Lashton One Shots (Reasons)✓

[ such a brilliant star you are ]

[ ch. 4 ]
[ such a brilliant star you are ]
By lazhton
AO3

-~-~-~-

Michael is late.

This shouldn't come as a surprise to Luke, given the fact that it's Michael and being late isn't exactly something infrequent, but Luke had purposely turned up ten minutes after their arranged time, and that was ten minutes ago, and so Michael is late even for his standards.

It's not a big deal, really - it's not like they have a bus to catch, or they're going to the cinema and have to be there by a specific time, it doesn't matter if he's late, exactly, it's just that Luke is kind of really, really awkward, especially when he's by himself. He doesn't know what to do. Should he stay standing up, or should he find somewhere to sit down? Should he change position - except no, people might think he's pacing, and he doesn't want to look strange in public. What does he do with his hands? Should he pretend to text? But what if people realise that he's faking and laugh, and he could play games on his phone but he'd forgotten to charge it last night and the battery is low -

And yeah, Luke isn't really great at this whole 'being in public' thing, but he tries, okay. If Michael would just hurry the fuck up, he'll be fine -

"Um, is anyone here called Lucas?"

Well, shit. Luke is. Kind of. He's supposed to be.

(Immediately, he panics, thinking that Michael's done something stupid on the way here and accidentally landed himself in a coma. Which makes no sense because why would he have Luke as his emergency contact? Either way, he steps forward, nervously.)

"Um, I am?" he offers, wondering why he sounds so unsure. It is his name, after all, he's just not very used to hearing it. "I mean. I guess I am."

The guy in question turns to look at him, and Luke's about 90% sure he wasn't the 'Lucas' he'd been hoping for, because, a) he is not dressed in the typical wear of a hospital official, actually, he doesn't look official at all, and b) he is kind of extraordinarily pretty. Like, he has big eyes and lightly tan skin and messy, curly hair.

And a big smile that lights up when he looks at Luke and he beams at him.

"Hey!" he says, almost bounding over towards him. He sort of reminds Luke of a puppy dog, in a totally non-creepy, no-bestiality-involved kind of way.

"Um," Luke says. "Hi?"

"So. Okay. You're Lucas, yeah? I'm Ashton, Niall's friend?"

Luke blinks. "It's, I prefer Luke?"

As soon as it's out of his mouth, he realises that his first topic of conversation should probably have been either who are you, or who is Niall, or both. It's just, Luke's really not very good at talking, and he's even worse at talking to strangers. He gets nervous and his words jumble and he stutters a bit, and it really isn't pretty, and he knows he needs to get himself out of this hole before he digs it any further but, like, he doesn't know how.

"Right, well, um," Ashton says. "Hi Luke," he smiles, shyly. "Sorry if that was a bit, like, full-on. I was worried that I was in the wrong place? Or you were gonna stand me up, and I hadn't seen a picture, Niall just said you were tall and blonde but then there were like, three guys who fitted that description so I just got a bit nervous and called out? I'm sorry if that made you uncomfortable."

Okay, so that's what he thinks is the cause of Luke's shyness and probable blushing. He suddenly feels immensely guilty, because apparently Ashton has been stood up. Maybe. And like, that's got to suck, and Luke doesn't how to deal with this.