sugar babysitter ➟ muke

eight

ashton stuck his tongue out at michael before getting out of the car. michael followed suit and joined ashton's side once they were both outside, practically clinging to ashton's arm as they walked into the lobby of the gym. ashton had a membership, so he signed himself in and michael as a guest before he took michael's hand and led him towards the gym room.

"i think i'm just gonna head over to the treadmills," michael spoke quietly as they walked into the gym, his green eyes looking around in awe. ashton nodded in understanding and gave michael's hand a squeeze before letting go to walk over to the weights, while michael tentatively went over to the treadmills.

he picked one of the machines and got on, hesitating before placing his hands on the handles, not exactly wanting to get sweat germs anywhere on him. michael set the time for ten minutes at first, but then changed it to seven and set his speed to one point two.

once he felt more comfortable, michael kept gradually increasing the speed of the treadmill until he was at two point three and on the verge of jogging. he briefly swept his gaze around the gym, his eyes finding ashton as he was stretching. michael offered a bright smile in his friend's direction before glancing back down to his moving feet.

"i'm fucking tired," michael complained lightly to himself as he checked how much more time he had left. a frown appeared on his lips when he saw that he had only been on the treadmill for a minute and a half.

he wasn't joking when he said that he was out of shape; michael hadn't gone to the gym (much less workout at home) in over a year.

"whoa, i don't think you should raise the speed that much if you're already tired," a deep voice sounded beside michael, causing him to look over in confusion. a tall man was standing next to his treadmill, and he quickly leaned over to lower michael's speed on the treadmill.

"you work at the gym?" michael asked, seeing that the guy was in an employee uniform. the guy nodded and then caught the sight of michael's phone in the water bottle holder on the treadmill. michael had put a sticker of ashton's college's logo on the back of his phone, stating that he wanted to show his pride for ashton going to the college.

the man pointed at michael's phone. "do you go there? i do."

"nah, my friend does," michael informed, slowing down his speed so he could focus on his conversation with the employee instead. he offered him a bright smile and added, "i'm michael."

"i'm calum, it's nice to meet you," calum replied, and a sneaky smile made its way onto michael's lips before he flickered his gaze over to ashton, who was oblivious to calum and michael since he was too busy preparing himself to lift weights.

"you see that guy over there about to lift weights?" michael asked, pointing towards his best friend halfway across the gym. calum followed michael's gaze and then nodded, his teeth taking ahold of his lower lip as he watched ashton, "i think he could use some pointers; he's a bit nervous."

calum fought back a smile as he met michael's bright green eyes again. "will do. i'll go talk to him."

michael turned off his machine as he watched calum approach ashton, greeting him with a wave of his fingers before he gestured to the equipment, probably discussing how it should best be used. a smirk landed on michael's lips before he jumped off the treadmill and began to walk towards the gym lobby, triumphant since he got calum to talk to ashton. now all he needed was for ashton to use his charm, and the two would eventfully hit it off.

at the sound of his phone going off, michael slightly jumped and reached into his pocket to check it, frowning a bit at his manager's name flashing on his screen. but then dread filled him when he remembered that he had a shift and it started fifteen minutes ago.