"You sure you're ready, sweetheart? You don't have to do anything you don't want," Luke said sleepily as he walked Calum to the door.

    Calum rocked back and forth on his crock-clad heels.

    "No, I'm sure! I'm ready. I can't wait to get back and realize my true purpose," he grinned excitedly. Luke chuckled and couldn't help pressing little kisses all over his face. "Lukey!" he whined, pulling back to protect his hair that he'd spent close to half an hour fixing up earlier.

    Today was Calum's first day back at work and to say he was excited was an understatement. After doing nothing for almost 2 months, he couldn't wait to see people and get back into a routine. The most exciting thing was the fact that he was going to be Helping people now.

    "Lu, stop smothering him. Let him go and have a good day, Sunshine," Michael rolled his eyes. "You'll do great, baby, just listen to Ash and everything will be fine," Michael gave him a kiss, throwing his arms around his shoulders and staying away from his hair. He knew Calum was really trying to put out a good impression. He was a bit anxious that Jack would be upset that Calum had been off the grid for 2 months, but when he called up to say he was hoping to come back, the man couldn't have been more excited.

    "Thank you." Calum smiled. He gratefully accepted his lunch bag that Luke handed him and stood by the door. "Ashy, let's go! I want to get there early so I can go to Nursing Ed and make sure my login still works,"

    "I'm coming," Ashton groaned, rushing through the kitchen and into the dining room with only one shoe on and his jacket only through one arm.

    "He's a mess," Michael shook his head. "I'm going to help him,"

    Michael and Luke were off for the day, but they woke up to see Calum and Ashton off and help them get ready.

    "Are you ready for this?" Luke asked, leaning on the counter and looking at Calum. The dark haired boy shrugged.

    "'M a little nervous. What if people ask where I was, or why I left?"

    Luke scoffed.

    "Tell them it's none of their damn fucking business!"

    Calum stared wide eyed at his outburst, and Luke relented, walking over and holding his hand.

    "I'm sorry, love, I didn't mean to get angry. I just can't stand the thought of someone being mean to you." Calum melted at how protective Luke was of him. He wouldn't have expected that from Luke, he seemed more of someone who liked to be protected and babied like Calum did, but if anyone hurt someone he loved, a new side of Luke showed up...and it wasn't good news for the other guy.

    "It's okay, Lukey, I know I'll be fine."

    Luke smiled, cupping his cheek.

    "I know you will, too. You tell me if anyone gives you a problem, Cal." The man rolled his eyes, but Luke tightened his hold on his hand. "I mean it, you're ours now, baby. No one gets to be mean to you and gets away with it."

    Calum's knees felt weak, but he managed to keep standing.

    "Okay, I'll tell you. Thanks, Lukey."

    "You got it, sweetheart. Now, you have the best day ever. Be the best nurse you can, and I'll be waiting for you tonight with a...special surprise," he winked, making Calum's face heat up.

    "Ready, Cally?" Ashton walked into the room, finally looking presentable. Michael trailed behind him, admiring Ashton as he strolled around the room in his scrubs.

    "Yep! I've been ready for a while," he teased, laughing when Ashton rolled his eyes and stuck his tongue out.

    "Then let's go. You two, have a good day and behave," Ashton commanded.

    Luke smirked and replied, "Yes, daddy," Calum choked when he heard that. The other three looked at him in shock before laughing.

    "I'm going to take him to work before you scare him, let's go Cal. We gotta get you your badge from security, too!" Ashton kissed the other two boys, pausing to let Luke whisper something in his ear before he pushed Calum out the door and into the chilly, dark morning.

    Ashton and Calum got in the car, setting their bags in the backseat before Ashton pulled the car onto the street.

    "Luke said you're a little nervous for today?" Ashton asked after the silence stretched a bit too long for his liking. They'd been preparing for this day for at least a week, and Ashton trusted Calum not to turn them in. He knew they were going to be okay.

    "Yeah, a little. What if people are mean to me?" he asked quietly. He was nervous he wouldn't get a nice greeting from his former friends. He disappeared for a while with no word. He was thankful that Jack liked him well enough that he didn't seem to care, but what would his coworkers think?

    "If anyone is even the slightest bit mean to you, they're gonna have to answer to me," Ashton seethed, cracking his knuckles as they approached a stoplight.

    Calum rolled his eyes.

    "I mean it, Beautiful. If someone even looks at you the wrong way, you let me know. I'll set them straight," he leaned over the console and pecked his cheek. "You don't need to worry anymore, you've got three people to love and support you."

    When Ashton heard the choked sob from the passenger seat, he was surprised.

    "What's wrong, baby? What happened?!" He looked over while they were stopped at a light.

    Calum took a few moments to breathe.

    "I've just n-never felt so c-cared for before," he smiled through the tears. "I'm s-so happy,"

    Ashton's heart lurched as he continued on, pulling into the hospital parking lot a few moments later.

    "Come here," he opened his arms, letting Calum awkwardly fall into them as he rubbed his back over the center console. "It's okay, baby, I've got ya," he soothed, waiting for Calum to stop crying. Calum looked up at him with a sheepish smile and he wiped the tears from his cheek with the pad of his thumb. "You don't have to carry this burden yourself, okay? We're all here for you, and we know that you'll be here for us when we need. We all get through this together."

    "This is all that I've wanted." Calum told him.

    "Good, let's take a couple minutes to compose ourselves, and then we'll go inside, yeah?"

    The dark haired boy nodded, gratefully accepting the tissue. After his face was dry and he could smile without his lip wobbling, he and Ashton walked into the building at 6:15, going to the nursing office to check in and make sure Calum could use his login, and then to security to get his new badge.

    "Hey, it looks just like yours!" Calum cheered, comparing his and Ashton's badges in the elevator. Previously he'd had a guest badge that only gave him access to certain things. Now he had his photo on the front, his name, the unit, and everything else the regular nurses had. He was finally someone.

    "You look so cute in your picture, too. You'll have to show Luke, he'll die later," Ashton smirked, knowing that Luke would probably shit himself at how adorable Calum was. His hair was perfectly curled, his cheeks had a nice rosy glow and he was smiling so wide, the skin was creased by his eyes. It was such a nice picture of him.

    "Stop it, Ash," Calum blushed, releasing the badge and letting the reel retract to proudly display on his chest.

    "It's true, if I send him a picture of it early, he might make that surprise later extra special,"

    Calum gasped, not even able to ask what that meant before Ashton was breezily making his way onto the unit like he didn't just make things uncomfortable for Calum.

    He tried to ignore the problem as he followed the other nurse, going straight into the locker room and putting his bag in the locker next to Ashton's.

    "You ready to have the best day, lovey?" Ashton asked as they made sure their uniforms looked all right.

    "I absolutely am, let's do this." Ashton bent down to kiss him before opening the door. "Let's get rockin'," Calum pointed finger guns at his boyfriend who gave him a disgusted look. Calum looked down, ashamed. "Yeah, I'll never say that again,"

    Ashton laughed, following him down the hall to start their perfect day.

***

Does anyone get that reference from the 5 seconds of summer show?? Please tell me you do otherwise Imma have to be dramatic.

Anyway, happy last day of March! I feel like this year is already going so fast. I have good news though! I got accepted into an LPN program, so I'm on track to become a nurse soon!! Very excited. Good things happening.

I have *not* been motivated to write lately. Not sure what it's been, I've been crafting quite a bit but I'm really gonna try to keep going more often. ❤️🥰 love you all

~ashtonfortherwin