"Fuck!" Ashton groaned, startling the boy awake.

He had dark brown hair that most would classify as black, he had a button nose with freckles dusted carefully over top of it. He looked unnaturally skinny, each bone quite defined.

"Who a-are y-you?" The boy inquired, desperately trying to sound tough; though his voice wavered and he looked more sad than anything else. His hand harshly gripped a pistol by his side.

Ashton didn't want to frighten the boy anymore than he already had, so he held his hands out to assure him, and Calum still cowered behind Ashton.

"I'm Ashton, and this is my..." He paused momentarily. "This is Calum. Do you know why we're here?"

"I think so."

"Ashton." Calum cautiously whispered, gripping the honey-haired lads hand. "He's only a kid, you can't kill him."

"I know, baby. But if I don't, Harry will kill me."

"I-I'm r-right here." The boy stuttered out.

"You're Adrian, correct?"

Adrian nodded. "Yes."

Ashton briefly closed his eyes, biting at his lip. "How old are you?"

"I'm f-fourteen."

"Fuck." Ashton quietly said.

The boy let the gun fall from his small hands. "Do whatever you need to do. It's okay."

"No." Calum cut in. "Ashton, we're not going to kill him."

"I have to-" Ashton mumbled. His expression was quite pained, and his voice only a whisper. "I have to, Cal."

"No. He's only a boy, Ashton. You can't."

Adrian sighed. "Let me know when you decide." He sunk down on the sofa, resting his head in his hands.

Calum tugged Ashton a few steps away from the boy. "I'm not letting you kill him. As much as I wanna see that happen, he's only a kid. And look at how broken he looks, Ash. I can't do that to him."

"It would be me that did it, love. I-I have to.."

"No. Bring him to Harry."

"Calum-"

The tanned lad interrupted him with a sigh. "I can't stop you, Ash. But I'm gonna be disappointed if you do this."

"Fuck, you're really gonna make me choose? You're the psychopath that wanted to watch me kill someone!"

"I am still sitting right here." Adrian weakly mumbled. "I can still clearly hear you."

"I don't appreciate being called a psychopath, but for now, I'll let it slide."

"Son of a bitch." Ashton groaned. "Alright, lets go."

Calum smiled and pressed a sweet, long lasting kiss to Ashton's lips. "Thank you."

Ashton sighed quietly and gave Calum a weak smile.

Adrian's pale, sickly features quickly brightened. "So who's the bottom?"

Calum giggled and Ashton grinned wickedly.

"I should be able to tell, but I'm getting mixed signals." Adrian tapped his chin in thought. "I think it might be you-" He pointed at Ashton. "But I could be wrong."

Calum burst out laughing. "See? Everyone thinks you're a bottom, Ash. Just embrace it."

"I don't know what you're trying to accomplish-either of you-but I'm pretty sure that I wasn't the bottom when you were screaming my name this morning."

Calum giggled again and turned a bright shade of pink. "Well, I screamed, yeah. But it wasn't exactly your name..."

"I love how you don't deny that I made you scream."

"Cause it's true." Calum shrugged. "I'm not a liar."

There was brief pause, then Calum whispered, "It was supposed to be slow..."

Ashton was about to interrupt, but Calum continued in a sing-song voice, "But you can't resist me."

Ashton sent him a sideways smile, and Calum squeaked, "It's true, right daddy?"

"You're absolutely right, baby boy." Ashton smirked. "But we have to go."

Adrian's eyes widened as he watched their conversation play out. "You two are perfect for each other. Holy shit that's wonderful."

"Adrian." Ashton snapped, his voice stern but soft. "Outside, into the car, now."

"Damn." The boy whispered. "Okay daddy."

Ashton hissed, "Shut the fuck up."

Calum giggled and kissed Ashton's hand. "I thought it was kinda funny, Ash."

Ashton smiled at the sound, because if it made Calum happy, it was okay.

Adrian headed towards the front door of the house, Calum and Ashton both following behind him. They made their way to the car, and Ashton made sure Adrian was buckled up in the backseat before hopping into the drivers seat himself.

Calum sent Ashton a sideways smile as he began driving along the empty street, reaching over to grab Ashton's hand. He slowly intertwined their fingers, then brought their joined hands to his lips, a way of thanking Ashton without really needing to say anything.

"How long have you guys known each other?" Adrian piped up excitedly.

Ashton smiled, remembering how happy he was when he and Calum first met, and how that happiness still hadn't faded in the three days he'd been here.

"About three months." Calum replied, finding no logical reason to lie to the boy.

"But how long in person?" Adrian continued to prod. "You clearly aren't American."

"Three days." Ashton answered for him. He could sense that Calum didn't want to speak of this any longer, though he was unsure why.

"And you've already fucked?" The freckled boy shrieked.

"More than once." Ashton immediately replied.

Calum once again turned pink. "Ashton!"

"What? It's true!"

"He didn't need to know that!" Calum's tone might've seemed upset, but his smile reassured Ashton that although he wasn't keen on sharing the information, it really didn't matter.

"That's so soon!" Adrian's voice didn't lower. "How do you know you've made the right choice? What if you regret it?"

"I don't regret it." Calum mumbled.

"Neither do I." Ashton agreed. "That's how we know we made the right choice."

"Plus it's amazing." Calum murmured bashfully, letting his gaze fall to the floor.

Ashton giggled and mumbled, "You're adorable."

Adrian clutched his head in his hands. "This is so problematic. You are so chaotic. Oh my God, doomed. You're doomed."

"Would you please calm down?" Ashton snapped. "Don't need you dying of a heart attack in my backseat because you can't handle our relationship."

"This isn't your car. Any smart person doesn't take their own car out on a hit."

Calum giggled. "You're more intelligent than I thought."

"Thank you." Adrian smugly replied. "But I really hope you guys know what you're doing."

"Meaning what?" Ashton inquired quietly.

"Don't make any mistakes, y'know? Clearly you feel something special for each other. Don't let it slip away."

Calum and Ashton exchanged a flustered, happy, yet also confused glance.

"Sure, kid." Ashton mumbled.

Calum squeezed his hand. "Don't be mean, Ash. He's being nice."

"I can do whatever I want, I just spared his life."

"I didn't ask you to." The boy muttered. "I was perfectly fine with dying."

"That's good. You're going to die anyways." Ashton whispered shakily. Calum slapped his arm and sent him a warning glance.

"Why was Ash sent after you anyways?" He decided to change the subject slightly, his wrists began to itch at the boy's words but he refused to scratch at them.

"I-I don't wanna talk a-about it."

Calum noticed the boy's sudden change in mood, immediately feeling bad. "Okay, I'm sorry."

Ashton's thumb traced careful patterns on Calum's hand, their intertwined fingers locking perfectly together. "Don't apologize, angel. You did nothing wrong."

"Aw-" Adrian cooed. "That's so cute! Forget what I said about you guys being doomed. I take it back. You're so perfect together, I honestly can't handle it."

"Please calm down." Calum mumbled, a smile forming on his lips as the boy spoke.

"I can't. I seriously can't."

Ashton sighed quietly and took a second to look at the boy in the seat behind him. "You really need to stop. We've answered every question that you asked, but I need you to calm down."

"I can try." Adrian muttered. "But you two are so cute! You look so happy together."

"Enough."

"I saw the scars.." Adrian pointed at Calum's wrist. Calum pulled his hand out of Ashton's and lowered his gaze, trying to hide his arms. "It's good that something-or someone-makes you happy."

"Stop." Ashton growled. "Stop talking."

He reached for Calum's hand again, laced their fingers together and brought it to his lips. "You're okay, love. I'm right here."

Calum nodded his head, feeling tears forming in his eyes but trying so hard to hide them. "M'fine."

"Look at me." Ashton commanded. His voice was firm but quiet and caring.

Calum slowly lifted his eyes and a tear slipped out of each. He hoped Ashton didn't notice, but he knew the older lad did. Ashton detangled their fingers and brushed a delicate thumb beneath Calum's eye to collect the fallen tear. "I'm fine, I promise."

"You're okay?"

"Yeah." Calum whispered shakily. "I'm okay."

"I'm so sorry." Adrian murmured.

Ashton sent Calum a reassuring smile before glancing into the mirror and growling at Adrian.

"Say one more thing and you're dead. Understand?"

The freckled lad's face was taken over with a look of shock. "I-"

"Nope. One more fucking word out of you and I'll blow your brains out."

"Ash, it's okay. I-I'm fine."

Ashton let out a long, soft breath. "I just don't like seeing you hurt."

Calum gave Ashton's hand a grateful squeeze then leaned over to press a quick kiss to his cheek. "I'm fine, Ash. I promise."

Adrian slapped a hand over his mouth to keep from squealing.

Finally, they had arrived back at the meeting place, and with a harsh grip on the boy's shoulder, Ashton led him towards the entrance.

"You'd better watch your mouth." He warned. "This guy doesn't mess around. He also doesn't think before he shoots."

Adrian pursed his lips. "Ooh, how frightening. I'm quakin' in my boots."

"You will be."

And with that, they went inside.

-

so again it's a cliffhanger.

i'm sorry. but all my regular readers have seemed to disappear and it's making me lose motivation.

anyone who sees this, i love you.

-