Ashton was seriously considering breaking the speed limit.

    He wanted to get home as fast as possible so he could spend time with his boyfriends. He'd picked up half a shift that day doing admissions because they were getting so many new patients. The admissions nurse was there to take report, get the patient settled when they arrived, ask the admission questions, and then hand patient care off to another nurse. Ashton didn't mind doing that, it was different because he wasn't actually taking care of people, he just got them settled and into the system. It was different, but not in a bad way.

    Ashton tried to help out as much as possible when needed, because the better he looked in the eyes of his employers, the more likely people would be to think he was a Good Person and overlook some things that might not add up. He tried to make sure everyone liked him, or at the very least ignored him. Either worked well.

    Now though, he was on his way back home, and he couldn't wait to change out of his clothes and snuggle on the couch with Luke. He'd been texting the man all day, demanding movies and popcorn and kisses when he got home.

    Ashton parked his car in the driveway, too excited to notice the new car parked in front of their home.

    "Babe, Munchkin, I'm home!" He called, knowing the TV was loud and they probably couldn't hear him anyway. "I'm going to change and I'll be right there,"

    Without waiting for a reply, he ran up the stairs, long legs skipping the occasional step as he bound up there. He threw his scrubs off, grabbing a baby wipe from the bathroom and washed himself up quickly. When he did just admissions, he wasn't really touching patients or doing much with them, besides sitting nearby and filling things out on the computer. He didn't find it necessary to shower, especially not when he was looking forward to sitting down and doing nothing for the rest of the evening.

    With a happy smile, he threw sweats and one of Michael's sweaters on. Sometimes he wore Michael's clothes, just because they smelled like him, and it made Mike happy to see him like that. Luke was much thinner than the other two, so he could wear their clothes, but he got upset if Ashton tried to wear his things and stretched them out with his broad shoulders.

    He raced downstairs, making it to the den in record time, only to stop short at the scene he came across.

    Michael was sitting in his recliner in the corner, eyes glued to the screen and a bowl of popcorn abandoned on the table beside him.

    On the couch, Luke sat in the corner seat where he always was, but usually he was lying across the couch, or lying on Ashton.

    Instead, Calum Fucking Hood was lying in Ashton's place with his head in Luke's lap, eyes fluttering closed as Luke absentmindedly played with his curls.

    That was Ashton's job. Usually Luke was laid across the sofa like that, and Ashton would lull him to sleep by playing with his hair. A surge of jealousy washed over him and he cleared his throat, only one person's eyes darting over in shock.

    "A-A-Ashton," Calum stuttered, moving to sit up. Michael smirked as he watched Ashton, knowing immediately what he was feeling. Luke was still looking at the TV, ignoring him.

    "What's going on," he growled, voice lower than normal. Calum paled.

    "W-we were—"

    "It's okay, Cal, no one's doing anything wrong," Luke soothed, allowing the dark haired man to sit up. He'd wanted him to stay, but with Ashton's unnerving presence, he understood why the boy would want to move. It had taken Luke ages to get Calum comfortable enough with him, and if he wasn't happy to see Ashton, he might be annoyed with the fact that he made Calum move. He'd been comfortable.

    Ashton scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest. He noticed how Michael glanced at how his arms almost bulged out of the sleeves and smirked.

    "Is that my sweater?" he asked.

    Ashton ignored the question, instead demanding, "Why's he here?"

    "Me and Mike invited him, we had such a good time at lunch, we wanted to hang out again," Luke smiled at Calum, who sat rigid, having scooted as far away from Luke as he could. He wasn't sure if Ashton was mad or not.

    "Why didn't you tell me?"

    "So sorry, master, didn't realise we had to run our every move by you." Michael grinned, rolling his eyes. He stuck his hand in the bowl beside him. "Can I please eat some of this popcorn?"

    Michael was rewarded with a glower that gave Calum shivers even though it wasn't directed at him. Michael shrugged and tossed the popcorn in his mouth, half of it missing and raining down his shirt and into the cushions of the couch.

    "You look good in my clothes, babe, come here," Michael beckoned, scooting over to make room for Ashton who still stood in the entrance with his arms crossed.

    "I th-think I should go," Calum whispered, tugging on Luke's shirt sleeve as Luke was engrossed in the Battle of the Boyfriends. Usually he hated when they fought, but for some reason, this time it was interesting. Luke tore his gaze away to focus on the curly haired boy.

    "No, Cally, you don't need to leave. We haven't even had dinner yet, Mikey's making meatballs and pasta," Luke frowned. "Just because Ashton's here doesn't mean you need to go."

    "I don't know, maybe it is time he left," Ashton grumbled.

    Luke sighed, standing up. He told Calum to stay before pulling Ashton into the kitchen.

    "Ashy, you promised us you'd try to be nice,"

    "I know, I had been, but now he's here in my house and I didn't expect that. I thought I was going to come home and cuddle you,"

    Luke's heart melted at the cuteness of Ashton's pouting.

    "You still can, love, no one's stopping you." He opened his arms, smiling when Ashton hugged him. "I missed you today,"

    "You had Calum, I'm sure you were fine,"

    "Oh my god, is that what this is about?"

    Ashton frowned, looking up at Luke. He was just slightly taller.

    "What?"

    Luke brought his hand to gently hold Ashton's face. "You're jealous of Calum. Babe, Ash, there's no reason to be jealous or upset. We just want to be his friend, he's not taking your place, or anything. I swear," the look in Luke's eyes assured Ashton of everything he feared.

    "I know that," he scoffed. "I just don't like him."

    Luke rolled his eyes. Ashton smiled small at him, letting him know he appreciated his words, even if he wouldn't say it.

    "All right, let's go back in there, then, and you're going to ask Calum to stay for dinner."

    "No, I don't want him to. I want him to go, and I want to sit with you and Mikey on the couch and do nothing for the rest of the night."

    "What's taking so long? Calum keeps telling me he's going to leave because he thinks he's a problem,"

    "He is," Ashton said at the same time Luke insisted, "That's ridiculous,"

    Michael sighed.

    "Ash, please, please let him stay? I promise you'll start to like him if you just give him a chance."

    "No, he doesn't deserve it. He's the worst,"

    "You should have heard him telling us about Tuesday when the two of you actually buddied together," Michael cracked a smile with a taunting chuckle. "He was practically glowing as he recounted everything you said to him the entire afternoon, and how nice you were and how happy it made him."

    Luke joined in.

    "How come you didn't tell us about that, Ashy?" He asked with mock confusion.

    "Because it was stupid. I hated every second of it."

    "You're going to give yourself 2 minutes to prepare what you need to say, get rid of whatever shit attitude you've got towards him, and then you're going to join the three of us and invite him for dinner," Michael commanded. "Come on, Lukey. Let's go calm him down. I'm sure he's freaking out since we all left him."

    Without another glance, Michael and Luke left Ashton alone in the kitchen.

    Fuck.

    Ashton didn't want to fight with his boyfriends. He knew he was being stupid, but he just couldn't like Calum.

    If it meant so much to them, though, he would try.

    He waited the appropriate time before entering the den. No one noticed him enter, Calum was telling a story, and Michael and Luke sat on either side of him, a few respectable inches between them, but all three faces showed amusement as he recounted his last trip to the supermarket.

    Ashton cleared his throat.

    "Uh, Calum?" The boy nodded hesitantly. "Do you..." Ashton faltered, looking over at Luke who pushed his bottom lip out. Fuck, Ashton couldn't resist that. "Would you like to stay for dinner?"

    "I don't know...I probably should get going," he said sadly. He had been having a great time with Michael and Luke, but when Ashton showed up, something changed. He had one good day with Ashton at work, but it was clear Ashton was only acting. He didn't really like Calum, and Calum was a fool for thinking things would change.

    "No, really, I want you to stay, Calum. Are you sure you need to go?" Ashton asked, genuinely. Anything his boyfriends wanted, he wanted. If they truly cared so much about Calum after only a few hours of knowing him, then Ashton should do a better job at trying to get to know him.

    "I...maybe, it should—"

"Please will you stay?" Ashton walked over, sitting on Michael's other side and reached over him, putting his hand on Calum's arm. "We all want you here, you don't need to leave because of me." he smiled, and Calum was powerless to say anything except for yes.

    Because maybe they did like him, maybe he wasn't just an annoying travel nurse who came in and left just as quickly. Maybe, just maybe, there was something more to him.

***

Aww, that last paragraph got me right in the feels 🥺

I want to hug them all. Hope you're doing well! I finally found ✨INSPIRATION✨ again, and I'm gonna try to update as much as possible.

also I FUCKING SAW HARRY STYLES AND I WAS SO FUCKING CLOSE TO HIM THERE WAS A SINGLE PERSON BETWEEN ME AND THE BARRIER AND JUST LOOK AT HIS GORGEOUS FACE I'M STILL DYING ALSO HE THREW HIS WATER AT US SO I'M STILL DEALING WITH THAT.

~ashtonfortherwin