the pale and the dimpled ;; mashton

thirty-eight // explantions

Ashton's fingers tapped on the steering wheel as Don't played on the radio, trying to find Luke's house.

He finally did a few minutes later, and felt a strange warmth growing inside him whilst he parked. It was a cozy little three-story house with a massive backyard and tons of plants.

Apparently Luke's mum liked gardening.

He got out of the car, tucking his keys into his jean pocket as he jogged up the front steps. He debated whether or not to knock or ring the doorbell, but eventually just rapped his fist against the hardwood door.

"Hey, Ash," Luke appeared within a minute, flashing Ashton a bright smile; he also noticed Luke had taken out his piercing. "Come on in, my mum's been dying to meet you."

Ashton nodded, stepping into the warm-ish home. "I like your house, it's nice." He commented, taking off his shoes and leaving them in the entry.

Like shrugged, leading him towards what Ashton assumed was the kitchen, based on the smell of pizza. "It's alright, I guess. You get used to it fast."

Ashton just nodded, seeing as he had come face with a short blonde woman with blue eyes like Luke. "Mum, this is Ashton. Ashton, this is my mum, Liz."

Liz smiled brightly, moving in for a hug. "Oh, hello Ashton! Luke's told me so much about you," She gushed, making both boys blush.

"Hi, Mrs. Hemmings. And thank you?" The older boy chuckled uncertainly.

"Please, call me Liz. Everyone else does." She said after pulling away, still smiling warmly.

"Okay, Liz," Ashton smiled back.

"Um, okay. We're going to go see Ben." Luke said nervously, rubbing his neck.

"Okay, no fighting!" Liz called as Luke grabbed Ashton's hand, dragging him away.

"Sorry 'bout her," The blue eyed boy mumbled as they went up the stairs. "She just gets a little over excited sometimes."

"It's cool, she seems nice," Ashton said with a shrug as they stopped in front of a white door.

Luke shrugged, too, knocking. "Hey, Ben! You in there? Are you decent?"

Ashton giggled quietly as the door swung open, revealing a shirtless boy - no, man would be better - with blonde hair and blue eyes like Luke. He was a bit broader and somewhat taller (which honestly scared Ash - Luke was already tall enough) than Luke, though he still radiated the same kindness.

"Yo, bro, what's up? Who's this shortie?" Ben asked, nodding towards Ash.

"This is my friend Ashton, Ashton, this is Ben; beware, he's a douche." Luke said, smiling at the end to let his friend know he was kidding.

"Hi," Ashton said and Ben nodded in response.

"Wow, Luke. You actually have friends. I'm impressed." Ben teased and Luke punched him in the arm, making the both older guys laugh.

"F*ck off," Luke said quietly, grabbing Ashton by the arm. "C'mon, we're going to the basement."

"Don't be too loud!" Ben called, Luke giving him the bird behind his back as they went back down the stairs.

"Sorry about him, I told you he was a douche." Luke said.

"It's cool. Do you have any other mystery siblings?"

"Yeah, an older one named Jack. He's the more serious of the two; but tell him a pun and he will die."

Ashton laughed as they reached the bottom, which faded as he saw Luke's quick hesitance to open the door. "Hey, Luke-" He began to say but was cut off when the door opened.

//

Ashton sat on one side of the couch, his leg bouncing and his arms folded. He kept his eyes on the wall, not daring to move.

Luke sat next to him, shuffling his hands nervously. He glanced between his friends, but for some reason kept looking at Cal, feeling a pang in his heart each time.

Michael sat next to Luke, his head down, unable to look at anyone or anything except the purple carpeting.

Calum, however, sat across from Luke, munching on some crisps like nothing was wrong.

"Guys look-" Luke began to say but was cut off by Ashton.

"Shut up."

"Ashton, you need to talk to him."

"I'm here too, you know," Michael mumbled but Ashton's voice overpowered him.

"I'm not talking to that asshole for sh*t!" He said, huffing and leaning back further into the plush sofa.

Luke sighed, turning his head towards Michael. "Mike? What about you? You have some explaining to do as well."

Michael sighed, closing his eyes and running a hand through his red hair. "Look, Ash, I'm sorry-"

"F*ck off," Ashton scoffed.

It was then that Michael stood up, tired of Ashton acting like that. "Can't you just f*cking quit? I'm trying to explain and apologize but you won't even f*cking look at me! I'm so f*cking sorry for f*cking Calum, but God Ashton I was hurt too! Do you not realize that? I was in so much f*cking pain and Calum was one of the only people I could actually talk to. You were doing who-knows-f*cking-what with Molly, wouldn't come to school for three whole days, and wouldn't even send one simple text message to let me know you were okay. Look, I'm sorry for what I did, but I'm not the only one who should be."

Ashton remained silent for a minute, and the only sounds in the room were Calum's spaced out crunching (he thought chewing slowly would cause less noise) and Michael's heavy breaths.

"Well?" He panted. "Aren't you going to say something?"

"I-" Ashton looked up, his glazed green eyes meeting Michael's slightly angry ones. "Look, I'm sorry for being a d*ck. And ignoring you. And being upset with you. I guess I understand but..."

"Molly?" Michael asked and this time Ash felt a surge of anger towards that lying binch.

"It's not true. What you saw. It didn't happen like you think it did. I didn't kiss her."

Michael's eyebrows furrowed together. "Then why were your eyes closed and your mouth on hers?"

Ashton closed his eyes, heaving a deep breath. He's been trying not to think about it.

"Okay, so we were outside chem right? Well she came up to me and asked if I could see anything in her eye since it had been hurting her, and I agreed because I thought it was fine. So I was looking and then she whispered in my ear. 'I know you like Michael. I know you're gay. I also know you're going to do what I say for the next 24 hours or else I'm telling everyone.' I-I didn't have a choice. And then she kissed me."

Michael's eyes softened and he pushed Luke to the side so he could sit down next to Ashton. "A..." He tried to speak but his words got stuck in his throat. "What else did she make you do?"

"I-I don't want to talk about it."

"O... Okay."

A silence fell upon the group, as they each digested the explanations.

"Well," Calum said after a few moments of the drowning silence. "F*ck."

"What's wrong?" Michael asked, holding onto Ashton's hand.

"Luke, I think you need to have a talk with Amanda," Calum said, his eyes shifting over to the quietest one.

"Why?" Luke asked, bringing one of his legs onto the seat.

"Bro, did you forget? Molly is Amanda's cousin."

//an

oM-FREAKING-G GUYS YOU'RE ABOUT TO FIND OUT SO MUCH AND I CANT EVEN

UGH

FOR NOW JUST ENJOY ASHTON BEING A BADAPPLE

BTW THANK YOU FOR MAKING ME SWEAR SO MUCH

I NEED TO GO PRAY NOW

(srsly I'm supposed to go to bed but #rebel)

BYE GUYS.//