"Now that has got to be the biggest miracle I've ever seen," Crystal said as she propped her feet in Michael's lap on the patio sofa.

"What is?" Luke questioned.

Crystal pointed to where Calum and Ashton were standing over the grill, passing trays between the two of them and flipping steaks together. "Cal doesn't let anyone help him grill! You know that, Luke!"

Michael chuckled as he rubbed Crystal's skin gently. "Do Crys and I need to worry about you trying to steal our partner, Ash?"

Ashton let out a loud laugh before turning to face Michael briefly. "Definitely not," he said before turning back to Calum. "Sorry, bro, you're just not my type."

Calum laughed equally as loud, putting a hand on Ashton's shoulder. "I'm trying not to take offense to that," he said good naturedly, "because I'm everyone's type."

The group shared a laugh at Calum's words before the two grillmasters went back to their task and the three on the patio sat watching them comfortably. Everything seemed quiet until Crystal softly spoke. "Calum told us."

She didn't even look at Luke as she spoke, and Luke didn't have to look at her to know what she was referring to. Before he could speak, Michael reassured him gently, saying, "But we know it isn't our business to ask or pry into. He'll tell us when he's ready."

Crystal nodded, adding in, "Absolutely." She then turned to Luke with a soft smile. "Please let us know if you guys need anything. Until he tells us or until you guys want to involve us, we know nothing. He's still Ashton. Cancer won't change that."

Luke felt his eyes water as he looked back over to where Ashton was laughing at something Calum had said. He felt his heart breaking all over again as he let out a shaky breath. "I'm so scared," he said softly.

Crystal nodded to herself as Michael spoke softly. "We know," he said. "We're terrified every time Calum goes in for a scan, hoping and praying that we won't hear bad news. We're here to take this in stride with you, Luke. I absolutely agree with Crystal; please - please - let us know if you need anything."

Luke felt a sob coming on and he suppressed it before it could be released. "I need him to not be sick," he whispered, mostly to himself, but earned a soft stroke on the back of the hand from Crystal.

"Nobody deserves this, Luke," she said softly. "Especially not him. We know you love him - it's incredibly obvious. We're here, Luke. Please don't hesitate to let us be here for you."

Luke nodded, hand covering his mouth at an attempt to continue suppressing his sobs. Before the conversation could continue, Calum's voice calling "Soup's on!" had everyone chuckling, especially as Ashton said "Calum - these are steaks."

* * *

It was a wonderful summer evening the five of them were enjoying, the air nice and comfortable and the backyard bug free as they chatted over their drinks and cut steaks. Luke was on his third glass of Crystal's iced tea, already announcing that it would be his last one. Ashton had retrieved him a glass of water and put it beside him to start sipping on, earning smiles from the throuple surrounding them.

"Luke," Michael spoke as he sipped on his beer, "be honest: are you drunk?"

Luke smiled, raising an eyebrow at Michael. "Yes," he said simply, earning a laugh from his friends and Ashton.

"Please," Ashton started, "for the love of all that is good and holy, do not throw up on me tonight. I'll hold your hair back for the toilet, but if you throw up on me, you're sleeping on the floor."

Luke scrunched up his nose, side-eyeing Ashton, pulling laughs from his friends again. "I am not Petunia," he said, a slight slur to his voice, "I can't fit in her bed. Her bed's at my house, anyway. Your floor's uncomfortable. No way, José."

"I'm Ashton."

"Whatever."

All of his friends laughed at his inebriated state, earning a chuckle from the blonde himself as well. Ashton then looked at his watch, wincing slightly. "I didn't even realize how late it was," he said softly before turning to Luke. "On top of being hungover tomorrow, you're gonna sleep until three in the afternoon if you're out any later."

Luke nodded, pointing at Ashton. "You are absolutely right, my dear," he said, climbing out of his chair slowly so he didn't fall over. "My head's already feeling heavy."

Calum and Michael were already gathering their trash and plates, filling a bag and heading to the kitchen as Crystal walked over to the blondes and gave them both tight hugs. "Thank you so much for being here," she said sincerely. "I hope you guys had fun! I know you did, Ash. Calum doesn't let anyone help him grill, ever."

Ashton flipped imaginary hair over his shoulder, smiling at her gently. "I'm just special, darling," he said, exaggerating the word 'darling.'

Crystal scuffed with a smile, playfully pushing the man's shoulder. "Yeah, yeah, whatever you say, Irwin."

Michael and Calum rejoined them outside, hugging the two men as well. "Thanks for the help, Ash," Calum said as he pat his back. "If it weren't for you, dinner would've been about 30 minutes later than it already was."

Ashton waved him away gently. "I'm always down to help," he said with a wide smile.

"Same time next week," Michael added excitedly. "I wanna break out the old Just Dance and watch Luke's giant limbs flail around everywhere."

The five of them laughed loudly, Luke feeling lighter with each echo of Ashton's happy laughter. They all said their goodbye's and Ashton helped Luke into the passenger seat before climbing into the driver's seat and starting the vehicle. "So," he said gently, "did you really want to go back to my house or yours? I know you need to check on Petunia, so we can go to yours."

Luke smiled softly as he leaned his head back against the seat. "We can go to yours," he said. "But, yes, I would like to feed Petunia first, if that's okay."

Ashton smiled at Luke's preciousness. "Absolutely, love."

* * *

After going to Luke's to feed Petunia and grab a set of overnight clothes, the two men finally made it back to Ashton's, laughing as they pushed through the front door, dropping their shoes across the threshold and falling onto the nearest couch.

"Answer me this," Luke said gently, "you're not even drunk. Why are you being clumsy like me?"

Ashton laughed loudly at the younger man's question. "I guess I just don't want you to be embarrassed for being a lightweight," he answered jokingly, a smirk evident on his face.

Luke gasped, mouth open wide as he stared at the curly haired man beside him. "I am not a lightweight," he defended. "You've never tried Crystal's tea! It's stout!"

Ashton laughed, holding up his hands in mock defense. "Alright, alright," he said, giving in. "Let's get you to bed. You've had a long night."

"Just so you know," Luke said as they stood from the couch and headed towards Ashton's bedroom, "I don't put out on the first date."

Ashton sputtered out a laugh, almost dropping Luke to the floor. "Luke," he hissed through his laughter.

"I'm just letting you know," the taller blonde said, completely oblivious to why Ashton was laughing. "I'm a classy bitch. I wait until at least the fifth date."

Ashton bit his lip to contain his laughter as he sat Luke on his bed. "Technically," he started as he began helping Luke out of his boots, "this is our fifth date."

Luke looked at Ashton with wide eyes. "Is not!"

Ashton nodded with a laugh. "It is," he answered. "The coffee shop after we first met," he continued, pulling off Luke's jacket and hanging it on a hook behind his door, "that was first."

Luke laughed softly, his heart fluttering at how gentle Ashton was being with him. "Okay. What was second?"

Ashton pulled off his own jacket and hung it up before sitting back against his headboard. "The second was bungee jumping," he said softly as he pulled Luke to lay against him, making them both more comfortable. "Just because you didn't do it doesn't mean it doesn't count. The third was the concert, which is the closest thing to a date we've actually done. The fourth was the first time I met Calum, Michael and Crystal at dinner."

Luke blushed softly, reaching over and slotting his fingers between Ashton's. "The night I kissed you," he said quietly.

Ashton nodded, squeezing Luke's hand. "And then tonight," he said. "Five dates. But, nothing's going to happen tonight anyway. You've been drinking, and even if you are starting to sober up, I can't take advantage of you like that."

Luke turned up to look at Ashton with soft eyes, smiling brightly at him. "You're such a good man," he said sincerely.

The curly haired man smiled back abashedly, pressing a kiss to Luke's shoulder. "Now, let's get some more comfortable clothes on," he said softly, poking Luke's nose with a soft giggle, "and then let's get to bed."

Luke nodded before the two men got up to put on pajamas - which were just boxers and a t-shirt each. Once dressed, Ashton went back through the house to make sure all of the doors were locked and the lights were off before coming back to the bedroom, turning off the lights and climbing under the blankets with Luke, who immediately molded his body against his.

"Thank you for being with me tonight," Luke said in a soft whisper, eyelids heavy with sleep.

Ashton smiled to himself, pulling the blue-eyed blonde tighter against him. "I wouldn't wanna be anywhere else than with you."