the sound, settle down [mashton af]

// f i v e //

You're so conceited/ I said "I love you"/ What does it matter if I lie to you?/ I don't regret it but I'm glad that we're through/ So don't you tell me that you 'just don't get it'/ Cause I know you do

Michael sat across from Ashton. Their lawyer sat next to Michael. The park was cold and empty on an early Friday morning. Ashton carved lines into the wooden table as Michael and their lawyer talked business.

Ashton and Michael came to a mutual decision that nowhere in the law system would anyone find out about what the two did. Ashton wasn't supposed to be near Timothy, Ashton wasn't really supposed to be near Michael either.

That was their agreement eight years ago, but every day was getting harder to follow that. Ashton was manipulative and Michael was weak.

"So, what're we here for today?" Their lawyer—a tall, quiet man under the name George—asked. He looked between Ashton then to his colleague Michael.

Ashton was looking better from the last time George saw him. Ashton wasn't gaunt anymore, he didn't look ill. He filled out, he looked better.

"I," Michael paused, correcting himself, "We think it's time to give Ashton some more rights to Timothy." He looked down at his fingers, scratching at the skin. "It's been a while and Ashton swear he's doing better."

"I am doing better," the older man corrected.

"We have to conduct an investigation for that, you both know that," George said, writing down something neither men could see in his notepad. "So, Ashton, you better be clean in seven days."

"I will be," Ashton said, hoping to believe the words coming from his own mouth, "I promise."

Michael hid his eye roll. Why was he doing this? "What's the next step, G?"

"Well, lots of paperwork. We'll assign you a social work, we'll talk to Timothy by himself, we'll talk to each of you by yourselves, we'll go from there." Their lawyer listed off the steps, counting them on his large fingers.

"What would the outcomes be?" Michael asked, leaning on the table to face George. He didn't want to look at Ashton, he didn't want to feel anything for Ashton. He knew that he would do anything for Ashton, all the brunette had to do was bat his golden brown eyes.

"Ashton will, unfortunately, never be able to have full custody of Timothy. We'll start with monitored visitations if everything checks out, then we'll go from there."

Michael wrapped himself warmer into his fall jacket, "That seems fair."

"No, it doesn't," Ashton said, his eyebrows scrunched up in anger.

Mike turned his end. "You're an ex-felon, I am not trusting you with my child. You know that."

Ashton knew Michael would say that, he just wanted to hear it for himself. "Our child, Michael."

"Not legally, Ashton." Michael looked up at him, raising his right eyebrow and daring Ashton to question the law. "You wanna keep trying?"

Ash sighed, pouting out his lower lip. "I don't understand why you get so defensive. Just love me, Michael."
"I'm doing all this for you," he responded, trying not to raise his voice.

"I love you, and Tim. I want to have more than just monitored visitation!"

Michael shook his head and ran a hand through his hair. "Well, you don't get that." He tried to be angry, he tried to put his foot down. But his heart pulled closer to Ashton and it was getting harder to say no.

Ashton made everything more complicated.

"You know what?" Ashton rhetorically asked. "Fine. When my tests come back clean, we can let the court decide."

"There won't be a court-hearing," Michael pointed out.

"This is why we broke up!"

George put his hands between the two, trying to settle them down the same way they settle down fighting cats. "You two both need to breathe, alright? I'll get these papers filed and get a social worker to come by. You two cannot have any contact between those days, you know that."

Ashton and Michael made eye contact. They knew a lot, they just didn't follow a lot.

"Yeah," Ash said, more calmly.

"Yeah," the younger one responded, "That's fine."

Unedited bc school. 

Thoughts on Ashton and Michael bending their own agreement?

Does Ashton actually want to be in the family?

Does Michael love, lust, or hate Ashton?