"I haven't told him that yet."

☆

"Hey, wake up."

Ash opens his eyes at the sound of a deep voice, accompanied by a kiss on the top of his head. He sits up, realising he had dozed off on Luca's shoulders, with Luca's arm wrapped around him like a comforting blanket. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to fall asleep." 

"Hey it's ok. It's late and I guess you have been at work all day. Plus it must be way past your bedtime." Luca chuckles. "Let me take you home."

"No." Ash says in a panic, making Luca also feel uneasy. 

"Why? I have my visor on, remember?" 

"My apartment block isn't the nicest and the man at number 114 is as nosey as hell, plus, if you leave your bike alone for one second on my estate, it will probably get vandalised or stolen." Ash smiles weakly, almost embarrassed by the words. "Do you really know what you're letting yourself in for?" 

Luca takes Ash's hand and holds it tight. "No, but that's the best part of it. Let's just see how this goes. I'm game if you are." 

"Just drop me back at the coffee bar." Ash smiles, daring to sweeten the request with a cute smile, which seems to work as he gets pulled up by the hand to standing.

"Come on then." He says, a little smitten with the moment as they head back to the bike. This time, Ash has no issue holding on tight to the rider as they once again head back to Ash's place of work. 

***

It's well past 2 in the morning when Luca returns to his apartment, hopefully undetected.  He is surprised to see his bandmate and friend still awake. "I thought you'd be asleep." Luca says just above a whisper as he watches Noah sit up in his own bed. 

"I was worried about you. You've been out for ages. What would I tell them if they saw you weren't here?" Noah complains.

"Yeah right, you were worried about me." Luca snorts a laugh. "You just wanna know about the date."

"So we are calling it a date now." Noah laughs. "I guess it went well by the look on your face. You fucked him right?"

"Jesus! No Noah." 

"Oh, sorry, I mean you got fucked. You just look like you would top…"

"Noah, will you shut your mouth?" Luca says through clenched teeth as he throws his bike helmet close to his bandmate's head." 

"Mind my face. I can't get a bruise on this face." Noah panics, trying to avoid the attack. "A million fans will be heartbroken."

"Why do you have to bring everything down to sex?" Luca huffs as he sits on his bed. 

"Why else would you do it? It's not like we have time to date like regular people. You have to take what is being offered to you."

"We must be on different wavelengths, you and I. Ash is not someone I want to use. He is different." 

"What? Because he was your saviour on a dark night? I think you're beginning to actually believe the lyrics to our songs." Noah says in disbelief. 

"It's more than that. He sees beyond my fame." Luca insists, to which Noah finally concedes. 

"So, you really do actually like him?"  Noah sits up with a more serious look. "Shit Luca. This is serious!" 

"Don't be so dramatic. It's nothing new, people get together all the time from different backgrounds."

"Would you listen to yourself? You're living in a fantasy. How can you possibly have a relationship with a random waiter?" Noah laughs at the ridiculous notion. 

"He is actually a coffee bar supervisor. '' Luca corrects.

"Oh, well that makes it all fine then. My mistake, sorry." Noah holds up his hands in defence. 

"I'm not in a fantasy Noah. Ash and I have spoken about it a little. I don't expect anything from him, nor him from me. We just want to be together, that's all." Luca pulls off his boots as he now sits back on the bed. 

"So he knows we are leaving London for Japan at the weekend then?" Noah asks, raising an eyebrow.

"I haven't told him that yet, but he knows that I have to travel." 

"Well if you are serious about whatever you have with him, don't you think you should tell him a little more about the practical stuff? Saying you can live a life apart is one thing, but doing it is another. We are used to not seeing the ones we love for months on end, but if you are gonna make him get feelings for you, it's going to be tough for him." 

Luca sighs heavily as he finally lets his head rest on his pillow. He couldn't help but think of the man he had spent the evening with. His innocent smile, those dark brown eyes. The way his lips felt on his. He didn't want to hear Noah's words. They were bursting his bubble. "I will tell him." He mumbles. Though now he had set foot into this unknown world of reality, the fantasy sounded much more appealing.