Crush, Crush, Crush
Summary: As if having one crush wasn’t complicated enough.
Word Count: 3.4k
And away and away we go!
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Delilah let out a loud shriek, flinching away as an ice cold water bottle was pressed against the back of her neck. “Mikey!” she kept shrieking as the boy burst into a fit of giggles, pressing the bottle firmer against the girl’s neck, water droplets running down into the back of her shirt. “I’m gonna kill you!” she laughed, turning around.
Michael dropped the bottle and ran for his life, Delilah giving chase, their socked feet sliding around on the hardwood floors, both of them screaming wildly. As a last ditch effort to catch him, Delilah pushed off with her right foot, launching herself towards Michael’s back, her arms instinctively wrapping around his neck, and his hooking under her legs so they wouldn’t fall.
“Um… wish I could say this usually doesn’t happen… But uh… that’d be a lie,” Calum’s voice sounded from in front of them and both Delilah and Michael snapped their heads to the sound, finding Calum, Luke, and a boy Delilah had yet to meet standing there.
“Didn’t know Mike had a girlfriend,” the boy said, rubbing at the back of his neck.
Delilah let out a high pitched giggle as she climbed off Michael’s back, who scoffed, “D’s not my girlfriend.”
“Oh,” the boy said, brightening slightly.
“Yeah, she’s actually my girlfriend. Mike, how could you?!” Calum cried with fake dramatics.
Delilah fake gagged. “Not even in your dreams, Hood,” she told him before focusing her attention on the boy whose name she still didn’t know. “I’m Delilah. And you are?”
“”M Ashton,” he smiled softly.
“Oh, the drummer!”
“Heh,” Ashton giggled nervously, a dimple indenting his cheek. “Yeah, that’d be me.”
“Cool!”
“Yeah, and now that we have a drummer, can we get our other guitarist, and practice?” Luke quipped.
Delilah rolled her eyes at the boy. “I guess you can borrow, Mike. But you owe me one, Hemmings.”
“Yeah, yeah. I know.”
As the group of five made their way into the living room, Michael nudged into Delilah, “Stop staring at Ash,” he teased, low enough so only she heard him.
“I am not staring,” she whispered back. “But if I was…?”
Michael chuckled, understanding her only the way he could. “Two grades above us. Different school. No girlfriend. Good drummer. Definitely sticking this out with us.”
“Fuck, that doesn’t help me not like him, Mike.”
Michael chuckled more. “Yeah, I know.”
~5 Years Later~
Ashton spotted Delilah and Michael already lounging in the sun, sighing internally. How was he ever supposed to think he stood a chance at having either of them, let alone make a move when those two were always joined at the hip? His phone pinged in his hand, and he hoped it was either Calum or Luke saying they were finding parking. Fortunately it was both Calum and Luke. Unfortunately it was both of them saying that something had come up, and they couldn’t make it. “Fuckin’ great…” Ashton muttered under his breath, trudging the last few feet across the sand towards Delilah and Michael. “Hey, guys.”
Both of them shielded the sun out of their eyes as they looked over at Ashton, bright smiles on their faces. “Oh, hey Ash!”
“Hey,” he repeated. “Um, did you see what Cal and Luke said?”
With frowns, they both looked at their own phones. “God damn it…” Michael groaned. “They do this all the time… They wanna hang out, and then they bail on us.”
Delilah shrugged. “Well fuck them. We don’t need them to have fun, do we?” With that, her fingers tugged up the hem of her shirt, to pull the fabric free from her body. “Can one of you help me get my back?” she asked, digging through her bag for a bottle of sunscreen.
Michael almost dropped the bottle, as Ashton gulped, both men sharing a glance. Taking the path of least resistance, they both shared the job of covering the woman’s back in shoulders, Delilah sighing in content as the way their fingers gently massaged her skin. “Thanks guys.”
“No problem…” they mumbled in a rush, their cheeks bright red.
“Um, I can do your guys’ backs if you want…” she suggested.
“Yeah! That’d be great!”
Delilah had to bite down on her lip as both men discarded their shirts, and all three of them took a small moment to clear their throats. “Um… Wanna help me with Mike first, ‘Lila? He might burn quicker than me…” Ashton all but squeaked.
“Good idea,” Delilah giggled, squirting the sunscreen in Ashton’s waiting hand, and then her own. She shared a covert smile with him as they started covering Michael’s back, their fingers knocking into the other’s.
When it was Delilah and Michael’s turn to get Ashton’s back, Ashton shuddered at the way his friends’ fingers carefully went over the tattoo on his neck, before moving to get the rest of his back and shoulders. “Fuck, that tickles,” he giggled airly. “Maybe you should think about getting a spray.”
“Aw, where’s the fun in that?” she started to flirt, then immediately felt bad at the way Michael’s face scrunched. “I don’t have a lot of faith in spray sunscreen. Every time I use it, I get burned,” she added quickly as an explanation.
After they finished applying the sunscreen to the rest of their exposed skin, Ashton glanced out towards the water. “Shall we?”
“Let’s go!” Delilah said, skipping off ahead of them.
“You should go for it,” Michael mumbled to Ashton as they walked together at a slower pace. “You and D… You’d uh… be cute together.”
“What? Pfft… Nah… You think?”
Michael shrugged. “I see the way you look at her. And if I trust anyone with her, it’d be you, ya know?”
“Thanks, Mike. That, um… means a lot. But, I don’t think she sees me that way. Pretty sure she’s into someone else.”
“Shit that blows…”
It was Ashton’s turn to shrug. “Eh, it’s alright. Can’t say I blame her. She has pretty good taste.”
“That she does,” Michael nodded.
~~~
“So, you ever gonna ask him out?” Delilah asked Michael as they sat on the shoreline, watching Ashton still out in the water.
“What do you mean?”
“What do you mean what do I mean? Ash! When are you gonna ask him out?”
“Uh… never? Cuz he doesn’t like me.”
Delilah snorted, “Yeah, okay. And I’m the Queen of England.”
Michael shook his head, then sighed. “I’m serious, D. Would it be great if Ash liked me the way I like him? Yeah. But that’s not reality.”
“How do you know?”
“Because he likes someone else.”
“Aw, fuck. Sorry, Mike.”
“S’alright. Can’t say I blame him.”
~~~
“You know,” Ashton said to Delilah as they waited for Michael to come back with food for them all. “With Mike, you might have to make the first move.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Oh, c’mon, ‘Lila. You know him better than anybody. You know how shy he can get with stuff like this. Be brave for the both of ya. Make the first move.”
“Waves knock you around a lil too hard there, Ash? You’re talking nonsense.”
“You’re really gonna sit there, and tell me you don’t like Mike?”
“Of course I like Mike. He’s my best friend. But it’s… complicated. There’s a lot of layers that I haven’t figured out. That I don’t think I ever will.”
“You’re telling me…” he muttered under his breath.
Michael approaching with food put an end to the conversation, all three friends sharing a tight lipped smile, more confused than they’d ever been.
~3 Years Later~
Delilah checked the time on her phone, sighing and feeling tears of frustration brim up in her eyes. She had been five minutes early to her date nearly an hour ago. She wasn’t sure which stung more: her messages asking where her date was being left on read, or the look of pity in the waitress’ eyes as Delilah ordered her third glass of wine.
So, rejected, a little tipsy, and unsure of what to do, she called the one person she knew she could always count on.
“Hey ‘Lila,” Ashton’s voice picked up on the second ring that had Delilah feeling even more flustered.
“Oh… H-hey Ash… S-sorry I didn’t mean to call you… um…” she fumbled over her words as she scrambled to hit the end call button.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa. Aren’t you supposed to be on a date? Are you alright? What’s going on?”
The weight of concern for her in his words was the breaking point. “I got stood up…” she whimpered, a tear rolling down her cheek.
“Okay. Sit tight. I’m coming.”
“Ash-”
“Shh, it’ll be alright. I’m already on my way.”
“You’re heading out?” Calum questioned as Ashton placed Michael’s phone down on the table.
“I have to.”
“No. Mike has to. She called Mike, Ash.”
Ashton narrowed his eyes pointing into the sound booth where Michael and Luke were laying down tracks. “He’s a lil busy at the moment, and she needs someone now. What am I supposed to do? Not go to her?”
“No, of course not. It’s Del. But… Ash, it’s not a secret that things are all a little complicated between you three. I don’t want to see you get hurt because you played hero to her when it was supposed to be Mike.”
“I’m not doing this to swoop in, and take Mike’s hero moment away from him, Cal. She’s my friend too. And she needs somebody. So you really think I’m gonna let you stop me?”
Calum raised his hands in surrender. “Look, I’m only trying to protect you from getting your heart crushed if this doesn’t match up to the fantasy in your head.”
“And I appreciate that. You know I do. But I got this, Cal. Promise.”
“Alright. Go on then, I’ll explain to them what happened when they’re done.”
“Thanks, Cal.”
“Yeah, yeah. Now get out of here already.”
Ashton made it to the restaurant in minutes flat, hitting the ground running. He muttered a few apologies and “excuse me”s as he weaved through the people in his way, before finally spotting Delilah staring dejectedly at her empty glass of wine. He steeled himself from the thoughts swirling in his head about how if this had been their date he’d never dare leave her waiting on him. That wasn’t a road he needed to go down right now. “Hey,” he said softly as he took the seat across from her.
She raised her eyes slowly to look over at him, a tearful smile coming to her lips. “Hey…” she whispered.
“C’mon. Let’s get you out of here.”
“I have to pay my bill… Shoulda stuck with water…”
“That’s alright,” he told her, flagging down a waitress. While Delilah got lost in her mind, Ashton settled the bill in hushed tones. “Okay. C’mon,” he said, resting a hand gently on top of hers to get her attention.
“The bill…” she repeated.
“It’s taken care of. C’mon.” He helped her up from her seat, taking off his jacket to drape it over her shoulders, his fingers brushing against her exposed skin.
“You wanna know something?” she asked numbly as they headed for his car.
“What’s that?”
“If I told you how many times I imagined you rushing in to save the day like this… well… your head would spin. And now that it’s real… my head’s spinning.”
“That might be the wine,” he chuckled lightly, opening the door for her. “And uh… I didn’t know you felt that way.”
“How do you not know? Everyone else does…” she sighed, relaxing against the leather of the seat.
“Everyone else knows what?”
“That I like you.”
In his shock, he closed the car door with more force than he meant to. When he got in on the driver’s side, she was giggling. “What?” he asked nervously.
“Well that was dramatic,” she continued to giggle. “I like you, slam!”
“I- Wasn’t expecting it, that’s all. I thought you still liked Mike.”
Delilah sighed somewhat dreamily, and Ashton’s stomach churned. “Yeah. I like him too.”
“Yeah, I kinda gathered as much. I mean… you did call him, not me. I was just the one who picked up. Still not sure why. I just saw your name and...”
“Had to?” she supplied the rest of his thought.
“Yeah. I mean, it’s you. I wasn’t going to not answer, even if it wasn’t my phone.”
“Just because I like Mike, doesn’t mean I can’t like you too, Ash.”
“Yeah, but it’s different kinds of like.”
“Says who?”
“Says the obvious. You two are the closest, you always have been. And look, I get it. I’m not mad. I get what you see in him, because I see it, too. I just also happen to wish sometimes you saw that in me, too.”
“I do! It’s…” she scrambled to find the words to finally lay this all out on the line.
“Complicated. I know. I remember.” The words came out bitter, and they both hated it. Delilah for not having the words to fix it, and Ashton for the crushed look in her eyes when she was already having a shitty night. He let out a slow sigh, collecting himself. “I’m sorry,” he apologized. “We shouldn’t be doing this right now. This is a conversation we can have at a different time. I should be taking you home.”
“No,” she pressed. “I want to have this conversation now. Ash… I like both of you. I’ve liked Mike my entire life, and I’ve liked you since the minute I met you. And… the reason I haven’t been brave enough to do something about it is because I also know that you two like each other. And… I like you guys too much as my friends to ruin the dynamic I guess? When I don’t choose, it’s only me who gets hurt. Because I’d rather have neither of you, than have one and the other feel jealous.”
“Oh… Damn… That adds a whole ‘nother layer to this, doesn’t it?”
“Yep… They don’t have books or movies for how to deal with love triangles like this… this is… uncharted territory.”
“Yep… Well fuck. If all three of us like each other, why don’t we all just date?” Ashton suggested.
“How would that dynamic work?”
“No idea. But, if anyone could figure it out, I’d bet it’d be us.”
“And if Mike doesn’t… Would you and me still…?”
“Yeah. I’d like that.”
“You don’t… feel like that makes us consolation prizes to each other? Like we can’t both have Mike, so we’re settling for each other?”
“Nothing about being with you is me settling for you, ‘Lila. I want you.”
“I want you, too.”
“And we just happen to also want Mike,” Ashton couldn’t help but giggle at the absurdity of it all.
“Do you think he wants us, too? I mean, I know he wants you. I just don’t know if he wants me.”
“Oh, he does. Trust me, he does. Anybody would be stupid not to.” Ashton let out his next breath slowly, running his hands through his hair. “Can I kiss you now?”
“Please,” she breathed, leaning across the center console towards him. He met her in the middle, his fingers gripping lightly on her chin to guide her lips to his, her own hands coming up to cradle his face. “Thanks for coming to get me,” she murmured as they broke the kiss.
“Of course,” he smiled softly. “You hungry?”
“Starving.”
Ashton giggled and started the car. “Alright, we’ll grab some food, and then I’ll take you home.”
“We should get something for Mike, too. He’ll have known by now that I called, and that you came to get me, so he’ll be waiting for us. Right?”
“If he’s done laying down tracks with Luke, yeah. That’s probably a safe bet.”
They fell silent, Delilah finally breaking the silence only after they had picked up food for themselves and Mike. “Hey, Ash?”
“Hmm?” he hummed, reaching out to lower the volume of the radio.
“Are you scared?”
“Terrified,” he nodded. “It’s uh… not every day you tell the girl, and the boy, you’ve been crushing on for years that you’ve been crushing on them for years, with the follow up being if it’s cool if you can all date each other.”
Delilah giggled, “God, this is fuckin’ crazy…”
“100% certifiably nuts,” Ashton giggled with her as he pulled into her driveway, next to Michael’s car and spotting the man waiting for them on the porch. Ashton shut off the car and turned to look at Delilah. “Ready?”
“God, no.”
“It’s Mike. He’s our best friend.”
“I know. But I’m still…”
“Scared? Yeah, me too. His hands grabbed hers, brushing soft kisses across her knuckles. “But I’ll be right here with you. C’mon,” he coaxed.
They left the security of the car, and walked up to where Michael was waiting. He rose slowly to his feet, eyes locking on Ashton and Delilah’s hands that were clasped together. “Oh… I see you two have uh… that’s great. Happy for you guys…” His gaze flickered over to the food bag in Delilah’s other hand. “And I’m intruding, so I’m gonna head out. Glad your night worked out.”
“Mike, wait,” Ashton said, reaching out to stop the younger man. “There’s something we wanted to talk to you about.”
“No offense to either of you right now, cuz I love this for you guys, I really do. But uh… I’m a little tired and hungry from the studio. I just stopped by cuz I saw you had called, D, and wanted to make sure you were okay. And you are. So um… can we save the ‘we’re dating’ conversation for tomorrow?”
Delilah shook the bag of food. “We picked you up something, too. Please, Mikey?”
~~~
“So… let me see if I got this right. In addition to crushing on each other, you both also have a crush on me?” Michael asked, after Ashton and Delilah brought him up to speed.
“Pretty much, yeah,” Delilah nodded, leaning forward to set the now empty take out food container on the coffee table.
Michael looked over at Ashton with a raised eyebrow, “How drunk is she?”
Ashton giggled, while Delilah gaped at Michael and gave him a small shove with an indignant “Hey! I’m not that drunk. Anymore…”
“Well fuck! So we’ve all just been crushing on each other, and swallowing our pride, so nobody gets their feelings hurt except ourselves?”
“Can’t leave out the stupidest part of how all of us at some point encouraged someone to make a move on someone else.”
“Fuck, no wonder Cal and Luke bail on so many plans with us… This shit is infuriating… But now that it’s all cleared up, what do we do? How does this… work exactly?”
“I don’t know… I have enough trouble figuring out how to date one person…” Ashton admitted, making the other two laugh in agreement. “But if anyone can figure it out, it’s us, yeah?”
“Exactly,” Delilah smiled at him, squeezing his hand reassuringly. “We’re all friends first. There isn’t anything we keep from each other.”
“Minus the crushes we all had on each other, that is,” Michael amended. Then, “So… have you guys kissed yet?”
“We did, yeah,” Ashton told him, with a sheepish grin.
“Fuckers…”
“Aw, poor baby,” Delilah teased, leaning towards Michael to press a kiss to his cheek. At the last possible second, Michael turned his head, so her lips locked onto his rather than the intended target of his cheek.
He sighed in content against her lips, tasting the barest traces of wine still leftover, sweet and savory. “Can’t begin to tell you how long I’ve been wanting to do that,” he murmured as they broke apart.
“Well, now you can do it whenever you want,” she smiled.
Ashton cleared his throat. “Still here.”
Michael’s cheeks flushed. “Right. Yeah… erm…”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” Ashton groaned, hooking his fingers under Michael’s chin to get them to look at each other. “It’s a kiss, dumbass, not rocket science.”
“Calling your boyfriend a dumbass isn’t very nice of you,” Michael teased lightly.
Ashton shuddered as his lips crushed into Michael’s, “Fuck, say that again.”
“Boyfriend,” Michael grinned against Ashton’s mouth.
“My boyfriends,” Delilah beamed proudly at them.
“Our girlfriend,” they chorused back.
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