Chapter Text
The first time it happened was truly not supposed to happen.
The year was 2012 and Calum had still yet to wrap his mind around the fact that they had the one and only: Ashton Irwin playing in their band. Or, correction, in their band. Ashton was a couple years older than the other boy but that for some reason made Calum obsessed with him. Not only that, but Ashton wasn’t like the two others in the band, he didn’t like cuddling nearly as much. At first Calum assumed it was because he was still relatively new to the friend group, but he and Michael warmed up to Luke almost immediately after becoming friends. Because of this, Calum made it his goal to cuddle Ashton as much as humanly possible.
Ashton detested it adamantly at first, but slowly warmed up to the idea of the Kiwi boy becoming his personal koala. Plus, Calum was actually really talented at songwriting. If Ashton couldn’t see the potential in them, he never would have joined the band, and after hearing “Gotta Get Out”, that basically settled what he already knew: he needed to see this band out. And after Calum got down on one knee to propose the band to him, who could say no?
It was one of the days where Michael and Luke ditched practice to canoodle or whatever when Calum looked up from his bass with a special glow in his eye. “Hey, Ashton. You’re like way old, right?”
Ashton huffs a laugh but slowly nods, “Sure…” He didn’t like where this was headed.
“Have you ever, you know, kissed a girl?” Calum lowers his voice in the second half of the sentence, almost shy. Calum could feel heat burning behind his cheeks and prays to god that the dirty blond didn’t notice.
“I mean- yeah, sure. Why?”
“Well, it’s just, I kind of-sort of- have plans to go on a date with this girl from my high school and I don’t know what to do. She came and asked me and I don’t know what to do, what if she kisses me?” Calum looks down and nearly facepalms as he groans, “I’ve never even kissed anyone before. What if I mess it up and I’m the new laughing stock of the whole school!” The Kiwi boy grabbed hold of the older boy’s shirt and gently shook him while saying, “My reputation will never recover!”
Ashton gently shoves off his grip and moves him back by his shoulders, “Calm down. You’re very dramatic! So, what did you want me to do about it, hm?”
Calum sputters for a second before he regains himself, “I don’t know, give me advice? Isn’t that what wise sages do?” Calum smirks and looks at the older boy to see if he caught the jab at his age.
Ashton scowls and grabs the pillow on the other side of the bed and hits Calum with it.
“Hey! Ow! What the fuck, man!”
Ashton sets down the pillow and just shrugs.
“Be careful, if you want advice you gotta stop that, young man,” Ashton mimics a father as he scolds the other boy with his finger.
“Okay, fine.”
“Better. But, uh… I’ve kissed two girls so far and I don’t have crazy experiences, either. But okay. To kiss, mouths closed, is super easy. You basically just… suck?” Calum cuts him off with a loud guffaw, “Hey! I don’t know how to explain it. Whatever.” Ashton rolled his eyes. “Making out is super weird but it’s super good. It’s like regular kissing but with mouths slightly open and tongues get involved.”
“Okay, I already knew that, teach me how.”
“Well, uh, I don’t know. It’s a back and forth kind of motion but it’s honestly easier to understand once you actually do it. Trust me, once you’re in motion, you just kind of get it.”
“Well, I’m not smart like you are, are you sure I’ll get it?”
Ashton looks down at the other boy to see Calum with the most pitiful frown Ashton’s ever seen on the other boy.
“Hey, it’s okay. You’re plenty smart! I’m sure you’ll kiss a girl and she’ll be blown away!” The pitiful look still doesn’t leave Calum’s face so Ashton caves, “Okay, what if I… show you.?”
Calum’s countenance lights up for a second before it settles again, chewing his lip he mumbles, “That won’t be like, weird, right?”
“No, it’s okay! I offered, right? I just want to be able to help a pal out. No worries.”
For some unexplainable reason, Calum’s chest suddenly feels tight and the warmth of embarrassment, or something else, reappears. Ashton takes a deep breath and slowly puts his hand to rest on Calum’s cheek.
Calum’s eyes almost bulge out of his skull, “Now!?”
Ashton huffs, “Yes, now. It’s best to get it over with.” Calum’s chest now felt a stinging sensation, for yet another unknown reason.
“Pfft, yeah, of course.” Calum puffs out his chest before his cheek is being gently grabbed and pulled for his lips to meet Ashton’s. For a split second before their lips meet, Calum doesn’t know what to do. Should he close his eyes? Where does he put his arms? Does his breath stink? Are they going to French kiss? All his thoughts turn to mute as their lips meet in the center, an explosion of fireworks bursting through his gut as they both start moving in sync.
Ashton gently nibbles on Calum’s bottom lip and a gasp falls from his mouth involuntarily as Ashton’s tongue invades the shorter’s mouth. A gentle caress between their tongues feels more natural than Calum thought it would be. He thought it might be kind of weird, but this feels weirdly natural.
The hand on Calum’s cheek slowly slides up to his hair and Ashton grips the strands and gently tugs, causing a groan from Calum once more, but much louder. This breaks the atmosphere and Calum suddenly backs away.
Calum wipes the spit off his lip, “Woops, sorry. Got a little carried away.” The boy looks at the ground to avoid eye contact
Calum can feel eyes trained on him for the next couple of seconds, it feels like hours. The pause is pregnant before Ashton finally breaks the silence, “It’s okay! Do you feel better about kissing people, now?” Calum looks up to find Ashton with his normal happy grin, as if nothing happened. He doesn’t understand why he feels a little hurt.
“Yes, thank you.”