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It’s always lovely to wake up slowly without an alarm assaulting your ear drums. Luke appreciates mornings like this so much. He finds himself smiling to himself before he’s even fully awake, relishing the comfiness of the bed and the quietness house. As he stretches out his arms, Luke’s smile falters a little at discovering that his boyfriend isn’t beside him. The blonde listens carefully, expecting to ear the shower or something but the house seems silent beyond his childhood bedroom.Luke grabs his phone from the bedside table to check the time. It’s only when he sees the date that things start to make sense in his sleepy brain. It’s Christmas Day and despite spending the festive period with Luke’s family for the first time in years, the blonde knows that Ashton isn’t likely to break their Christmas morning tradition. He always brings Luke breakfast in bed and they each open one gift from each other before going downstairs to open the rest.Content in the knowledge that Ashton should be back at any moment, Luke drops his phone back onto the beside table before pulling the covers up over his shoulders and snuggling further into his pillow.Luke lays there in that pleasant, fuzzy state between sleep and full consciousness until his handsome boyfriend returns baring a tray full of coffee and toast. Ashton looks as cute as ever with his sandy coloured, sleep-ruffled hair and blearily hazel eyes. He kind of looks like a giant teddy bear in his oversized sweater and cozy winter pyjama bottoms.“Morning, gorgeous.” Ashton whispers gently, placing the tray down on to the beside table before dropping a kiss onto the end Luke’s nose. “I brought you breakfast.”Luke grins, catching the side of Ashton’s face in one hand to keep him close. “You’re the best boyfriend on the planet.” He sighs happily, pursuing his lips in a silent demand for a proper kiss.Ashton happily gives in, grazing Luke’s lips with his own in a soft kiss as he strokes his boyfriend’s blonde curls with his thumb. “Did you bring my present?” Luke asks hopefully, his eyes still closed in sleepy bliss as Ashton pulls away so that he can get back into bed.The older man giggles as he pulls the duvet over his lap and helps Luke into a sitting position. “Let’s eat first.” He suggests before picking up a coffee cup and handing it to Luke.The blonde pouts as he takes the cup, curling his long fingers around it and savouring it’s warmth. “But presents...”Rolling his eyes fondly, Ashton takes a sip of his own coffee. “You’re worse than a little kid.” He sighs happily. “Can I at least have my toast?” Luke asks, smiling a little now as he cuddles closer to his boyfriend. Ashton hands Luke a piece of toast silently. He seems a little distracted as he picks up a slice of toast for himself and nibbles on the corner of it. He pulls his phone from his pocket when it vibrates with a text message, only to frown at it before leaving it face down on the bedside table.“Are you alright, babe?” Luke asks, in a mildly concerned tone. Ashton’s usually just as excitable as he is on Christmas morning, so this quiet demeanour is a huge departure from the giggly, child like man that usually wakes Luke up with kisses and yells about presents.“I’m fine.” Ashton nods thoughtfully, although his tone is a little on the hesitant side. Glancing around Luke’s childhood bedroom the older man seems almost nervous, as though he’s waiting for something to jump out at him. “I’ve just been thinking.” He smiles faintly. “This room brings back a lot of memories, doesn’t it?”Luke reaches out to stroke Ashton’s thigh beneath the duvet. “Yeah.” He smirks. “We had a lot of fun in here, over the years, didn’t we?” He wiggles his eyebrows suggestively, remembering some of the more explicit and particularly sexy things they got up to in their teenage years.Ashton lets out a soft giggle. “Yeah.” He replies wistfully. “We had a lot of our firsts in this room, too.” He places his half eaten slice of toast back down on his plate before intwining his fingers with Luke’s under the covers. “Remember Your sixteenth birthday party?” The older man asks quietly. “You asked me to stay behind when everyone else had left.” He remembers, a fond smile playing on his lips. “You brought me up here to show me all your new stuff and you were so excited and cute. I remember thinking I was in such deep shit because I all wanted to do was kiss you, but as far as I knew you were straight.”Luke laughs, resting his head on Ashton’s shoulder. “I proved you wrong that night, huh?” He blushes a little as he remembers awkwardly trying to flirt with the hot sixth former who had miraculously said yes to attending his little backyard birthday party. When everyone else had gone home, Luke had used the old ‘you want to see what I got for my birthday’ trick to get Ashton alone in his room. He recalls worrying that his not-so-subtle hints and hand touches weren’t working or that the older boy just wasn’t into him. Luckily a particularly desperate compliment about his hair had finally given Ashton the nudge he needed. The sixth form student had shuffled closer to Luke on the bed, brushing the younger boy’s fingers with the tips of his own as leaned into press and timid kiss to Luke’s lips.Just like an echo of the past, Ashton’s lips graze Luke’s forehead tenderly. “It’s still the only time I’ve ever been happy to be wrong.” He replies. “You were all I could I think of that summer.” Giggling again, Ashton continues. “Nothing’s really changed in the ten years that have passed since then. Not in that respect, anyway.”They’re interrupted by Ashton’s phone vibrating again, but Ashton seems intent upon ignoring it so Luke follows his lead. He tilts his head slightly to look up at Ashton’s thoughtful face. “You’re hotter than you were back then.” He smirks. “But sixteen year old me would never believe it, even if I could go back and tell him that. Eighteen year old you was his biggest crush and over all hero. He spent a lot of time in this bed thinking about you.”Ashton tightens his grip on Luke’s hand. “Even when nineteen year old me broke his heart because he was a scared little bitch?” Despite the undertone of humour, Ashton’s voice is quiet and little tentative. “I guess that fight about you wanting to move across the country, was another of our ‘firsts’ to happen in here.” Luke reminisces. “Thank god I had the balls to follow you, in the end.”The couple spend a moment in complete silence. Luke thinks back to that scary time in his life where everyone around him was telling him that Ashton was just his ‘first love’, that he’d have more relationships and realise what he had with the older boy wasn’t that special after all, that he should just let Ashton leave whilst Luke finished college and concentrated on getting into university. Even as a confused and impressionable teenager, Luke’s heart has know that Ashton was the one. He’d defied his parents wishes and packed a suitcase, following Ashton to live in a grotty one bedroom flat in London so that he could work for his cousin and help her to start up a new online businesses. “I’m just glad all the risks paid off.” Ashton sighs gently. “I never could have lived with myself if you’d given up your life here, for nothing.”Luke places his hand on Ashton’s cheek firmly to force the older man to meet his gaze. “It never would have been for nothing.” The blonde replies determinedly. “I’d have rather lived with you in that tiny flat with the leaky sink and the noisy neighbours for the rest of my life, than spend even a day here without you.”Ashton’s beautiful hazel eyes glisten with tears as he smiles softly, his cheeks dimpling in the adorable way that Luke loves more than he can ever explain. “I love you, Luke.” He whispers into the sliver of space between their lips. “I don’t know what I’d ever do without you.”Smiling into the kiss he pecks to Ashton’s lips, Luke says “you’ll never have to find out. You’re stuck with me, Mr Irwin.” He promises. “Forever.”Ashton backs up a little as he reaches into the pocket of his pyjamas before fixing Luke with an almost frightened look. “Would you um...” he swallows nervously as though his words are getting stuck in his throat. “Like to make that official?”A momentary cloud of confusion descends over Luke as he takes in Ashton’s slightly odd behaviour. He’s about to ask what on earth the older man means before his eyes land on the little black velvet box in Ashton’s trembling hand. A tiny red bow is stuck to the top of the box as though it was originally planned to look like a normal present.“I know i probably should have chosen a more glamorous setting for this and possibly some big extravagant display of love to accompany it.” Ashton’s voice and hands shake as he speaks, holding Luke’s gaze desperately. “But Christmas is your favourite time of year and I couldn’t let another one pass without asking you something I’ve been wanting to ask since you were a lanky teenager.” He opens the box to reveal a pretty silver ring with a black stone set into it. Luke covers his mouth with a trembling hand. “Ash...” He whispers. “Is that... are you...”Ashton smiles, a little of his usual confidence returning as he takes the ring out it’s lavish the box. “Luke Robert Hemmings, love of my life, will you marry me?”A tearful “yes” is all Luke can force out as he lunges into Ashton’s arms, clinging to him as closely as possible.Smiling brightly, Ashton hugs Luke tightly, pressing a delighted kiss into to his blonde curls. “You mean it?” He asks, as though he can’t quite believe how easy it was to get Luke to agree to be his husband.The blonde nods enthusiastically and finally backs up enough to offer Ashton his left hand, excited to get the ring on his finger.Ashton ignores his phone vibrating again as he slides the ring onto Luke’s finger. As soon as the band is in place, the older man pulls Luke into a passionate kiss. The younger man melts into it, easily ignoring the prolonged vibrating of Ashton’s phone as he concentrates on putting every ounce of love he’s built up for Ashton over the past ten years into the kiss.When they finally break apart, Ashton sighs in exasperation. “I’m sorry about my phone!” He mumbles, finally picking it up from the bedside table. “Michael and Calum have been messaging me since five am, asking if I’d ‘done it yet’.” He rolls his eyes. “Nosy bastards, I wish I’d never told them I was planning to ask you this morning.”Luke giggles. “Let me message them.” He insists, picking up his own phone before taking a photo of his ring and sending it to the group chat that he and Ashton have with their nosy friends. He captions it ‘I said yes, dummies! Now leave my fiancé alone, I have a lot of ‘gifts’ to give to him!’“Ohh ‘gifts’?” Ashton’s asks, raising an eyebrow suggestively. “I hope that means what I think it does!”Luke rolls his eyes fondly as he drops his phone back down on his bedside table. “If you’re thinking it involves a blowjob and maybe even a quickie in the shower, you’re hundred percent correct!”