Luke's got quite a few problems on his hands. The biggest-in more ways than one-would have to be his hard on. The second biggest problem, that would be the blame.

He could blame Sierra, since she was his girlfriend and was responsible for that kind of thing, except this time she wasn't. He could blame Michael, as he was often responsible for many problems. But, that would imply that Michael had turned Luke on, which most definitely was not the case. He could even, most accurately blame Ashton, because hell, there's no way he couldn't have been turned on.

Eventually he decides to blame a mixture. Michael for getting them kicked out of the club a few nights ago before he could get wasted, Sierra for being far away, himself for letting us sexual tensions build up and not bothering to even jack off, and Ashton for his...provoking clothing choice.

Maybe it wasn't even provoking. Maybe Luke was just sexually frustrated. Either way, those sweatpants hung low on his hips, and the shirt that was slung over his shoulder rather than covering him were not helping. Ashton's finished his shower and really, Luke should've immediately ran in as soon as he could, but his stupid ass didn't. Instead he sat there, mouth agape as he watched Ashton stretch himself out and pour the bags of ice into the small tub.

After watching far to many reruns of master chef, Michael had set the small dressing room microwave on fire. Between putting out the fire and discarding the burnt remains of Michaels "meal" Ashton had become completely dirty. So he'd taken a shower, was now preparing his ice bath, and then would follow it with another hot shower.

That wasn't a problem for anyone of course, because Ashton had plenty of time. But it was a slight problem for Luke because in order to give the others time, he had opted to set up his ice-bath outside the bathroom, in-front of Luke. It also meant Luke got to see a wet Ashton, in only boxers, 3 times.

Luke can't handle it much more, so he runs into the bathroom, and he's already got his clothes strewn on the floor and is in the shower when he realizes he left everything outside. He curses himself and prolongs his shower for a good 45 minutes despite orgasming in the first 5 (shut up, he was practically undone by the time he was in the bathroom) and done washing in the next 10.

Eventually, he hears aggressive bangs on the door and forces himself out. He's not keen on wearing his dirty floor clothes again, and all there is for him is a towel. He reluctantly wraps it around his waist, annoyed because he knew his problem would reoccur and the towel wouldn't conceal it.

Luke's wet curls stick out the door, relived to see Ashton gone. He waddled awkwardly to the clothing rack on the left, stopped half way my Calum's laughter.

"You look like you're wearing a too tight dress and are tryna run to grab the last matte lipstick"

Michael snorts in agreement and the pair continue to ridicule Luke, who mutters something along the lines of "immature cunt" and proceeds to accidentally (on purpose) grab a hoodie that belonged to Ashton to wear with his tight ass leather pants. They weren't ideal for comfort, but he felt the need to make his lanky legs somewhat attractive (although he could argue he'd moved from breadstick to thicc bread over these last few years).

It didn't matter much, he'd change before they played Teeth live and tattoo roulette anyways. They had about 2 hours left, so luke opted on sitting in the dressing room, wedged between Calum and the arm rest with a red bull. Both Calum and Michael had been staring at each other in a "staring contest", according to them, but were now uncomfortably fidgeting.

Luke barley had time to acknowledge it, before his butt began violently vibrating. He screwed up his face- he'd sworn to never use a vibrator after the last one had gotten...stuck...- but then recalled his phone. He fished it out of the tight leather pants, making an odd snap sound and cringing before accepting Sierras call.

"Hey baby"

"Hey...Sierra"

He hesitated slightly, the words "baby" or "darling" not feeling right on his tongue. She began to tell him something about a song, but soon shifted into the conversation of his attention span. Yes, he wasn't paying much attention, but before he could answer, the door swung open, and the fucking sun itself shone down.

Ashton cautiously walks in, giving a slight twirl to ask the other how he looked. Calum gave his approval by jutting out his lower lip and nodding, while Michael just stuck up a middle finger, far to absorbed in his pizza and phone to know what was happening.

Luke?

Well, he'd inconveniently taken a long sip of his red bull, so he just made horrible wheezing noises and spewed his drink everywhere, rolling off the couch. He coughed for a solid 5 minutes, and to his dismay, Sierra was the only one voicing her concern. The other watched amused, and Michael tore his eyes away momentarily, just to make a snarky remark and take a picture.

Luke finally contained himself, muttered something about how much he hated the band, ended his phone call and climbed back on the couch before giving Ashton a thumbs up. He could've expressed himself better, but he didn't want to overdo it.

Luke checks Ashton out rather obviously, as he watches him force Michael off the couch. Ashton's curls are somewhat messy, yet still perfectly articulated. The vibrant red has now faded into the brown, and without the hair gel slicking his hair back, his curls separate in the middle. He's wearing nothing fancy, just a simple white undershirt with a black blazer and dress pants. He's got a silver chain, much similar to Calum's around his neck and Luke can swear he's got at least a little bit of rose gold shimmer dusted onto his face.

Either that or it's his natural glow. Because Ashton's like the fucking sun.

Ashton's finally succeeded in pulling Michael off of the couch, and before the two can even acknowledge each other, Luke is whisked away. He tries his best not to get hard, but one thing leads to another, and as soon as he is offered the choice he swaps out of his leather pants for some looser dress pants.

As far as his top goes he chooses a newer shirt, which was more or less a silky button down blouse. He likes the neutral colour and style, because it reminds him of Ashton's taffeta shirts. He sighs in regret. He hated the strange feelings and fondness he felt around Ashton, yet somehow craved it.

He tries to change fast, and get distracted by the variety of nail paints and makeup, because he doesn't ever ponder this topic for too long.

If he does he begins to wonder about how he really felt for Ashton. He knew they were friends, but he also knew somedays, he looks far too long into Ashton's eyes for them to be "just friends". And really, he shouldn't even have to wonder. He had a gorgeous, talented girlfriend who was perfect. His girlfriend was also female. Unlike Ashton.

Luke finally decides to screw it, because he knew it probably was just him feeling clingy to Ashton after they moved in together. Yes, Ashton was there when Luke needed attention, which is a perfect explanation for why he's so fond of him.

The boner? Well....

Luke is snapped out of his thoughts by Ashton, who places both hands on his shoulders and screeches in his ear. Luke screeches back, and in the most manly voice he can, and jumps out of his chair. He inconveniently lands on Ashton, dragging them both to the floor. There is utter silence before they break out into laughter.

"Goddammit Luke, why're you on such an edge? Is it the tattoo? You'll be fine it'll probably end up being James or Mikey, don't worry"

Of course, Luke had forgotten to panic about that, but now seemed like a suitable time.

"HOLY MOTHERFUC-"

Ashton covered his mouth with an unamused smirk, and Luke could only focus on his long fingers and how fucking good they'd feel pulling his hair and scratching his back as Luke pleasured him.

"Come on Lu, lets go tune your guitar and practice a bit, yea?"

Ashton's warm hand slips into Luke's and he leads him away. Luke's guitar is already tuned, because he'd asked Calum to do it earlier, but he picks it up nonetheless, and pretends to fix something as he watches Ashton drum.

The passion he put into his drumming sent shivers up his spine, and Luke really couldn't imagine the band without ash. Everyone loved Ashton and Luke was far from jealous, he was so happy for the boy. Especially after he'd gotten over his self harm past, Luke couldn't be happier that he was in a good place.

Right now, he was drumming the Meet You There Remix, which wasn't what they were performing but was amazing to listen to either way. He really saw how hard Ashton focused on controlling his "drummer faces", and Luke didn't see why, he thought they were adorable.

He doesn't know how long they're there for, but 10 minutes before showtime, Luke glances at a mirror, frowning in dismay. His neck looked long and bare and just strange in general. His shirt also exposes his tufts of chest hair and he doesn't wanna button it up, but hates how he looks.

He continues glaring at his reflection, until he turns around and notices Michael putting a chain around his neck. Luke immediately runs to the accessories and rifles through. Ashton's soon beside him, and seconds later holding up a long chain.

"This one, it's kinky"

He puts it on Luke, and Luke barley processes his words. The adrenaline from the pre show excitement was an incomparable feeling. The 4 gather in a circle with their instruments, and take their shots. They were playing teeth live for the first time live and they were feeling absolutely giddy, bouncing around and shaking.

Just as they were announced on, Luke feels a hand slap his butt, and a cheeky Ashton smirking before running ahead.

*****

The second time Luke embarrassed himself over Ashton was after the show and game. Ashton had gotten the tattoo, and was flexing his muscles, shirtless, and Luke had walked in.

Calum and Michael were saying something, but Luke was caught in the door, mouth slightly parted as he stared. Then of course, some dumbass walks into him, and he starfishes onto the floor. He wonders how the hell they missed seeing his 30ft height, and more importantly decides, Ashton is no good for him.

So now he just needed to avoid Ashton.

***

The World War Joy tour was to begin in a week, and Ashton hadn't seen much of Luke. He felt like he was being avoided, and like a broken stitch, everything became undone, and all his feelings bubbled to the surface. He'd contained himself so long, but the sick thoughts fought their way back.