice around Ashton.

Ashton pointed to his radio. "We can leave where we left of yesterday if you want. I didn't listen to anything on the way here since I thought I'd wait for you."

Luke really hoped that he wasn't flushed a deep red when Ashton told him that. He licked at his lips and nodded. "Thanks. Go right ahead."

Ashton pressed play, the ending of the familiar song from yesterday finishing. As much as Luke wanted to listen to the music he also wanted to listen to Ashton. The other boy always had things to talk about and Luke liked when he would get so excited about things.

Even though the trip over to the music shop was pretty short, Luke still enjoyed that he was at least with Ashton. His crush on him never went away but somehow he didn't get overly anxious about being around him as much. Luke felt that he was doing fairly well considering he's been much worse.

After parking and getting out of the car, Luke learned just how right Ashton was. It was a small shop and not that many people appeared to be walking around. It would have been a great place for him to take his stress walks. Maybe he would have met Ashton sooner if he had. Well, he'd at least see Ashton because he would have been much too nervous to speak to him.

Ashton held the door open for him, letting Luke walk in first. "Well, here it is." Ashton announced.

Luke looked around seeing the guitars, pianos, keyboards, song books, instrument cases, and all kinds of equipment. His eyes landed on the drum set last, actually waiting for Ashton to point it out to him since he loved talking about the drums so much.

"Ah, Ashton, you're back. I haven't seen you around in a few days." An older man said, walking over to them to greet them.

"Sorry about that Mr. Walker." Ashton apologized, putting his arm around Luke's shoulders and pulling him close to his side. "I've made a new friend that I've been hanging around with. You don't mind if I show him the drums do you?"

"You know the rules." Mr. Walker reminded him.

When Ashton had pulled Luke in close, he wasn't quite prepared for him to do that. He ended up placing one hand around Ashton's waist and the other on his chest, his finger nails being shown to the stranger. He immediately curled his fingers into a fist and hoped that Ashton didn't hear the small hitch of breath he took in from the surprise.

Once Ashton let go of Luke, he missed the warmth the other boy provided. Most of it was probably from Luke from embarrassment but some of it was from Ashton. He was sure of it.

"Awesome. Come on, Luke." Ashton wrapped his and around Luke's wrist and gently tugged him so he'd follow.

Luke was sure he was going to trip over his own two feet when Ashton pulled him. His hand was still closed into his fist, wanting to fan out so maybe Ashton would take his hand. Luke didn't know if Ashton would ever do that with him or not. Who would want to hold hands with a boy who wore nail polish?

"Here they are!" Ashton announced proudly, letting go of Luke's wrist so he could slip his drumsticks out from his back pocket. He walked over to the seat behind the kit and got himself situated, changing things to how he wanted them to be.

Luke stood off to the side awkwardly, flinching at first about how loud the drums actually were when Ashton would hit them with his sticks. Luke watched as Ashton would bite at his lip when he really got into his concentration mode.

Ashton's arms looked wild as the messed about on the drums and Luke couldn't believe how talented he really was. Ashton had no reason to talk down about himself because he was really good. That just wasn't Luke's opinion due to his crush on him. He knew how to play those drums well.

"So, that's what I can do pretty much." He chuckled a bit, scratching the back of his neck once he was done with his little solo. "You wanna have a go?" He asked just before tapping his sticks onto the head of the drum again.

"Um, I don't know. I've never played." Luke said skittishly.

Ashton waved him off. "It's easy. You can just hit them. I'll show you." He motioned for Luke to come behind the drums where he was, standing up from the chair so Luke can sit.

He walked slowly over to Ashton, taking his seat and then shakily took the drumsticks from him. He couldn't believe Ashton was trusting him with his drumsticks.

Ashton stood behind him, which caused Luke to straighten out his back and sit properly. He was holding his breath when he felt his chest pressing against him. Then he felt his warm arms brush against his as he held onto Luke's hands to show him what to do with the sticks. Luke tried his best to pay attention but he couldn't help but glance back at Ashton, who was smiling at him when he noticed that Luke was way more focused on him than his first drumming lesson.

Without really realizing what he was doing, Luke leaned over and pressed his lips to Ashton's cheek, skimming over his skin in a dry brush. He felt the other boy grow tense and then Luke began to freak out himself. He had just ruined everything he was ever able to build up around another person.

"I'm so s-sorry." Luke's eyes widened in horror of what he had just done, falling from the stool and backing away from Ashton, not able to meet his eyes anymore. His body felt like it was shaking already. He needed to get out of there.

"Luke! Luke, wait!" Luke heard Ashton calling after him but his friend's voice was drowned out by Luke's screaming thoughts about the trouble that was coming ahead.

It was going to take a lot of nail polish to fix him this time.