Loose Lips Have Sunk This Ship {muke}

Chapter 5:

Luke's somehow able to pull Ashton down to the beach later that day when the sun's still blazing and the sand is scorching. He grumbles to the older boy about his terrible morning, points out a hole dug deep into the sand and claims it was there for when he died.

Ashton laughs, of course he does, and pats Luke's shoulder sympathetically. He's had a goofy smile on his face since Calum rescued Luke from Michaels sleepy grip and it didn't seem to be fading anytime soon. Luke comes to the conclusion that Ashton's gone nuts, probably listened to one too many of Calum's heavy bass cd's with the windows closed and the volume turned high.

"But what if you threw a ball out into the waves and a shark grabbed your dog." Ashton's been ranting nonstop for the past ten minutes about the safety hazards dogs are placed in being on the beach. "They won't run from it, they don't know sharks are bad."

Luke rubs his eyes, sighed dramatically. "I don't think there's going to be a shark this close to shore." He gains a loud scoff from Ashton, the older boy not going along with Luke's thoughts but not bothering to challenge him.

They walk along the wet sand, flip flops in hand. Luke squeegees his feet in the wet mush for a few seconds when they pause, Ashton having pulled out his phone to take a picture of the setting sun. The sand is cool between his toes the further he lets himself dig.

"Your feet." Ashton grimaces, tucking his phone back in his pocket. Luke looks down, not all too bothered with the grey gunk coating his toes and parts of his feet. He rolls his eyes when Luke gives a shy smile, an almost apologetic one. "You'd better wash them off with the hose before you even think of stepping foot in the house."

Luke whines, shaking his feet off quickly as Ashton begins to walk. He pushes Ashton's shoulder once he's caught up, receiving a laugh from the older boy. "Let's go to the boardwalk tonight."

"Let's not and say we did."

"Ash." Luke pouts, picking at his nails. There's sand under them. He follows Ashton up the beach, thankful the sand had cooled down drastically from earlier that day and the bottoms of his feet weren't going to melt off or peel --probably the latter. "I want to win a stuffed toy."

They cross beneath the boardwalk. Already the thick scent of funnel cake and popcorn waif below, and Luke angrily hums, annoyed at Ashton's lack of a response. "And Bubba's has really good burgers and fries."

Ashton sighs, small smile gracing his lips. "How about I buy you some ice cream now, and we sit down to talk." He gestures to the Kohr Brothers' stand with his head.

"But I-"

"And we can come back tonight," Ashton sounds like a tired father, and Luke suspects he feels the same way too. The younger agrees quickly, bouncing over to the stand and waiting. He reads the menu, beaming at the girl behind the counter who's gone heart eyed staring at Ashton and orders his cone.

After Ashton orders a soda they scoot to the side, Luke crowding in around Ashton closely. He pokes the older boy in the side playfully. "Thanks Ash, I love Kohr's." Ashton grumbles but smiles and moves to grab the order when the number is called.

"Do you want to sit or walk?" Ashton asks. He looks serious, enough so that Luke's stomach has begun twisting itself up into knots.

"Sit."

Kids run in front of them as they move towards tables shaded with umbrellas. There's a piece of pizza crust on the table that Ashton pushes to the ground with a napkin as they sit down. "Are you having fun?"

Luck cocks his head to the side, eyebrows raising in question. "We've only been here a day." When Ashton does nothing but stare Luke shrugs and licks the cone. "Yeah, I'm having fun, are you?" Vanilla ice cream dribbles down the side of the cone onto Luke's fingers and Ashton hands him a napkin.