Pretty Boys // cashton + muke \\

Full Story

To be read without any pesky ads interrupting you, enjoy :)

Content/trigger Warnings: very brief mention of suicide, mention of past rape, sexual harassment, unhealthy sexual relationship, sexual content, angst w/ a happy ending

CHAPTER ONE

Calum hummed to himself, tapping his chin lightly as he walked through a long aisle of books. The tan boy brushed his fingers against the rows of books, glancing at each title, none appealing to him. His heels thumped softly against the carpeted floor of the quiet library. He stopped in front of one of the mahogany shelves, brushing the wood with the pads of his fingers. Most of the books in this section were blanketed in dust, never touched or glanced at as they sat in the corner, up the metal railing staircase and away from most of the sunlight casted in through the floor to ceiling windows downstairs. Calum ran his thumb over the title of one of the books, the velvet cover soft against his skin.

'The Happenings Of Vernan Claus'

He hummed, taking the book off of the shelf, watching the two books around it fall against each other. He flipped through the pages, blindly walking out of the aisle.

A gasp left his lips as he collided into another body, his book falling from his hands. Being the clumsy boy he typically finds himself to be, his ankle twists slightly and he begins falling back. Before he could hit the floor, two arms wrap themselves around his waist and carefully pull him back up. Calum gripped at whatever he could, regaining his balance and trying to reassess his surroundings. The boy looked up, his eyes meeting a pair of concerned hazel irises. Calum breathed out shakily, his hands fisting the mans light grey sweater.

The tall stranger smiled softly, slowly releasing Calum's waist. Calum blushed, letting go of the mans sweater as he shuffled back. The man pushed his glasses further onto his nose, trailing further to card his fingers through neat sandy curls.

"I'm really sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going," Calum could feel heat rising in his cheeks and he shuffled a bit on his feet. The man bent down and grabbed Calum's book, handing it to him with a small, warm smile.

"It's not a big deal. I'm Ashton," the man held his hand out and Calum, nearly swooning as he placed his hand in the man's hand and slowly shook it.

"I'm Calum," the smaller boy smiled, holding his book to his chest.

"Would you like to sit with me?" Ashton asked with a hopeful smile playing on his slightly chapped lips, gesturing to the table covered mostly in papers. Calum's heart was beating erratically, his lip caught between his teeth as he stared up at the man. There had to be at least a foot or two of a difference between them, Calum found himself nearly tilting his head back to meet the other mans eyes.

"Yeah, I, um, I'd love to," Calum stuttered, his lips curving in a bashful smile. Ashton's eyes seemed to light up as he led Calum over to the table where he had a pile of folders and papers.

"Work?" Calum asked as he took a seat beside Ashton. The hazel eyed man breathed out a laugh as he grabbed the pen that was lying on one of the papers.

"Loads of work," Ashton said.

"I can leave if you want to be alone. I know I like to be alone when I have a lot of homework," Calum said, setting his book down on the table. He blushed, realizing how adolescent that sentence sounded. Ashton's head tilted to the side as he eyed the small boy up and down.

"Homework? Oh my god, are you in high school? Wow, I probably look like such a creep, you're probably like sixteen," the man huffed, pinching the bridge of his nose for a second. Calum giggled quietly, shaking his head.