the sound, settle down [mashton af]

// t w e n t y - f o u r //

24. I guess I'll never learn/ 'Cause I stay another hour or two

Ashton stayed over on a Saturday night. It was usually Michael and Tim's binge-watch night on Netflix, but Michael didn't have the heart to tell him to go home.

So, the three sat on the sofa in their living room, curled up in their own blankets. They passed around a bowl of popcorn mixed with Cheetos, none of them saying anything as season 3 of Breaking Bad played out in front of them.

Ashton was in the middle between his son and his ex. Each of them were a good few inches apart, none of them willing to try to cuddle up with the other.

When Michael was in college, the three used to spend a lot of time cuddling on the couch. It was some of the best moments of Ashton's life, a feeling of nostalgia washing over him as he thought of the good times.

He can still remember Michael coming home from an evening class and collapsing on their living room couch. Tim would come running over to his father, his chubby legs trying his best to jump up on the cushions and climb on top of Mike.

The college student would let out a laugh and smile as he grabbed his son, lifting him up in the air and listening to his squeal of a laughter. Michael would wrap his arms around the three-year-old, squeezing him in a hug until his kid begged to be let go between bits of laughter.

Ashton would come over next, turning down the television and placing some type of snack on their coffee table. He'd sit on the end of the couch, curled up at Michael's feet.

Ash always gave Mike the needed time to bond with Tim. Michael was doubling up on most of credit hours so that he could finish his bachelors degree and get straight to law as soon as possible. This meant, though, that he wasn't home often. He didn't get to see Timothy for hours on end like Ashton got to.

Michael would settle down after an hour or two. Tim would be worn out, Michael's energy almost gone as well.

The three would cuddle up on their couch, some movie playing on their television that was not very age appropriate for their toddler.

Those were the days. They were going from check to check every month, they never had much money to spend. They had each other, though. Michael and Ashton weren't fighting at that time, Michael thinks of those moments as some of their best. Michael was able to look at Ashton way back when and just know that his curly haired man was going to be his forever.

Now, Mike can't say the same.

He looked at Ashton halfway through the second episode and he still feels something. He knows he's still in complete and utter love, but he doesn't think it's the same kind of love as what it once was. Michael can feel his heart beating when he looks at Ash.

Love is the same feeling one gets when a plane is taking off. Their heart and lungs feel like they're rising, they can close their eyes and feel at some type of peace. That's what Michael feels like when he thinks of Ashton, when he looks at Ashton, when he feels Ashton.

Michael looks away when Ashton looks at him.

Ashton feels something, too. It's not like a plane taking off, it's more or less like a plane landing. The final breath of fresh air as one feels the wheels kick the ground.

Ashton's breath catches in his throat when he looks at Mike, after all this time his breath still stops as he admires the younger one.

It takes him back all the days back in high school. They were so young and so stupid. Nothing mattered to them, nothing at all. They didn't really meet until sophomore year. The two knew of each other but nothing more, they had a pretty big public school and their own separate social group.

Tim was conceived in the second semester of their sophomore year. By that time, Ashton and Michael have been dating for a few months, they really thought they were in love. They weren't ready for a child, but they were in love.

When Ashton found out he was pregnant, Michael aged a good decade or so. Suddenly, he wasn't this little fifteen-year-old messing around in school. He did well in school, worked hard as a hostess after school, then took care of Ashton and eventually Timothy.

Michael became a very focused man. Ashton never took that needed aging. He stayed the sixteen-year-old he was, getting high in his car with the windows cracked open, staying up late, missing the first half of the following day.

All this nostalgic thinking made current-day-Ashton tired. Somewhere around episode five, his head fell to Michael's shoulder. His subconscious felt comfortable around Michael.

With his eyes closed and mind shutting off, he dreamt about the college years. Those were the best days of his life. Ashton wished they stayed like that.

Michael wrapped his arm around Ashton's back, holding him closer.

Timothy got up around episode seven—the clock now nearing one in the morning—and sat at Mike's side. He leant down, resting his head on Michael's lap.

"Hey, Dad?" He whispered to his sleepy paternal parent.

"Hm?" The thirty-year-old asked, keeping his eyes half shut.

"I love you."

Mike's lips curled up into a small smile. "I love you more." He rested his other hand in his son's hair, cooing him into his own sleep.

The three laid there in a half-asleep state of mind. It went all the way back to the college days, the best days.

Ashton hoped that those days would come again, maybe better this time. Some nights, they would be too tired from taking care of an active toddler that Ash and Mike would just crash anywhere.

This time around, the two were just old and not meant to stay up late. It was the same feeling.

Everything is different, but nothing has changed.

I lowkey wish I wrote a prequel to this, I feel like all their college years would have been really cute and all. Then it could end while Ashton is a Mess ^tm and lead right into this. 

But, that's too much work. Probably not happening. 

This story isn't too long, only thirty-two chapters plus an epilogue. Are you guys enjoying it? Do you want a prequel or sequel? It's totally okay if you don't....,,,less writing for me, I mean.......love u guys