shoulder kisses

3

"Hi Ashton. Please, sit." The principal beckoned for Ashton to sit in the chair, across from her desk. She sat down right after, folding her hands on top of the desk. "Tell me what happened at Luke's soccer game."

Ashton then proceeded to tell Mrs. Chapman everything that happened. She nodded and listened intently, until he finally finished. "Okay, Mr. Irwin. Well I promise, this will never happen again. Josh is gone, and it has all been taken care of." She smiled, and Ashton nodded, taking a deep breath. "Thank you. So much."

Finally, school was over. Ashton was so stressed, and he didn't feel like going home. He asked Michael if he wanted to hang out, but Michael had a dentist appointment, so Ashton made his way to Luke's locker.

"Out of my way, fag." A jock shoved Ashton into the lockers on his way, and Ashton was stunned. What did he do to that guy? He didn't even know his name. "Ashton!" Luke exclaimed from the hallway, running up to him. "Hey. You alright?" He asked, putting a hand on Ashton's shoulder. He flinched.

Luke pulled his hand away from Ashton, pouting slightly. "Did I do something?" Luke asked softly, and Ashton shook his head. "Of course not." Ashton said, and Luke nodded. "Okay...c'mon. Let's get out of here." Luke smiled, walking out of the school.

Ashton and Luke walked into Luke's house, and Ashton met his mom in the kitchen. "Mum...this is Ashton. He's my bestie." Luke said, giggling. Ashton blushed as his mom pulled the boy into a hug. "Ashton! I've heard so much about you. It's nice to finally put a face to the name." She smiled, and Ashton nodded. "Thanks, Mrs. Hemmings." Ashton mumbled as she let go. "Please. Call me Liz." She smiled, and Ashton nodded. "Well, thanks, Liz."

Luke led Ashton upstairs and to his room. Ashton's jaw dropped as his eyes traveled around the large room. He knew the house was big, but he couldn't imagine Luke's room being this huge. He had a queen bed pushed into the corner, blanket thrown carelessly to the ground. There were clothes thrown around, but Ashton couldn't care less. Luke flopped onto the bed, so Ashton followed soon behind. "What's this tattoo mean?" Ashton asked, poking at a bird on his forearm.

"My aunt died a couple months back. She had cancer, and it was fatal, you know. So, she always used to tell me that she'd be a free bird when she died. And after she did I got the tattoo to remember her by." Luke rambled, and Ashton nodded along. "That's amazing. I'm sorry about your aunt, but that's a beautiful tattoo." Ashton said, and Luke grinned. "Thanks, love." Luke said, and Ashton bit his lip.

Luke was confused.

He didn't like many people, but everything just seemed so easy for Ashton. Luke only told one person about his tattoo, and that was his old boyfriend. This boy was really something special, and he couldn't figure out what that was for the life of him.

"Want me to play some music?" Luke asked with a grin, and Ashton nodded. Luke jumped up and connected his phone to the speaker, playing some playlist. Ashton was about to ask what was on the playlist when he was caught by surprise. One of his favorite songs came on, by the LANY.

Ashton smiled, closing his eyes. He let himself go with the music, and Luke was watching what he did. Ashton felt eyes on him, so he fluttered his own open. "What?" He asked, and Luke shrugged. "I didn't know you liked them." He smiled.

"They're a pretty indie band." Luke said, and Ashton shrugged. "I grew up on music like that I guess." He said, and Luke nodded. "Cool." He said, and they talked more about music, which led into talking about movies, which led into them talking about very intense details about their lives.

"Ashton?" Luke asked after a while, and Ashton nodded his head. "Okay. You don't have to tell me but...why did you flinch when I touched your arm? You've never done that before." Luke asked, staring into his eyes. "It's just...the reason we moved here wasn't cuz my mum got a job down here." He said quietly, when Luke nodded for him to continue.