Affliction | cashton |

Chapter Twenty-Four: Ride

Ashton sighed for the millionth time as he stared at the heavy traffic he has to get though until he reached the airport. Luke was flying in today and his plane was landing at 1pm. It was already 12 in the afternoon and he just knew he would be late. Nia was ranting about some "hot and exotic" girl from Russia she had met at a bar. Ashton only brought Nia because he knew he would get lonely and awkward with the guy who would be staying with Calum.

Ashton didn't want to seem like a jealous and possessive guy but a guy was staying down the hall from Calum's bedroom and he would be lying if he said he was ok with it. He was praying this guy would be ugly but he knew Calum wasn't that shallow to judge by looks.

Speaking of Calum, Ashton was only picking luke up because of Calum's dying fear of getting into a car still lives inside of him and Ashton understands that, he's happy that he can make him comfortable.

"Dude are you listening to me?" Nia smacked Ashton's arm with a glare. Ashton snapped out of his daydream as he continued moving in the line of traffic

"No. Sorry" he smiled innocently. Nia rolled her eyes as she slumped in her seat.

"Do you even know what this dude looks like? How are we even supposed to find him?" Nia asked.

"Calum said he's really tall, blonde hair, blue eyes, and he should be wearing black clothes" Ashton repeated the details Calum had given him. Nia nodded her head as she pulled a bag of gummy worms out of her bag and opened them, almost spilling the entire bag in Ashton's car. From the outside the car looks like a piece of shit and it is but Ashton loves it and it's his most prized possession. He rolled his eyes as Nia moaned with a handful of gummy worms stuffed into her cheeks. Ashton thought she looked like a squirrel storing the gummy worms in her mouth.

"If you spill in my car I will cut your tits off with a spoon and feed them to you" Ashton threatened as he watched Nia open a can of Arizona. Nia almost chocked on her drink but swallowed remembering Ashton's threat.

"That is graphic and unnecessary Mr Irwin"

-

"Where the hell is this kid?" Nia whined. She started complaining as soon as she reached the bottom of her bag of gummy worms and Ashton was already fed up with her complaints.

"If I knew where he was would I be looking for him still?" Ashton retorichally asked. Nia shoved her shoulder against her friends but gasped when a boy caught his eyes. He was dressed in black skinny jeans, a black Nirvana shirt, and a grey beanie. He had headphones plugged in, sitting on the floor with a black duffle bag beside him.

"Is that him?" Nia asked, frantically hitting Ashton's shoulder. Ashton glared at his friend, softly shoving her for smacking him repeatedly. Ashton was grumpy and Nia was not helping his mood.

"Only one way to find out" Ashton shrugged as he walked up to the boy. His heart felt like it was suffocating when he saw that the boy was actually good looking. He walked straight towards the boy and tapped his shoulder. The boy flinched as he looked up and feverishly pulled his headphones out of his ears. Ashton's eyes widened when he saw the boys hands begin to shake, fear clouding his eyes as he waited for them to speak.

"I'm sorry I didn't mean to frighten you, I'm Ashton, Calum asked me to come and get you" Ashton explained.

"He's still afraid of getting in cars?" Luke asked as he stood up.

"Yeah" Ashton mumbled with a sad frown at the thought of Calum being afraid. He loved the brunette and he wanted him to be happy, not afraid. But being afraid is apart of life and he can't really stop that.

"Ashton" Nia snapped him out of his thoughts once again. He shook his head trying to rid himself of the sad thoughts.

"Sorry. Luke this is Nia, my best friend" Ashton explained.

"Nice to meet you" as they started walking Ashton looked at Luke. His eyes were always seemingly sad, distant, dead even. His voice was deep but distant, and his lips never seemed to curve into a smile not even for a milisecond. Calum was right about him being tall, he passed Ashton by a good couple of inches. Ashton shook it all off, assuming Calum would make him better, they would both make each other better.

Nia sat in the backseat, Luke in passenger, and Ashton driving again. He wished Nia would drive but he didn't trust anyone with his car. Luke buckled his seat belt within the first three seconds of getting into the car and when they pulled onto the freeway he was gripping his thighs like his life depended on it.

"Alright luke we need to talk before we get to Calum's" Ashton said. Nia sighed from the back ready knowing what this is about.

"About what?" Luke asked tentatively.

"About Calum. Look I know he's beautiful and you two have a past but we kind of have a thing. It's pretty complicated and confusing but I'm in love with him and I'd appreciate it if you stayed away from him romantically. I know he's sweet and astonishingly beautiful and you'll be staying in his house and sh-"

"Dude, He's like a brother to me. I'm not in any way sexually attracted to him" Luke cut Ashton off with an amused smile. Ashton hummed, not entirely convinced.