✔︎Baby | OT4

027

"Ashton's disappeared into the shower," Casey informed. He sat outside the younger brunette's bedroom, back leant against the door. The senior had his phone in hand, typing quickly with a fond smile on his features.

"Caleb?" Rena asked, in reference to the iPhone. Casey nodded, while scrolling horizontally. The dark haired teenager sat next to him, her thin back sliding down the smooth wall.

"Which emoji is better?" Casey asked, tilting his phone to show off a heart-eyed face, and one blowing a kiss.

"You're so cute," his best friend chuckled, before pointing to the second option. The taller lad smiled thankfully, typing it with quick thumbs before hitting send. "How're things going with lover-boy anyways?"

Casey sat up a bit straighter, excited for the chance to speak about Caleb. "Good! We're still not exclusive, but he said I'm his favorite," the boy said, biting his nails in an adorable display of shy fondness.

"Of course you are, princess," Rena smiled genuinely.

Casey chuckled, rolling his eyes at the term of endearment and leaning on her shoulder. "He just can't meet Ashy, and I'll be golden."

"Not everyone prefers Ashton," Rena promised, hugging her best friend from the side, head rested on his shoulder. "You're my favorite," she added as proof.

   Casey laughed. The brunette boy wrapped an arm around his smaller best friend, and the two leant with their heads balanced on one another's until the soft rush of Ashton's shower shut off.

   They listened in an amicable silence to the clatter of water as he shook droplets from his curls. The soft ruffle of a towel against his hair, and the violent blare of a hairdryer. Pings of the button and zipper on Ash's trousers making contact as he dug through drawers, and the smooth slide of fabric on denim. Lastly, the smooth sound of soft material against his tanned skin, before the turn of a doorknob.

   It was only then that the pair realized their mistake. As Ashton opened his door, Casey and Rena fell backwards, smacking the surprised boy's shins. The two seniors groaned, while he stared in a silent surprise for a few short seconds. Once the slight strangeness of the occurrence had been situated in his brain, the brunette was stepping back and crouching to check on the fallen teenagers.

   "Are you okay?" Ashton asked worriedly, eyebrows crinkling, and disrupting the path of a single water droplet snaking down from his hair.

   "Yeah," Casey muttered, whilst Rena groaned dramatically and threw a hand over her eyes.

   "Ow," she said in a hilariously factual tone, as if informing her mates just how much it had hurt. It drew a giggle and a chuckle from them, and they helped the shorter teenager to her feet.

Once she was standing, Rena looked over Ashton. His slightly wet curls, darkened from a chocolatey color to one that reminded the girl of something burnt, scorched to a crisp. It was an odd contrast to his natural, dark blonde hair, that had seemed to shine topaz, like the midday sun. His aluminum gray sweatpants, with elastic around the waist and ankles. Despite that, the pants hung low and loosely on his hips, and were about to slide over his ankles to cover his feet. The brunette was overly thin, to the point where what were supposed to be tight pants were loose, and loose pants swamped him. His thin white t-shirt, that was slightly wet and clung to Ashton's sunken stomach.

He looked sickly, yet also adorable. Either way, it made Rena want to hug the taller lad, and so she did. The petite girl wrapped her arms around his thin shoulders, balancing on her tiptoes. "Let's go out," she decided. "We never did make those cupcakes, let's go to a bakery or something." Ashton nodded, whilst Casey glanced down at his phone. "Invite him," Rena said, in reference to Caleb.

   Casey looked unsure, glancing at Ashton's adorable, dimpled face for a split second, but with Rena's words in mind, nodded. "Sure," he murmured, typing rapidly. After a few moments, he spoke again. "Can we meet at the little coffee shop near Shakeaway? A couple of Caleb's friends work there." He was met with two nods.

With a destination in mind, the trio climbed into Casey's car, and trudged along slowly in the busy London traffic.

—

"Casey!" A girl's thickly Australian accented voice rang out as Rena, Ashton and Casey entered Smol Beans, a cute little coffee shop. The voice belonged to a slim blonde, with darkly tanned skin and pale green eyes. Tortoiseshell glasses that were adorably big slid down her nose, and a loose, dark blue sweater hung over her tight, light wash jeans. "Hi!" she greeted cheerily. "I'm Bree. You're Caleb's mate, yeah?"

   "Boyfriend," Caleb corrected, standing from his booth and ambling over. He wrapped an arm around Casey's shoulders, kissing his cheek. The slightly younger lad nearly choked at the word, giggling infatuatedly. Through his rose-tinted vision, the brunette didn't see Bree's reaction, but Rena did. The gorgeous girl's features fell, excitement replaced with concern. She seemed to love her friend—platonically, of course—but at the same time disliked him, in some aspect. Like she'd seen him throw people away like tissues, and had accepted she couldn't do anything about it.

It didn't help that Caleb's head tilted towards Ashton slightly, and Rena was worried what expression was hidden behind his small circular sunglasses.

A/N
shamelessly writing my internet friends into the story
honestly this has become a hey violet fanfic im sorry
(if u like 5sos tho keep your eyes on my profile there's a hella better ot4 in the works) (shameless self promo) (everything i do is shameless tbh im trash)