Chapter 74: Make a Day of it
Both of them were directed towards the wall to choose a haircut, so Caleb informed the guy that he was just here to give his friend a company. However both of them stared at the wall intently as if they were looking for a needle in a haystack. “You know what I think would suit you the best”? Caleb mumbled.
“Hm”? Ashton urged him to continue.
“That one” He pointed at the picture displayed on top. Seeing the style was actually a mohawk Ashton glared at Caleb, “Not funny”!
“Hey, it would really go well with your face” Caleb commented trying his best to suppress his giggle.
“I will get a crew cut like always” Ashton mumbled and was about to call the hairdresser when Caleb stopped him, “Wait”!
“I am not getting a mohawk”! Ashton asserted, raising his voice. Caleb chuckled before saying, “No no, I got that. How about trying that”. He pointed at another pic labeled as quiff.
“I don’t know... my hair grows fast, I have to come back here sooner if I get that one”. Ashton mumbled. “So? Come back. What’s the big deal? At least try it, you can always cut it shorter if you don’t like it” Caleb insisted.
.....
“Fine” Ashton gave up and got down for the cut. After he was done he stared at himself in the mirror. He looked quite elegant and professional and mature for his age.
“Do you like it”? the man who did his hair asked. He simply nodded at the man before getting out of the chair. When he was about to pay, they refused to take it since Caleb had already paid for it.
He came out of the shop to find Caleb standing outside the parlor doing nothing in particular. “What are you doing here? And why the hell did you pay for me”? Ashton scolded him.
“You are weird” Caleb commented instead of actually replying to him. Before Ashtom could hit him with a witty remark he started to walk towards his car. In the window of Ashton getting his hair done, Caleb had transferred all of Ashton’s possessions to his car, so Ashton had no choice but to follow that annoying boy.
“You didn’t answer me”! Ashton pressed once more as soon as he put on his seatbelt. “Why did you pay for me”?
“I don’t know, I am used to paying for my friends whenever we do something together. It’s not a big deal” Caleb replied to him finally. “They barely complain, why are you so bothered by it”? Caleb raised an eyebrow at him.
“Well, I am not like the rest of your friends. I don’t like it, I would pay you back. How much was it”? Ashton asked only to get nothing but silence as an answer from Caleb. “come on, tell me”! He pressed further.
“I don’t know, I paid with my card” Caleb shrugged.
“The bill”? Ashton asked.
“I threw it away as soon as I got it. It’s not like you can return a haircut, what’s the point of keeping it”. Cakeb shrugged. Ashton, hearing that huffed and turned around to look outside the window. He wasn’t very fond of Caleb spoiling the twins, and he was definitely not fond of Caleb spending money on him either. He liked to work hard for the money, and spend them only if he had earned it himself.
Seeing, or rather not seeing, Ashton’s face Caleb suggested an idea, “How about this, let’s go have something to eat. You can pay for both of us. That way we will be covered”.
Ashton glanced back at him for a second before thinking while he bore holes in the steering wheel with his intense stare. “Sounds like a good plan”. He mumbled. “Well it’s quite late, you want to have dinner”? Ashton offered.
Caleb looked at Ashton with a delightful smirk. “You sure? I would love that”! He declared. “Where to”? Caleb asked.
“Your pick”. Ashton shrugged.
Caleb smirked before redirecting his route to a Chinese restaurant. Once they reached Ashton noticed that the place was quite secluded and empty. The ambience was quiet but also pretty suspicious. “This is creeping me out”. Ashton mumbled.
“Relax, I have been here on multiple occasions. I mean, this place is underrated, but damn it has the best servings” Caleb informed him.
“Alright then”.
Caleb ordered rice noodles along with kung pao chicken, while Ashton ordered another bowl of rice noodles along with it. They stayed there for almost an hour sharing their meal and conversations. Once they were done, it was indeed quite late which is why when Caleb dropped him off Ashton offered for him to stay.
“Really? You will give up your bed once more”? Caleb teased.
“Nope, if you are staying, you are taking the couch. Also, I am only saying this because of the situation. It’s not that safe out there at night”. Ashton explained.
“Don’t worry, I am pretty good at evading ill-fate. I will be fine. Besides, if I don’t show up at home my brother will go crazy”. Caleb shrugged. Ashton got off the car before Caleb drove towards his destination.
Upon arriving late, his mother asked him how come he was with Caleb, having heard him near the gate. After a brief explanation of the whole day his mother said, “I see you went on a date. I am glad you made a day of it”. She smiled.
“What? It wasn’t a date”! Ashton defended himself. However, his mother’s suggestive smirk proved that he failed to convince her otherwise.
“Treat him nicely, now that he is your mate” she advised him before she left. She was glad that he picked Caleb to be his mate. Despite what Ashton said about him doing Caleb a favor, she knew that Ashton was somewhat attached to him too. Even if her idiotic son refused to admit it.
For this reason she was delighted when Caleb showed up at the door next morning. She was happy that her son was bonding with Caleb even more instead of pushing him away. “These are for you” he gave her a bouquet of flowers that she accepted with a smile.
The twins who were sitting in the living room jumped at the sight of Caleb, and who were even more overjoyed upon receiving the pandas he got them. Ashton simply shook his head, giving up on stopping Caleb from spoiling his sisters and headed up to their floor. Since it was still quite early, Caleb helped Ashton with a few topics, guiding him through what’s important or not based on the teacher he will get. Ashton always imagined Caleb as a typical popular dumb but attractive guy, which is why he was genuinely surprised at how much he actually knew about all this academic stuff.
He didn’t realize he was staring at the other when Caleb asked him, “What are you looking at”?
Ashton blinked before he mumbled, “Nothing”.
Caleb narrowed his gaze suspiciously before saying, “Alright, but focus on this”! And continued with his teaching.
Once they were done they arrived downstairs to see the whole house empty. He was surprised to find it like that but assumed that it was his mother’s crafty way of getting these two to spend alone time together. “Oh god” he mumbled at his mother’s silly behavior before going near the kitchen sink to fix it.
He explained what he was doing as he did it, step by step to Caleb. It wasn’t that hard to be honest, it just needed a bit of precision. From the looks of it it seemed that Caleb understood what Ashton was talking about, but then again, who knows?
After they were done , a tired Ashton brought out a few milkshakes from the fridge. Caleb chuckled seeing both of them were pineapple flavored. Ashton raised his eyebrows to say, “What”?
“Nothing, you really love pineapples don’t you”?
“Yeah, they are my favorite” Ashton mumbled.
“There was a time when I hated it” Caleb mumbled. Ashton held his hand out to take away the milkshake from him but Caleb withdrew his hand. “I don’t anymore”. He announced and started savoring it.
They were halfway through their drinks when the door opened to reveal Mrs Parker holding a giant bag using both of her arms. “I see you boys are having fun” she commented.
“Yeah, how can we not when there is no one to interrupt us” Ashton rolled his eyes.
“What are you talking about? Why would anyone interrupt anything ? What were you two upto”? His mother gazed at him suspiciously.
“Oh really? Where are the twins”? Ashton asked his mother suggestively. The suspicion on his mother’s face deepened as she asked.
“How would I know? Last time I checked they were in their rooms”. She informed Ashton in a manner indicating that Ashton might have gone crazy.
“What do you mean? They aren’t with you”? Ashton deadpanned.
“No”. His mother confirmed. “Why where are they”? She asked him.
“I... I don’t know. They are not in the house”. Ashton informed his mother, panic slowly rising through him.
“Okay... relax. I am sure they are nearby”. His mother assured him.
“I guess you are right. Now that they are aware of the danger I am sure they will be careful”. Ashton mumbled.
After a moment of silence a soft voice came from Mrs Parker, “Oh no”.
“What”? Ashton asked.
“I forgot to tell them yesterday, I don’t think they know”. She whispered.
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