Sugar, we're going down

Deux

"Luke, I'm so sorry you had to- Wait, why are you smiling like that?"

Niall burst through the door, never one to bother with knocking. He already had his apology planned and was mentally prepared to comfort his roommate in case he was crying.

Luke wasn't crying though. He was, in fact, staring into space with the biggest, goofiest smile on his face. His fingers were still trembling, but he had changed shirts and washed his face. The only remnants of today's escapade were the shivers that still ran down his spine and the business card inside his pocket.

"I got someone's number," he all but smirked.

"You what now?"

Niall took a seat on his bed, his speech already forgotten about, and rested his head on his knees. His eyes were widened almost comically and his lips curled up in a suspicious half-smile. Luke wondered if he should be offended.

"A boy, an attractive one at that, felt the need to give me his number," he was definitely smirking now, his mental breakdown on the back of his mind and his fingers already searching for the little piece of paper. It was a little crumpled already, as Luke hadn't stopped fumbling with it since he'd gotten his hands on it. He handed it to Niall anyway.

"You got a business card?"

Niall bit his lip as he considered Luke's words, reading the information on the card over and over again until Luke ripped it away.

"Ashton Irwin of the company IrwinWorks?"

He grinned. "My Lukey is growing up. What did you have to do to get your hands on this?"

Luke looked down, examining his fingernails, as the oh so familiar heat in his cheeks returned. His smirk had disappeared, replaced by the lip-biting Niall always reprimanded him for.

"Had an anxiety attack."

His words were shaky, like his stubborn fucking hands, and surely Niall must have noticed.

"Told you anxiety isn't the end of the world," the blonde joked, but when Luke looked up, he discovered Niall's smile, too, was gone. They both knew his disorder had a big influence on his life. After half a year of college, Niall was still his only friend and that was only because he was his roommate.

"So, are you gonna text him or not?" It was an obvious attempt to change the subject, but it worked. Luke instantly started grinning, fishing his phone out of his pocket. His trembling fingers hovered over the screen, which was broken.

"I don't know. Is it too soon?"

Niall snorted, the eye roll that followed making Luke slap his arm.

"We're not in eighth grade anymore, you moron! Just text the damn guy."

"Fine, fine. It's just- you know, he's a business man. He said he had a meeting."

"Well then he'll reply in an hour or so."

He shrugged, plopping down on the couch and grabbing his laptop. Although Luke could probably use some advice, he was glad Niall let him text in peace. This was his chance to get to know Ashton properly, seeing as there was no way in hell he'd be able to stutter out a coherent sentence in his presence. With a sigh, he unlocked his phone and opened his messages. He had already saved the new number in his phone, so all have had to do was make the first move.

That turned out to be a lot more difficult than he'd anticipated, something that could be blamed on his fingers. If only they'd stop fucking shaking, he would be able to send a text without having to retype everything three times.

Luke: hi there! :) it's luke here

He forced himself to put his phone on his bedside table, following Niall's example and grabbing his laptop. Though unlike his irresponsible roommate (this was the second time Niall was doing his freshman year) he actually intended on doing some homework.

In fact, he was already half way his History paper when his buzzed. He sent Niall a quick glance, and, upon discovering that the blond had fallen asleep mid Game of Thrones episode, opened the message.

Ashton: the boy from the shop?

He frowned, before looking down in shame. Of course he wasn't the only person Ashton had given his number to. What was he even thinking?

Well, at least Ashton didn't use the word mental breakdown.

Luke: yes

Ashton's reply came instantly.

Ashton: oh! you didn't tell me your name :) luke it is then! pretty name you got there, luke

A blush rose to Luke's cheeks, despite the cliché. Even though his anxiety had only come up during his last years of high school, Luke had only had one girlfriend before, and, well, she was a girl. And Luke was gay.

Luke: thanks :) how'd the meeting go?

After being loverless for the past few years, he wasn't sure what the exact texting etiquette was. Were you supposed to be subtle? Or did you just tell them straight up that you kind of wanted them to press you up against the wall, because damn, that's a pretty face? He decided to wait until the dust had settled, observing Ashton and his text style before taking any chances himself.

Ashton: same old, same old. people disagreeing and planning a new meeting

Luke had no idea what that meant, but he would like to find out, and judging by Ashton's quick replies, he wouldn't mind explaining.

tiny bit of info

i'm gonna skip the whole texting thing because i'm not a funny person and i just want them to meet in person okay this fic isn't realistic anyway so

also let's have a moment to appreciate my oh so creative company name (if you know a better one please save me from this embarassment and let me know)

a/n

group work sucks balls and i am not prepared for my test and two presentations tomorrow but what else is new :)

thanks for reading if you did