((Yo I dyed my hair nice nice

-Mel))

Ashton hisses when his curtains are flung open, letting the sun into his bedroom. He rolls over, carrying the duvet with him, and presses his face into the pillow, while Michael bustles around the room loudly.

"I need you to let Luke sleep in here, yeah?" Michael says. He phrases it like a question, but his tone suggests that it's more of a statement. Ashton is going to let Luke sleep in their shared bedroom again, and he has no say in the matter.

"No," Ashton mumbles, voice muffled by the pillow against his face and the blanket around his neck. There's a sharp thwack against the side of his head, quickly followed by a few more in quick succession when he doesn't respond. He huffs and starts squirming in an attempt to get away, but Michael just crawls into bed with him. It only takes a few seconds for Michael to crawl on top of Ashton and latch on, arms locked around his waist tightly. Ashton fights it for a few seconds, but eventually groans and let's Michael do whatever the fuck he wants.

"Come on," Michael whispers, leaning close to press his lips behind Ashton's ear, making the older boy squirm again. "I made Luke take down his blanket fort in the living room, so he's started sleeping with Calum, and- and you know how whiny and needy they both are. They wake up for handjobs, like, three times a night."

Ashton pauses, but can't help the tiny smile that crawls onto his face. "From you or each other?"

"Each other, but they're really fucking loud," Michael mutters angrily. "If I have to hear," he pitches his voice an octave higher and gasps brokenly, right in Ashton's ear. "'Oh, oh, Luke! Right there, god!' One more time, I will physically chop off both their dicks."

Ashton giggles, but he's a little hesitant, given that Michael's literally moaning on top of him. He's still reveling in the noise when Michael starts talking again. Actually, now that Ashton thinks about it, they usually have pretty one sided conversations.

"Please just let Luke sleep in his bed," Michael says hopefully. "He's just a poor, homeless little boy."

"I said no," Ashton's giggles stop and his huffing begins again. He's annoyed, and he doesn't want Luke back in the room. Luke snores.

There's a little nudge at the back of his brain, though, telling him Luke's old man snore isn't the only problem. He's afraid of Luke, in a way, afraid of everyone, really. Luke could wake up at any time and touch him, thinking Ashton wants it. Luke could crawl on top of him and kiss his neck and grind against him, because Ashton would probably beg for it. That's what normal people do, he thinks, they beg for Luke and Luke's body and Luke's hands.

He knows Luke doesn't know him like Calum does, so he doesn't know when Ashton is having problems. Luke doesn't know how to handle Ashton when he wants to have sex just to fit in. Luke would probably do it. Calum would too, if Ashton tricked him. He could have sex with Calum if he really wanted to.

But, for some stupid reason, Ashton trusts Michael. He likes that Michael gives him a million chances to change his mind and say no, and he likes that Michael will stop if he seems the slightest bit hesitant. He likes that Michael can protect him and notice when he's faking attraction. He likes Michael.

"You- you sleep in here," Ashton says quietly.

Michael considers it for a few seconds, then shakes his head. "And let the sex hounds rule the other bedroom? Yeah, right."

"So what if they have sex?" Ashton blurts out. "They're going to do it anyway, let them have their privacy."

Michael stays silent for almost a full minute. Ashton's about to fall back asleep, with Michael's dead weight heavy and warm on top of him, when he starts speaking again. "Ash, I love Calum."

Ashton wishes he'd kept his mouth shut.

"Okay," he mumbles, tensing up, refusing to allow himself to melt against Michael anymore. He feels jealousy flaring up in his veins, burning hot at the thought of MichaelAndCalum.

"Hey," Michael says quietly, bumping his lips against the back of Ashton's head. "I love you too, it's just- you know how Calum can get."

Which is true. Ashton knows that Calum's been doing good for a while, but it's only a matter of time before he breaks again. He'll start thinking less and less of himself, until he's crying and depressed, again. It's bound to happen sooner or later, and Ashton would rather Michael be there than Luke. Michael understands what he's going through, so it's easier to lift him back up, but Luke doesn't get it. Luke doesn't get genders, transitioning, questioning, being made to feel alone; Luke doesn't understand anything.

"It's fine," Ashton replies, a little too sharp, probably. He can't help it, though. He has one remaining thread of sexual attraction, and Michael's trying to cut it off.

"Ash-"

"I said its fine," Ashton starts squirming and shoving again, until Michael let's go and rolls off of him. He sits up, letting the blanket fall down his bare chest, and scowls. "Why did you wake me up?"

He glances over to catch Michael's concerned expression, and feels panic bubbling up in his chest almost instantly. He's missed something important, apparently. "It's Cal's court date," he says slowly. Ashton like watching the way his lips form words.

But then, oh yeah, Calum might go to jail. Or something.

"Free Calum is trending on twitter," Michael's grinning when Ashton looks at him again. "Been trending for three days, actually. He's not even in jail. They've all got his mugshot as their icons, it's pretty cool, actually."

Ashton finds himself smiling fondly, shaking his head and rubbing his hands down his face sleepily. "Cal's just a revolution, innit?"

****

Calum manages to keep his mouth shut during the trial, or whatever the official term is. He looks soft and squishy and innocent, so the judge goes easy on him, leaving him with a fine to pay. It would be a struggle if he wasn't a millionaire.

Ashton's got on an itchy blazer and the only pair of dress pants he owns (Luke says they make his butt look nice, so he's not going to argue). They go out to dinner afterwards, Ashton's not really sure why, but Michael convinces them that's what people do after almost going to jail.

Ashton sits in the corner, with Michael boxing him between the table, the wall, and the booth, and orders cheese fries for his meal.

"Unhealthy," Calum tuts, but he's drinking a fucking milkshake, so Ashton doesn't really think he deserves an answer.

"Let him be," Michael says before Ashton can start an argument, or anything. He swings an arm over Ashton's shoulders and buries his hand into his curls. "If he wants to eat the food of the gods, let him. At least he's happy."

Ashton pointedly chews his cheese fries, making Calum role his eyes.

Michael and Luke start arguing about something stupid after a while, and Calum joins in to help Luke, adding little side comments and nudging Michael under the table. It's a petty fight, whatever they're giggling and joking about, and Ashton doubts they'll remember it in twenty minutes.

All Ashton can really focus on, is Michael's hand on the top of his, rubbing against his scalp and pulling through his curls slowly.

It makes him smile, leaning towards Michael until he's resting against his chest, a few centimeters away from being in his lap. Calum eyes him curiously, smiling when they make eye contact, while Luke doesn't even seem to notice.

Michael kisses the top of Ashton's head when the other two aren't watching, then grins when Ashton looks up at him. "Are you alright? You're quiet."

Ashton shrugs a little, craning his neck to press two quick kisses to Michael's lips, hoping no one else is watching. "Just happy."

"Yeah?" Michael ducks down to follow Ashton's mouth. "Me too."

****

It takes a week, but eventually Ashton manages to get his blanket best all set up again. This time, though, he's got Calum sitting between his legs, leaning back against his chest like Ashton's a pillow, or something.

"I'm having issues," Ashton announces.

Calum squirms around until she's slouching, with the back of her head resting on Ashton's shoulder. "Yeah? With what?"

Ashton pauses, bringing his hands up to grip Calum's waist tightly. "I want to suck Michael's dick."

Calum bursts into laughter, whipping her hand up to muffle the little giggles coming out of her mouth. After a few seconds, Calum calms down enough to say, "For real?"

"Yeah," Ashton shrugs a bit. Calum's silent at that, probably trying to figure out if he's joking or not, so Ashton elaborates. "Yeah, I- I don't know. It's like, just him. I guess. And it's not all the time, it's just like, sometimes. I don't know, it's hard to explain."

"That's alright," Calum whispers. Like it's just that easy. "Do you still identify as ace, then?"

"I don't know?" Ashton mumbles. He tightens his grip on Calum's waist, then slides his hands under her shirt and across her stomach. "Like, I don't know if I can, at this point. Maybe gray?"

"Yeah, maybe," Calum agrees. "That's cool, Ash, have you two talked about it?" Ashton scoffs, which makes her laugh again, turning her head to bury her face into Ashton's neck in an attempt to hide her giggles. "I'll take that as a no?"

"No fucking way!" Ashton groans. "You know how he got when I first came out, he's going to call me a liar, or something!"

Calum considers that, squirming around until she can pull out her phone. She opens up FaceTime and, unsurprisingly, calls Luke. When he answers, his face is pressed into a pillow, and he looks sleepy and rumbled, like he's still attempting to wake up.

"Hiya Cal, Ashy," he mumbles.

"Hey, tell Ashton that Michael's grown up," Calum says.

Luke yawns. "Michael's grown up."

"He's still kind of an asshole," Ashton huffs, pinching at the skin above Calum's bellybutton. His fingers trail down and he flinches when they come into contact with the piercing. "Michael's been a complete shithead to all of us. He called Cal a transvestite, he told Luke not to be such a girl, and he made me think I didn't have a valid sexuality!"

"He's not the best in those types of situations," Luke admits. Ashton has no idea why the fuck they're facetiming him if he's literally right across the hall. "But, nevertheless, Mike has no problem with my skirts, Calum's pronouns, or your boundaries now. It just takes a while to get through his thick skull."

Before Ashton can respond, the door flings open, and a loud bang sounds on the other side of Calum's phone. When he glances up, Michael's standing in the hallway, between the two (now, opened) doors of the bedrooms. He's got his arms crossed and an unamused expression on his face.

"I can hear you guys talking about me," he announces. "FaceTiming each other? Really? You all really need to get out more." He huffs and spins on his heels, before marching down the hall again.

Calum scrambles up almost instantly, leaving Ashton cold and alone and vulnerable, and darts after him.

Ashton throws his head back and groans in annoyance. Because of-fucking-course Michael would leave and take Calum with him. It's only logical. It's always MichaelAndCalum before anyone else. Ashton's always going to be second, even third, as Luke stumbles down the hall after the two of them.

Ashton squirms around until he's comfortable in bed alone, because that's where he's going to be for the rest of his life.

((Question: HOW MANY PETS DO YOU HAVE AND WHAT ARE THEIR NAMES

Answer: I have a lil tiny beagle mix/mutt thing named Ham. His only talent is whining, much like me.

-Mel))