Strings Attached (lashton, editing)

Twenty-Eight.

A whole two weeks had passed and Ashton had barely left his room. His school year was coming to an end and he suddenly felt as though he had and hundred and one assignments to write and exams to study for. 

That also meant a whole two weeks of not having seen Luke at all. 

For that reason Luke had decided he was going to drag the boy from his dorm and out for dinner.

"Is lover boy taking you out tonight?" Finn asked, leaning up against the wall were Ashton had been trying to fix his hair for almost thirty minutes. 

"Yes, and I look like shit. I can't hide my stress," Ashton sighed, continuing to mess with his hair and outfit.  "I haven't seen him in two weeks, I can't bail."

"You look fine, you always do," Finn smiled at his friend. 

"I look like I haven't slept in a week."

"Well, you're in college. I'm sure Luke wouldn't expect anything less."

By the time Luke arrived to pick up Ashton, the young of the two had already changed his outfit and messed with his hair even more to do anything he could to make himself look more alive. 

As he saw Luke get out of his car to greet him, Ashton felt stunned at the flawless beauty of his boyfriend who never seemed to look as tired and defeated as Ashton did. 

"Hey babe," Luke smiled as he stepped around his car to pull his boyfriend in for a kiss. "You look nice."

"Hey," Ashton smiled. "You look better, as always."

The small blush that never failed to appear when Ashton was around, coloured Luke's cheeks as he smiled once more. "I wish." 

Their drive was mostly silent, Luke told Ashton how Tim missed him and couldn't wait to see him. Ashton told Luke to tell Tim he missed him too. 

Even as they made their way into the restaurant, the duo barely spoke a word. 

"So, how's school been? I haven't heard from you much," Luke asked as they sat at their table. 

"Busy, I feel like everything has come at once," Ashton smiled small at Luke. "Just a month to go, and then it's summer."

"Summer, that's come fast huh?" Luke smiled. "Are you going back home for the summer?"

"I don't know,  Finn and I were thinking of renting a place next year with some friends so if we find something soon enough I might just stay here. I'd like to stay," Ashton replied. The thought of what summer would mean for the two had been hanging over their heads for a while, it was three months of possibly being apart from one another and neither knew what that would mean from them. "If I do go home, I'll come visit as much as I can." 

"That's three hours, I can't ask you to drive that all the time for us," Luke sighed. "I'll have a bunch of free time, with the school holidays and Tim. I'm sure we can visit you." 

"I'd like that, but what I'd like more is being able to find a place here," Ashton smiled. "I'll find a way to do my best." 

A silence took over the two once more, both thinking over what they were going to do. 

When their waiter finally came, Luke couldn't wait to order himself a drink to try relax his body and perhaps rid of some of the tension that had settled between the two boys since the moment they sat in the car. 

"Can we get a couple glasses of wine? Just whatever white you recommend," Luke smiled up at the waiter who began to ask for their ID's. 

"Luke, I can't drink I'm only nineteen, you know that," Ashton stopped him.