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Calum is never one to turn down a good night out.
He loves the thrum of music through his veins and the crowds of people shuffling together in the middle of a club. The taste of overpriced alcohol burns his throat with every sip he takes, but he wouldn’t have it any other way.
Especially when he’s out with his friends.
Friends are really what makes the whole experience worthwhile. Catching glimpses of Ashton laughing nearly hysterically in the corner brings a smile to Calum’s face. Seeing Michael make his beer slosh around as he waves his hands through a story has Calum shaking his head fondly. But the star of the show—of any show, really— is Luke.
Luke, who trapezes around the dance floor, slinging his arms around the necks of every person he knows. Luke, who presses careless kisses to people’s faces as means of a hello or goodbye once he has enough tequila in his system. Luke, whose smile shines brighter than the strobe lights around the DJ. Luke, dressed in unnecessarily tight pants and a t-shirt that’s a touch too wide around the edges with a thin veil of glitter haphazardly covering his face.
Luke, the life of the party.
Calum is happy to be a bystander on the side of Luke’s stage, watching him work the room and have the time of his life, just like every other night. His curls are starting to get sweaty around the edges, sticking to his skin and flattening around the nape of his neck. He pushes his hands up and through them carelessly, strands falling limp on the side of his head while he talks animatedly to someone about something that Calum can’t hear over the sound of the music.
Taking a careful sip of his own drink, Calum leans against the wall and surveys the rest of their surroundings. Ashton has taken up residency at the bar, chatting up a person with bright blue hair that shimmers under the low lights. Michael has disappeared entirely, but Calum isn’t really concerned about his whereabouts yet; he’s only had a few drinks and is more than capable of taking care of himself.
Calum’s eyes naturally fall back to Luke again, or at least they try to, because he’s disappeared from his last known location. It’s not that Luke needs supervision, but Calum likes to keep a lookout for him, mostly in case he ends up reliving The Table Incident of 2018, a scenario that none of them ever want to replay again.
As he’s playing Where’s Waldo with Luke’s face, someone’s arm falls over Calum and seconds later a body is pressed up against his, with a scruffy chin scratching against the juncture of his neck as a light kiss is placed on his exposed skin. Calum’s hand flies up around the body, holding it in place as they both sway a bit from the momentum of the unexpected hug.
“Hi, Luke,” Calum chuckles, running his hand down the damp planes of Luke’s t-shirt. He’s lost his jacket somewhere in the shuffle of the night, and Calum absently hopes that one of their friends has taken it rather than a stranger. Luke would be devastated if he lost the red trimmed leather jacket.
“Hi,” he mumbles back, finally pulling away from Calum with a dazed smile on his face, just enough for them to talk easily. “You looked lonely over here.”
Smiling, Calum shakes his head, “Not lonely, just observing. Plenty of company with my white claw.” Calum raises his can at the statement and takes a small sip.
“Why hang out with a drink when you can hang out with meeee,” Luke whines obnoxiously, tilting his head to the side and letting the slick curls fall off to the right. Michael would roll his eyes at Luke. Ashton would tell him to stop whining about everything. Calum just lets him exist as he is.
“You’ve been a social butterfly tonight, you don’t need me to follow you around.” Calum’s voice stays light, not at all perturbed by Luke’s need to talk to everyone in the room. Calum needs moments to recharge in the middle of the chaos, Luke thrives off of the energy of others. They’re different, and it works.
Luke hums, barely perceivable over the thumping bass behind them. “Fine, fair, but now I’m here and I want to talk to you!” A sloppy grin graces Luke’s face, lips shadowed by the lights but he beams nonetheless.
“Yeah? How’s the night been?”
“Fun,” Luke answers plainly, finally fully detaching himself from Calum to take a sip of his own drink, somehow miraculously still half full even with the way he had launched himself at Calum. “We have lots of friends here tonight.”
Calum nods, eyes traveling over Luke’s shoulder to the sea of humans behind them. He can only make out a few faces that he recognizes, the rest of them shapeless blobs molding together into one large mass. It’s much like being on stage, seeing pops of people who he remembers from other shows or events, but the majority of the crowd is nothing more than dots of color over the floor and up the sides.
It’s one of those things that makes him feel insignificant if he thinks about it too hard. They’re all just people in a crowd, irrelevant to some but meaningful to others. Even in this moment, people are passing them by without a second glance, but at the same time, there are people in this very room that know all their secrets. Maybe it’s the alcohol talking, or maybe it’s his brain kicking into overdrive, but Calum is suddenly hyper aware of his own existence, standing on the sidelines of one of their favorite clubs in the city.
“Earth to Cal,” Luke laughs, poking his side with an elbow. He’s smiling a bit too knowingly for Calum’s liking, like he’s in on a secret that Calum has yet to share. “You can just tell me if I’m too boring for you.”
“Sorry,” Calum coughs, focusing back on Luke. “Zoned out there for a minute.”
“No shit,” Luke smiles, sipping from his glass until it’s empty. “I was talking and you were completely ignoring me.” The way the words fall from his lips makes him sound like a frustrated child, only missing a stomping foot and crossed arms. Luke has to get his way at all times while drunk, otherwise he’s a menace to them all.
“Sorry, can I get you a refill as a peace offering?”
Luke’s smile breaks across his face, pulling a dimple into his cheek. “Please, I think the bartender is about to cut me off for the night.”
“How many drinks have you had?” Calum says, eyes widening as he second guesses his own offer. No one needs Luke to be blackout drunk, especially not when there isn’t a sober one in their group.
“No, it’s not that, I just bought drinks for too many people.”
“Ah, finally pulling your own weight? Sick of mooching off others for free booze?”
“Fuck off,” Luke laughs, knocking his shoulder against Calum’s as he pushes himself off the wall. “Now I think I have tequila calling my name?”
Rolling his eyes, Calum smiles and nods, walking away from Luke to head to the bar. He stops to chat with Ashton for a moment, nothing more than a quick introduction to the person he’s talking to while the bartender pours Luke’s drink before he politely exits the conversation with a clap on Ashton’s back.
Turning around again, Calum is not at all surprised to see that Luke has migrated away from his spot against the brick wall at the back of the club. Sighing, Calum looks for him in the sea of humans once again, hoping to see him nestled amongst the people lining the outer corners of the dance floor rather than having him get swept up by those dancing in the middle. Dancing being a very loose word, with the late hour and amount of alcohol reducing most people to nothing more than swaying bodies as they scream along to top forty hits.
Calum finds Luke laughing into the shoulder of a man he’s never seen before. He approaches them carefully, not wanting to ruin any fun that Luke may be having. Calum has never gotten in the way of Luke’s enjoyment of a night out before, and he’s not about to kill any chance Luke may have of going home with someone else tonight.
But as Calum walks up to the pair, Luke’s slightly drooping eyes fall on Calum, glittery eyeshadow sparkling in the dim lighting. He perks up immediately, turning to say something to the man next to him before he starts towards Calum, almost skipping, but really tripping, as he meets him in the middle.
“You can go back to talking to your friend, I just wanted to give you your drink,” Calum shouts, leaning in towards Luke’s ear for him to hear over the roaring music.
“No, no, he’s no friend. I want to hang out with you anyway!” Luke confirms, taking the glass from Calum’s hand with a nod of thanks.
Not having a reply to Luke’s statement, Calum only nods as he takes a step away from the dance floor. He tries to ignore the warmth in his stomach from Luke’s insistence on spending time with him tonight. He catches a glimpse of an open booth on their right and gestures over to it with his free hand. “I’m gonna go sit, you can come if you want or stay out here.”
Luke flicks his eyes to the booth and nods excitedly, taking Calum’s free hand in his own as he leads the way over to the table. His clammy hand hangs onto Calum’s tightly, warming the skin below it as Calum focuses on Luke’s back, watching the way his shoulders pull at his shirt with each movement. Blame it on the alcohol, but he’s mesmerized by the way he moves, the confidence he exudes, even when Calum knows the realities that lie behind his public image.
When they get to the table, Luke all but throws himself into the booth after detaching his hand from Calum’s, dropping his glass down recklessly as he fishes his phone out of his pocket before Calum can so much as sit down himself. Calum sits with much more grace than Luke did, sliding into the booth and turning so his knee rests across the leather, facing towards Luke directly.
“Having fun?” Luke asks, tilting his head to the side again. A drunk Luke classic move, over exaggerated movements to accompany his speech. Calum will never confirm or deny how much time he spends thinking about Luke’s mannerisms, drunk or otherwise.
“Sure,” Calum laughs under his breath. He is having fun, really, at least a little bit. There’s no reason not to be having fun, between the music and the crowd and their friends and Luke. It’s a night out, it’s fun.
Luke hums thoughtfully before his face lights up, eyebrows raising dramatically in his excitement. “I know what will make this more fun.” He shifts to get his hand in his pocket, fishing around in the material for whatever it is that he’s looking for. Calum is already concerned by what he could possibly produce from his tight pants.
After a few moments, Luke makes a small sound of victory, hand closed tightly around something. “Okay, close your eyes.”
“I really don’t think I want to do that,” Calum says skeptically through a laugh. “Are you about to drug me?”
“Never,” Luke says with a bit too much seriousness. “Do you trust me?” The sincerity hits too hard in the moment, backed by a distant scream in the music and the low rumble of people talking around them.
Calum shuts his eyes, bracing himself for whatever Luke is about to do next. He doesn’t realize he’s holding his breath until Luke places a hand on his thigh for leverage and lightly touches his eyelid with a finger. Calum’s eyes shoot open, finding Luke’s face far closer to his than expected. His outstretched hand glimmers in the light, tiny sparkles creating a kaleidoscope of color around them as Calum stops him.
“What are you doing?” Calum asks, clutching Luke’s wrist in one hand to keep him from moving any closer.
“Putting glitter on your face.” The nonchalance to Luke’s tone makes Calum laugh, more of a sudden gust of air than anything else.
“Where did you get glitter from?”
“I always have glitter on me.”
“No, I don’t need you to do that,” Calum says, ignoring Luke’s strange glitter habits, but Luke is already shaking his head wildly, curls dancing around him.
“Please? We can match, it’ll be cute. You’ll look even cuter with glitter.”
Thankful for the dim lighting hiding what feels like a deep blush, Calum sighs in faux annoyance and shuts his eyes again, pressing his lips together to keep the smile at bay when Luke essentially squeaks in excitement. While Calum’s voice gets deeper when he’s had some drinks, Luke’s goes higher, something that makes most people cringe away from him when he laughs. Calum isn’t most people.
Luke’s light touch works quickly over Calum’s face, spreading the powder across his eyes and down his cheeks. Once Luke makes a tiny satisfied noise, Calum opens his eyes to Luke’s face still impossibly close to his own, blowing out a tiny puff of air that hits Calum’s noise. His breath reeks of tequila, but Calum can’t find it in himself to mind.
“Perfect,” Luke breathes, eyes tracing Calum’s face carefully as he inspects his work with the smallest smile on his face. “Having more fun now?”
Calum laughs, “Yeah, absolutely.”
“Good, because this is the most fun I’ve had all night.” Luke settles back against the booth with a content smile on his face, body tilted to press against Calum at all possible points. He takes a small sip of his drink as he curls into Calum’s side a bit more, like he’s planning on staying here a while. Calum hopes he is.
After all, Calum is always having the most fun when he gets to spend time with Luke, too.