the sound, settle down [mashton af]

// t e n //

And you say I'm such a cliche,/ I can't see the difference in it either way./ And we left things to protect my mental health

Michael and Ashton went out to dinner again. Michael didn't want Ashton to think of it as a date, so he brought his work to the table.

They sat at a loud burger joint, a 600-page binder in between them.

"What's that?" Ashton asked after a full half hour. He lifted up his hot burger, taking another bite. He didn't want to finish his meal before Michael, but Michael barely touched his food.

"Work," he blatantly responded. His hands flipped over another page as his other grabbed a french fry, bringing it up to his mouth.

"All you do is work. I spend, like, thirty minutes with you a week and all you do is work," he complained. A sudden realization hit him as he listened to his own words, he sounded like he did ten years ago. Ashton was always the first to complain about Michael's work schedule, he'll probably be the last, too.

Michael closed the binder and held in a sigh. He placed his crossed hands on the table, looking up at Ashton with a cock of his head. "There," he said, "it's away."

Ash reached over their meals, taking the binder and putting it at his side of the booth. "You'll get this back when you finish your dinner."

Michael laughed, a smile finally etched on his lips. He took a bite of his dinner, savoring the taste. "Yes, Daddy." They caught eyes with one another, both breaking out into laughter for old time's sake.

They sat in a silence for a few moments, both of them caught in their heads with endless rows of memories filling up each and every thought.

"So, you bought the company after I left, right?" Ashton finally asked, picking at a few french fries from Michael's plate when he wasn't looking.

"Only a fourth of it, then a little more," he responded, "I'm hoping to buy the rest in the next decade or so, though. I've gotta figure out savings and all that first."

"You were always like that," the older man said with a shake of his head.

"Like what?"

"Just—," he put his dinner back on the plate in front of him and looked at his ex, "I don't know. So career motivated, I guess."

Michael shrugged his shoulders, "I had to be. It was either mope around about my life or make it into something great. I'm not gonna stop until I'm at the top, you know that." He looked up at Ashton, looking at his tired eyes and dry lips. He could see that Ashton was trying to make his life into something spectacular, but things weren't working out for him. "Mom helped me a bunch before she, you know."

He nodded, looking down at meal again, still able to feel Mike's eyes on him. "She was such a good lady. I miss her bunches."

Michael nodded his head, trying not show that he's still in mourning. "I'm not sure how I could have done any of it without my mother. Right after she passed, I kind of got a look of what could have been."

"How so?"

"Like, there were so many days when I'd leave work to pick up Tim, go back to work, and stay until midnight. Tim would do his homework in my office then fall asleep. It would have been awful if he had to do that every day for almost a decade."

There's a feeling filling Ashton chest: Guilt. Ash couldn't help how it turned out though, no matter how much Michael believes that his ex is just a selfish pig, he couldn't help it.

Ashton isn't sure if Michael will ever fully forgive him. Michael needed Ashton and Ashton wasn't there.

He isn't sure if he's ever going to get 100 percent back in Michael's life (along with Timothy's life). He takes tonight's dinner as a good sign, though. Michael is smiling and he is happy. Ashton is happy that Michael is happy.

"This is gonna be a weird question," Ashton took a pause to take another nibble at his dinner, "but, do you remember the exact moment we found out I was pregnant?"

Michael had a small smile on his lips again as he nodded, "Yeah, I thought my future was over. I don't think I've ever cried that much." He could laugh at the memory now because it was long over, but at that exact moment in time, Michael sort of wanted to die.

It wasn't a good moment at the time. They were fifteen and sixteen, they were stupid and young. Now they're a little less stupid and a little less young.

"Those were a few pretty rough weeks." Ashton pushed away his empty dinner plate as he sat back in his seat. "We did good," he said, "you did really good."

Michael smiled.

"You'll always be more of a father than I can even imagine," he said, his serious persona on once again, "I'm grateful for that, do you know that?"

He looked up, his green eyes focused on Ashton. He zoned out, only listening to the words leaving Ashton's mouth.

"Timothy is an amazing kid and I don't get to take credit for that."

Thoughts?

Thoughts on Michael always working?

Thoughts on Tim having to, kind of, grow up a little fast?