My Annoying Neighbor (l.h. + a.i.) ✔️

dinner

(unedited)

Once Ashton had gotten out of the shower, he was met with the same thumping and muffled moans that woke him up the morning before. He couldn't help but feel like he was intruding in something, but he was in his own home just trying to mind his own goddamn business. He ignored the thumping sounds and walked over to his wardrobe, trying to figure out what he would wear to dinner with his best friend, his best friend's almost boyfriend, and his best friend's almost boyfriend's best friend. He had decided on a black and white ringer shirt, black skinny jeans, and his favorite pair of black Chelsea boots. Ashton had decided that there was no such thing as "too much black," but he threw on a medium washed denim jacket just in case. By the time he was finished slipping on his leather boots and texting Calum that he was about to meet at his house, the thumping on the other side of the wall had stopped. When Ashton left his room, he heard the muffled voice of a different woman and the loud slam of his neighbor's door followed by loud heels clicking away. Ashton shook his head, wondering how someone could be that big of an asshole. He rid himself of the thoughts of his neighbor and left his apartment after making sure that no one was in the hallways outside.

"It happened again." Ashton told Calum who was standing in front of his bathroom, fixing his hair and waiting for Michael to pick them up.

"What did?" Calum glanced at Ashton who was lying down on his bed and watching him fix his hair.

"I heard my neighbor at it again before I came here." Ashton stated and Calum scrunched his face up in disgust.

"That must suck." Calum started, finally deciding that his hair was perfect and took a seat next to Ashton on his bed. "Knowing your neighbor is getting it so much, and you're like, getting nothing."

Ashton punched Calum's arm and glared at him earning a loud laugh from the raven haired man. Calum's phone dinged, signaling a text from Michael saying he was outside and Calum got up.

"Michael's here." Calum pulled Ashton up from the bed and the two exited his house. They waited for Michael to unlock his car door and both got in with Calum in the passenger's seat and Ashton right behind him.

"You guys hungry?" Michael asked. The two best friends responded with a clear YES and Michael laughed, backing out of Calum's driveway and started on the way to the restaurant they were going to eat at.

When they had got to the restaurant, a small pizza parlor the two had never heard of, ("Michael knows my favorite food is pizza, Ash!" "Everyone likes pizza, Calum.") the three of them decided to sit in the back corner because they knew their 'wild' personalities would probably disrupt other customers. Michael and Calum had decided to sit across from each other with Ashton sitting next to Calum and already feeling like the uncomfortable third wheel. Calum had noticed his best friends awkward behavior and switched the "couple-y" conversation to something all three of them could talk about, earning a quick smile of gratitude from the hazel eyed man.

"So when's Luke coming?" Calum asked and Michael checked his phone. Ashton looked at Calum with a questioning face and Calum whispered "The best friend."

"He said he'd be here soon." And as if it were a cue, they heard someone clear their throat and shot their eyes at the source.

"Sorry I'm late guys, I'm Luke by the way."He smiled apologetically, showing off a childish dimple that looked terrifyingly great on him. He had dirty blond hair that swept messily across his forehead and light facial hair on his sharp jaw line. He had piercing blue eyes that were staring straight into Ashton's hazel ones and was clad in all black as well. If Ashton didn't think that he was the most beautiful man he had ever laid his eyes on, then you can call him a fucking liar. The tall blond broke his eye contact with Ashton and scooted into the seat next to Michael and across the hazel eyed man. Their feet brushed under the table and Ashton face immediately started to heat up and quickly apologized.

"No worries." The blond smiled a perfect and charming smile at Ashton who immediately melted. Ashton felt a nudge on his shoulder and turned to face Calum who gave him a knowing look and wink, thankfully unnoticed by the other set of best friends who were talking about Michael's new guitar or something like that. Ashton smiled and playfully nudged the raven haired man back before suggesting that they decided on what pizza they wanted to get.

"So Ashton," Michael started, facing towards the curly haired brunet, and Ashton was happy that the blue haired man was making an effort to talk to him, "Calum said you just recently transferred from the University of Sydney to go to the small uni here. Why'd you move from Sydney to here? Isn't it like, way better over there?" Ashton paused, suddenly remembering all of the reason why he lived in Sydney and left. He smiled sadly and Calum rubbed his shoulder comfortingly. He saw Luke's ears perk up in interest and finally decided to answer to the blue haired man truthfully.

"Honestly," Ashton started, gathering his thoughts, "I only went to Sydney because my ex-boyfriend wanted me to go. I really wanted to come down here with Cal, but I really thought my ex and I were gonna get married or something." Ashton looked up from his folded hands. "until I walked in on him cheating on me with our literature professor in our own bed."

Ashton watched how Michael's and Luke's eyebrows shot straight up and surprise and he let out and awkward laugh, raising his hands in reassurance. "It doesn't really matter anymore. I'm totally over it, I swear." He saw the two relax back into their seats before they started a whole new conversation to get rid of the slightly awkward tension.

By the end of the night, they had eaten three and a half pizzas with Ashton getting to take home the leftovers because "he's been eating instant ramen for the past few days. He needs to take this home." The hazel eyed man had learned that Michael and Luke tried to start a band in high school which never worked out because "we couldn't find the perfect bass player and drummer" with Calum replying excitedly that he knows how to play the bass and Ashton knows how to play the drums, saying something along the lines of their newly established small friend group being 'meant to be.' Ashton had also learned that Michael dyes his hair a lot, having every colour of the rainbow in less than six months with the pictures to prove it and that Luke was a proud bisexual man, but leaned more towards men. Ashton learned more than that, but that was the only thing that really mattered to him at that moment. When Calum reached for the bill to pay, Michael quickly grabbed it before the raven haired man could even touch it and announced that he was the one who planned the dinner, so the right thing to do was pay for it. Ashton wasn't complaining. Free food is free food. Especially for a struggling college student trying to pay apartment rent and his tuition.

When the four of them got up to leave, Luke grabbed Ashton's shoulder, letting the two almost boyfriends ahead of them and took out his phone, handing it to the smaller man.

"Uh, can I get your number? We should hangout sometime." Luke asked smoothly. The hazel eyed man stared at the black phone being handed to him before grabbing it and adding his number as a new contact. Ashton looked up and smiled at the blond haired man looking down at him and handed him back his phone.

"Yeah we should."Ashton said and Luke smiled back his award winning smile. The two of them exited the restaurant to see Calum and Michael leaning against the brick wall and talking casually with their fingers interlocked. The couple looked up and smirked knowingly to each other before bidding Luke a goodbye with a tight hug. Ashton gave him an awkward side hug as well, blushing at the contact which was thankfully unseen because of the darkness of the night. They watched Luke walk away in the opposite direction of where they parked at until he turned the corner so they couldn't see him anymore. Once Luke was out of sight, the couple faced Ashton with large smirks on their faces.

"So what'd he ask back there?"Calum asked smugly and his best friend rolled his eyes.

"For my number to hangout sometime." Ashton replied, and Michael raised his pierced eyebrow.

"Damn, he doesn't usually give out his number to people he meets for the first time." Michael stated and Ashton blushed.

"Really?" He asked hopefully and Michael nodded, unlocking his car for them to get in.

"Someone owes me a thank you for getting them a boyfriend." Calum said pointedly and Ashton shook his head in amusement, with pictures of the beautiful blond man flooding his brain.

Hi everyone! I hoped you liked this chapter. Feel free to drop some critique and/or nice comments (: and just fyi: i know nothing about the university of sydney or how transferring there works, so let's just roll with this haha