Luke was smiling when he returned home from school that day, a beam that split his face in two as he skipped through the garden gate and fished his key from his pocket. He was excited, a child-like excitement that he wasn't even going to pretend to be ashamed of feeling; Michael was having a sleepover that night. He, Michael, Calum and Ash, along with a few other friends, were staying over at Michael's since his parents were away for the weekend. Luke hadn't had a sleepover with his friends in a long time; you all get wasted one time and suddenly your parents frown on any kind of sleepover. Luke hadn't minded until now; he and Ashton could only express their affections in the dark of the night anyway, so it wasn't exactly preferable to sleep at someone's house, but still. It was exciting.
Speaking of Ashton, Luke's twin was nowhere to be seen when he entered the house. Letting his bag drop by the door, a different kind of excitement swirled in his tummy. By the looks of it, his parents weren't home yet. Which meant he and Ash could have a little time to themselves, providing the other boy was actually in the house.
"Ashton?" Luke called out, taking the stairs two at a time until he reached their shared bedroom. The door was ajar and Luke smirked as he heard faint music coming from their room; the other boy obviously had his earphones in. Luke peered around the doorframe, pleased to see Ashton on his back on his bed, eyes closed, fingers tapping out a rhythm on his stomach. Luke tiptoed over, pointlessly muffling giggles behind his hand, and when he was close enough leaned down to press a firm kiss to Ashton's mouth. Startled, his twin sat up quickly and almost head butted a giggling Luke, who jumped back just in time to watch as he ripped his earphones out and opened his mouth to speak.
"Luke!" He whisper-yelled, something he did when he was half-annoyed. "You nearly gave me a heart attack!".
Luke giggled again, catching his reflection in the mirror and reaching up to fluff at his quiff. "You love me, though" he said to Ashton's reflection, smirking when the other boy blushed.
"Yeah" he admitted, frowning at his twin suddenly. "Wait, where is everyone? You just kissed me with the door open". The last part was whispered and Luke rolled his eyes, reaching over to close the door before spinning to face Ashton again.
"They're still out" Luke explained, unsure why since he was late home himself. Being friends with Michael had many drawbacks, evening detention being one of those. At the glint in Ashton's eye he sighed, cocking his head. "Not quite long enough for us to do that, though".
"Fine" Ashton pouted, eyebrows furrowed as his frown got slowly deeper. Luke moved over to sit cross-legged on the edge of Ashton's bed- in his head he called it their bed, because they spent all of their time in it anyway- and waited for his twin to verbalise his thoughts. Ashton was a thinker, and Luke often had to wait him out.
"I don't wanna go" Ashton finally sighed, long fingers picking at the blanket beneath his legs. "To the sleepover".
Luke hummed in understanding, halting the movement of Ashton's hand with his own and intertwining their fingers carefully. Luke could understand why Ashton was reluctant; the only time they could properly be together was at night, when everyone else was sleeping. They would never be free to love one another in the light of day, where people could see it and tell them they were wrong for feeling that way. Ashton tended to get more deeply upset than Luke on the matter, and Luke knew that tonight was only reminding him of the problems they faced.
"I just...wish I could love you like you deserve to be loved" Ashton sighed, expecting it when Luke clambered onto his lap with an almost offended frown on his face.
"Listen" Luke told him firmly, hands cupping the other boy's face gently but with purpose. "I love you, okay? You're more than I deserve, this....is more than I deserve. So we're gonna go to the party tonight, it's gonna be fun, and then tomorrow when mum and dad are grocery shopping....we can have some fun"
