the kink club • luke hemmings ✔️

03: the one where everyone needs a kiss.

chapter three:
the one where everyone needs a kiss.

"Okay, so, New Years Eve," we're all sat around the coffee table, a re-run of some forgotten 90s show playing on the TV as I snuggle further into the arm that's draped across the back of the couch; Ashton's. In front of us, Chloe takes out a notebook and a pencil, eyeing everyone individually. "We need to plan it."

"Now?" Michael asks, sitting up. Chloe nods. "Why?"

"Because last year, we planned way too late, you kissed me when I was supposed to kiss Ashton."

"And you're complaining?" Michael questions, bewildered.

Chloe rolls her eyes. "It's not that! I just thought it'd be nice this year if all of us could get a Midnight Kiss."

"Oh, I got a Midnight Kiss, alright," Ashton chuckles, eyes looking far into the distance as if reliving a long lost memory.

I raise an eyebrow, propping myself up to face him. "You did?" last time I checked, the only people who were lip-free the whole evening of last year were him and me.

"Mhm," Ashton nods.

From across the room, Calum scowls. "You do know that the legally blind old lady from down the hall doesn't count, right? You sicko."

I watch as Ashton hangs his head in shame. "Damn it."

"Anyway," Bailey interrupts, entering the living room from the kitchen. She takes a seat on the arm of the sofa opposite, making Luke shift to the side. "New Year's Eve kisses. How are we going to plan it?"

"Wouldn't it be easier to just grab the person nearest to you when it actually happens?" Luke asks, leaning forward. I nod in agreement as I look back at my best friend with the lined paper and no words to fill it; it's the easiest and most logical idea.

Chloe just shakes her head. "It would, if people didn't reach for the same goddamn person all the time."

"When have we ever reached for the same person?" Ashley asks, folding her arms.

"Excuse you? Summer of 2014. It literally took us five seconds to find someone, and when we finally did, we both got Ashton,"

At this, Luke's head snaps up, an amused grin stretching across his face as he looks at our curly headed friend. "Congratulations, buddy. You finally kissed someone with no visual impairments!"

"Oh shut up, Luke."

"Dude, that's my line," Michael warns.

"Since when?"

"Since I could speak," he emphasizes, arms folded. Ashton looks at him in disbelief. "Yeah, that's right. I was a baby in the womb and my sonogram didn't read boy, it read 'fuck you, Hemmings'."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"And since when could babies speak in the womb?" I ask on top of Luke's question, eyes squinting at the boy with the flaming red hair.

Everyone falls silent, eyebrows raised at him because it's easier not to talk and instead wait for an explanation. After a short while, Michael gives in, pointing a finger of accusation at Ashton. "Hey, don't look at me! He's the one who kissed the poor old lady!"