A Letter Before I Go ; malum

9

Ashton was asking questions, and Michael didn't know why. It was late, and Luke was asleep, his head in Calum's lap. Calum stayed half-awake, giving Ashton weird looks every now and then. Michael felt like there was a joke, and he was the punchline.

"Is there something going on?" Michael said, pulling his purple hair lightly.

Ashton giggled, shaking his head, which made Michael feel even worse. Did they not trust him anymore? Calum smiled small, tilting his head a little as he said, "It's nothing, Michael, don't worry."

He put his fingers through Luke's hair absentmindedly as he watched Michael look even more offended at the fact that the guys wouldn't tell him what was going on. He tried to reassure him again, smiling patiently.

"It's got nothing to do with you. Ashton's just teasing me because he's a dick."

Michael frowned, "Why?"

Calum shrugged, and Ashton laughed quietly. The Maori moved Luke's head away from his lap, getting up. He yawned, sipping the last of his tea before heading to the bunks. Ashton woke up Luke to get him into bed and Michael took off most of his clothes, insecure as he watched Calum get undressed.

Calum did his best not to sound flustered, and looked over his shoulder to talk to him. "Why're you staring at me?"

"Your body . . ." Michael mumbled, and Calum was about to ask him to repeat what he said until Luke and Ashton walked in.

The Maori climbed into his bunk, mumbling a few words in his native language just so the boys wouldn't understand. He closed his eyes, rubbing them and pulling his quilt up to his chest.

"Night, guys." He said, and they all exchanged 'goodnights' for a couple of minutes before laughing and going to sleep.

Luke was asleep in a couple of minutes, and Ashton soon after that, but Calum could still hear Michael's anime going off. He wanted to go down and talk to Michael, but he had no interest in anime and was afraid Michael would ask too many questions.

He got his head out and looked down to the bunk below him. "Ashton," he whispered, stretching his arm to poke him in the shoulder. "Ashton!" he said harshly.

The tanned boy grumbled, "What?" He sat up and wiped his eyes.

"I need to talk to you."

"Come down here."

Calum got out of his bed ungracefully and crept into Ashton's. The body-heat warmed him up quickly, so he crept closer to his best friend. Scared that Michael would hear, they whispered in each other's ears.

"I don't know if I like Michael yet, but . . . what if I do?"

"Then you do." Ashton shrugged. "And that's it. It'll only go anywhere if you do something about it."

Ashton had this way of being stupidly inspirational. Calum figured it was because he had to mature quickly and become wiser than the average guy, but he had a feeling that Ashton would probably be like that no matter what.

"Do you think it'd be weird if me and Michael started dating?"

Ashton smirked, propping himself onto his elbows. "That's a pretty steep question coming from a guy that's not sure if he likes him or not."

"Shut up."

Ashton giggled, and then thought about the question as he covered his mouth. He shrugged. "I can see it."

Calum raised his eyebrows, grabbing Ashton's arm so the guy would look at him so they both knew how serious this was. "Really?"

"Really."

Calum folded his hands, nodding. "Okay."

Ashton licked his lips. "You guys would be cute."

"Ugh, bro, stop!" Calum whined, laughing awkwardly as he covered his face.

"What? You would be!"

Calum continued laughing. "You're like an embarrassing dad."

Michael opened his curtain, crawling out and into Ashton's bunk with the other two. Michael squished Calum in the middle, and the Maori whined.

"Michael, this isn't comfortable."

Michael put his head on his hand, one elbow bent so he was laying on his side, stealing as little room as possible. "How about now?"

"You look like you're trying to seduce us." Ashton laughed.

"Maybe I am."

Calum imagined Michael taking him close so the Maori could feel everything, and blushed, cursing himself because he was horny at the worst of times.

"Well, I gotta go to bed." Calum yawned, grabbing Michael's hips so he could pull himself over the boy. Michael held him in his place once the Maori was on top of him. "Michael." Ashton watched, a slight grin on his face.

"Yes, Calum?"

"Let go. I need to sleep."

Michael laughed, letting him go. Ashton laughed into his pillow once Calum was gone before putting his head up again to look at the purple-haired boy.

"Go on," Ashton whispered, still giggling, "go make-out with him."

The pale boy blushed. "What are you talking about?"

You guys are so fucking in love with each other. "Nothing, man, don't worry about it."

They'll figure it out by themselves, Ashton hoped, shooing the guy off to his own bed, but maybe with a little push.

thoughts about michael being suspicious? 

the malumness?

ashton 'giving them a little push'?