Coming Up For Air

0.8

"My head's under water
But I'm breathing fine
You're crazy and I'm out of my mind"
-John Legend, 'All of Me'

☂Ashton☂

'Pick up, pick up, pick up,' Ashton silently begged as he held his phone to his ear with frozen fingers. Midnight London in the midst of winter was not something one wanted to be out in, and yet here he was, striding purposefully five blocks east toward Bridge Park where he would be meeting Luke.

Luke.

"Hello?" A groggy voice came on the other end of the line.

"Niall!" He said, relief lifting his voice from it's normal pitch. "Niall, I think something's wrong with me."

"I've been sayin' that for years, mate. What's up?" Niall chuckled sleepily and Ashton heard some rustling. "Sorry, I've just gotta get out of bed. Don't want to...yeah."

"Wait," Ashton forgot his dilemma for a moment. "You're sleeping with someone?"

"Well--"

"You slept with someone?" Ashton practically screeched. "Niall! What? Who? How?"

"You're such a female." Niall grumbled. "Her name is Grace. And I slept with her. Slept. As in sleeping. As in I still want to wait until marriage, you fuck."

"Very nice." Ashton told him. "I can respect that."

"Mm." Niall said, letting a silent moment walk between them before asking, "So why did you call at 11:33 at night? Shits and giggles?"

"No, no. I need advice and you are kind of the only person I could think of." Ashton told Niall. He was about four blocks from his destination now, so he slowed his pace a little.

"Wow, thanks." Niall said sarcastically. "What about your friend? Z...Ze..."

"Zayn?" The name tasted sad in Ashton's mouth. "Um...we're not really...talking at the moment."

"Oh." Niall responded, clearly realizing it was not a time to press for details. "Alright. So what do you need advice on?"

"Okay." Ashton took a deep breath. "So there's this...person. And every time I'm around them, I don't know how to act...because I think they make me nervous? And I'm supposed to meet them to hang out in like fifteen minutes and I feel like my stomach is infested with insects and I just never know what to say around them!"

"Well," Niall said after a pause, "I wouldn't open with the insect thing."

"Thanks."

"But seriously, if you get this nervous, it must mean you like her. How long has it been since you actually liked a girl, Ash? And what happened to Liv, by the way?"

"She went psycho on me in the middle of a restaurant a couple days ago." Ashton told him. "And then walked out. So that's over."

"You don't sound too torn up."

"I'm not."

"Good," Niall said. "She wasn't worth it. I bet this new girl is, though. If you like her, she's gotta really be something because your standards are through the fuckin' roof."

"Niall..." Ashton hear somebody call in background. "Be a little louder, please. It's not like I'm trying to sleep or anything."

"Shit." Niall swore. "Sorry, Gracie! Listen, dude. I gotta go. Have fun on your date though. If it works out, I wanna meet her."