Work Text:
“I’m telling you Luke!” Ashton continues complaining as he sits with his best friend, Luke. His roommate is gone for the afternoon, left early in the morning for work. So, Luke came over so Ashton could complain about how horrible his new roommate is. Ashton has been living with his new roommate for about a month now, and his best friend hasn’t even been over to meet him yet because Ashton doesn’t like him, and he’s worried what his roommate would say in front of Luke.
“I think you’re being a bit… dramatic, Ash,” Luke says, taking a sip of his Root Beer.
Ashton huffs. “But, I’m not being dramatic. He really is the worst, the grumpiest person I’ve ever met!”
“Even worse than Umbridge?” Luke asks, raising his eyebrows.
“Who?” Ashton asks, tilting his head with confusion.
Luke moans, clearly disappointed in Ashton. “Jesus Christ, Ash. We seriously need to sit down and have a Harry Potter marathon. It’s insane that you don’t know who the most hated Harry Potter character is.”
“I thought that was Voldemort?” Ashton asks, frowning.
“No, no, no. You’ll understand when we watch the movie,” Luke says, waving him off. “Anyways, Calum. Look, I can’t give you any advice because I haven’t even met the guy yet.”
“I wanted you to meet him, until I realized how horrible he was. Seriously, he threw a fit because I left a few crumbs on the kitchen counter. Like, he’s a neat freak!”
“There’s nothing wrong with wanting things to be clean, Ash,” Luke says. “Nobody wants ants.”
“And that’s fine, whatever! But he didn’t have to bite my fucking head off the way he did. He could have just said hey, clean this mess up Ashton and I would have cleaned it up,” Ashton argues.
“Would you have actually though? You can be lazy sometimes,” Luke says.
“Yes,” Ashton huffs. “If I knew that it was bothering him that much, then I would have. But fucking no, instead he screamed at me and threw a fit. I haven’t really spoken to him since then.”
“I mean, I guess that’s understandable,” Luke says, shrugging. “Maybe he is just a grump.”
“It’s just… I feel like we would get along with each other. I know he likes the same shows and music and shit that I like. He’s just so angry all the time,” Ashton mumbles.
“You don’t really know anything about his personal life, do you? I mean, maybe something happened that caused him to be such a grump?” Luke suggests.
“Luke,” Ashton warns. “Even if something did happen, it’s not any of my business.”
“I’m just saying there could be a reason why he’s so grumpy all the time,” Luke mumbles, shrugging. He looks over when he hears the front door open. He looks over at Ashton with raised eyebrows.
“No, I’m not doing it, Michael! I don’t care what you say!”
“Calum,” Ashton whispers to Luke, leaning against the counter. “Guess you’re finally meeting him.”
“He sounds like a joy already,” Luke says, grinning when Ashton laughs.
“ Why ?” Calum continues, scoffing. “Because last time I went on a blind date set up with you the guy was so fucking boring I had to crawl out of the bathroom window and the employee helped me because she saw how miserable I was on that date. Are you even listening to me? Did you ever stop to think that maybe I’m seeing someone already?” Calum stops in his tracks, freezing. “Uh, it’s new, Mike. Yeah, sure. You can meet him. Uh, I don’t know. I’ll text you the details later. Okay, bye. Bye.”
Calum sighs as he hangs up the phone. He looks up and blinks when he sees both Ashton and Luke staring at him, Luke with an amused expression on his face. “Oh. You’re home.”
“Finished my classes early. Don’t work tonight,” Ashton asks. “You’re seeing someone?”
Calum groans. “No, of course not. I just told my best friend that so he would shut up, and now I have to find a boyfriend in time to meet Michael. No one’s ever going to agree to that.”
“Ashton’s single and very gay. You can ask him,” Luke says, pointing at Ashton.
“Luke!” Ashton hisses, glaring at his best friend.
“You’re gay?” Calum asks, looking over at Ashton, and then he looks back at Luke. “Do I know you?”
“No, I’m Ashton’s best friend. I’m Luke, though. Nice to finally meet you,” Luke says, waving a little.
“Calum,” Calum says, before looking back at Ashton. “Look, I know we don’t really get along and shit, but Michael hasn’t stopped hounding me about getting a boyfriend because he thinks I’m lonely. It would just be for a couple of weeks, then we can break up, or whatever. I don’t know how fake relationships work.”
“Now, hold on a minute. If I’m going to do this then I want something out of it,” Ashton says.
“Come on, please ,” Calum groans, almost whining. Ashton has never seen this side of Calum before.
Ashton chuckles. “I never said I wouldn’t do it, Calum. I’m just saying I want something out of it.”
“Like what?” Calum asks, frowning.
“You take me out on real dates,” Ashton says. “I haven’t dated in like a year. Besides, if we’re going to fake date each other then we need to make it look believable so this Michael guy will get off your back.”
“Oh,” Calum says. “I guess that makes sense. We can go on a couple dates.”
“We’re going to have to hold hands and kiss,” Ashton says, and laughs when he sees the look on Calum’s face. “Like I said, I want something out of this thing too. Not saying we have to like fuck or whatever-” Ashton instantly rolls his eyes when he hears Luke make a gagging noise. “You shut up over there, Luke. As if you haven’t said something vulgar in front of me when it comes to your partners.”
“Look, fine. We can kiss and shit, but no fucking. I save that for my actual partners,” Calum warns.
“You mean you haven’t gone through a slut phase?” Ashton asks Calum. “Luke sure has.”
“Hey!” Luke whines. “Quit making me look bad in front of your boyfriend.”
“He’s not even my boyfriend,” Ashton says, laughing. “And, you cannot deny your slut phase, Luke.”
“I was like sixteen, and all the boys were cute at my high school. Excuse me,” Luke grumbles.
Calum shakes his head. “Anyways. Michael wants to meet my so-called boyfriend. So, tomorrow then?”
“I have to work tomorrow, but we can do it after. I’ll get home before six,” Ashton says.
“So, six thirty?” Calum says, and sighs in relief when Ashton nods in agreement. “Great. I’ll tell Michael.”
Ashton raises his eyebrows as he watches Calum head towards his bedroom, before looking over at Luke. “Okay. What the hell was that?” He points to where Calum was just standing.
“Beats me. Sounds like you’ve got yourself a boyfriend though. You’re welcome,” Luke says.
Ashton scoffs. “Why should I thank you? You didn’t do anything!”
“Excuse me. Who was the one that told Calum you were single and gay?” Luke asks. “That’s right. Me .”
Ashton rolls his eyes. “I’m still not thanking you, but maybe something good might come out of this. Sounds like Calum’s a serious dater so if we go on enough dates and he sees how amazing of a boyfriend I- shut up. I am an amazing boyfriend! I’m so romantic and thoughtful!”
Luke stops laughing. “Okay, that’s fair. I have seen you with your past boyfriends,” he says.
“Yeah, exactly. Eat shit,” Ashton grumbles, and rolls his eyes again when Luke continues laughing.
Ashton doesn’t talk to Calum again that night, which makes him even more nervous for tomorrow, when he meets Calum’s best friend. He’s never met anyone in Calum’s life. He didn’t even know that Calum had a best friend until last night when Ashton agreed to be Calum’s boyfriend.
Ashton is in the middle of getting dressed when Calum barges into his bedroom. Ashton yelps as soon as he sees Calum standing in his doorway. “Dude! What the fuck?”
“What?” Calum asks, blinking. “S’not like you were naked or anything.”
“I could have been!” Ashton shouts as he pulls his shirt fully down.
Calum shrugs his shoulders. “Anyways. So, Michael will be here in an hour. Obviously we’re not dating, so I’ve come up with a scenario of how we started dating if Michael asks how we met.”
Ashton blinks, tilting his head slightly as he stares at Calum. “I mean, we’re roommates ?”
“Really? That’s so boring,” Calum grumbles, crossing his arms against his chest.
“Dude, not everything has to be so grand and romantic,” Ashton says with amusement.
“ Fine ,” Calum snaps, huffing. “We’ll do it your boring way. We started dating after we became roommates and got to know each other. So fucking boring.”
“Except, I don’t know anything about you,” Ashton mumbles.
“Yeah you do. Just because we haven’t talked about it, doesn’t mean you don’t know it,” Calum says.
Ashton rolls his eyes, but he knows Calum is right. He knows some of Calum’s favorite bands, tv shows and movies. He just wishes he could have one conversation with Calum, get to know him better.
An hour passes by way too quickly for Ashton’s liking.
Eventually, Michael shows up at the apartment. Ashton is the one to answer the door because Calum is stuck in the bathroom, which isn’t what Ashton wanted. He has no idea what Michael is like.
Ashton takes a deep breath before opening the door. He looks up and sees the blonde-haired boy. “Hi.”
“Oh, hi. You must be Ashton?” Michael asks.
Ashton nods shyly, and steps aside to let Michael inside before shutting the door. “Yeah, sorry. Calum’s too busy being a diva right now to greet his best friend,” he says.
“Hey!”
Ashton looks over and smirks when he sees Calum. “What? You’ve been in there for like an hour.”
“That’s so not true,” Calum argues, before looking over at Michael. “Hi Michael.”
“Are you going to introduce me to your secret boyfriend?” Michael asks.
Calum sighs, and walks over to Ashton. “This is Ashton,” he says, gesturing towards him. “My boyfriend.”
“I can’t believe you’ve kept this secret from me for- how long?” Michael asks, blinking.
Calum hesitates, before looking over at Ashton. “Ash?”
Ashton tries not to react to Calum calling him Ash for the first time, because Ash is only a nickname family and close friends call him. Ashton chuckles. “Wow, some boyfriend, huh? I’d say six months.”
“Six months?” Michael shouts. He scoffs, and looks over at Calum. “So all those times you were complaining about how annoying Ashton is? That was all just a cover up?”
Ashton looks over at Calum with raised eyebrows. “Annoying, am I?”
“Michael,” Calum hisses, glaring at his best friend.
“No, no, no. Let the man talk. I want to hear about this,” Ashton says. “Continue, Michael.”
“Yeah, Cal used to text me all the time about your annoying habits. I guess it makes sense now,”
“That’s okay. I do the same thing with Luke so we’re even Cal,” Ashton says.
“Luke?” Michael asks curiously, raising his eyebrows at Ashton.
“Luke, my best friend. I’m sure you’ll be meeting him soon enough,” Ashton says. “So, uh… what exactly are we doing for dinner? I just got back from a long shift, so-”
“Why don’t we just order pizza?” Calum suggests. “I don’t really feel like cooking tonight.”
“Pizza is fine with me,” Ashton says, looking over at Michael, who nods in agreement.
Of course, Michael instantly starts asking Ashton many questions when they head to the living room, while they wait for the pizza to arrive. Ashton’s not bothered by Michael’s questions though.
“You said you had a shift tonight. Where do you work?” Michael asks curiously.
Ashton chuckles. “No place exciting, don’t worry. I work at the local library, but it helps pay the rent, so… I’m not complaining. Besides, it’s nice and quiet in the library, and I love books.”
“I knew you were a nerd,” Calum mumbles, and Ashton whacks him on the arm.
“Don’t talk to me about being a nerd when I saw you watching Star Wars for the fourth time this week,” Ashton hisses, earning a glare from Calum.
“Calum is a huge fucking nerd!” Michael exclaims.
Ashton grins as he looks over at Calum. “Oh, trust me. I know,” he says, because even if he hasn’t really talked to Calum, he does pay attention, and he wasn’t lying about the Star Wars thing.
“I’m rewatching the movies again, sue me!” Calum groans.
“This is like the hundredth time you’re rewatching the movies, Cal. You can’t use that argument,” Michael says, pointing at his best friend. He looks over at Ashton. “Are you a Star Wars nerd?”
“No,” Ashton chuckles and shakes his head. “I’m not even a Harry Potter fan, although Luke is not happy about that at all and he swears we’re gonna watch the movies, but we haven’t yet.”
Calum perks up. “Oh my God. You haven’t seen Harry Potter? What the hell? Michael! Go get the first Harry Potter movie. We’re watching it while we eat dinner,” he says excitedly.
Ashton groans and sinks down into the couch. “Luke’s not going to be happy I watched it without him.”
“So?” Calum looks over at him. “Invite him over then. I don’t care. We’re watching it.”
Ashton raises his eyebrows, but he doesn’t think Calum is making a joke. He’s being serious. So, Ashton pulls out his cell phone and sends Luke a text. Luke arrives ten minutes later.
“This is not how I thought this boyfriend meeting would go,” Michael says after being introduced to Luke.
“Sorry to crash whatever this is, but there’s no way I’m letting Ashton watch Harry Potter without me,” Luke says. “I’ve been trying to get him to watch these movies for years. He works at a fucking library and he’s never even read the Harry Potter books. What kind of librarian are you?”
“A busy one,” Ashton snaps, reaching over to shove Luke.
Surprisingly, after the first night of the four boys hanging out together, those kinds of nights keep happening at Calum and Ashton’s apartment. Michael and Luke will come over and they’ll watch a movie while eating dinner. They don’t always order out for dinner. Sometimes, Ashton will help Calum cook. Calum’s an excellent cook, Ashton learns quickly, and he learns a lot from him.
Calum takes Ashton on a date the night after he meets Michael.
Ashton tries telling him that he really doesn’t have to take him on a date, but Calum insists.
“Just stop arguing, Ashton. It’s the least I can do after you pretended to be my boyfriend for me, and… continuing to be my boyfriend. Michael really believed it. You must be a good actor,” Calum says as they walk into the restaurant they’re eating at. “Hi, table for two please.”
“Follow me,” the waitress says after grabbing two menus.
“Maybe I should have been an actor,” Ashton says. “Or I’m just a really good boyfriend.”
“I’ll be the judge of that,” Calum says, glancing over at Ashton.
Ashton rolls his eyes. “Come on- why does nobody believe me? I make an excellent boyfriend! It’s not my fault none of my past relationships haven’t worked. I’m just really bad at picking boys.”
Calum snorts. “Well, then I promise to be the best fake boyfriend you’ve ever had.”
“You better,” Ashton says, pointing at him accusingly. “I’m putting my dating life on hold for you.”
“I will,” Calum says, and reaches over to kiss Ashton’s cheek, causing the older boy to blush deeply.
After the first date, Ashton thinks he and Calum are growing closer. Calum doesn’t flinch when Ashton holds his hand, or when he snuggles up to him on the couch. Ashton knows he’s clingy, but it’s only because he hasn’t dated in quite a long time, and he doesn’t know how long this fake relationship with Calum will actually last, so he’s soaking it in while he can.
After a few easy months of fake dating, Ashton starts to notice that Calum leaves the apartment a lot. Calum just tells him that he’s hanging out with friends or that he’s with Michael.
One night, after Calum has left for a night out with Michael, Ashton finds Calum’s phone on the table. Ashton rolls his eyes as soon as he sees it. He pulls his phone out to text Michael, but stops when a notification pops up on Calum’s screen. He walks over to it, curious, and frowns when he sees that it’s a text message from someone named Brian.
Brian :)
Can’t wait to see you tonight!
Ashton gasps out loud, and his heart starts pounding against his chest. Calum told him earlier that he was going to be hanging out with Michael tonight, not somebody named Brian.
Ashton curses to himself, and he calls Michael.
“Hello?”
“Michael,” Ashton breathes out. “Hi. uhm, are- are you with Calum right now?”
“Uhm, no? I’m working right now,” Michael says. “Why? Is everything okay?”
“I- It’s fine,” Ashton lies quickly. “Uhm, he just forgot his phone. I thought you were with him tonight.”
“No, but I think he was hanging out with some of our other friends,” Michael says.
“Friends. Right. Do you happen to know of a Brian?” Ashton asks nervously.
“Oh, yeah. Brian’s one of our mutual friends. He works with Calum at the bar. Cool guy,” Michael says. “Ash, are you sure you’re okay? You sound… weird.”
“I’m fine,” Ashton chokes out. “I’m sorry for bothering you. I… I gotta go.” He quickly hangs up on Michael. He startles when he hears the door suddenly open, and he quickly turns around before Calum sees him, and heads to his bedroom. He shuts the door and takes a deep breath as he leans against the door.
Why is he getting so upset over a relationship that isn’t even really real? They’re not really dating, so Calum can do whatever he wants. Ashton just thought he was finally getting somewhere with Calum. They’d been going on nice little dates, getting to know each other, having movie nights with Michael and Luke. Ashton’s even become friends with Michael. It’d been such a step forward from where they were.
Ashton sinks down to the floor, and looks down at the phone in his hands. He hesitates, before going to his contacts and hovering over Luke’s name before calling him.
“Hi Ash!” Luke greets cheerfully, and Ashton hates that he’s about to ruin Luke’s good mood.
“Can you come over?” Ashton asks, wincing at how his voice cracks.
“Ash?” Luke asks, and Ashton can’t see him but he knows that Luke is frowning. “What’s wrong? God, did Calum do something stupid? I swear I’ll kill him.”
“Luke,” Ashton whispers. “Please just… come over. I can’t be alone right now. Please.”
“On my way. Stay on the phone,” Luke warns, and Ashton can hear shuffling on the other end of the line.
When Luke finally arrives, he finds Ashton in his room, curled up on his bed.
It’s not necessarily a break up that he’s going through, because he and Calum were never really dating, but it might as well be. Ashton should have known this thing would end this way.
“Ash?” Luke asks, kneeling on the bed, gently shaking the older boy.
Ashton looks up at Luke and takes a deep breath when he sees Luke. “Oh. Hi.”
Luke nudges Ashton until Ashton scoots over and allows Luke to snuggle up next to him. Ashton immediately moves to rest his head in Luke’s lap, taking in the comfort of his best friend.
Luke doesn’t leave Ashton’s side throughout the rest of the night, only ever getting up to get them drinks or food. Ashton refuses to get out of his bed, just wanting to let himself be sad and miserable because Calum found someone else and didn’t even say anything. Was he ever going to say anything to Ashton?
Luke has to get up at five in the morning because he has work to get ready for at his own place.
Luke leans down and gently presses a kiss to Ashton’s forehead, making sure he’s covered up. Luke also leaves a little note on Ashton’s bedside table, so he doesn’t freak out when he wakes up.
Luke slips on his shoes and makes his way out of Ashton’s bedroom. He hears noises from the kitchen as he makes his way towards the door. He looks over and sees Calum in the kitchen. Luke glares at him, because even though he doesn't know what happened, he knows Calum caused his best friend’s pain.
Calum looks over and startles when he sees Luke standing there. “Jesus, fuck, Luke! Don’t do that, man. When the hell did you get here?”
“Last night,” Luke snaps. “Where were you ?”
Calum raises his eyebrows. “I was out with some friends.”
“Really? ‘Cos I thought you were supposed to be hanging out with Michael?” Luke asks.
“Michael was with us,” Calum snaps.
“No he wasn’t. Michael was at work last night, I would know because I was texting him the entire time,” Luke says. “I don’t know what you did, but you need to stay away from Ashton.”
Calum scoffs. “You can’t tell me to stay away from my own boyfriend-”
“He’s not your boyfriend. Did you forget I was there when Ash agreed to fake date you?” Luke asks.
“Why the hell are you so pissed off? I haven’t even done anything!” Calum exclaims.
“Really? I don’t think that’s true, because otherwise Ashton wouldn’t have called me last night, begging me to come over. He’s been crying and moping all night, and I’m sure it has to do with you and your lies,” Luke snaps. “So yeah, you can fucking stay away from Ashton from now. Enough with the fake dating. Tell Michael the truth, or I will.”
“Maybe Ashton shouldn’t have agreed to fake date me if he was going to be so damn emotional,” Calum snaps. “He knew we weren’t really dating. This wasn’t going anywhere.”
“So that gives you a right to break his heart? Really nice, Calum. You’re an asshole,” Luke scoffs, before turning and storming out of the apartment, slamming the door shut, causing Calum to wince.
Calum sighs, and runs a hand over his face. He pulls his phone out and sees that it’s 5:15 in the morning, and he has to leave at six. Calum hesitates, before walking out of the kitchen and heading towards Ashton’s bedroom. He hesitates, before pushing the door open. He glances in and sees Ashton sleeping peacefully in his bed. Calum sighs as he stares at him, suddenly feeling guilty.
Calum doesn’t get to talk to Ashton for another couple of days, like Ashton is avoiding him.
When he finally sees Ashton again, he’s just getting back from his classes. He walks into the apartment and sees Ashton sitting in the living room on the couch. His laptop is open on the coffee table, and Calum can see that Ashton is clearly looking at apartments which isn’t a good sign.
“Ash?”
Ashton startles, and he looks over. His eyes widen when he sees Calum standing there. He quickly reaches over and slams his laptop shut. “What are you doing here, Calum?”
“I live here,” Calum replies sassily. “Don’t bother hiding what you were doing. I saw.”
“Why do you care?” Ashton asks. “I’m sure you’ll be thrilled once I move out.”
“I don’t want you to move out,” Calum says.
“Please, you hate living with me,” Ashton snaps, looking away from him.
Calum sighs, and walks over to the couch. “Yeah, maybe at first,” he says, and sits down. “But, then we started talking and… you’re not as bad as I thought you were. I’m just picky and annoying.”
“It doesn’t matter. I think it’s better that I move out, for the both of us,” Ashton mumbles.
Calum takes a deep breath. “You found out about Brian, didn’t you?”
Ashton freezes for a moment, and looks over at Calum. “Who is he? Is he your new boyfriend?”
“No, not really. We’ve been talking, and… I really like him. We went on a few dates. But, I-” Calum sighs. “We weren’t really dating. I thought it would be okay.”
“You didn’t have to go behind my back. I realize that we weren’t actually dating each other and you don’t owe me anything, but do you know how heartbreaking it was for me to see a text on your stupid phone from some random guy that you were clearly seeing as more than a friend. You know you could have just called the fake dating off, and I wouldn’t have had to waste so much of my time trying to impress you.”
“Impress me?” Calum asks, frowning as he looks at Ashton.
“Oh my God. You’re so fucking oblivious. Yes, I was trying to impress you. Why do you think I agreed to fake dating you so fast?” Ashton grumbles, crossing his arms against his chest.
“Well, I don’t want to call off the fake dating,” Calum says.
Ashton rolls his eyes. “We can’t fake date when you’re trying to date someone else. That’s not fair to me.”
“I’m not dating Brian, Ash. I told him the other day that we couldn’t see each other, and he’s fine with us just being friends. I- I’m more interested in you Ash, and I know I probably don’t deserve a second chance for all the shit I’ve put you through, but if you’d let me, I can show you how good of a boyfriend I can be. For real.” Calum bites his lip slightly as he stares at Ashton.
Ashton sighs, and he looks over at Calum. “I’m still pissed at you, you know?”
“I know, and I’ll make it up to you for being such a damn idiot,” Calum says.
“You know… I’m not the only one you’ll have to impress. Luke’s pretty pissed at you too,” Ashton says.
“Oh, I know. Don’t worry. He confronted me the other day, but I deserved it,” Calum says.
“Are you going to tell Michael the truth?” Ashton asks, turning to face Calum.
“Do you want me too?” Calum asks, looking up at Ashton.
“Michael’s a friend of mine now too. I think he deserves to know the truth,” Ashton says, nodding.
When Michael finds out about a week later, after Calum has taken Ashton on their first real date that surprisingly goes successful, he’s not happy to say the least.
“What the fuck?” Michael shouts, throwing his arms up in the air, standing in front of Ashton and Calum, who are sitting beside each other on the couch.
“I told you he was going to take it badly,” Ashton whispers to Calum.
Calum snorts. “He’ll get over it, he can never stay mad at me,” he whispers back.
“You shut up!” Michael shouts, pointing at Calum. “You two have been fake dating for months, like literally almost a year, and you only decide to tell me now? What the fuck, Calum?”
“Well, we’re kind of telling you now because everything kind of fell apart thanks to me being an idiot,” Calum says. “But, it’s okay, because we’re going to try dating for real this time.”
Michael blinks, staring at the two. “So much has happened since the last time I saw you two…”
“Hey, I mean… at least we’re getting along now?” Ashton says, trying to lighten the mood.
“And you don’t have to listen to me complain about Ashton through texts anymore,” Calum adds.
“No, instead you’re probably going to be super gross now that you’re actually dating,” Michael groans. “Fuck, where’s Luke? I can’t be the only one having to deal with this.”
Calum snorts, and leans against Ashton. “This went better than I expected.”
Ashton looks over at him, grinning. “Yeah, but the night’s still young, Cal. A lot can happen,” he says, and he leans forward to sweetly kiss Calum on the lips.
“Oh my God! You two are going to be super gross. I hate this. I’m leaving!”
“Okay bye,” Ashton says, and continues kissing Calum, not caring that Michael’s still standing there.
Michael scowls, before storming out of the living room.
Calum can’t help but laugh, resting his forehead against Ashton’s. “Fuck, I love you.”
Ashton blushes. “Isn’t it too early to be saying that?”
“No, I mean maybe… but it doesn’t have to be said seriously. I do love you. But, if you wanna go slow…”
“Fuck going slow, Cal. We’ve already wasted so many months by fake dating, and now that we're actually giving this thing a try, I want to enjoy it as much as I can,” Ashton says, and he gently pulls away from Calum. “I’m just really glad we finally sorted our shit out.”
“Yeah,” Calum laughs. “Me too.”