Wildflower - {lashton au}

Jasmine.

"I can't believe we finally get to meet him," Crystal said as she was dabbing her concealer under her eyes.

Luke groaned inwardly as he fixed a cuff on his sleeve for the tenth time. "I'm begging you to be semi-normal," he said pleadingly. "Crystal, I." He cut himself off, letting out a frustrated huff. "I really like this guy. Did I tell you what he did for me last weekend?"

Crystal hummed in thought as she began applying her loose powder. "You said he whisked you away for a weekend," she answered, "which, by the way, is incredibly rude that you waited until afterwards to tell us."

"He took me to see my favorite band, Crystal."

The platinum blonde whipped around in her vanity chair to eye Luke confusedly. "Anarbor hasn't had a show anywhere near here in almost a month," she said. "He flew you out to a show? You hate flying!"

Luke nodded. "It was easier with him, I think," he said softly. "I got to meet them, Crystal. He knew how much I loved them, and he got us passes to meet them. Who does that for someone? Especially someone they've not known for a while."

Crystal looked at Luke like she was watching a romantic movie. She could practically see adoration floating in Luke's irises, and it made her heart swell. "I can't wait to meet him, Luke," she said sincerely. "I'll be on my best behavior. I can't say the same for Cal and Mikey, though. You know them, they'll be coming straight from the office and they'll be buzzing with adrenaline for this dinner."

Luke groaned once more. "Can you text them, please?" His tone was desperate as he watched Crystal try to fight back a smile. "Please!? I don't need Mikey scaring him off."

Crystal laughed at this. "Why aren't you worried about Calum?"

Luke rolled his eyes as he flopped down on the throuple's enormous bed. "Calum is a literal angel, I don't expect him to even speak to Ashton until he knows he can."

Crystal shrugged. "Calum is rather submissive—"

Luke immediately shoved his hands against his ears. "No best friend sex talk! No best friend sex talk!"

The blonde laughed even harder, leaning far back in her vanity chair before standing up completely. "Help me pick out what to wear, Hemmings."

Luke helped Crystal pick out a simple, white cocktail dress, explaining that it accentuated her bright smile and platinum blonde hair. Luke himself was dressed in a button-up - also in white - with a black jacket and black slacks, along with a pair of black boots with a slight lift on the heel. The two then grabbed their wallets and keys, heading to Luke's car and going to the restaurant where they were to have dinner.

Once they entered the restaurant, Luke told the hostess the name of the reservation and that they would be accompanied by three more guests soon. He and Crystal were seated, the two of them ordering a bottle of wine for the table and then launching into conversation as they waited for their dates to arrive.

Calum showed up first, kissing Crystal on the lips and hugging Luke before sitting down between the two. "Michael said to go ahead and head here while he finished some last minute paperwork," he said as he took a sip from one of the water glasses. "He wanted me to make sure you guys weren't alone for too long."

Crystal giggles softly before leaning over and kissing the dark haired lad on the lips. "Missed you today, baby," she said happily.

"I missed you, too, amor," he said gently, placing a hand on her knee.

Luke cleared his throat.

Calum rolled his eyes fondly before looking over to Luke and kissing his cheekily in a friendly way. "I missed you, too, Hemmo," he said, ruffling the blonde's hair a bit. "Don't feel left out."

"Who's feeling left out?"

The three seated turned to smile at Michael as he came to sit on the other side of Crystal after kissing both of his partner's lips gently. "You weren't too far behind me, I guess," Calum said gently.

"I was actually," Michael said with a soft laugh. "You left the building around 6:45, you just got held up in traffic longer than I did."

Luke couldn't help but feel his nerves settle in as the throuple talked amongst themselves. Ashton wasn't late, it was still a quarter till half seven, but he couldn't shake the feeling that the older blonde would stand him up.

Crystal seemed to sense his nervousness as she reached around Calum slightly to place a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry, Luke," she said softly. "He'll be here, love."

Luke smiled gently, nodding as he took a sip of his water.

"Hope I haven't missed too much."

Luke nearly choked on his water as he heard the voice of the hazel eyed man coming towards their table. He quickly gulped down the liquid, wiping his mouth with a napkin before standing and greeting Ashton with a hug.

"Sorry I'm late," he said, straightening his shirt gently. "Traffic is a bitch out there."

The four already arrived guests laughed gently as each member of the throuple stood from the table to introduce themselves to the curly haired man.

"Hi," Calum said first. "I'm Calum, Luke's official best friend."

Ashton chuckled happily as he watched the other two new people roll their eyes fondly.

Crystal was next to introduce herself. "I'm Crystal," she said sweetly. "Calum absolutely lies, I'm Luke's official best friend."

"You both got beat a long time ago, my loves," Michael said as he leaned over the table to shake Ashton's hand. "Michael Clifford, literally Luke's worst enemy for 6 years and best friend for over ten."

Ashton laughed heartily before nodding to the three of them. "Well," he said with a bright smile as they all took their seats, "it's nice to meet all of Luke's best friends. I'm Ashton, Luke's, uh, mentor in all things spontaneous."

"Oh," Crystal said, a knowing look on her face, "we know all about these adventures."

Ashton looked over at Luke with a raised eyebrow before turning back to the blonde woman. "Is that so?"

"Something more along the lines of 'he never shuts up about you,'" Michael said as he sipped from his wine he poured himself.

Luke flushed bright red, sliding everyone their menus and clearing his throat. "Let's start ordering, yeah?"