I don't even care that the outfit Luke will be wearing totally doesn't match. I WON'T HEAR IT OKAY HE'S A QUEEN AND HE WILL WEAR WHATEVER I SAY HE DOES 😤😤😤❤ 

***

Hanging out.

    What did people even do when they hung out? Luke thought. He hadn't had a friend in so long, he felt lost. He had looked up articles online trying to figure out what you were supposed to do with friends, but in the end that made him feel really lame that he had to resort to reading online about teenage friendships instead of just knowing.

    Ashton's offer yesterday was all that he could think about. He couldn't stop smiling all day, even his mom was confused about his enthusiasm at dinner, and he hardly slept he was so excited. When he forced himself to close his eyes, all he could picture were places they could go and things they could do.

    He got up before his alarm that morning, jumping out of bed and putting on his favorite outfit--a black tank top with "you complete me(ss)" written  mon the front tucked into a pair of black skinny jeans with rips on the knees, a pair of sparkly silver boots, and for a splash of color, he wore a purple flower crown. Look good, feel good, he thought as he finished getting ready for school.

    The day dragged on, but he finally had class with Ashton. He was antsy as he waited for the jock to walk into the classroom, he couldn't stop moving, shifting in his seat, shaking his leg, tapping his fingers on the desk. When Ashton stepped into the room, Luke broke out into a wider grin, which caused Ashton to smile when he saw him.

    "Hey, man, what's up?" He asked, sliding into the seat next to Luke.

    Luke shrugged, suddenly growing shy and not being able to say anything to him. The excitement that he'd felt earlier was replaced with nerves. How could he have said yes to going somewhere with Ashton Irwin? He was constantly horrible to him, this was definitely a trap and Luke had fallen for it.

    "Are you having a good day? Excited for later? I know I am," he smiled, actually smiled instead of smirking and it made Luke relax a bit.

    Sure, Ashton had been mean to him in the past, but if Luke constantly let peoples past actions define their present, then he'd never trust anyone. Ashton was making an effort, he should reward that. And who knows, maybe they would end up being good friends.

    "Y-yeah," Luke nodded. He was excited, even if he wasn't bouncing with energy anymore.

    "I was thinking after school we could grab something to eat and then catch a movie, how does that sound? I don't know what movies are out right now, but we can check when we get there."

    Luke shrugged and nodded. That sounded like fun, he hadn't gone to see a movie in a while. And at least they wouldn't have to talk the whole time. Luke wasn't sure he'd be able to do that. He never did anything, so his small talk was pretty bland.

    Class began and passed in a blur. Luke still couldn't keep his mind off of the boy next to him. Every so often he'd look over and they'd catch each others eyes, and Luke would turn red and look away, emitting a chuckle from Ashton.

    Finally the bell rang, and Luke was glad there was only one class left.

    "Want to meet at my car after class?" Ashton asked as they walked out of the classroom. "That way we can both get whatever we need from our lockers and then head out."

    "Okay," Luke agreed quietly.

    "Great, see ya later, buddy!"

***

"What kind of food do you like?" Ashton asked Luke as they drove toward the downtown area that held a bunch of different restaurants as well as the cinema.

    Luke just shrugged, picking at one of the rips on his pants. He wasn't too fussy, he always managed to find something he'd like anywhere.

    "All right, how about we go to Steak 'n Shake? I'm really in the mood for a shake," Ashton laughed, and when he heard no resistance from Luke, he set their course for the restaurant.

    Ashton parked his silver Mercedes, a gift from his dad, in one of the spots and hopped out, Luke following quickly. Ashton opened the door, waving Luke through, causing the boy to blush at the action.

    They waited for the host to seat them, sitting in a small booth by a window in the crowded restaurant. Luke had never been here before, but it kind of seemed like a step up from a fast food place like McDonalds. Burgers, chicken, fries, and shakes were mostly what was on the menu, and Luke decided quickly that he'd get a chicken sandwich and fries.

    "Do you know what you want?" Ashton asked as he flipped through the menu. He wasn't looking at Luke, so he didn't see when he nodded. "Luke?" the boy looked up in concern.

    "S-sorry, yeah. I know,"

    "Cool. I love this place. This is where we usually go after games, the team takes up practically all of that side of the building," Ashton told him, gesturing to the large open area across from them. "Maybe you could come out with us sometime," Ashton said casually, like that statement didn't completely turn Luke's world upside down. "Oh, they've got the summer shakes out!" he grinned excitedly, forgetting about what he offered Luke moments ago. How could something so simple to one boy be so incredible to the other?

    A waiter came over to them and introduced himself.

    "What can I get for you boys today?"

    "I'm going to have a coke, a western BBQ 'n bacon steak burger, and the chocolate strawberry shake."

    "Sounds good, and for you, man?" the waiter asked, looking to Luke.

    "Uhm, the chicken sandwich please. And just a water, please" he couldn't look at the waiter or Ashton, he just fiddled with the placeholder instead.

    "Do you want something besides water?" Ashton asked him, grabbing his menu and handing it to the waiter. "Do you like coke, Luke?"

    He nodded, he hadn't ordered it because it cost extra to get soda and he only had $25 with him. He had to spend his money wisely and make sure he had enough for the movie ticket. He would be absolutely mortified to get to the theater and find out he couldn't see the movie.

    "He'll have a coke, too." Luke looked up at him and opened his mouth to protest, but Ashton shook his head. "My treat, mate, let's live a little."

    "Very good, I'll place those orders for you and be back with your drinks and the shake in a little bit." The waiter looked at Luke for a couple seconds before walking away.

    "Thanks, mate." Ashton smiled as he left, then looked at Luke. "Is this what you usually order?"

    "Don't know,"

    "What do you mean you don't know?" Ashton looked at him quizzically.

    "I've never been here before," He admitted, blushing when Ashton gaped at him.

    "No way, how is that possible? This place is amazing!"

    Luke just shrugged. His mom cooked a lot, they rarely went out and it's not like he had friends to go out with often.

    "Well, I really hope you like it, this place is awesome. I love the food here." Luke nodded. "So, you're tutoring for history now, how did that happen?"

    Luke shrugged again, he seemed to be doing that a lot today.

    "Mr Peralta asked."

    Ashton nodded slowly, he realized he was going to have to try harder to get Luke out of his shell. The small boy was curling in on himself, fiddling with anything he could reach, eyes fluttering around everywhere but never landing on anything for too long.

    The waiter came back with the drinks, setting them down in front of the two of them.

    "Here's your cokes and your water," he said to Luke. "I'll be right back with your shake," he said to Ashton before walking away.

    "Luke, you didn't get a shake," Ashton just realized.

    "Yeah," Luke answered. He wanted to make sure he could afford the ticket.

    "Okay, one strawberry shake," He set down a straw.

    "Can we get a second straw?" Ashton asked and he nodded, grabbing one from his black apron and setting it on the table.

    "Enjoy, your food will be up soon." He glanced again at Luke, who was oblivious to the waiters gaze. Ashton was wondering what was up, but decided not to say anything for now.

    "Well, we can just share, here," Ashton unwrapped both straws and placed them in the shake, sliding one over to Luke and putting one in his mouth. "Oh, this is so good, I love this shake. You like strawberries, yeah?"

    "Mhm," Luke was a little confused, this seemed more like a date thing than a friend hang out thing, but if that's what Ashton wanted him to do, he was going to do it. He leaned over the table and took a sip. "It's nice, thank you."

    Ashton smiled and continued to talk. He would ask Luke the occasional question, but the boy was more than happy to just listen while Ashton spoke.

    Their food was brought to the table, with the waiter paying quite a bit of attention to Luke.

    "Do you need anything else?" He asked, looking directly at the blonde. He shook his head, looking up at the waiter with a small smile when his flower crown slid off his head. He fixed it with a slight blush. "I really like your crown, by the way, it suits you,"

    "Th-thanks," Luke really hated how all the attention was on him, so he looked to his food, taking the ketchup from the slot on the side of the table and adding some to his plate.

    "It really brings out your eyes,"

    "Oh," Luke furrowed his eyebrows, he wasn't used to this, and Ashton was just watching the waiter flirt with him with a smirk on his face. He wasn't going to do anything to stop it.

    "Well, let me know if you need anything, hon, I'll bring it over right away."

    Luke nodded, glancing around the tall man before he walked away to go help another customer.

    "Aww, little Lukey getting flirted with by the waiter," Ashton teased, dipping his fries in the ketchup on Luke's plate. He reached across and grabbed some of his own at Luke's confused look. Ashton was used to just sharing with people, but he realized this was all new for Luke and needed to take it slow.

    "H-he wasn't flirting, he was just b-being nice,"

    Ashton laughed. So the twink was innocent. Cute. Calum was going to love hearing about that.

    "Sure he was, Lukey. We'll go with that."

    Luke didn't know what Ashton was going on about, but decided to drop it and try his food. He was quite hungry and was surprised that the food was actually pretty good.

    "What do you think?" Ashton asked, looking expectantly at him. He'd been watching Luke and hadn't touched his food since Luke picked his up.

    Luke smiled, it was kind of endearing how much Ashton wanted him to like it.

    "It's good,"

    "Yeah!" Ashton cheered, finally able to dig into his meal.

    They were mostly silent as they ate, Ashton would make small comments that Luke would just agree with, but he still thought it was nice that Ashton wanted to share this place with him.

    Once they'd finished, Ashton grabbed the receipt that the waiter had left at the table when he dropped off the food and stood up.

    "You get ready to go, I'll be right back."

    Luke was about to ask him what he was doing, but Ashton rushed off before he could.

    Luke grabbed his phone and wallet from the seat where he'd placed it when they sat down, then followed Ashton to the cash register.

    "Ready to go?" Ashton asked him, turning around and heading towards the car.

    "Uh, don't we have to pay?"

    Ashton smiled.

    "I already got it, don't worry."

    "Y-you what?"

    "I paid for you,"

    "Y-you didn't h-have to," Luke pulled his wallet out of his back pocket, "I h-have money, it's--"

    "Hey, man, don't freak out," Ashton laughed, grabbing Luke's shoulders to look at him. "It's no big deal, you can get the popcorn at the movie if you want,"

    Luke bit his lip, then nodded. He didn't want to argue, but Ashton didn't have to pay for him.

    They got in the car, and Ashton plugged his phone into the aux cord, playing some soft rock.

    "Thank you," Luke said, glancing over at him.

    "Yeah, no problem dude, it's all good."

    "No, f-for everything," Luke smiled shyly at Ashton. "I'm having a great time,"

    "Yeah? Good." Ashton grinned, about to shift the car into reverse but Luke stopped him, placing his hand on Ashton's arm.

    "Uhm, I h-have something for you,"

    "I already told you, you don't have to pay me back," Ashton started as Luke reached into his pocket.

    "No," he cut Ashton off, pulling out a small keychain and handing it over. "I uhm, last time I went to a museum with my family we got a rock tumbling kit, and I made you a keychain."

    Ashton looked at Luke in shock, surprised at what was happening.

    "You made this for me?"

    Luke nodded.

    "Yeah, to thank you for hanging out today."

    The article said friends gave each other gifts, and Luke didn't want to be a bad friend.

    At the look on Ashton's face, he was certain he did something wrong, but then the soccer player grinned wildly, laughing a bit.

    "Wow, thanks mate! I don't think any of my friends have given me a gift like this in years." Ashton smiled as he looked over the shiny, green rock. It matched his eyes, Luke noticed. "This is so cool," he sat for a moment, just looking at the present before he attached it to the keys sitting in the ignition. "There, how's that look?" He asked Luke.

Luke smiled shyly. He'd hoped Ashton would like it, and the fact that he put it on his car keys, where no other key chain was, made him happy.

"Looks perfect,"

    The boys talked a bit on the way to the cinema, it was only a couple blocks. Luke slowly made his way out of his shell, now that he realized Ashton was being genuine. Why else would he accept the gift, if he wasn't? Maybe he truly had changed.

    They walked into the theater, looking at the billboards to see what movies were playing.

    "Do you like horror?" Ashton asked, the film appealing most to him.

    Luke shrugged. He hated horror, but if that was what Ashton wanted to see, he would suffer and just sleep on the floor in his moms room for the next week.

    "Okay, no horror," Ashton rolled his eyes fondly. "You know you can say no, right? You don't have to just go along with everything you don't like."

    Luke blushed, lifting one shoulder. He always went along with everything, because usually if he didn't, things went poorly for him. It's what he was used to.

    "I like action," he offered, looking at the poster of a movie that showcased some hero with a couple guns and grenades attached to a vest, and he was swinging from a helicopter, shooting out at the enemies.

    "Fuck yeah, mate, now we're talking!" Ashton clapped him on the shoulder excitedly before walking up to the ticket booth.

    "Two tickets for the action film," he told the girl, taking his wallet from his back pocket. Luke shuffled next to him, holding his own wallet and pulling out a $20. Ashton ignored him for the moment, taking the tickets from the woman and handing her some money.

    "Uhm, Ashton, I--"

    "Nah, don't worry buddy, I got this." Ashton pushed his money aside. Luke wasn't sure why Ashton wasn't letting him pay for anything, he was so confusing. He took the tickets, handing one to Luke and thanking the ticketer before they walked past the booth and into the theater lobby. "If you want, you can buy some snacks, but since I invited you to hang out today, I wanted to treat you," he smiled, looking into Luke's eyes like this was a normal thing. Luke decided to just accept it, because what else could he do?

    "What snacks do you want?" He asked as they walked to the line.

    "Popcorn is a must, obviously," he said, causing Luke to nod. You couldn't see a movie without popcorn. "And my go-to movie snack is skittles, if you like those too, that'd be great."

    Luke nodded, going to the counter and ordering the large bucket of popcorn and a bag of skittles.

    "Do you want a drink?" He quietly asked Ashton, turning toward him.

    "Sure, thanks."

    Luke took their cups, handing the skittles to Ashton and they went and filled their cups while the popcorn was being made.

    "You ready?" Ashton asked once they'd put butter and seasoning on the popcorn.

    Luke nodded. He'd been wanting to see this movie, so it kind of worked out that he went with Ashton. His mom hated action films, and he didn't want to go see a movie alone, so he was grateful he was able to see it with someone.

    They handed their ticket to the guy collecting the stubs.

    "You'll be in theater 12, to the left and at the end of the hall," he directed them.

    "Thanks, mate." Ashton said, waving Luke forward. "Where do you want to sit?" Ashton asked as they stood at the bottom of the steps, looking at the almost empty theater. They had their choice of pretty much anywhere.

    Luke shrugged.

    "Wherever is fine," he didn't want to sit in the wrong spot and have Ashton be upset. He was having such a good time, he didn't want the boy to get mad at him after all they'd done.

    "Oh, come on man, you need to speak up more," Ashton shook his head, slightly amused. He knew that Luke was probably nervous, but he was trying to put him at ease and convince him he wouldn't hurt him. "I want to know more about you, are you a sit in the front and strain your neck kind of person? Or are you one of the ones who sits in the same seat in the middle every time, blending in with everyone, or do you sit in the back so you can see everything going on?"

    After a moments hesitation, he said, "Back center."

    "Aw, hell yeah, Lukey, you know what's up. Let's go."

    Luke followed Ashton up the steps, feeling relieved that he picked the right answer. They arrived in the back row, and there was no one else back there. Ashton set the skittles down in the chair next to him and his drink in the cup holder, and Luke did the same with his drink, holding the popcorn in his lap.

    "So, you having fun yet?" Ashton asked, reaching over to grab a handful of the snack.

    "Yeah. Thank you again, Ashton." Luke mumbled, looking over at his new friend. Ashton smiled kindly back at him.

    "You're a pretty cool dude, Luke. I'm glad we got the chance to do this."

    "Me too," Luke whispered as the lights began to dim and the previews began.

    "I've always really liked the previews," Ashton leaned close to his ear and spoke quietly.

    "Yeah," Luke agreed. He liked watching them and judging how good he thought the movie would be.

    Ashton sat back up, reaching over and grabbing his skittles.

    "Do you want some?"

    Luke nodded, then "Sure," because it was dark and Ashton wasn't looking. Ashton opened the package and dumped a couple pieces of candy in Luke's awaiting hands.

    "Let me know if you want more, otherwise I'll probably just eat the whole thing," he chuckled, startling Luke a little because he hadn't realised the boy was so close to him. Ashton had leaned over onto the shared arm rest between them so his head was close to Luke's face.

    "Okay," Luke turned his attention back to the screen, watching the rest of the previews in peace.

    The movie began, and Luke continued to eat the popcorn, soon becoming so involved in what was happening on screen that he forgot all about the food in his lap. In fact, he forgot who he was with and where he was until he felt something touch his shoulder.

    He looked behind him and saw Ashton had draped his arm over his back. He caught Luke looking at him in confusion.

    "Is this okay?" He whispered.

    Luke nodded.

    This was more than okay. He finally had a friend, and he couldn't be more happy.

***

Skittles are the superior movie snack, I will hear no arguments.

What's your go-to when you see a movie? Or are you a 'wait till it comes out at home' person? Because I actually don't really like movies, but I'll go see one in the theater if my friends make me.

Have a great day/evening! ❤️

~ashtonfortherwin