Anxiety [Muke af]

Eighteen

THIS IS BEAUTIFUL

-

"Green Day's on the radio. And everythings okay...?" Michael trailed off, looking at Ashton, who rubbed his chin "What about 'and everythings alright'?" Michael nodded and started playing some chords on his guitar "Hitting every red light. Kissing at the stop signs, baby. Green Day's on the radio. And everything is alright," the red-haired boy smiled and scribbled the lyrics down. He and Ashton was working on the song Michael had promised Luke he would write a full version of, and it was going great. 

"Michael, this song is really good! How did you come up with it?" Michael shrugged and strummed a few random chords "I was just walking with Luke and it just- popped up.", he said, making Ashton frown, but then quickly smiled when Michael looked at him.

"Oh... So, the songs for him? or is it just a random song?", Ashton asked, a hint of jealousy in his voice, he tried to hide it, though. Michael did notice the sudden tone change, but brushed it of. Ashton had been acting strange lately. Ever since the little argument they had a few weeks back. He was gonna talk to him about it soon, something was bothering him and Michael didn't like it. They weren't so close as before. He wanted his old best friend back.  

"Uh, yeah. I wrote it for him. 'Cause we were walking home and it was a long way... so, that's why it's called 'Long Way Home'" he chuckled. 

"Uhm, well, I'm sure he'll love it, Mike. You're an amazing song writer." 

"Thanks. So are you, Ash." it was a simple compliment, no meaning behind it, but it still made Ashton's cheeks red and his heart flutter. He was really falling for Michael and he was falling fast. It wasn't good. 

-

After Michael went home that evening, Ashton laid on his bed and thought about memories. Memories of him and Michael. He thought about the first time he and Michael met, and the day he fell for Michael. 

It was the first day of  kindergarten, small Ashton was extremely nervous. He almost cried when his mum dropped him of, but he had to stay strong, he could make it through the day. When they had play-time Ashton was by himself, playing on a small drum they had. He was too shy to ask if he could play with the other kids. Then all of a sudden, he felt a person in front of him. He looked  up and met a friendly pair of green eyes. "Hi,"  the boy greeted. "Hi,"  Ashton replied. The green-eyed boy sat down in front of him "I'm Michael." 

"I'm Ashton." 

"What are you doing? Can I play too?" Michael clapped his hands together when Ashton nodded and took an un-tuned ukulele and started strumming on it. It sounded horrible, but they were just kids. The two boys played on the instruments until play-time was over. And that was the start of a beautiful friendship. 

Ashton smiled fondly at the memory. They played on those instruments everyday, then they went to school and they were still friends. Best friends. But then, Ashton started to crush on Michael. It started when they started high school, he didn't realise it at the time. He still remembered the first time he felt those butterflies.

"I miss them," Ashton said, voice cracking. Michael send him a sad smile. He knew how much he loved his siblings. It was a month since Ashton's dad left with his siblings and he was crushed. A few tears fell from Ashton's eyes, Michael shuffled over to him and pulled him into a hug. "Hey, they'll come back. I don't know when, but they will. And until then, I'll be here for you, I'll always be there for you. You're my best friend and I love you."  they pulled away from each other and Michael looked Ashton deep in the eyes, and wiped a few tears away  from Ashton's cheeks with the pad of his thumb. There. It was there those butterflies appeared for the first time. A blush crept up on his face "Thank you. I- I love you too."