"This is awesome" Calum spoke in awe as he walked around the new apartment while letting his eyes roam every wall in the new home. Michael walked beside him and nodded his head in agreement while keeping a wide grin on his face.

"It's pretty nice, isn't it?" Luke asked and smiled contently as he looked around his new place. His, Ashton's and the kids' new place.

Their old apartments were sold and all the stuff had been moved into the new apartment yesterday, making the last couple of days extremely stressful. But worth it.

"Well, yeah," Michael spoke and ran a hand over the kitchen counter, "How'd you afford this now again?"

Luke chuckled and sat down on one of the bar stools around the kitchen island and spun around to face his friends, "There's two people living in this apartment who have pretty decent incomes"

"Yeah, well keep rubbing that fact in my face, asshole" Michael muttered, making both Luke and Calum laugh.

"That reminds me," Luke spoke and averted his eyes to Calum, "When do you get to start working?"

Calum scratched his jaw and sighed as he was thinking, "I'm going back to the school in two weeks, and I'm taking the final exam in about 6 or 7 months. If I pass that, I can start working as a real and fully educated policeman" he grinned.

"7 months? That's so long. You'll get a few breaks between that, right?" Luke asked and frowned.

"You haven't told him?" Michael asked and looked at Calum with furrowed eyebrows while Calum was grinning widely.

"Told me what?" Luke asked and glanced between his two best friends with a confused look on his face.

Calum smiled big and walked over to Luke, placing his hands on his shoulders and shook the blonde slightly, "I finally got a spot in the school here in Chicago. Took me almost two years, but I'm moving back, and I'm gonna keep living with Michael so it will be just like before"

Luke's eyes widened before he smiled big and tugged his friend into a tight hug, "Finally! God, it sucked having you gone for so long"

"I know, it sucked for me too" Calum said and pulled away from the hug to ruffle Luke's hair, but the blonde didn't mind at this moment.

"The kids will be so happy when they hear about this" Luke spoke and Calum grinned happily.

"Sometimes it just hits me that I'm so fucking behind you guys," Michael spoke up as he sat on the kitchen counter, "Luke, you just bought a home with your, and I quote; 'love of your life', so you can raise you children together. And Calum, you soon have a full education and will get a job right away"

Michael jumped down from the counter and walked over to his friends, leaning forward to grumpily lean his elbows against the kitchen island, "I'm nothing. I don't have a relationship, I don't have a kid, I don't an education, and I barely have a job. I'm so the third wheel in this friendship"

Calum rolled his eyes and chuckled as he looked at Michael with an amused expression, "That's not true"

"Yes it is, and you know it" Michael mumbled.

"So what if it is?" Luke asked and turned to look at Michael, "You have fun, that's all you're about. You're like the most comfortable person ever, you don't worry, that's not your thing"

"What is my thing then?" Michael mumbled.

"You have a lot of things, but you don't need to decide which one you want to dig deeper into yet. You're only 21 years old, you have years to figure out what to do" Luke said and Michael mumbled out a small 'thanks mom', causing Luke to roll his eyes.

"You know," Michael spoke and pushed himself away from the kitchen island to press a finger against Luke's forehead lightly, "Everything would be so much easier if you weren't in a relationship right now. You were my backup"

Luke rolled his eyes while Calum laughed, "Oh my god, I totally forgot that!" Calum said and looked at his friends with an amused smirk.

"That was if we were 35 and still not in a relationship" Luke spoke and Michael rolled his eyes.

"21, 35, what's the difference?" he asked and shrugged, "But that's all screwed up now because you actually found someone and I'm left alone"

"How are you so sure Ash and I will still be together when I'm 35?" Luke asked and raised one eyebrow up.

"Because it's obvious," Michael mumbled, "You're like two papers and your kids are like glue. You're never going to rip apart"

"Don't you have a backup to your backup?" Calum spoke, still wearing that amused smirk.

"No" Michael spoke and looked between Luke and Calum before locking his eyes on Calum and grinned widely.

"No, no way" Calum spoke and shook his head, "No way am I spending my life locked down with you"

"You kind of already are, and you're not complaining right now?" Michael asked and cocked one eyebrow up.

"But I'm not in a relationship with you, I'm not married to you," Calum spoke and Michael shrugged, "And what makes you think I won't be in a relationship when I'm 35? I'm a great catch"

Michael rolled his eyes and gave Calum a dumbfounded look, "Because who willingly dates or marries a cop? You can't do anything illegal in that relationship. Legal is boring" Michael spoke, making Calum furrow his eyebrows.

"What? That's stupid, a lot of people wants to date a cop. Men in uniforms are sexy," Calum spoke and both Luke and Michael stretched their lips down in a slight grimace, "I'm talking about the sane ones, okay?"

"I don't know," Michael spoke and and scrunched his face up, "I just feel like it would all be so restricted and no fun. Like, I wouldn't even be able to download music or movies without you putting me in jail"

Calum sighed, "You're so wrong" he grumbled.

"Then prove me that I'm wrong" Michael spoke and smirked small. Luke knew exactly what he was doing and he mentally applauded Michael for his negotiation skills.

"Fine, alright. If neither of us are married or in any kind of relationship at the age of 35, we'll get married" Calum spoke confidently and Luke burst out laughing when knowing Michael had so easily trapped him.

"Great, can't wait" Michael spoke and patted Calum's cheek playfully, making the raven-haired boy grimace.

All three boys turned their heads to the entrances when the apartment door opened and Ashton walked inside while flipping through a few envelopes that had probably came with the mail.

Ashton struggled to open the door as a few boxes were still placed just by the entrance of the apartment.

"Hi, baby" Luke spoke up and smiled when Ashton lifted his head and gave the three boys a surprised look.

"Oh, hi," he said and smiled big as he toed his shoes off and shrugged off his jacket.

"I thought you'd still be at the game?" Ashton spoke as he walked in to the kitchen and greeted Michael and Calum with a hug and Luke with a kiss.

"We lost so we left early to try and avoid the embarrassment" Calum said and smiled small when watching Ashton wrap his arms around Luke's shoulders from behind.

"Oh, that sucks," Ashton said and pouted as he placed his chin on top of Luke's head, "So, what's going on here?"

The three younger boys looked around the kitchen and shrugged slightly, not knowing what part of their conversation to mention to Ashton.

Luke smirked though as he pulled Ashton in front of his and tugged the older boy down in his lap, glancing between his best friends before speaking,

"Michael and Calum just got engaged"

Ashton widened his eyes and quickly turned his head to look at the two boys who stood with bored looks on their faces.

"What?" Ashton asked and laughed, "I didn't even know you were together, and now you're getting engaged?"

"No. Fuck no" Calum grumbled and gave Michael a dirty glare.

"You don't need to be rude about it. You know that some day it will happen" Michael spoke, making Calum roll his eyes.

"Wait, so there is no engagement?" Ashton asked with furrowed eyebrows, making Luke chuckle and tighten his hold around his boyfriend.

"No," Calum spoke and huffed as Michael flicked his shoulder, "And we are not together either"

Ashton eyed them both with an amused look on his face before chuckling and shaking his head.

"Okay, good" Ashton spoke and turned his head back to Luke and placed a kiss on the blonde's forehead.

"Good? You don't want them engaged?" Luke spoke and chuckled fondly at the pretty smile Ashton was wearing.

"No," Ashton said and smiled brightly, "I want the you and I to be the first ones to get engaged"

**

"A little bit left," Ashton spoke as he stood with his eyes focused on the wall Luke was holding up the poster, "Now up a bit. Go right. And now more left. No wait, try-"

"Babe please," Luke spoke and closed his eyes shut, "I have cramp in my arms for holding this up for so long. It's not like Leon's gonna care about precision, he's 4"

Ashton rolled his eyes but smiled at the blonde. "Fine, just put it were you think it's good" he said and turned around to go through the boxes in Leon's new room.

They had fixed the kitchen, living room and Peach's room room with the help of their families and Michael and Calum. They wanted to get Leon's room done before starting on their own, thinking the kids were more important.

The kids were at Ashton's mother's for the whole day and night so the fathers could work on setting up the new home for their family.

"Do you wanna unpack the clothes or should we fix the desk first?" Ashton asked but Luke didn't answer as he was focused on lying down on Leon's miniature bed and sighed out in content.

It had been a hectic day, very energy consuming, and Luke just wanted to take a break from it all and rest his poor hardworking body.

"Luke?" Ashton asked when he got no answer. He turned around and eyed Luke on the small bed, the blonde's long legs hanging over the edge of the bed, making Ashton laugh.

"Let's just take a breather for a few minutes" Luke mumbled and closed his eyes, humming in satisfaction when feeling his body relax.

"What's that?" Ashton asked but Luke still kept his eyes closed.

"What's what?" Luke mumbled and moved around in the small bed to make himself even more comfortable.

"That small red and blue box?" Ashton asked and walked over to said box standing by the others against the wall.

Luke opened one eye and glanced over to Ashton, eyeing the box, and closed his eyes again. "Mom came by with that this morning. I didn't have time to ask what it was but I think it's stuff Leon may have forgotten at their place" Luke said and shrugged.

"Okay" Ashton spoke before crouching down and pulled the box out before opening the lid. As he saw what was inside, he furrowed his eyebrows.

"Howard High School, yearbook, two thousand and-" Ashton whispered before smirking big and turned back to his tired boyfriend, "These are your stuff, Luke. It's your childhood stuff"

Luke immediately sat up on the bed and looked at the smirking Ashton before groaning.

"No, why would she bring me that?" Luke asked and whined quietly as he walked over to Ashton and crouched down beside him.

"This is a yearbook from when you were a sophomore" Ashton said and picked up the big book with the high school logo at the front.

"Please don't look at that, I beg you" Luke said and groaned when Ashton did the exact opposite.

As soon as Ashton found the page with the personal photos, his eyes frantically roamed around the page until he found a small blond boy with a shaggy fringe and an awkward smile.

"Oh my god," Ashton breathed out while Luke let out another groan, "That's the best thing I've ever seen"

"Stop it. I hate that picture and I hate that stupid phase, don't make me cry even more about it" Luke grumbled, making Ashton laugh.

"I'm not teasing you about it! I mean what I say, that's the best thing I've ever seen" he said and laughed lightly when seeing Luke's cheeks turn slightly pink.

"You're really mean" Luke mumbled as he started digging through the box himself.

"No, stop it," Ashton chuckled and closed the book to reach his hands up and placed them on Luke's cheeks, "If it makes you feel any better I'll tell you that before I took my senior photo, I straightened my hair with a hair straightener for at least 25 minutes"

Luke looked into Ashton's serious, yet amused, eyes before cracking a smile. "That does make me feel better" Luke mumbled, making Ashton scoff and laugh at him.

The boys kept digging through the box, Ashton picking up yearbook after yearbook - much to Luke's dismay - while Luke was looking through all the different band merchandise he had bought at a young age.

"Wow Hemmings, puberty did you good" Ashton spoke and held up the book for Luke to see his senior photo.

The shaggy fringe was long gone and was now replaced with a quiff. A black ring was pierced into his bottom lip and his shoulders were broader and his body was muscular.

He did upgrade, he admits that.

"To think you're rocking the sophomore hair again though" Ashton laughed and ran a hand through the small fringe covering the one side of Luke's forehead now.

"Is it that horrible?" Luke asked and ran a hand through his hair.

"No, it's really sexy" Ashton spoke and smirked before going back to the next book. Luke grinned though; he was content with that answer.

"Luke, you make my heart beat louder, harder, and stronger. You're mine. Love, Dani" Ashton read out suddenly, making Luke tense up.

"Dani," Ashton spoke and turned to Luke with a curious look on his face, "Who's he?"

Luke licked his lips and never once letting his eyes glance away from the rubber bracelets with band logos in the box while Ashton waited for an answer.

"Um," he started and moved around a bit before sighing, "He's a she, and she was my high school girlfriend"

It was quiet for a while before Ashton understood what Luke had said. He did his own math before eyeing the blonde carefully.

"So that makes her Leon's-"

"Yep" Luke spoke simply and shrugged his shoulder to make it look like it wasn't a big deal, but Ashton saw right through it. It was hard for the blonde.

"You don't like to talk about her?" Ashton asked and watched Luke intently.

"I don't know," Luke spoke and shrugged again, "There's no point in talking about her. She's not in my life anymore, not in Leon's either, so there's no reason to talk about her and act like she still is"

Even though Luke didn't mean it, his voice came out dry and defensive. Ashton didn't mind though, he knew it wasn't directed towards himself.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know. I didn't mean to bring up a sore subject" Ashton spoke softly and reached one hand out to place it on Luke's upper arm.

Luke frowned and turned to look at Ashton before biting his bottom lip and shook his head. "You don't need to apologize, baby. You did nothing wrong. Actually, I'm pathetic for not wanting to speak about her at all"

"No you're not," Ashton said and moved closer to Luke, "You're totally right in doing that. She made no effort to be here, so you don't have to act like that's okay"

Luke stared into Ashton's soft eyes before smiling small and nodding his head. He leaned down and gently placed his lips on Ashton's before pulling away with a fond smile.

"I love you" he whispered, making Ashton smile as well.

"I love you too" Ashton answered before giving Luke a playful grin and going back to the books again.

Luke chuckled and rolled his eyes at his boyfriend before rummaging through the box once again, pulling out a few pictures of him, Calum and Michael when they were younger, as well as photographs of himself and a newborn Leon.

Luke smiled at the pictures and placed them on the side to later frame, before going back to the box again, frowning when seeing the black velvet box. As soon as Luke's fingers felt the material, he remembered what it was and smiled small.

He opened the lid and smiled fondly when watching his grandfather's golden ring that had been passed on in the Hemmings family for decades. Luke had gotten it from his grandfather when he was 13, and it was a dear memory of his grandpa.

"What's that?" Ashton asked curiously as he leaned his head on Luke's shoulder and eyed the beautiful golden ring.

"My grandpa's ring. He gave it to me on my 13th birthday and he passed away 4 months later" Luke spoke softly, never once letting his eyes move away from the ring.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Ashton spoke, making Luke smile small in return, "It's a pretty ring. Is it real?"

"Yeah" Luke breathed out and slowly picked the ring out of the box and studied it carefully.

Ashton smiled at the sight before his eyes landed on the pictures on Luke and Leon, making him pick them up and coo over the adorableness.

Luke still let his eyes trace the small golden circle in his hand, holding it tightly, before glancing up at Ashton and watched the older boy smile with so much adoration at those baby and father pictures in his hands.

Luke glanced back at the ring and bit his lip, feeling the ring between his fingers before taking a deep breath and speaking,

"Marry me"

Ashton quickly tore his eyes away from the pictures and looked at Luke with wide eyes and eyebrows raised high.

"What?" he asked with a small voice.

"Marry me," Luke repeated and held up the ring before shaking his head, "No, I mean; will you marry me?"

Ashton looked Luke up and down, his lips agape and eyes still wide, probably shocked and wondering if this was actually real.

"Luke" he managed the breathe out as he looked at the blonde with confused eyes.

"I know, I know," Luke spoke and cracked a nervous smile, "We've only been together for a couple of months, but it feels like forever. We've just bought a home together and our kids call us 'dads'. I know it's sudden, but I want this. I want you"

Ashton was still completely silent as he watched every move Luke did. He opened his mouth to speak but the shock made it hard for him to create any words.

"Luke, w-what do you- how-" Ashton stuttered, making Luke chuckle softly before facing him and reaching a hand out to hold onto Ashton's.

"I'm asking you to marry me, but that doesn't have to be right away. We can wait a few years. Babe, we can wait for as long as you want. All I want you to know is that I want to marry you in the future" Luke spoke and held onto Ashton's hand tightly as he looked into the older boy's hazel-green eyes.

It was silent again, and Luke almost started to feel stupid for asking. But as Ashton finally spoke, he relaxed.

"I do too" Ashton breathed out and looked into Luke's eyes before letting a smile spread on his lips.

"Yeah?" Luke asked and grinned widely as he watched Ashton smile big and nod his head.

"Yeah" Ashton said and breathed out a chuckle while his eyes started to form tears of relief and happiness.

"Okay, so," Luke spoke and moved around on the floor and made himself sit on one knee. He held the ring in one hand and Ashton's hand in the other as he smiled while taking a deep breath.

"Ashton Irwin, will you marry me?"