#anne's21st

[outerspaceisbetterthannothing]

Truth To Be Told [Ashton One Shot]

Warnings: slight cursing

Pairing: Ashton Irwin x Reader

A/N: this was supposed to be Anne’s @bringmethehorizonandpizza​ birthday present, but i’m the most awful friend, so i’ve finished it only now, hope Anne doesn’t hate me as much as i deserve to be hatedfor that  🙈 i also hope you’ll enjoy this cliche bff to lovers story. My prompt was “I wanna eat you up like a candy” 😈 Feedback is extremelly appreciated, as always! Happy reading!

You were rushing through the rain in the busy downtown, being awfully late to your date. You looked at your watch and cursed under you breath. You just couldn’t get how it all happened.

And what happened was you simply forgetting about the date in the first place. Unbelievable, but you did. It wasn’t like you didn’t like the guy, completely opposite for that matter. You and Nate had been seeing each other for almost three months now and everything was going great. He was smart, but not a snob, had nice sense of humor, normal job and usual interests. He was absolutely normal and you often thought you liked that most about him. And it definitely wasn’t like you didn’t wanna go on this date. Nate booked a table in that Greek restaurant you wanted to visit and you anticipated that evening. You just… forgot. 

It happens, right? Sometimes people forget things and there is nothing criminal in that. To be honest, it wasn’t even your fault. You had woken up with mild headache that morning and it really distracted you. You also had a really tough time at work, and by the time you actually realised it wasn’t just Friday but also that Friday, the Friday you had a date, you were already late. And yes, you felt awful. Because you liked Nate. You liked him enough to really wish for things to work between the two of you. So you were almost running. Cause you cared. You really did.

The restaurant was full, which didn’t surprise you as it was Friday night, but the waiter didn’t make you wait any extra minute. Nate smiled when he saw you and you felt the anxiety knot in your belly weaken. He wasn’t angry, he understood. He kissed you and helped with your chair and joked how he had some extra time to choose wine, so it was even better that you came late. He was a perfect gentleman, you wondered how you could even wish for anything more. And even though the annoying voice in the back of your head was nagging you about that ‘more’ you were wishing for, providing you with images and memories, you pushed it all back and focused on Nate. You didn’t quite know what was about to happen, but you had the feeling that tonight was somehow important for your boyfriend. 

The waiter brought you wine and you felt that was the moment. Nate coughed and fixed his watch, he was always doing it if being nervous. You tried to guess what it was he was about to say. You’ve met his friends already, but it was too early to meet his family yet. You never had the exclusivity talk, but from the beginning of your relationship you both understood it was implied. Was he about to hand you the key to his apartment? Or was it also too soon? Or maybe he wanted to suggest going on holiday together? You felt your insides tremble in anticipation.

Nate cleared his throat again and started, “Y/n, you look wonderful today.” You smiled. He lied. You looked usual, but you were thankful to him for this little lie.

“And you always look wonderful, I have no idea, how you manage to do that, but you do. And I just wanted to take this opportunity to express my feelings to you,” he took a pause and you felt ice cover your still slightly trembling insides. Good God, was he about to say the L word? But you sure as hell wasn’t ready for the L word, no no no, how could you stop this? “You’re beautiful, and incredibly funny, and you’re smart, and kind, and caring. Honestly, you’re picture perfect. And I’m even not going to say how you’re the most sensible woman I’ve met in my entire life,” he paused again. You were just looking at him, feeling flattered and scared at the same time. And then he said it. “And all of that only leaves me utterly surprised why we don’t work.”

You felt the air leave your lungs. You even thought about asking him to repeat, but there was no need, as he continued. “I mean, please, tell me if I’m mistaking, but there’s just no spark between the two of us, is there?”

You looked away from him, moving your sight to your slightly shaking hand on the table. He covered your hand with his and, suddenly, you calmed down. You looked back at Nate and shook your head. 

“No, there is no spark,” you admitted with a smile. “We’re more like a quiet couple with 15 years of marriage experience.”

Nate giggled. You liked his giggles, the sound fresh and light. But not as wonderful as your favourite giggles.

“This is unbelievably cruel,” he said. “I mean, we should be perfect together! We fit wonderfully and you’re gorgeous! What’s wrong with us?”

You shrugged, sipping on your wine. “No idea, Nate. To be honest, I haven’t felt so comfortable with a guy for a long time. So I’m just as confused as you are. And a little disappointed,” you admitted to your wine glass.

“Hey, don’t be, please,” he asked you, squeezing your hand. “If you think we need more time-”

“No, Nate, you’re right. I don’t think time will help here,” you forced yourself to smile again. Nate didn’t deserve your sad face, it wasn’t his fault after all. “What are we gonna do now?”

Nate laughed. “To be honest, I have no idea. That’s like, the most civilized break up in my life. Usually it’s scandals and tears and friends picking up your stuff from your ex.”

You laughed too, it was sincere this time, cause you knew that pattern just as well. 

“What people do when they just stop dating without all the drama?” he asked. 

“Well, I still have your sweater,” you reminded. “And you have my book.”

“Which I hope to finish by the next weekend.”

“So,” you started timidly, “maybe I could step by around the weekend and exchange your sweater for my book?”

“And we could then go and drink some coffee,” Nate nodded in agreement. He probably saw the slight hesitation in your eyes, as he added, “Don’t get me wrong, I just don’t wanna lose you completely. As I said, you’re one of the best people I know. Do you think we could still be friends?”

Of course, you could be friends. Obviously, you were a wonderful friend. And never a girlfriend. But, Nate didn’t need to hear that from you. So you agreed and smiled and you just spent a great evening enjoying the food and chatting about everything and nothing at the same time. When the night was over and Nate was paying the check (he insisted on doing it himself, as, technically, you were still dating while ordering) you thought, that the dinner went just as smooth and enjoyable, as you could expect. Only you weren’t a couple anymore. But it didn’t change anything, nor in the mood, neither in your feelings. And if what Nate said didn’t persuade you that breaking up was the best decision, that indifference you had now inside finally did. 

Nate waited for your uber with you. He hugged you and wished you good night and promised to text next week. And just like that another unremarkable relationship in your life has ended. 

***

Ashton started talking before he came up to their place at the counter.

“I do think we need to add more guitars to that song.”

Calum rolled his eyes. This conversation had been going all day long. And even now, late in the evening in a bar, where they decided to spend the night just to relax a little, Ashton couldn't let it go.

“You know what? You’ll tell that Mike and Luke on Monday. And now you’ll finish your drink and we’ll go home.”

“If you disagree, mate, you should just say so,” Ashton frowned. “No need to be passive aggressive.”

Calum chuckled, taking a look around the bar. He had no agenda, they weren’t expecting any friends, he just took a meaningless look around. And he wished he didn’t.

“Hey, Ash, isn’t it-” Calum started, but just as abruptly stopped. What reaction would Ash have? Calum knew about his feelings and wasn’t sure if it was so smart of him to show this to Ashton.

“What?” Ash looked at him quizzically. 

“Nothing,” Calum shook his head and downed his drink. “You ready to go?”

Ashton chuckled nervously and looked at his best mate. “No, I’m not ready. And what did you want to say?”

“Nothing. Just thought I saw a familiar face, but obviously I’ve mistaken.”

But that was enough for Ashton to start looking around.

“You haven’t,” he informed Calum, his voice dropped. He turned back and looked into his glass.”

“So it is Y/N’s boyfriend?” Calum stated, confirming his earlier suspicions. They both looked on their right to the further part of the bar, where the guy they’ve met only several weeks ago as Y/N’s new love interest, was sucking on some girl’s face who was definitely not Y/N.

Ashton nodded and finished his whiskey. 

“Come on, man, we should go,” Calum tried and patted his friends shoulder. But Ashton changed plans already. He beckoned the bartender and ordered one more round for him and Calum. 

“Ash, don’t think it’s a good idea,” Calum frowned. “We better go, mate.”

“Hey, we’re just spending an evening. Promise, I won’t do anything, just let’s stay for a while.”

Calum sighed and let his friend pay for his drink. He knew it was a bad idea. But he also knew he’d rather die than leave his friend in a state like that. They were stuck together even through the worst ideas ever. So he stayed. But no matter how hard he tried to discuss new songs or studio work or his sister’s life (for the lack of topics), Ashton kept staring at Y/N’s boyfriend.

“I mean, how does she manage to do that?” Ashton finally muttered halfway through his glass. 

“What?” Calum scrunched his face, looking away from his instagram feed.

“How does she manage to always choose such losers?” Aston turned to his friend. His gaze was already a little fogged by the alcohol.

“He didn’t seem a loser when we met him,” Calum shrugged. It wasn’t like he didn’t feel bad for Y/N, he just learnt long ago not to get into other people’s relationships. But Ashton was different, of course. They were much closer friends with Y/N and there were some other, well, pretty obvious reasons.

“He’s dating one of the most wonderful girls in the world,” Ashton started, looking at his friend like he was a complete idiot, “but instead of being with her and loving her, like she deserves, he’s in a bar cheating on her.”

“You don’t know everything, Ash,” Calum shook his head, while trying his hardest not to get into this argument. And pretty much failing.

“Like what? You think she deserves that?”

“Jesus, Ash, of course no!” Calum huffed in his glass. “No one deserves this. I just-” he threw another glance at the guy. “Maybe he has a twin brother.”

Ashton laughed, loudly and quite sad. He looked at Y/N’s guy again and his face fell.

“How am I gonna tell her that?” he asked.

Calum looked at his friend, thinking of a better answer. “You can keep it to yourself,” he finally said what he really believed in. Calum knew Ash would never agree on that, but honesty was one of the main principles of their friendship, and Cal wasn’t ready to break it, even for the sake of a girl his brother was in love with. 

Ashton gave him a long heavy stare. “Are you even serious right now?” “Dude, not all the people wanna hear such things, you know,” Calum tried to explain. “Have you had a talk with her about that? Are you sure she would like to know and to know from you? You won’t believe how many people would choose to live in ignorance.”

“No, you don’t know what you’re talking about, mate,” Ashton was fast to dismiss all his arguments. “I know her, okay? I know Y/N, she would like to know. I just need to figure out how to break it on her,” he sighed. Then he downed his whiskey and ordered one more.

“Hey, buddy, that’s not the best idea,” Calum tried to stop him, but it seemed like Ashton didn’t even hear him.

“I just don’t get it,” the drummer huffed and went on drinking. “She’s smart and funny and it’s so easy to talk to her. I can literally talk to her about everything. And she’s the kindest person ever, so supportive and thoughtful. How can they keep doing this to her?”

Calum sighed. He knew for sure what was gonna happen next. “She’s your friend, Ash, obviously for you she’s one of the best-”

“No, you don’t get it. She’s not one of the best. She is the best,” he stated passionately. “She’s the most beautiful woman in the whole world. And, god, I shouldn’t think this way about her, but she’s so sexy, Cal! It’s like-” he took another gulp of his drink. “It’s the hardest part of being her friend. She’s unbelievably hot. And he can have her, but chooses to have that,” he motioned to Y/N’s boyfriend. “Seriously, man, what’s your problem?” he exclaimed loudly enough. 

“Okay, buddy, let’s keep it low, shall we?” Calum cooed, patting his shoulder and turning him back to the bar counter. “We don’t need a scene.”

“I’m alright, I just-” Ashton stumbled.

“You just what, buddy?”

Ashton sighed and looked at his best friend, his eyes full of sorrow. “I just love her so much, Cal, how can I break her heart like that?”

Calum smile softly and answered, “Here’s a revolutionary idea, Ash. How about telling her all that?”

“Of course, I’m gonna tell her, did you even listen to me?” Ash rolled his eyes.

“No no no, not about her douchebag of a boyfriend,” Calum shook his head, smile still on his face. “About how you love her. And all the things you’ve said about her, how she’s the best, you know?”

Ashton sent his way another heavy look and indulged in his drink. 

“You know I can’t do that,” he mumbled couple minutes later. “She deserves someone better than me.”

***

You were sitting on your couch with a glass of wine in the shittiest mood ever. 

And what was not to be angry and upset about. You’d just been dumped after all. You huffed in your wine glass, recollecting on your most civilized break up. The worst thing was that you couldn’t even blame Nate. No, he didn’t do anything wrong. The only fault he had was not being the man you truly wanted to be with. 

You rolled eyes on yourself. How pathetic you were in this longing after your own friend. Each time you were starting a new relationship, you did everything to finish them as soon as possible. Of course, not intentionally. You truly wanted to be with someone, to love someone who could love you back. But each time you were too restrained, too closed off. And naturally your partners felt it. No matter how much you wanted your relationship to work, you just couldn’t devote to them fully. Cause deep down inside, in your subconscious, hidden from the light, there was a question. The question you’ve kept asking those long sleepless nights. If you ever had a chance with Ashton, how would it be? Would it be different? Would you feel different? Would he make you feel like you, real you, and not like you were playing a role you’d never bothered to learn properly? Whatever the answer was, one thing you always knew. If Ashton showed up on your threshold asking for a chance with him, you’d break any relationship in an instance. 

So every your breakup was your doing. It was your fault. And what was even worse, you wasted your partner’s time shamelessly. You wasted Nate’s time. And Nate didn’t deserve that. He was kind and caring. And he was always honest with you. You treated him ill, you knew it. 

You poured yourself more wine. Maybe you should have stopped dating for some time? At least till you could look at Ashton without lusting after him. You emotional status wasn’t healthy, obviously, so it was better to wait till Ash would be out of your system. You just needed a break. Just for now. 

Harsh knock on your front door startled you. You looked at the door, not fully getting what you had to do. But when the knock repeated, followed by muffled “Oh, fuck, don’t tell me you’re not home!”, you realized you had to open. 

“You’re home, great,” Ashton mumbled, basically falling into your apartment, as you opened the door for him. 

You fixed the bathrobe you were in and looked at the drummer, who managed to stumble twice on the way to your couch. 

“Are you drunk?” you asked wearily. Drunk Ashton always scared you a little. He was either super sad or super angry, and you weren’t sure yet which one you got tonight.

“Nah, just had a couple with Cal,” he answered and by how slowly he was speaking, you understood he had more than couple glasses.

“And where’s Cal?”

“He dropped me off here and went home,” Ashton yawned, slowly slouching down on the couch. “He’s been saying I should go home all night. But I needed to see you.”

You came closer, thought for a minute and sat on the coffee table in front of him. Ashton  smiled to you drunkenly and fully lied down, fixing a cushion under his head. 

“Need to tell you shit,” he went on explaining. “Bad shit. Really, really bad shit. You’ll hate me for it,” he added, his voice sad and low.

You looked at him with a smile. “I could never hate you, Ash,” you answered quietly, thinking he was already asleep. 

But then he opened his eyes and looked at you, confusion on his face. It looked so funny, drunk and confused Ashton lying on your couch, you even wished you had your phone with you to take a picture. 

“How can you be so sure? You don’t even know what I’m about to tell you.”

“Whatever you tell me, it won’t be enough to make me hate you.” 

It was almost sad how true those words were. You’ve loved him for years, let him call you his friend, saw his half naked one night stands leave his bedroom in the mornings. You were positive, nothing in this world could make you hate him, if even your broken bleeding heart couldn’t force you to do it.

“I was in a bar with Cal,” Ashton stated.

“Yeah, you told me already.”

“No no no, you don’t get it,” Ashton scrunched his face. “I was in a bar with Cal. And there was that wanker you’re dating, what’s his name again?”

“Nate?” your insides froze. Was it possible, that Nate actually knew about your feelings to Ashton. Did he say anything to him?

“Yeah, that wanker. How do you manage to choose such losers, doll?” Ashton asked you, but before you could come up with at least some answer, he already continued. “So he was there and he was kissing some other girl.”

You kept gaping at Ashton.

“There, you can hate me now,” he finished, yawned again and closed his eyes.

You stroke his hair and smiled again.

“I don't hate you.”

“But I just told you your guy is cheating on you!” Ash exclaimed.

“He was not cheating on me, we’ve broken up.”

“What?” Ashton opened his eyes again. You nodded in confirmation of your words. “That doesn’t matter, he could wait, show you some respect. Why do you always choose such losers?” he repeated his question. 

You sighed, not really knowing what to answer to that. Were they really losers? Or was it you, a loser in love with your own friend?

“You deserve so much better,” Ashton muttered, while you were thinking about your answer. His speech was getting quieter and slower, he was slowly drifting off to sleep. But then he added with sorrow, “If only I could love you, I’d treated you like a queen you are.”

“You wanna love me?” you shot back before you could think what you were saying.

“Of fucking course I wanna love you, doll,” he frowned, his eyes are still closed. “I wanna love you and care for you. I wanna come back home to you every night and call you seven times a day from the tour like Mike does to Crystal. And I wanna touch you and kiss you, wanna kiss every inch of your body. Hell, I wanna eat you up like a candy. But oh well, you’ll never know anyway, so what’s the point.”

He tugged himself further in you couch, let out the final yawn and fell asleep. Leaving you stare at him mindlessly. You felt like some part of your world, really important part of it, had just crashed down, but you had no idea what it meant for you or what you felt about it. 

You stood up, your limbs hardly moving. Looked at a six foot tall giant, crouched on your too short for him couch, and thought how he’ll be sore in the morning. You covered him with a blanket, which was thrown over an armchair, and went to your bedroom to spend yet another sleepless night because of Ashton fucking Irwin.

***

Long moan, full of pain and regret, was the first thing you heard from Ashton in the morning. You were surprised he woke up so early, it wasn’t even seven yet, but you were also extremely happy about this fact, as you didn’t manage to find your rest last night. You spent several hours staring at your ceiling and guessing if he really had said all those things, or you just imagined them. And trying to predict what it would mean for your friendship. You were angry and confused. You felt a newborn hope inside, starting to bloom from his drunk confessions, but were so scared to let it grow. He did keep all those things from you, obviously he had a reason. Judging by that, he didn’t want to be with you. But still he said he wanted to love you. So did he? Or didn’t he?

God, you were tired. Not only from the last night, full of discoveries and doubts. Standing in your kitchen and listening to his moans and curses, you realized you were tired of Ashton, of all the sadness and distress he brought in your life. 

Ashton appeared in the door frame. His shirt was crumpled, just as his face. He was rubbing his eyes, messy curls falling on different sides of his face. He stumbled over to the chair and gave you a hard look.

“Hey,” he muttered.

“Hey,” you echoed. 

You felt a change in your feelings. You had no idea how much of last night he remembered. And it wasn’t like seeing him made you less angry. If anything, your annoyance only got stronger. But at the same time you felt nervous, you were almost scared of everything that was about to happen. 

“Don’t get me wrong, I’m really glad I woke up on your couch and not on the pavement somewhere,” Ashton said, distracting you from your worries, “but how did I get here?”

So he didn’t remember. Or was he just acting he didn’t remember not to discuss it? You shook your head lightly. The questions were endless, fueled by your fear of losing something you’d spent years dreaming about. You just had to shut your subconscious up and go with the floow.

“You came,” you shrugged, rushing to answer his question. “Said Calum dropped you off.” 

“Can’t remember a thing,” he mused out loud, hiding his face in his hands.

“So, why did you get so drunk?” you asked, your slightly shaking hands clenched in fists. 

Ashton put his hands away from his face and frowned, remembering what he could from the previous night. 

“You know, the day was hard, and the week even harder.”

“So it wasn’t because you saw Nate kissing some other girl in the bar you were with Cal at?”

He closed his eyes and let out under his breath, “Shit, Y/N, I’m so sorry, you shouldn’t have found out like that.”

“Old news,” you dropped, examining his reaction. You’d know Ashton for several years already. Hell, you’d loved him almost all this time. You knew he wasn’t lying or acting. He didn’t remember last night. 

“How is that old news?” Ashton frowned, more surprised by your tone, than your actual words.

“We broke up, so he can basically kiss whoever he wants,” you explained and crossed your arms, feeling insecure under his stare all of the sudden.

“Okay,” Ash said, his eyes not leaving your face. “What else did I say?”

You chuckled, anger spreading over your face. “Well, after informing me about Nate’s dissolute behaviour, you went on how I always choose losers-”

“Fuck, I’m so sorry,” Ashton interrupted you, “I swear, I’m never drinking again. I-”

“But I think the highlight of the evening,” you kept telling him, not paying any attention to his apology, “was definitely the moment you stated you want to eat me up like a candy.” 

Ashton choke on his own breath. He looked up on you, eyes full of pure terror. He didn’t say anything, and neither did you.

“You-” he started in whisper, but hesitated. 

“Is that true?” you rushed him.

“What exactly?”

“That you want to eat me up like a candy!”

He winced. “You don’t have to repeat that.”

“Well I’m sorry. I kinda spent the whole night playing on repeat my best friend telling me he wanted to eat me up like a candy! Can’t get it out of my mind now!”

“You weren’t supposed to know. Especially not like this.”

His words were full of regret and that was what hurt you the most.

“Obviously, that was the only possible way for me to find out,” you shrugged. “Why?”

Your sudden question took him by surprise. Ashton looked at you, confusion on his face.

“Why wasn’t I suppose to know?” 

He sighed, and looked down on his hands. You waited. A minute passed, but he kept sitting there in silence, the lack of answers playing on your nerves.

“Why, Ashton?” you almost yelled at him.

“Because I’m not the one you need!” he threw back.

You gaped at him as he went on. “I’m out of the city seven months a year. You deserve someone who’d be there for you. Not the guy for whom late night calls and occasional facetimes are the only option. I have no idea what other shit I told you yesterday, Y/N, but I guess you could read between the lines, if I didn’t say this,” he took a deep breath and admitted, “I love you. I’m in love with you. And I know better than anyone, I don’t deserve you a bit.”

You nodded, looking at him. Then looked at the kitchen island, separating the two of you, picked up a mug you’d taken out of the cupboard earlier and threw it right in Ashton’s head.

He dodged by some miracle, not less, his reactions are naturally slowed down by his hangover. 

“What are you-” he tried to question you, looking back at the pieces of ceramics on the floor behind him, but had to stop, as the next mug flew in his direction.

He stepped aside, dodging from this one, and looked at you. You opened the cupboard, took the first piece you could find and prepared to the next throw, when he yelled, “Not this one, that’s your grandma’s set!”

You looked at the old china cup, put it down on the counter carefully and turned to the pile of IKEA plates.

“Jesus Christ, can you stop? What is-”

But you threw the plate, making him hide behind the island.

“You don’t deserve me?” you yelled at him. 

Ashton peeked from under the kitchen island, but instantly hid back as you send another plate his way. 

“Are you fucking kidding me? Stand up and face me like a man, Ashton!” 

He stood up carefully, took a step to the side of the island. “I would love to face you, if you weren’t about to tear my head down, doll,” he chuckled cautiously while keeping moving.

“Well you fully deserve that, asshole!” another plate was smashed on the wall behind him. You were getting better at aiming with every other throw, and that was making Ashton nervous.

“Can you, please stop trying to kill me?”

“How dare you say things like that to me?” you shouted back, not even getting what he was talking about, your full attention on your own pain and fury. “I’ve been going crazy for years, Ashton!” you threw another one. “Feeling guilty for falling for my best friend! Getting insecure cause you’ve never even looked my way, brining all those models and groupies at my parties. Breaking up with normal guys cause I couldn’t get you out of my head!” you threw the last plate you had in your hands and looked around in search for the next shell.

“And all of these for you to spill your drunk guts one night? For me to learn that you actually had feeling for me accidentally?” you picked up a small pan from your stove and threw it. “Fuck you, Ashton!”

“Okay, this is too much!” Ashton muttered, looking at the pan flying past him. “Do you- Do you love me?” he asked, turning to you, realization creeping up him slowly. 

You stopped, breathing hard and met his eyes. “I don’t. I hate you. I can’t put into words how much I hate! Why haven’t you ever told me? Not even given a hint?”

“And why haven’t you?”

You felt a hole left in your heart by this question. You were standing in your kitchen surrounded by shattered dishes, both wide-eyed, breathless and shocked. You couldn’t believe the words he’d just said. He was afraid of the reaction they may cause.

“Get out, Ashton,” you whispered, feeling the lump in your throat. Your eyes burnt with tears about fall.

He took a step towards you.

“Get the fuck out,” you repeated.

He smirked, covered the distance between you two in couple more steps and pulled you into him. What he didn’t envisaged was that you had just enough time to grab a spatula and start hitting him with it.

“Can you- just- not-” he stumbled through his words, one hand grabbing yours with the spatula, and another trying to keep you close to him. You two struggled for some time before he bent down to you and covered your mouth with his. 

Even the kiss was a struggle. Your knees were shaking from the feeling, but you kept trying to bite him. Ashton huffed, let go of your lips and looked at you, his sight heavy, but you recognized little devils dancing deep inside his eyes. 

“Try to bite me or hit me again, and I won’t eat you up,” he threatened.

You froze. You were still furious with him, you really were. But not to the point of risking the prospect of being eaten up by this man. After everything that asshole put you through, you were positive you deserved some special treatment.

He looked you in the eyes and smirked, taking in your obedience. 

“Good girl,” he mused and kissed you again, this time deeper, with more passion and lust. “Now, how about moving this argument to the bedroom?” he asked, picking you up from the floor and turning around. “What do you say, my little candy?”

“Oh, gosh,” you chuckled into his neck, you face turning bright red. You knew the nickname would stick, but right now, in the arms of the man you’d been dreaming about for so long, you had nothing against it.

***

Taglist: @myloverboyash​, @bringmethehorizonandpizza​, @calumamongmen​, @lfwallscouldtalk​, @empathycth​, @calpops​, @talkfastang​, @cthoodsthetic​, @ariannawoodxoxo, @dreamer-loves-lyrics​, @fluffsshawn​, @cals-cigarette​, @easierfor5sos​, @outlandishnerd

[leaa-drws]

6am mornings [Calum Hood One shot]

This is for @bringmethehorizonandpizza ‘s birthday writing challenge (happy birthday, Anne🎉) and I had the prompt “I know what I am doing ok?” / “You’re holding the knife wrong”. I hope you like it.

~7,1k words

----------------------------------------------------

She stepped into the corridor, silently closing the bedroom door behind her.

A look on her battered iPhone display showed her that it was 6:03 am.

She had another three to four hours all to herself whilst Drew was sleeping.

Another three to four hours she could use to whip up breakfast in Drews awesome kitchen and another three to four hours to curl up in the huge armchair, her book on her crooked knees with her hands gripping the pages at the enthralling parts and her fingers caressing the paper at the romantic ones.

She loved those mornings at Drews before he woke up.

Loved the calm, loved to see the world awake beneath her, outside of the windowfront whenever her gaze wandered away from the fantasy world her stories held and towards the real one.

If she would have to be completely honest or if someone asked her, she would have to admit that she loved her early mornings with tea and breakfast in the armchair a lot more than the nights spent with Drew or for that matter with anyone.

But no one ever asked, and she wasn’t about to go there willingly, so she didn’t know that yet.

And she didn’t know this was about to change.

Her thoughts shifted away from her anticipation for her peace filled morning hours when she heard quiet piano music coming from the open kitchen and living area.

The soothing tunes got louder with every step she took.

For a second, she considered if they left the music on last night, but this sounded like classical music, maybe Bach and she knew she Drew wouldn’t listen to classical music if his life depended on it.

He’d think it was “pussy-shit” and a man did not listen to “pussy-shit”.

She also considered walking back to the guestroom and wait till Drew was awake, but since she was allowed to be here as she was Drew’s friend and since she knew he had a roommate she hadn’t met yet; she didn’t worry too much about it.

Thoughts turning back towards her breakfast and the book she had spotted on the coffee table; she made her way into the main part of the apartment.

And froze right away.

She had considered the music and the roommate being in the apartment.

What she hadn’t considered was the fact that she wore nothing more than panties, really short-short pajama shorts and an oversized band shirt that made it look as though she only wore the shirt.

What she also did not consider was that her friend’s roommate was a man.

A tall, broad-shouldered, confidence radiating man.

A very tall man because Daisy was tall for a woman at five feet nine and he still seemed like a giant to her.

A man she knew instantly did not think listening to Bach first thing in the morning or at all was “pussy-shit”.

She knew because he was currently listening to Bach and because he was making breakfast to those tunes in the kick-ass kitchen of Drews kick-ass apartment and because this man had no reason to be worried about anything he was doing being “pussy-shit” since he could have stood there in a tutu and he would still be all male.

A man she instantly knew was special.

She hadn’t even seen his face yet, his back was turned towards her, but she knew with the way he stood and the way his shoulders were drawn back instead of slouching it didn’t matter, he was going to be breathtaking. 

She knew because she had stopped in her tracks when she caught sight of him, and she knew because sometimes you just know.

Her shoulder leaned against the wall now, her legs slightly crossed, her eyes focused on the stranger that stole her cozy morning and that she couldn’t be angry at for doing so because now she got to look at him instead of her novel.

Got to see his dark hair curl slightly against the line where his hair met his neck, the dark tattoos embellishing his arms, the rings on his fingers as he dragged his hand through the curls as he read something in a cookbook. 

She knew the book. It was a Nigel Slater, one that used to be her staple before she could cook all the recipes from the top of her head.

The broad back turned towards the sink to his left, the sink led his eyes to the doorway, the doorway was hard to look at with her leaning in it, so his eyes settled on her.

And she saw his face.

And she knew he would be breathtaking before, but now that she saw him, she also knew she needed a bigger, better word than breathtaking because that didn’t even begin to cover it.

She saw his face, saw how his dark eyes roamed her body, wandered from her head to her feet, then from her naked toes to her blue eyes. Her body tingled in all kinds of places and the temperature in the room seemed to have risen by a thousand degrees in those few, long moments the attractive stranger took her in.

Suddenly she was very aware of her lack of clothing as her nipples strained against the soft material of her shirt.

His brows furrowed, and she’d never seen brows furrowing look so good.

Then he spoke.

And his voice was steel and not the good kind.

“You leavin?”

She just stared.

“Woman asked a question. You on your way out?”

She continued staring. Even steel and not the hot but the angry type his voice was beautiful. A rough, deep, male kind of beautiful but nonetheless beautiful. Yeah, breath-taking doesn’t cover it.

“You deaf or mute?”

“What?” Now her brain processed more than just the beauty of the sounds leaving his mouth. “No, why?”

“Asked you a question two times, didn’t answer. Now, you on your way out?”

“Um,” She looked down at her getup. Was she looking like she was leaving? “No, I’m not.”

“Didn’t think so. You should though. The lazy son of a bitch ’ll sleep for a long while longer and you’ll spare yourself the trouble of getting kicked out later if ya leave now.”

Then she realized.

He didn’t know of her or of her being with Drew, so he thought she was a one night stand.

Drew apparently had lots of those.

But that didn’t mean she was one.

Or even the type for one with Drew.

It irritated her that he took her for a one night stand and that he just tried to throw her out and she was allowed to be little pissed to be thrown out when she wanted her cozy morning with tea, romance novel, and breakfast.

“Hi, nice to meet you”, she smiled just a tad too sweetly.

She stretched her hand out and met Drews roommates’ eyes with hers, “I’m Daisy, a friend of Drews.”

The man raised one eyebrow.

“I’m just staying in the guestroom until I find my own place. Drew was friendly enough to let me.”, Daisy further explained.

She saw his eyes widen slightly.

Yeah, you made a mistake there, big guy, she thought.

“Sure, you’re only staying in the guestroom. How long’s that gonna last, hm?”, she heard him mumble under his breath.

Daisy’s Jaw clenched and she couldn’t stop herself from glaring at the rude stranger.

She wasn’t about to be here, tired from a sleepless night, being treated like dirt by her acquaintances annoying roommate that stole her perfect morning and let herself be talked to as though she was a one night stand of Drews, who (no offense) really did not have the best taste from what she’d seen.

Glaring at him, she took a deep breath to calm herself and delivered, “That’s gonna last till I got my own place and then I am going to move into the apartment I found.”, in her cool and collected fuck-off voice.

Her gaze not leaving his eyes, she could have imagined it, but for a second, she saw understanding fill them as he stared.

And continued staring.

Her hand had remained stretched out and it was getting awkward, so she drew it back. It had almost reached her side again when big broad man’s hand shot out and grabbed it.

“Calum.” Shell shocked, because of the firm grip of his hand on hers, his name took a minute to register in his mind.

Big, broad-shouldered, hot, maybe asshole roommates were without a doubt named Calum. Her lips tipped up slightly.

Yeah.

Calum fit.

“Calum.”, she said.

“Yeah, Calum’s the name.” Daisy just looked at him.

From this close, she could say he was without a doubt beautiful.

Even more so when his Face grew soft as she didn’t let his hand go when theirs were done shaking.

“Need to continue cookin, Babe.”, his voice was not made of steel anymore.

It was still gruff, that was just his voice, but now it had a soft note to it.

At the raspy sound, Daisy wondered how it would sound when he woke up and the day began with his voice rumbling in her ear.

Yeah, her nipples were definitely straining now.

Although he was a douche. The female body could be a traitor. Also, did he just call her Babe?

Daisy lost his hand when he let her go and turned around to continue cooking.

Daisy didn’t know this man, she thought he was a bit of an ass, but she knew she weirdly didn’t like losing his hand.

And she did not like not liking losing it, but she couldn’t dwell on that because Calum took a knife and started cutting up a red bell pepper.

And he did so fast, meaning the knife moved and the pepper would have been done and cut in seconds.

“Would have been”, only because Daisy shrieked, stepped forward and Calum stilled.

Taking her shrieking for the worrying it was Calum looked at her and shared; “’ Know what I am doing, ok?”

Daisy knew to anyone else it would have looked as though he knew what he was doing, but as she was the new chef at the NoMad, an expensive restaurant in the expensive New York she was living in, it didn’t look as though he knew as what he was doing at all.

He caught her off balance before, but as she felt comfortable with the topic of cooking and she did not feel comfortable with him nearly cutting his fingers off, it was her time to share.

“You’re holding the knife wrong.” Then she realized she just told a huge broad-shouldered, muscular, breathtaking man he did something wrong and even feeling comfortable with the topic of cooking and not feeling comfortable with him nearly cutting his fingers off, she didn’t know how he would react to that, so she turned silent instead of showing him.

“You know cooking?”, again, his voice wasn’t angry.

And it not being angry, it was still a rough, deep, male kind of beautiful but now it was also melodic.

Drew would have been all kinds of angry.

Taking advice from a woman was another thing considered “pussy-shit”.

But Drew also wouldn’t stand in the kitchen at some time after six am cooking up breakfast and listening to Bach.

He may work at the bar the NoMad had, but his specialty to any intake of substance started with bourbon and ended with tequila.

“I cook at a restaurant. That’s the only way I could tell you were holding the knife and the pepper dangerously wrong.”, she whispered, liking that he was not angry but still intimidated.

“So, you know cookin.” That was a statement, not a question, so Daisy stayed quiet. Which was good because Calum was not finished talking.

“Never had the chance of learning, tryin to catch up at the moment. Guess I only thought I knew what I was doing.”, he sounded slightly awkward, drew his hand through his dark hair, but appearing like a boy that was caught lying only made him more attractive.

He didn’t have a problem admitting he made a mistake; he wasn’t threatened by it as the other guys' Daisy knew.

This didn’t exactly make him less attractive especially since his douche-quality just went down by about 99%. Assholes didn’t admit to mistakes, that was a safe bet.

“You know what you’re doing? Show me.” That was part question and all demand.

Daisy had never been especially good at following demands. She liked to do her own thing and she liked giving the orders when she knew what she was doing. 

That’s why she had kept working until she was the chef at the rooster and now at the NoMad. She wanted to be the one in charge.

She did not want to be in charge with the man standing in front of her right now, his hips leaned to the counter, knife in one hand, the other hand loosely resting on the counter.

She liked the way he did not ask her to help him.

He wanted her to, thus he told her to.

The thought of how other demands in other settings would sound made her breath hitch in her throat.

No, she didn’t want to be in charge with Calum at all.

“Don’t have all day, woman.”

“On it.” Daisy squeezed out, trying to shake her thoughts, but it came out breathy anyways.

Calum only raised one eyebrow and after a couple of seconds of him leaned against the counter and her leaned against the door she realized that she still had to move, show him how to hold the knife and most importantly stop staring at him.

So, she averted her eyes, walked over to the knife block, got her favorite one of Drews far too expensive knives and then waited for her friend’s roommate to move away from the cutting board so she could dice the bell pepper.

----------------------------------------------------

“Morning sugar.”

Eyes leaving the words printed into the ivory paper, mind leaving the storyline of the romantic hero saving his woman from herself, Daisy let her gaze wander to the sun shining through the window front starting a few centimeters from her naked toes.

She let herself consciously enjoy the warming caress where the sun rays touched her skin or warmed the blanket she cuddled into this morning after Calum left because of some phone call.

Her book laid on her knees and her fingers were gripping the pages. The chamomile tea stood cold and forgotten on a coffee table beside her, the plate that used to hold the omelet Calum and Daisy made that morning empty beside it.

At the sight of the empty plate, she had to suppress a smile.

It had been a weird morning, cooking with him in the kitchen, but that didn’t mean that it hasn’t felt weirdly good, when he took over the organization of who did what after she showed him how to use the knuckles to avoid the endangering the fingers and how to hold the knife to cut fast but safely.

It also didn’t mean that it wasn’t nice when he grinned at something she said.

She bet he had an out-of-this-world laugh since just his chuckle was enough to let her feel a draw in her lower stomach, but sadly she hadn’t heard it yet. Daisy would stay at Drews for a while longer until she found an apartment, so she would see Calum again eventually and she found herself hoping it would be rather sooner than later, and with her giggling and him chuckling or (fingers-crossed) even laughing.

It was something different to hear him chuckle in his low, deep voice.

She had told the story about how she got into cooking because she and her mother ones made a Vitamix explode in her kitchen and they had a blast even though the concoction tasted awful, and then rambled about her dad who was so good at cooking, that his food literally tasted like the love he had for his family and about how she wanted to be able to offer all this to her family one day because she thought that home cooked food took personal time and effort and was still necessary, therefore it was the perfect everyday I-love-you gift.

He chuckled after her Vitamix story and his face grew soft when she talked about the meaning good food held for her.

She liked it when his face got soft, she liked it a lot more than the stressed look on his face when she came into the kitchen the first time.

Normally she wouldn’t have told that much on a first meeting, and normally she would have felt uncomfortable talking about future family, but Calum had inquired, had asked question after question until she simply shared.

And even though she had realized that Calum hadn’t shared all that much with her actually far, far less, she still felt safe with him and he seemed genuinely interested in every single word that left her mouth.

That feeling being one that she had been missing for a long time.

Banning the roughly beautiful not-so-strange-anymore Stranger from her mind, she finally answered Drews greeting.

“Morning Drew. Coffees ready, although you might need to reheat it.”, she threw over her shoulder. 

He would definitely have to heat it again, she got lost in the heroine’s world about two to three hours ago and even in Drews expensive Coffee-machine-cup-thingy coffee got cold after that amount of time.

“You slept well?”

“All good.” This was not the truth. Actually, it was a bold lie. She dreamt of him and woke up a total of six times that night. A full night’s sleep wasn’t in for her at the moment, but Drew had done enough for her already.

“Are you sure? So soon after breaking up with – “, She couldn’t bear hearing it.

She couldn’t bear listening to this and being reminded of him every time someone as far as dropping his name.

She couldn’t bear it, especially not after she’d had a good morning and had thought about chuckles from a beautiful, broad-shouldered, dark-haired and even darker eyed man just seconds ago.

She couldn’t bear it, so she didn’t.

“I’m sure. He is half the world away, I’m here and I’m actually pretty happy to be here instead of with him and it wouldn’t have worked out anyways. Long distance relationships never do.” 

She talked fast. 

Maybe too fast but she feared if she took a breather, she wouldn’t be able to keep the emotions locked up.

“Whatever you say. Just know in case you wanna talk about it you can.” Drews answer was perfect, just the one you should want to hear from a friend in that situation, but Daisy didn’t want to share. 

It hurt too much, and she didn’t want the wound to open, didn’t want to feel her heart ripped open again. 

She didn’t share that either. 

She just kept it in, clenched her hands into fists, her fingernails biting into her palm, then shocked from her own behavior released the tight grip that had nothing to hold onto but her own flesh and started to quickly twiddle her thumbs to keep her hands occupied.

She wasn’t going there.

She didn’t need it. It had been Years since the last time even something like this had happened and she wasn’t going to let anything in that form happen again.

Suddenly happy to be shielded from the kitchen area with the huge armchair, she took a deep breath.

Then; “I appreciate it, Drew. I really do.”

It came out better than she would have imagined. But she sure as hell wouldn’t keep on talking about him, so still talking to the backrest of her safe haven she simply changed the topic and soon Drew was talking about the bar and his latest conquests and Daisy was happy not to have shared anything too personal with him.

----------------------------------------------------

The next few weeks Calum was home quite regularly.

Daisy didn’t see much of him during the day, or at night, but she could almost count on a daily morning breakfast with her giving him a cooking lesson and him getting to know her.

She learned to love the mornings spent with him a lot more than the ones before. 

Actually, the mornings with Cal in the kitchen, making jokes, cooking and baking slowly but surely became the highlights of her days and the thing she looked forward too.

Even more so after the third morning, when Calum decided to let Daisy get to know him, share his story and the details of his life and Daisy learned more and more about him.

She learned about his siblings, about his deep love for his parents, about the stress his job brought and about the fact, that it was, in fact, Calums apartment instead of Drews and all the fancy stuff was his.

This was also the reason he was pissed off when he first saw her because the last time, he caught one of Drews one-nightstands the girl puked over the brand-new couch and someone had spilled vodka all over the apartment at the party the night before.

And it was one of the reason he wasn’t happy with Drew at the moment.

He asked for the reason of her very sudden move to New York a few times, but Daisy just didn’t feel comfortable sharing, and he let her have that piece of privacy and didn’t push.

The more Daisy got to know him, the more she liked Calum Hood.

He remembered that she drank chamomile tea in the morning, so most mornings there was one waiting on the counter for her and the other ones the water was cooking and the teabag already in the cup that had become hers.

He was also a quick learner, always asked questions when they were cooking, and he wanted to know why she did something a certain way.

He knew that whilst she started loving the mornings with him, she also enjoyed her reading time, so after she’d mentioned that this was what she’d usually done before he took up the first hours of her day, he made sure that they made breakfast but that there was enough time for her to forget her chamomile refill on the coffee table and get lost in a book whilst he either went to work, sat on the sofa, scrolling through his phone, or, more often than not, watching Daisies reactions to the words on the table, her blushing, her fingers trailing the paper, her biting her lip.

The more Daisy got to know him, the more she liked Calum Hood, and the more Calum Hood got to know Daisy, the more he liked her.

Liked the smile touching his lips in the morning, when he heard her feet touch the floor of the corridor, the way she didn’t care how she looked with part of her dark blond hair in a messy bun, the other strands hanging around her face and over her shoulders, the way she pulled off those huge shirts she wore to bed, the ones that made it look like she didn’t wear anything under them at all.

He liked the way she stood up for herself when they had different opinions and the way she talked about her job with fire in her eyes and her family with more love and affection than he thought possible.

And he liked the way she had started to look at him a couple of mornings before, the way with her eyes soft and no guard in sight.

He liked the way he found her yesterday when she was up before him and was dancing through the kitchen preparing pancakes, her chamomile tea next to his ready to be drunken coffee on the counter and he stood in the doorway shell-shocked for a few moments, having to keep himself from moving across the room, and get his hands on her hips, to feel her movement against his body.

Just in the second he thought that he’d just do it, then kiss her and then hopefully start the morning right with her under him and the beverages forgotten, she turned to him, smiled when her gaze caressed his face and exclaimed - “I’m making my world-famous pancakes” - far too loudly because of the air pods filling her ears with music.

At that Calum had to grin, but the urge to kiss her didn’t subside.

And didn’t leave his head the entire day.

He’d wanted to kiss Daisy for a while.

Actually, he’d wanted to feel her soft lips under his since the first time he saw her standing in that doorway. And that want constantly grew.

It grew when he saw her eyes widen every time when he nicknames her “Daise”, just like the first time, and it grew every time “Cal” rolled of her tongue in her soft voice and slight English accent.

It had grown for a while, Cal had waited for it to go away, but since the feelings didn’t subside Calum had enough.

He’d always been a guy to go after what he wants, especially when he knew he would want it for a long time to come and the way Daisy made him laugh despite shit going down with one of the clients let him know that the need for her company wouldn’t go away for a good long while.

Calum was also done with being alone.

He’d been single for a long time, had never been searching for someone, always too busy for a relationship. Now it felt like he could make anything work, just because of the mornings spent talking over French toast or omelet.

Yeah, Calum was sure about what he wanted, and Daisy was just that.

So, this morning, when she tiredly toddled into the living area and took her usual place of leaning in the doorway to watch him for a couple of minutes, a habit she had picked up, he strut towards her, stopping just a few inches far and laid his hands on her hips, gripping them ever so slightly.

Daisy looked at his serious expression and then down onto his hands cupping her.

On countless occasions she’d realized how big his hands were and asked herself how they would feel staying on her skin for longer than a couple of seconds, when he carefully moved her out of his way when they were cooking or that one time when he took a strand of her hair and brushed it behind her ear.

Feeling them on her now only made her yearn for more of their touch, it felt as though they were burning through the thin shirt she wore, imprinting her skin and marking her in the best way possible.

Her eyes wandered back up to his eyes, they still held their serious expression.

“Is everything alright?” Her voice sounded off and came out as a whispered breath.

“I wanna try something new.”

“Kay Cal, we could do a babka, today or some cardamom knots, if you have the time for the yeast dough to rise and if you feel like something sweet?” Daisy said carefully, still sleepy, knowing something was off or at least different but not being able to put her finger on it.

What she did know was that she liked whatever it was because it got his hands on her hips and their face so close, she could see the little golden speckles in his brown eyes.

“Not talkin ‘bout food, Daise” His voice sounded quiet, almost tender.

Still gruff and like early-morning-Calum but there was a note to it that made it gentle and feel like a caress.

She’d heard this tone only few times, when she had told the story about the passing of her dog that made Calums face go soft and his eyes a turn into a liquid amber, or when he talked to his sister or parents on the phone when they took their place at the window front, bellies filled with deliciousness and cups on the table in front of them.

Daisy liked that tone.

She liked it a lot when he talked to his family because she could understand the love, he held for them as she held them for her own and she liked it even more when he used it on her.

And now that he’d let his nickname for her roll off his tongue in this hue of his voice, she liked it a whole lot more.

“But ‘m feeling like something sweet.”

“Ok.” Calum stayed silent and seemed deep in thought, his eyes fixed on his hands on her hips. When it became clear, that there would be no answer Daisy continued, “I think I can’t quite follow, honey.”

At that, Calum looked up, met her eyes for a second and then let his gaze wander to her lips.

He trailed back to her eyes, then when his eyes jumped to her lips, his hands drew her near and her front met his chest and her hips his crotch.

Forced to tilt her head back to be able to look at him she wants to ask what was going on, if he was alright but when she met his gaze, she forgot everything she meant to say.

His eyes were pure bourbon tinted fire.

Slowly one of his hands trailed up her back and Daisy wished nothing more in that moment than for the shirt to be gone and for him to touch her actual skin.

His fingers came to a rest at the base of her neck, fingers gripping her and tilting her head a little farther back whilst also drawing her lightly higher.

Daisies heels left the wooden floor.

Both of them were breathing heavily, both of them thinking nothing and everything at the same time, both of them not in the living room of Cals Apartment anymore, with Drew in the other room, but in a beautiful place made just for the two of them.

Cal searched for something in the depth of Daisy’s light blue eyes and whatever he found seemed to be exactly what he was looking for because in the next moment his grip on the nape of her neck tightened and he drew her towards his head, bending down slightly to meet her in the middle.  

Their lips crashed.

Daisies hands clawed into Cals shirt, drawing him closer, Calums hand moving from her neck higher into the mess of her morning hair, fingers gripping, arms trying to draw each other closer until there was no space to be filled anymore.

Calums tongue trailed Daisy’s bottom lip and sighing happily she obliged the unspoken demand and opened her mouth. He slipped inside and tasted chamomile tea as well as something different, something even better, something all Daisy.

The tingles she had felt multiplied by the millions and Daisy felt a warmth that had nothing to do with the hot beverage filling her stomach.

Opening up even further her leg wrapped around his hip, achieving the impossible by getting them even closer together. 

Cal's hand left her hair and both of them gripped her behind, lifting slightly when he tore his mouth from hers, growling a short “Jump.” at her.

Then his mouth was back on hers and without thinking twice about it Daisy leaped into his arms, closing her legs around his hips and wrapping her arms around his neck, one burrowed in his dark curls gripping whatever it found, tagging on it to somehow get even more of him.  

No, Daisy was right the first time she saw him.

She didn’t mind his demands at all.

Suddenly they were moving, Calum stalking through the room, his mouth never leaving hers, his hands squeezing her ass.

Daisy didn’t even realize they had switched place until she was sat on the cool kitchen counter, a burning sensation against her hot skin, Calum between her spread legs, his crotch pressing against her middle.

Desperately Daisy tugged on him, trying to get him even closer and moved against the bulge in his jeans. She ached and she wanted, no needed more.

“Fuck. Daise.” Calum groaned, hands tightening on her hips almost to the point of pain.

At the sensation of the sweet sting of pleasure, Daisy moaned against his mouth.

“Please. Cal.” Left her mouth.

Then; “More.”, when Calum circled his hips against her center.

She was only able to communicate in one-word sentences at this point and he hadn’t even truly touched her yet.

Her hands wandered to his rear, frantically up and under his shirt, exploring his stomach and chest, trying to touch all of him at ones. Then she tugged on it, pulled her mouth from Calums and breathlessly demanded; “Off”.

That seemed to have the opposite effect Daisy wanted, because instead of giving her enough room to take it off or taking it off himself, his right hand wandered towards her neck ones more, the cold rings on his long fingers an almost shockingly chilly bite that left her body shivering.

“Demanding little thing.”, he scolded.

“Please.”, she couldn’t help but return. She needed his touch.

She’d dreamt of this often the past weeks, she yearned for all of it, wanted every part of her desires to come true.

Unhurried he shook his head.

Then his forehead touched hers, lips separated by mere millimeters.

For a few long seconds, they just tried to catch their breath, one inhaling what the other exhaled, eyes not leaving each other.

Slowly a smile stretched over Cal's face. 

It was astonishing to see it from up close, how his dimples formed and how his eyes got thinner, almost as though they were retreating because the happiness filled too much room on his face.

“That,” He gave her a quick sweet peck, “didn’t” another kiss, “go” and again “quite”, he touched his lips to hers ones more, “like” and ones more, “planed”.

He brushed his mouth against hers one last time.

They both had sparkling and slightly glazed eyes, both far from down from the high of their touch.

“What was the plan?”, Daisy asked, only slightly worried by his words, as there was little that could break through the Calum-induced-daze she was in.  

“Not to almost lose control and get dangerously near to fucking you on the kitchen counter, when I wanted to take this slow.”

At that Daisy stayed silent, her worry completely gone, then eyes wide, pushed him away slightly and blurted: “You can’t just say throw things like sex on the kitchen counter around like that when just your kiss gets me in this, this situation. That’s mean. Also, what if I wanted sex on the counter with you?”

Then realizing what her brainless mouth had just exclaimed she tried to avert her eyes and failed miserably when Calums hand touched her chin and gently tilted it in his direction.

“Eyes, Daise.”, almost against her own will her eyes went back to his, “You wanna have sex on the kitchen counter with me right now?”

“Don’t get cocky, you were the one talking about losing control.”, she tried to save herself, not sure where they stood, not feeling secure enough to give him the knowledge that she would take anything and everything he wanted to give in that moment.

“I was.”, he replied calmly, “and I would love to fuck you right now.”

Daisies breath hitched.

“But we’re not gonna do that.”  

She couldn’t help it. She sighed in disappointment and her eyes dropped to her fingers still clenched in the soft fabric of his favorite shirt of hers.

“Well, not yet,” Calum whispered.

“Soon?”

“When the time’s right.”

Silence filled the apartment. The sun painted delicate patterns of light and shadow all over the the kitchen.

“Take what slow?”, Daisy asked quietly, hoping for the answer she yearned for with Calum. The answer of them together.

“Us.” He simply stated.

Daisy nodded; her smiling eyes still trained firmly on his attire.

The red and white “did you get the sensation today?”-shirt made her eyes widen and her body tingle every time she saw it cladding Calums body.

A slight giggle escaped her.

At Calums raised eyebrow she explained, still smiling; “I got the sensation today.”

Calum looked at her dumbstruck for a few long moments and then burst out in laughter.

It was a beautiful sound.

Her hands clutching him and his body near her, Daisy felt the shaking of his body against hers and saw his mouth moving and his eyes dancing from up close.

She’d been right again the first time.

His laugh was out of this world.

----------------------------------------------------

It was after they made and ate their breakfast, Daisy on Calums lap, feeding each other.

It was after Daisy got lost in her current book and after Calum watched her do so whilst he had his Sunday phone call with his sister.

It was after Calum got called away to some celebrity-client drama and after Daisy went to work and finished her shift at the NoMad.

It was when Daisy came home, took off her minimal makeup and switched her food reeking work clothes to her usual bed attire. It was when she slipped under the covers of the guestroom bed that she realized, that she hadn’t thought about Jasper all day.

And that she hadn’t thought that much about him the past week either.

She also realized that thinking his name did not hurt that much anymore.

It was a dull ache, one that could be completely forgotten at times and one that was a simple reminder of something that had happened but that had no power over her anymore.

When this struck her lips tilted upwards and a small smile took over her face.

Not huge, not ecstatic, but simply content. The silent kind of happiness that let her know that it was here to stay and not a momentary burst of strength.

She was over him. It had taken a few months, but she was finally over him.

She could only hope she didn’t fall right into the next trap.

But somehow she knew she didn’t.

----------------------------------------------------

When she woke the next morning and saw the sun shining through her window, she did so with a smile. She’d slept through the whole night.

She hadn’t woken up once.

And it was her day off. So she wouldn’t be tired the entire day and could actually do something.

Then she realized she was feeling a lot warmer than usual.

She also realized something heavy laid upon her and a rich, dark smell filled the room.

It smelt like Calum.

Averting her eyes from the sun shining through the window she looked at the alarm clock on the nightstand. It was well past 9 am. Normally she was up by 6am, 6:30 at the latest.

The smile did not leave her face then.

Nor did it when she looked down and saw Calum’s one hand claiming one of her breasts, holding it in a loose grip whilst his other hand was splayed across her stomach.

He held her close.

No, the smile didn’t falter even one bit.

His warm body was pressed into her back, his nose buried in her hair and his broad shoulder shielding her from the world behind the door across the room.

She should be freaked. 

She should feel scared or angry that he slept in her bed. Just because they made out yesterday it didn’t mean that he could sleep in her bed, touching her. 

Especially not if they hadn’t talked about it and he just slipped in whilst she was already gone, dreaming of him.

But if she was honest, she wasn’t freaked, scared or angry.

If she was honest, she felt the safest she had in a while, she had slept the best she had in a while and once you go a while without any good sleep, you know how much a full night of it is worth.

So she decided against freaking out and leaving the bed and instead snuggled deeper into Calum and inhaled deeply, wanting to save every part of the moment as a beautiful memory.

She wanted to remember the curtains swaying slightly in the wind coming through the slightly opened window, the noise of New York outside of the small retreat she and Calum were in, she wanted to remember the aroma of his dark scent mixed with her lighter one, she wanted to remember his warmth enclosing her, his hands on her body, the feeling of their legs intertwined.

When she curled up against him and her body lost its tension and relaxed against Calum, she heard him mumble a quiet “Good choice Daise.”, into her hair, whilst tightening his grip on her, drawing her closer and slightly squeezing her breast.

“Don’t you need to get to work?”, Daisy whispered, fearing the answer to be his departure.

“Took the day off.” Calum murmured, his morning voice even better in this setting and this close than in the living room. The smile got wider. The perfect morning. Definitely memory worthy.

“Go back to sleep, baby. We’ll talk later.”

“Bossy” Daisy whispered; the smile evident in her voice.

“Get used to it.” The smile filled her entire face.

She wanted to get used to this.

She had known he was special the first time she entered the kitchen and he was cooking.

She wanted him to be hers back then and she still wanted it now. And right now, it seemed like Calum Hood wanted the same thing. She moved slightly and was able to stop herself just before she was doing a full on happy dance.

“Stop being cute, Daise. I need my sleep and we both know you need yours. And if you continue being awake and wiggling your ass against me, we’re gonna do a lot of things but none of them are gonna be sleeping.”

At that, she couldn’t help but squirm whilst a blush took over her face.

“Christ, baby you need to stop moving.” Now there was a definite strain in not only Cals voice but also a growing one in his boxer shorts. His hand clenched around her breast. “I wanna do this right. We need to take it slow.”

Daisy was used to him calling her ‘babe’ and ‘Daise’. 'Baby' was new.

And she liked it.

She liked it a lot.

And she wanted to continue squirming and see where this took the morning, but Calum was right.

They both needed their sleep.

She could squirm later.

And she did.

Repeatedly.

/ / / /

Tagging: @irwinkitten @cal-pal-cuddles @josierosie @heavenlyhemminqs @hoodsmelancholy @calsophat @valentinelrh @cashton-queen @cakesunflower @cashtonismyweakness

[breathinginthevapor]

“Can I sleep here tonight?”

Summary: When faced by the loneliness of staying on campus for spring break, you decide to pay a visit to your best friend Jacob. Only, it seems you’ve forgotten he’s with his parents, but luckily, Jacob’s roommate and fellow drama major, Tom, is there, and offers you some company. 

A/N: This is written for the lovely @bringmethehorizonandpizza ‘s writing challenge in celebration of her 21th birthday, so happy birthday, Anne! I chose the blurb “Can I sleep here tonight” and I personally think the result ended up pretty cute. Feedback would be very much appreciated!

Word count: 5200+

T/W: Swearing

Masterlist

It’s raining outside, pouring, even. The sky is dark, and the blackness creeps onto you, making you shudder. You’ve always hated being out in the dark, especially while alone, and not even the beautiful full moon can make you feel better. It feels like every shadow is lurking on you, and the yellow light from the street lights only makes it worse. You curse yourself far away for watching that serial killer documentary, knowing that your brain would process the horrific details and let them surface in a moment like this. 

The rain soaks through your clothing and hair, making everything cling tightly to your skin. If it wasn’t for your vehement hatred against umbrellas in general and your lack of raincoat because you were stupid enough to forget it last time you went home, you wouldn’t have been so surely catching a cold. 

But well, stubbornness and stupidity brought this on you, and a cold luckily won’t kill you. It won’t even be as bad as staying in your own dorm room, listening to every footstep outside your door and getting more and more scared while the extreme stress of all your unfinished assignments and loneliness lays just underneath the fright. 

Still, you are about to turn on your heel and run home when you finally reach the dorm, relief shooting through your body. 

As soon as you step inside the hallway, the smell of junk food, sweat and boy hits you, but more importantly, a warmth that makes you realise how your teeth are clattering and goose bumps covering your skin. 

A rap song you faintly recognise but wouldn’t know any words of plays behind one of the doors, and you can hear the sound of a shower a little down the hall. It’s still audible when a brunette walks out of the door, only clad in a white towel hanging dangerously low on his hips. He has a deliciously toned stomach, you acknowledge, a sight for sore eyes, for sure. 

“Y/N? What are you doing here?” the guy asks, just as you’ve realised who it is. You immediately feel your cheeks turn hot while you try not to look at his exposed torso. Surprisingly, he doesn’t seem anywhere near as flustered as you. 

You wonder if it’s an actor thing, not being as easily ashamed as “normal” people, because Jacob’s exactly the same way.  

“Hey Tom,” you mutter, glancing at a shabby concert poster on the wall instead of him. You can’t make yourself look at him, not now, at least. 

“I was just- I wanted-,” you start, but you don’t know what to say, really. The reason for your visit seems both embarrassing and stupid now. 

And then, to make matters much, much worse, you start crying. At least the tears are a little warmer water than the rain that’s already slid down your face, but opposed to the rain, your cries make the whole situation far weirder. 

“I’m just really lonely, and I watched that creepy new documentary on Netflix, and then I thought Jacob would be able to cheer me up, but I’ve just realised that he isn’t even here, and I really don’t wanna go back to my dorm, but I guess it’s my only choice,” you sobbingly ramble, the hurried and uncontrolled way the words leave your mouth reminding you of the feeling of puking. 

Fortunately, you’re 95% sure you didn’t actually puke. That would have been the cherry on top of your bad day, truly. 

You’re absolutely certain that Tom will respond with something awkward and then close the door to his dorm room in your face, but instead, he walks to you and engulfs you in a warm hug. 

In spite of the uncomfortable feeling of your soaked shirt against his bare chest and the clear awkwardness of hugging a hot shirtless guy whose lower body is only hidden by a towel, it’s a nice hug. Especially because he doesn’t let go of you after the usual few seconds that such embraces last. 

You cry into his chest as he soothingly caresses your back, and miraculously, your eyes stop dropping tears, and your breathing slows down. You can feel your body heat rise, the warmth of his body affecting yours. 

“Thank you,” you mumble, the unfamiliar feeling of your lips moving against his naked skin causing goose bumps to rise on your skin once more. It reminds you all too much of your dark fantasies, the ones you’d never admit to anyone, the ones where your lips move against his skin just like now, but under much different circumstances.

He releases you and eyes you with a soft, worried expression on his face. Your focus shifts for a swift second to a pearl of water that runs from his wet hair down the side of his face, leaving a shimmering trail. His skin looks flushed, perhaps he rinsed it while showering, and his forehead and chin are a little spotty, but it doesn’t make him any less handsome. 

“I know I’m not Jacob,” he says, biting his lip and pulling your focus back from his facial features, “but do you wanna stay in my room for a while? I don’t want you to go home like this, especially not in this weather.”

You can’t believe how sweet he is, first letting you cry your eyes out against his chest and then offering you his company. It’s not at all helping you get rid of the crush you have on him, and perhaps it would be healthier for your budding feelings to go home, but you only have to think about laying alone in your dorm room for a second before you make up your mind. 

“Are you sure? It’s my own fault for forgetting that he’s with his parents, and I don’t want to intrude.”

He grins widely at you, grabbing your hand and pulling you after him. “Of course! I’m sick of watching Friends on my own anyway.”

You laugh, feeling happier than you have in what feels like a terribly long time. At least ever since most of your friends, including both Jacob and your roommate, went home over spring break and left you on campus with long-ass assignments, nobody to talk to and one hell of a mess in your room. 

You’re also pretty sure your roommate had some sort of existential crisis before going home as she kept mumbling about breaking up with her boyfriend and how he would hate her for it and then if she had remembered to pack her favourite yellow dress, although she’s told you about a hundred times that she hates wearing dresses. Besides, you’ve never seen her wear anything that wasn’t black. 

Her mental state resulted in a terrible mess in your room, at you just can’t bear to look at the scattered school books, crumpled pieces of clothing or half-eaten packs of jelly beans anymore.

“Well, make yourself at home. I’ll- uhm, I’ll put on some clothes,” he tells you once he’s closed the door behind you, clearly remembering how little he’s wearing. 

“I’ll just turn around and cover my eyes,” you stutteringly assure him, following your own instructions and adding a small joke to try to ease the tension, “I promise I won’t look.” 

He chuckles, sounding a bit more relaxed. You hear him shuffle around and then exclaim a muffled sound, similar to the ones you let out when you get stuck in a shirt or sweater. 

“Are you stuck?” you giggle.

“I was, but I’m good now,” he answers, sounding out of breath. “You can look, by the way, I’m fully dressed.”

You remove your palms from your face and turn around, sitting down on Jacob’s bed. Tom’s wearing a grey sweatshirt and matching sweatpants, and he looks so soft it takes everything in you not to jump into his arms or squeeze his cheeks. You have to remind yourself that you don’t even know him that well, that just because you’ve heard so much about Tom from Jacob, it doesn’t mean that you’re, by any means, close with the boy. You wish you were.  

He crooks his head and looks at you with furrowed eyes, glancing up and down your body. 

“D’you want a towel to dry off? And maybe some dry clothes? I don’t want to overstep, but I’d also hate myself if I was the reason for you getting sick.” 

The apple of his cheeks grows to resemble, yes, (red) apples, as he scratches his neck and shoots you an uncomfortable glance. 

A lump forms in your throat, amazed at his hospitality and kindness. You nod, “You’re not overstepping at all. Actually, you’re being scarily sweet. Sure an alien isn’t possessing you?”

He laughs, “Yeah. Pretty sure. Just naturally this charming,” he winks at you. 

“That’s what someone possessed by aliens would say, though,” you point out, trying to ignore how flustered you got at his gesture. He shakes his head at you with a big grin.

“Careful now, if you’d like to avoid the flu,” he jokes, picking a green towel from the cabinet and throwing it at you. “Tee or sweatshirt?”

You shrug, already drying of your hair with the towel, “Don’t care.”

You’re barely able to catch the blue hoodie that flies through the air, inches from hitting you in the head.

“Shorts or sweats?” he then inquiries, holding both a pair of football shorts and a pair of sweats that looks identical to the ones he’s wearing.

“Shorts,” you decide, this time ready to receive the black fabric. 

“Do you want me to wait in the hallway while you get changed?” he offers, closing the cabinet and smiling softly at you.

You shake your head, returning his smile, “No no, just turn around.”

“You sure?” he checks, and you nod, assuring him that you are. He turns around, drying his brown locks in the white towel he’s already used in the shower as you quickly slip off your wet garments and put on Tom’s instead. 

When you pull the shirt over your head, the smell of Tom hits your nostrils, a delicious mixture of citrus, musk and washing powder.

“All decent,” you tell him once you’re fully clothed, and he turns to you again, walking to his own bed and sitting down. 

You’re facing each other, the narrowness of the room causing your knees to be just inches apart, so close that your bare legs can feel the warmth radiating from his. 

“Do you wanna talk about what upset you, or should I just ramble about something completely else?” he offers, a sweet smile on his lips. 

You bite your lip, feeling out of place even though you’ve been in the room to visit Jacob countless times.

It’s a nice and cosy place, much tidier than most boy dorm rooms. There are movie posters on the wall, both old, classic ones and newer comedies. It smells good, too, like masculine deodorant with only a tiny and actually not all-too-bad hint of sweat, perhaps caused by the few pieces of sports clothing discarded on the floor. 

Tom quickly rises from his seat on the bed to put it in the laundry basket when he notices you eyeing the stuff. He continues with quick, clumsy movements to clean up after himself, almost tripping over his own feet.

“Sorry it’s so messy,” he sheepishly apologizes. 

You shake your dismissingly, “Don’t think you’ve been to Mark Smith’s room if you think this is messy.” 

His gaze is still shy, stuttering as he replies, “Do-do you- erhm- do you spend a lot of time in Mark’s room?”

“No,” you deny, noticing how his shoulder relaxes at your words, “Not really my type, to be honest. Just did a group project with him a couple weeks ago.”

“Oh,” he mutters, sitting down again. 

“To answer your question from before, I’ve just felt really lonely during the break. Don’t really wanna talk about it, though.”

“Fair. Wanna watch a movie instead?” he proposes, and you nod. He stands back up, fetching the laptop from his backpack before dumping back on the bed for the third time, kicking his feet up and getting under the duvet. 

He shuffles close to the wall, patting the space next to him on the bed. “Do you wanna sit here? Unfortunately, my laptop isn’t as big as a telly, so you’ll see much better over here.”

You feel your palms grow sweaty as you nod, leaving Jacob’s bed in favour of joining Tom. You sit down on the duvet, legs touching through the cover and your shoulder bumping into his while the back of your hands almost brush, laying side by side.

“What do you wanna watch?” he inquires.

“Dunno,” you shrug, “Maybe that new Thor movie?”

His features brighten, an excited grin on his face. “Yeah? I’ve been wanting to watch it for ages but haven’t gotten around to it.”

“Then let’s do it,” you smile, your gaze switching from the screen to his face while he finds the movie.

You don’t think you’ve ever been this close to him. Being so near to him makes you able to stare at him without getting interrupted, and you realise he’s even more handsome than you thought.

Or, maybe he’s not, because he surely looks almost angelic, perfect, even, from afar, but of course he isn’t any of those things. He’s human, and he’s got moles and acne and zits and scars like everybody else, but you can’t help but think that these small imperfections just make him look more attractive. Unfair.

Then, the opening music of the movie plays, and you turn your eyes to the screen again.

You’re completely captivated by the story unfolding for your eyes until the very end, only realising how tired you’ve become when you yawn while the ending credits roll. 

“Well, I guess it’s getting kinda late,” Tom trails off, looking unsure. His words immediately send you back into a different mood, replacing the content, relaxed one. 

“Uhm, yeah, I guess,” you mumble, looking down. You’re barely able to hold back the tears, every fibre of your body feeling uncomfortable at the thought of returning to your own room. 

“I- You… I completely understand if you say no, and you have every right to, but I was just wondering,” you pause, suddenly losing to courage to ask. 

“Yes?” he encourages you with a smile.

“Can I- Can I sleep here tonight?” you whisper, your heart sinking when his eyes extract into a surprised expression and a surprised sound, almost like a small gasp, leaves his throat. 

He runs a hand through his hair, but it gets stuck for a few second when he hits a knot in the tousled locks. He seems to fight it, his focus turning from you to his hair for a moment before he bites his lip, looks down and nods.

“Yeah, of course,” he assures you. “Of course, you can,” he repeats with a low voice, sounding like it’s something he tells himself rather than you. 

“Are you sure?”

This time, he seems more convinced, eyes meeting yours, “Wouldn’t have said yes if I wasn’t.”

You shoot him a smile you hope looks grateful, and it’s quickly returned with a grin of his own. 

“Anyway, it’s not the first time you’ve slept here, is it?” he points out, changing both the subject and atmosphere to a more easy-going one.

You giggle, hit by memories of drunkenly dropping down on Jacob’s bed and not having the energy or self-restraint to get up again before you woke up the next morning with a massive headache and killer breath next to the Hawaiian/Filipino boy. 

“I guess it isn’t,” you agree. 

“Before Jacob met Alyssa, I thought,” he pauses, swallowing, looking at you expectantly like you’re supposed to know what he’s hinting at. But you don’t, and he seems to realise that as he elaborates, “That you two were… a thing.”

You can’t help but laugh, “Me and Jacob?”

Tom nods, confirming.

“Oh god, he’s like a brother to me, that would be disgusting!”

“Dunno, you just seemed really close,” he explains.

You shrug, “Well, we are really close, but we aren’t exactly each other’s types. There’s never been anything more than friendly between us, ever.”

“I think you’re everybody’s type, Y/N,” he blurts out, looking horrified afterwards. 

You can feel the heat rush towards your face, wondering what exactly he meant by that compliment. 

Because it is a compliment, right? It must be.

“I didn’t mean- I don’t- I-,” he starts, a panicked look on his face, before he calms himself down with a deep breath that you try to match to get your own heart under control. “Erhm, yeah, just can’t really comprehend how anyone wouldn’t think you were absolutely amazing.”

You can’t believe how courageous he is, telling someone he barely knows something so personal. And yeah, you already knew he was brave, having seen him perform in plays and knowing that he dreams to become an actor, a profession that takes insane amounts of courage, baring yourself to strangers every day, but this seems different. This isn’t a job or a dream or an artform. This is the real life, and it’s scary. At least you think so.

Though perhaps you aren’t as unfamiliar to each other as you have convinced yourself you are. 

You think back on all those mornings hungover with Jacob, and you can’t come up with one where Tom didn’t go with you to get breakfast, terribly chirpy and energetic while telling you about some prank his brothers had pulled on him once or a weird audition he went to. 

You recall some of those small comments he made when he studied in the room while you were hanging out with Jacob, seemingly keeping up with the conversation enough to add his thoughts every once in a while. 

And you remember those parties where you and Jacob managed to convince Tom to tag along, watching him dance surprisingly great (it took a while before you found out he had danced a lot growing up, even starring in Billy Elliot), loose fatally in beer pong and shy away from all the girls who made a move on him, shooting you desperate glances before you saved him from their drunk persistence with an apologetic smile to the girl and a tight grip on his bicep.

“Thank you,” you mumble while you feel your skin heat up, something it does an awfully lot today. “That’s really sweet of you to say.”

He offers you a small smile, “Just telling the truth.”

No need to say, you blush even harder.

But before you can reply with a compliment of your own or at least explain to him how much his words mean to you, he abruptly changes the subject, “We should probably get ready for bed. I don’t have a spare toothbrush, and I’d offer to lend you mine if it wasn’t, you know, terribly unhygienic and gross.”

You chuckle, “Thanks for the thought, but I’ll manage with my finger if I could just get a bit of toothpaste.”

“Of course.” 

You brush your teeth side by side in the claustrophobic miniature bathroom, once in a while catching each other’s eyes in the mirror before shyly looking away. It’s like a game, and you can’t stop playing, not when his words from before are repeated in your head over and over again.

“Have you asked Jacob if it’s okay with him that you sleep in his bed? I’m sure it is, and I’ll just take the floor if it isn’t, but I’d just rather that he knows.”

You nod after spitting out the toothpaste, “Just sent him a text.” 

Not even five seconds later, your phone buzzes with a text from your mutual friend.

Jacob: Of course! 

You turn your phone to Tom to show him that Jacob has agreed to your arrangement, but then you see Tom’s eyes enlarge and a blush creep across his cheeks and look at the phone yourself.

Jacob: Just don’t get frisky in my bed, lovebirds.

You can’t believe him. That really wasn’t needed, especially with the tension already so weird. You try to laugh, but the awkward cough-like sound doesn’t even convince yourself, and you abruptly go quiet, making it seem, if possible, even more fake. 

Luckily, Tom acts like nothing happened, asking you if you’re ready for bed. 

“Feel like I’ll collapse soon so it’s probably for the best,” you agree.

He smiles at your comment and returns to the dorm room, plopping down on the bed. You don’t know what to say, and the silence is thick and unpleasant as you lay there in your respective beds, staring at the ceiling. 

Then, Tom clears his throat and turns of the bedside lamp, leaving the room in darkness.

“Goodnight, Y/N,” he says.

“Goodnight, Tom,” you whisper back, feeling your heart pumping in your chest while you inwardly curse yourself being such a coward. Usually, you’re good at taking the first step when you’re interested in or intrigued by someone, but this feels different. Like a no from Tom would be much worse than a no from all those other sweet, pretty guys you’ve had a crush on.

But you take a deep breath and try to calm your nerves before speaking up with a low voice, “Tom?”

“Yeah?”

“Thanks for letting me sleep here.”

“No problem,” he assures you, voice soft.

“I’m really glad you were here today,” you start, convincing yourself not to chicken out. “I feel like I’ve kinda gotten to know you a bit because of Jacob, and I know we don’t really talk that much just the two of us, but,” you take another deep breath, knowing that your next words will possibly make it terribly awkward for you to visit Jacob, “I wish we did. I just never know what to say because you’re this sweet, funny, hot drama major, and then I just chicken out.”

Although it’s dark, your eyes have gotten used to it, and you’re thereby able to make out his features when he turns around to face you, laying on his side. There’s a small smile on his face, his brown eyes glistens and his hair is a mess, but an incredibly cute one. 

“What’s my major got to do with anything?” he just asks, and you almost tear up. He clearly doesn’t like you, he wouldn’t have asked about something like that if he did, and you try to tell yourself that at least you know now, and that you can move on instead of spending most of your day thinking about Tom. It doesn’t really help all too much, though.

You chuckle half-heartedly, “Dunno, you’re just all so confident and brave, and that’s kinda intimidating, I guess.”

He doesn’t answer, and instead you lay in silence looking at each other, until Tom turns back to laying on his back, and you’re sure that you’ve ruined everything there was to ruin between the two of you. You mentally prepare yourself to the prospect of having to go home to your lonely dorm room, catching a cold in the rain and your only company for the rest of the break another stupid Netflix series while you cry your eyes out.

“You think I’m hot?” he then inquires, and at least he’s not ordering you to leave yet.

“Um, yeah? Half of the school does, to be honest,” you bitterly acknowledge, recalling all those times where you caught girls (and every now and then a boy, although the boys in general seem less interested) looking dreamily at him or slipping him their number or even those parties where you saved him from other students flirting with him. You get mad at yourself for thinking that you were better than those people, thinking you had just a slightly bigger chance than them, just because you know him and talk to him regularly, when in reality, you’re just as hopelessly crushing as the rest of them. Perhaps even worse because he’s an actual part of your life and not just a cute guy on campus. 

He laughs quietly, “Then I think you should get your eyes tested ‘cause you’re clearly blind. People don’t find me attractive.”

“It’s true. Don’t pretend you haven’t noticed how people throw themselves at you. I have to rescue you from at least two at every party,” you remind him.

“They’re just drunk. I could be a 70-year-old with a Gandalf beard, and they would be too pissed to notice,” he protests, making you roll your eyes. Fortunately, he can’t see as his gaze is still fixated on the ceiling. 

“No, they aren’t. And even if they were, what about that redhead in the cafeteria last week, or the boy with the glasses at the diner?“ you argue, his only response a muffled sound, seemingly agreeing with you. He doesn’t really have a choice, though, because everyone who was there with you at the diner when the guy asked Tom out jokes about it. Tom’s perplexed reaction made it almost too easy for you to make fun of him, really. 

Then, there’s another minute of silence before Tom faces you once more and slowly, almost carefully as if he’s tasting every word, asks, “Y/N, do you like me?”

Now, you tell yourself, you’ll get thrown out, and you’ll never get to hear another of Tom’s stupid jokes or clever comebacks to Jacob’s joking insults and you’ll probably also need to find another place to crash when your roommate is fucking another girl as she does at least once a week, and it’s just terrible. 

But you still answer his question truthfully.

“Yeah,” you whisper, closing your eyes to avoid seeing his face when he rejects you. 

“As more than a friend?” he checks. 

“Yeah,” you repeat, scrunching your eyes even closer together. 

Then he starts laughing, the act surprising you so much that your eyes fly open to look at him, although it’s still too dark to see his features properly. At first, you’re confused, but then you just feel even more humiliated. Are your feelings really so strange he has to make fun of them?

However, he proves you wrong when he turns on the light and stands up energetically, looking almost giddy. You can’t look away, and you’re just awaiting the deathblow, but it doesn’t come. 

“I don’t even know what to with myself,” he chuckles, the grin on his face so bright you’re sure it could light up the room, if the light wasn’t already turned on, of course. “I’ve been pining after you for so long, and I didn’t believe Jacob when he said that you wouldn’t reject me if I made a move, but this is, like, the dream!”

Your tiredness causes you to become confused, not understanding what he says immediately. And then, your lack of confidence and the long time you’ve spent thinking that Tom didn’t feel anything for you but friendship, forces you to tell yourself that it can’t be real, that he must joking.

“I’m sorry, am I coming on too strong? I’m just really excited,” he explains, this time calmer. 

“I don’t- I don’t understand,” you whisper, shaking the covers off and slowly sitting up on the bed.

“Are you making fun of me?” you then ask, because although it seems unlikely as Tom is one of the kindest and most considerate people you’ve ever met, the other alternative is even more unlikely.

“No! No, no, I would never,” he desperately assures you, sitting down beside you, his upper body turned against you as he bites his lip and looks you in the eye. “Why would you even think that?”

You shrug, and he takes your hand in his, and although his palm is sweaty, you can’t help but feeling that you’ve never experienced anything as amazing as the feeling of his palm in yours and his thumb caressing the back of your hand.

You look down at your joined hands, the realisation slowly hitting you. He likes you. Tom likes you.

“I dunno. It just never seemed like you liked me back,” you mumble, a thousand thoughts and feelings shooting through your head, driving you to the point of dizziness. 

He looks bewildered at you, like you’ve said something unbelievable.

“Are you telling me you haven’t noticed how I stare at you for literally hours and that I always tag along when you and Jacob hang out? Not to mention how I not even an hour ago blurted out that I thought you were everybody’s type.”

It makes sense when he puts it like that, but you still don’t think it’s that simple.

“Yeah, but then I told you how amazing I thought you were, and you just asked me why I mentioned your major!” you shoot back. “And you didn’t notice either how Jacob and I hang out here waaaay more than in my room, and that I always beg you to come party with us and that I’m acting like a creepy stalker all the time, watching over you like a hawk and becoming overly jealous and miserable every time someone flirts with you!” 

You almost spit the words out, wanting to point out that you’re not the only one who’s been oblivious, but it looks like it has the opposite effect. Tom looks taken back by your outburst, watching you with wide eyes, and you absolutely hate yourself for being too much, like you always are, and it’s just so typical you. 

But before you can do or say anything to save the situation, there’s a warm pair of lips pressing against your own. When you don’t react, too shocked to move any part of your body, the lips disappear almost as fast as they came and makes you wonder if it even happened at all.

 Luckily, Tom’s guilty expression and next words assure that the kiss was real, “I’m so sorry, I should have asked you first, I’m really sorry-”

“No!” you cut him off, only making him look more terrified, so you decide it’s probably best to tone it down a little and speak with a calmer voice, “No, don’t be sorry. I just thought I had scared you away and ruined everything with that stalker-thing, so I was a little surprised, that’s all.” 

His face slowly softens, a relieved noise leaving his mouth. 

“It was nice. The kiss. Dreamt about doing that for a long time, to be honest,” you sheepishly add, making him smile.

“Me too,” he admits, and then he kisses you again. He releases your hand and grabs your face again while you bury your fingers in the small curls in his neck. His mouth is warm against yours, and you can’t believe it’s really happening. 

You break apart first, panting a little as you rest your forehead against his, grinning.

“I really really really like you,” he admits happily, making you laugh just because you’re so tremendously ecstatic. The world feels light and so full of possibilities, completely opposite to how sad and lonely you felt a couple hours ago.

“I really really really like you, too,” you answer, and you can’t help but kiss him again, this time slipping your tongue through his lips, letting it taste the tip of his. 

And well, when Jacob a couple days later comes home to you and Tom making out in Tom’s bed and sighs knowingly, you must admit that staying on campus for spring break wasn’t the worst decision you’ve made.

[xuxibelle]

Beauty & the Beast

Pairing: Caulm Hood x Reader

Word count: 4,060

Warnings: tiny bit of angst if you squint, fluff, mild cursing

Requested: No. This was for @bringmethehorizonandpizza’s writing challenge where I had the prompt “Today has been absolutely terrible.”/“will my hug make it alright?” & @sincerelymlg’s writing challenge where I had the Beauty & the Beast AU. I didn’t do the “typical” fairytale with this AU. I took the thing where Calum doesn’t believe in love anymore and spun that in a modern twist on the AU. I hope it fits for you. 

A/N: In this AU 5SOS are not famous. They do still play music though. Also, this is my first Calum fic, so bare with me lol

Summary: Y/N always has a book in her hand wherever she goes. One day she meets this guy and she can’t get him out of her head. She keeps running into him… They become very quick friends and she learns about his past and the fact that he doesn’t believe in love anymore.

You loved the time you spent at your favorite coffee shop, especially on your days off when you could bring the current book you were reading and spend even more time there. You had your favorite soft chair in a back corner where you could curl your legs underneath you and relax while you read and still be able to watch out the window if you wanted to take a break from reading for a bit. This day was no different, you were curled up in your chair with your book in your lap and a cup of warm hot chocolate beside you while you watched it pouring rain out the window. Once your cup was empty, you went to get a refill.

“Can you make this one to go please?” you asked the barista sweetly as you placed your order. You went to grab your book and jacket while they made your order. After you grab your cup, you begin to make your way towards the door. You grab your umbrella from the stand near the door and turn to make your way out the door. Your foot slips as you turn and you begin to fall, but you never hit the floor as you feel a strong arm wrapping around you causing you to look up.

“Whoa, you okay?” a deep voice asks as he helps you stand up and get your balance back.

“Y-yea, thanks,” you say as you look up to see a pair of chocolate brown eyes looking down at you. You brush your hands against the hem of your shirt, smoothing it out while steadying your nerves. “Sorry to bump into you, slipped on the wet floor. I’m a little accident prone,” you laugh as you feel your face flush slightly.

“‘S alright. As long as you’re okay,” he tells you with a smile. Biting your lip as you watch the dimples appear on his face, you nod your head and thank him again before you walk out the door. Over the next couple of days, you couldn’t stop thinking about those eyes… Monday it rained again so on Tuesday, you decided to take your lunch to the park across the road from your work. You spread your blanket out and sat out in the sun as you eat your lunch and read your book. You were so entranced in your book you didn’t notice the dog running towards you until he jumped in your lap.

“Well, hey there buddy…” you laughed as you pet the little guy curling up on your lap. He smiled up at you when you began scratching behind his ears. “Where’d you come from, huh? I’m sure someone is looking for you,” you tell him as you look around.

“Duke!” you hear a familiar voice yelling as you look around to find the source of the sound. You see the guy you literally ran into at the coffee shop run around the trees to your left and stop in front of you when he saw Duke sitting on your lap.

“I’m guessing he’s yours?” you ask. He nods as he tries to catch his breath quickly.

“I’m sorry he bothered you,” he tells you as he walks over and tries to get Duke from your lap. Duke first growls and then barks at him, moving closer to you. A shocked expression on both your faces, you look up to meet those eyes you haven’t been able to forget. “He’s never done that….”

“Well… he looks like he’s pretty comfortable,” you laugh as you bite your lip. “You can join me for a bit, if you like… if you’re not busy,” you offer.

“Thank you,” he laughs as he sits beside you on your blanket. “I really am sorry… He doesn’t usually run off like that,” he explains.

“It’s okay, really… I love dogs,” you tell him with a smile as you continue to pet the content pup on your lap. “So… I know his name is Duke… and this is the second time I’ve run into you, so I think it’s only fair I know your name,” you tell him. He raises his eyebrows at you.

“Is that so?” he jokes with you. You nod confidently with a smile. “I don’t know your name either, you know,” he says as he leans back on his hands.

“Y/N,” you tell him quietly.

“Well, Y/N, I’m Calum. It’s nice to officially meet you,” he tells you as he holds out his hand to you.

“You too,” you half laugh as you shake his hand. You and Calum sit and talk for the next little while before you realize it’s time for you to go back to work. “Well, it’s been nice talking to you and Duke, but my lunch hour is up. I gotta get back to work,” you tell Calum as you hand Duke over to him. “By buddy,” you say as you scratch Duke’s head.

“Oh, you work near here?” he asks.

“Yea, just over there,” you say as you point at your building.

“Maybe we’ll see you again. This is Duke’s favorite park,” he smiles at you.

��Maybe you will,” you say as you both stand up. You grab your blanket and begin walking back to your building as Calum and Duke began to walk in the other direction. Wednesday, you didn’t have enough time to leave the building for lunch, so you had it delivered to you and worked while you ate. Thursday, you went back to the park for lunch and sat in the same spot, but to your dismay you didn’t see Calum or Duke. Friday was your half-day, so after lunch when you left work you decided to stop by your favorite bookstore and get a new book since you finished your current one the day before. You had two books in your hand when you heard the bell over the door ring, announcing someone else had entered the store. You peeked around the end of the aisle you were on to see Calum walk in and look around. “Really?” you ask as you walk up behind him. “You… in here?” you ask making him laugh as he hangs his head, biting his lip as he turns to face you.

“Yes, I read… but if you must know… I’m shopping for a gift. It’s a friend’s birthday soon,” he explains.

“Mmhmm… sure,” you say as you cross your arms.

“You don’t believe me?” he asks.

“I’m not sure if I should,” you tell him, making him laugh again as he shakes his head. You joke with him a little more as he continues to look for the gift he wants and goes to purchase it. You decide to get both books in your hand so that you have one for later as well.

“So, since we seem to keep running into each other… what do you say to hanging out sometime? Duke misses you,” he tells you, this time making you laugh.

“And I absolutely miss him,” you tell him with a smile. You and Calum exchange numbers with a promise to text later and meet up the next day at the park. You go to the park about an hour before you’re supposed to meet Calum so you can have time to read for a bit before he and Duke get there. You’re lost in your story once again when Duke bounces up and jumps in your lap. “Duke! I missed you buddy,” you say excitedly as you pick up the happy dog, kissing his head and scratching behind his ears.

“Damn… I just don’t exist when he’s here, do I?” you hear Calum say as he sits beside you two.

“Nope… not really,” you laugh.

“Geez… thanks,” he laughs.

“You’re quite welcome,” you say with a wide smile. You sit and play with Duke for a while as you and Calum talk.

“Why do you always have a book with you?” Calum asks you after a while. You sigh as you look from your book to Calum with a smile.

“It’s… like an escape… my own personal escape from this world… especially when things get too rough,” you explain as he nods his head.

“Interesting… Sounds like me and my music,” he tells you. After that day, you and Calum begin hanging out more and more. Eventually he introduces you to his closest friends and they immediately love you. The more time you spend with them, the more you think you might actually like Calum… and that worries you. He’s quickly become your best friend… and you don’t want to jeopardize that in any way, especially if he doesn’t feel the same. Since he told you about his past and that he doesn’t believe in love anymore, you push your feelings to the back of your mind and keep them hidden. Or so you thought… You were at the guys’ place one day, just hanging out. They had decided to cook out on the grill that day and lounge around the pool and invited you over.

“Hey, Y/N… Mind helping me inside for a minute?” Ashton asks you. You nod as you walk inside behind him.

“What’s up?” you ask as you walk into the kitchen.

“Can you help me wash and cut up these veggies?” he asks you with a smile.

“Sure,” you smile back before you pick up some of the veggies and wash them before you hand them to Ash to cut. You continue washing more as he continues talking.

“Why don’t you talk to Cal?” he asks you. You turn your head as you give him a confused look.

“I do,” you laugh. “We talk every day.”

“No,” he laughs back. “I mean about how you feel.” Your eyes go wide as you look at him.

“I thought I was hiding it well… Is it that obvious?” you ask worried. He shakes his head no with a small laugh.

“No, I’m just really good at reading people,” he tells you with a wink. “You should tell him.” You shake your head no.

“Not a good idea, Ash,” you tell him.

“Why not,” he asks you.

“Because!” you say excitedly. “You know Cal... “ you say as you turn to look out the patio door to make sure no one was coming inside to hear any of your conversation. “You know how he feels about love and all that… I can’t risk losing my best friend,” you tell him as you feel a tear come to your eye. You raise your hand and wipe it away before it has the chance to fall.

“How long have you known each other now?” he asks you. You stop your chopping as you think for a second and look at Ashton briefly.

“Almost a year,” you say quietly.

“Y/N…” Ashton starts as you hold your hand up.

“No, Ash… It’s not happening,” you tell him. “I just ...can’t.”

“Okay,” he sighs as he holds his hands up in defeat. “If you ever want to talk about it, just know you can come to me and I won’t say anything to him unless you ask me to.” You slightly nod your head as you continue chopping the veggies in front of you. The rest of the day goes smoothly to your surprise, with Ashton keeping his word and not mentioning anything to anyone. Over the next couple weeks, you go about things as normal and keep your feelings hidden. One Friday when you get home after your half day at work, Calum texts you and asks if he can come over.

Y/N: Of course. You know you can always come over whenever. I just got home. I’ll be here all night. No plans to go anywhere. You want take out? I’m ordering.

Calum: That would be amazing... Thank you.

Y/N: Sure thing

Calum: It might be a couple hours before I get there. We’re still working on a couple things. I’ll text you when I’m leaving.

Y/N: Take your time. I’m not going anywhere.

Calum: You’re the best

You set your phone on the coffee table as you head to the kitchen to grab a snack to hold you over until Calum texts you back so you can order some real food. You didn’t want to eat without him, but you didn’t want his food to get cold either. Relaxing on the couch with the snacks you grabbed from the kitchen, you turned Netflix on and pulled up one of your favorite shows since you weren’t sure how long he would be. After about 2 ½ episodes, your phone chimes with a text notification .You pick it up from the table to see it’s Calum.

Calum: Leaving now. Be there in 20.

Y/N: Don’t rush. Drive safe. Door’s open.

You pick up the take out menu from the table and immediately call the chinese restaurant down the block to place your order. You were brought out of your concentration on your show by your door opening and Calum walking in.

“That was a little faster than I expected,” you tell him.

“I couldn’t take it anymore,” he tells you with a sigh.

“What’s wrong?” you ask.

“Today has been absolutely terrible…” he tells you shaking his head as he walks towards the living room.

“Will my hug make it alright?” you ask him.

“Not completely, but it will definitely help,” he says with a small smile. You stand up from your cozy spot on the couch and pulled him into a tight hug, wrapping your arms around his neck as his wind around your waist. As you stood there with your arms around Calum and rubbing gently up and down his back, you felt Calum take a deep breath and let it out slowly. What you couldn’t see was the confused look on his face. He had a feeling in his stomach that he’d been fighting for a while now every time he was around you. He was having a hard time dealing with it and he wasn’t absolutely sure if it was what he was thinking it was, he didn’t want to say anything until he was sure… He squeezed you a little tighter and pulled back from the hug to press a soft kiss to your forehead like he always did when he was telling you goodbye.

“Thank you,” he says quietly just before the knock on the door. “Sit, I’ll get it.”

“No, Cal… You don’t,” you begin.

“Hush,” he interrupts you as he begins to walk to your door, opening it to reveal the delivery guy with the food you ordered. Pulling out his wallet, he paid the man before closing the door and walking back to the couch to join you.  

“This is amazing… Thank you again,” he says quietly as you both begin to eat.

“Don’t thank me. I should be thanking you. You’re the one that paid for it,” you laugh making him smile.

“Yea but it was your idea and you ordered everything,” he explains. You shrugged your shoulders. You back out of your show on Netflix and hand Calum the remote as he looks at you funnily.

“What?” you ask with a laugh.

“Nothing,” he says as he takes the remote and goes back into your show and continues the episode you were on, making you smile to yourself. You spend the next couple hours watching Netflix and talking with Calum before he decides he needs to get home and check on Duke. You wake up the next morning to a text from Calum received at 3:47AM. You roll your eyes as you giggle before you open it.

Calum: I know you’re not awake, but when you read this, text me

You roll your eyes again as you shake your head before you reply.

Y/N: God… do you ever sleep?

Calum: haha… funny

Y/N: So what’s up that you felt like you needed to text me at half past 3 in the morning?

Calum: We should talk

Your heart dropped when you read his last message. Had Ashton said something on accident? On purpose? Did you do something to make him realize you had feelings for him?

Y/N: Sure, you wanna come over or you want me to come there, or what?

Calum: Actually, I thought maybe we could meet? At the pier? Say...12?

Y/N: I’ll be there :)

You tossed your phone the bed and groaned. Feelings of paranoia and anxiety were flowing through your mind. Picking your phone back up you decided to text Ashton.

Y/N: Hey, you didn’t say anything, did you?

Ash: Nope. Why, what’s up?

Y/N: He just said “We should talk” and asked me to meet him later… Do you know what’s going on?

Y/N: Ash…?

Y/N: You know something, don’t you?

Ash: I do… but I’ve been sworn to secrecy just as I was with you, so you know I’m not gonna tell you. I promise, it’s not bad… Just go… Meet him. You’ll thank me later, love ;)

You groaned again as you threw your phone back on the bed. Glancing at the clock, you realized you had a few hours to spare and you knew it was going to be torture. When it was finally time to meet him, you drove to the pier and parked your car before you walked out to where you saw him sitting near the end.

“Hey,” you say quietly as you walk up behind him. He turns around slowly and smiled at you.

“Hey,” she smiles back before standing to hug you. “Come sit.” You listen and sit beside him, looking out over the ocean with a sigh.

“So, what’s up?” you ask as you glance at him from the side of your eye. He turns slightly towards you, resting his arm behind you on the back of the bench as you turn your head towards him.

“How long have we been friends?” Calum asks you.

“Just about a year,” you tell him.

“It’ll be a year next week,” he smiles at you.

“You remember that?” you say quietly, tucking a strand of hair behind your ear as you look down at your lap.

“I do… You almost fell in that coffee shop. It was raining. You had just grabbed your umbrella and were about to leave,” he laughs, making you smile.

“You caught me,” you say quietly as he nods.

“I’d never seen anyone like you,” Calum tells you. You furrow your brows in confusion as you look up at him.

“Wh-what?” you ask. “What do you mean?”

“Well…” he says as he takes a breath. “Y/N…” he takes your hand in his as you look down at your hands together and back up at him. “You’re the most beautiful person I’ve ever seen…” You feel the air rush out of your lungs. Was he really telling you this? What you’ve been wanting to hear for so long? Calum? Your best friend? Couldn’t be happening… could it? You blink a few times before you say something.

“You sure you have the right person?” you say making him laugh.

“I absolutely have the right person,” he says confidently as he tucks a strand of hair behind your ear and you feel your heart speed up. “I… didn’t realize. In the beginning… I didn’t realize that what I was feeling was this… That day that I came over after I had that bad day and you got the take out… When you hugged me, that was when I realized, like for absolute sure, something was going on with me… That night, I went to Ash’s and talked to him,” he said as he looked at you and you bite your lip.

“Did he say something to you about me?” you ask.

“He said a lot about you, actually,” he laughed. “You’ll have to be more specific.

“About anything I’ve said to him,” you explain.

“No, we only talked about how I felt. He never said you had talked to him about anything,” Calum reassured you as you let out a relieved breath of air. “Can I ask why?” You nod your head.

“The day we grilled out, Ash asked me to help him in the kitchen. He confronted me... and said I-i should just talk... to you. I told h-him I couldn’t risk telling y-you anything… I didn’t w-want to lose m-my best friend,” you say as you feel the tears begin to line your eyes.

“Hey… it’s ok. You know you can talk to me. I’m not going anywhere,” Calum tells you quietly as he reaches up to wipe the tears away before they have a chance to fall. You take a breath before you continue.

“I asked him if it was that obvious because I had always tried so, so hard to keep my feeling hidden,” you say as you look up at him.

“Your feelings?” he asks with a smile as you nod your head.

“Ash told me it wasn’t obvious, he said he was just good at reading people. He tried again to get me to tell you but I wouldn’t give in… I was too scared of losing you,” you confess.

“Why would you have lost me?” he asks you.

“Because… I figured with you not believing in love anymore… If I had told you, I figured you would get upset and maybe tell me I was stupid or ridiculous or something… Tell me you never wanted to see me again… Or you couldn’t deal with it,” you explain as he nods his head in understanding.

“I would never call you stupid, for one,” he laughs making you giggle. “How long?”

“Couple months after we met,” you say quietly as you look at your lap. You feel his finger rest under your chin as he turns your head so you meet his eyes with yours.

“We’ve been friends nearly a year… You’ve had feelings for me for that long and kept quiet about it because of that?” he asked you quietly. You shyly nod your head. “I’m having trouble understanding,” he half laughs as he leans his forehead against yours and you sigh quietly.

“With everything you had been through… I thought… there was no way… How was I gonna be the one to change it? I’m… nobody… just me…” you explain as a tear escapes your eye. He quickly reaches up to wipe it away as he leans back.

“You’re not nobody… You’re my best friend… You’re the most amazing, beautiful girl I’ve ever met! I don’t know how you did it… but you’ve changed something in me… and… I don’t want that to stop,” he says as he takes your face in his hands. Leaning forward slowly, he presses his lips to yours in a sweet, soft kiss before he pulls back and looks at you. “I don’t deserve you.”

“You do,” you tell him quickly. “You deserve so much more,” you say quietly, pressing your lips to his as you wrap your arms around his neck. He smiles against your lips as he wraps his arms around your waist and begins to move his lips against yours. You match his movements as you slip one hand up into his dark curls, trying to pull him closer. Pulling back slightly from the kiss, he leans his forehead against yours to catch his breath.

“Say you’ll be mine,” he whispers against your lips with a smile. You slightly nod your head.

“Always,” you say returning his smile.

“Fucking finally…” he breathes in relief. “My phone has been vibrating the entire time we’ve been here and I know it’s Ashton…”

“Let’s take a picture to send to him so he’ll leave us alone,” you laugh. Calum wraps his arm around your shoulder as you cuddle up close to his side and lean your head on his shoulder and look up at him as he looks down at you, foreheads touching. He snaps a quick picture and sends it to Ashton with the caption ‘Leave us alone!” You wait for a response but you never get one. Half an hour later, you’re inside a restaurant near the pier when you tell Calum to check his phone again.

“Nothing,” he tells you.

“Well, now I guess we know how to get him to shut up,” you laugh.

Wasn’t sure who to tag, so if you don’t want to be, just let me know lol I won’t be offended

@nerdraging4point0  @summernykole  @sunshine112  @empressdreams  @justasmisunderstoodasloki @bisexual-sk8r @devildisguiseasangel @fanficparker @hollandsosterfield @marvelownsmyentireass @aspiringwildfire @fucking5sos @harrystylescuredmydepression @twilightparker @steviesbell @bearsbeetsbarnes @hollandroos @starksparker @tomhollanders2013 @h-osterfield @justkeepdreaminganddreaming @sweetlysilent @avenirectioner @writing-reigns @writinglionqueen @wheres-mccall @uglypastels @wazzupmrstark @eurynome827 @cchellacat @lisinfleur @honestsycrets @fortheloveofjbbarnes @ivaraddict @dangerousvikings @tephi101 @yanii-the-hippie @thejemersoninferno

[ukulelecal]

Chopped

In which you and Calum get inspired by Chopped...based on the prompts “I know what I’m doing, okay?” / “You’re holding the knife wrong.” for @bringmethehorizonandpizza writing challenge!

Warnings: none

Pairing: Calum Hood x Reader

A/N: anne pumpkin i hope you had a wonderful birthday and i hope you enjoy this!! x and thank you for letting me post it late haha

“His cake is going to burn if he doesn’t take it out of the oven right now.” 

Calum sighed, shaking his head in disappointment at the frantic man on the screen. He was too focused on perfecting his whipped cream that he forgot about the cake he was making, and it was sure to be his downfall. 

You were watching Chopped, one of your favorite shows. You had seen plenty of people come with high hopes but make a fatal mistake that costs them their grand prize. 

“Can’t believe he even made it past the appetizer round. I had a little hope for him after that entree, but as soon as he started this round I knew he was a disaster.”

He suddenly realized that he had forgotten the main part of his dessert, and ran to the oven to get it out. No matter how quick he was, he couldn’t save the cake. He was never going to be able to make a new one with two minutes left on the clock, so he had no choice but to plate the burnt cake. The look of defeat on his face was almost comical, but the way his face fell when he looked over at his opponent’s perfect crème brûlée was even funnier. Calum couldn’t help but laugh. 

“He knows his ass is getting chopped, look at him.” He gestured to the screen.

You laughed as well, resting your head on Calum’s shoulder. He gave your shoulders a squeeze with the arm that was wrapped around them. Watching cooking shows was a favorite pastime of the two of you, and you always made commentary on the contestant’s mistakes. This was a classic case of burning the main part of the course, and the chances of him winning were practically nonexistent. 

You finished watching the episode and, just as you suspected, the man with the burnt cake was chopped, you and Calum giggling as he walked out of the kitchen in shame. As it came to an end, Calum grabbed the remote and clicked off the television. 

“You know, I wonder if we could win a cooking show if we went on together,” you pondered, glancing up at him. He chuckled.

“When do we ever cook?” He replied quizzically. “Like, fancy meals like they make on cooking shows.”

You shrugged, racking your brain for the fanciest meal you ever cooked together. 

“We made that lasagna for Ashton’s party last year.”

“And it was disgusting, baby, remember? Nobody ate it.”

You huffed, letting your head fall back onto his shoulder. 

“Okay, well that was just a fluke. I bet if we really tried, we could make something super good and take down all these bitches on Chopped.”

Calum hummed in thought. Although you and him preferred to watch people cook, maybe trying to make yourselves a nice meal would be fun too. Neither of you were experienced chefs, for sure, and you never went too over the top when cooking for yourselves, but it couldn’t hurt to try something new.

“Why don’t we try, then?” He suggested. “We could look up a recipe and try to cook something worthy of winning Chopped.”

You smiled at the idea. Something you admired about Calum was that he was always willing to try something new. Whatever idea popped into your head, he was always down to go for it with you. Sometimes it turned out to be a disaster, but other times, you would find something that you really loved. As laid back as you and Calum usually were, you both had your adventurous sides, and it always brought you even closer together. 

You wouldn’t want it any other way. 

You pulled your phone from the pocket of your hoodie and opened Pinterest, the app that you spent more time on than you cared to admit. 

“What kind of recipe should we look for?”

The two of you threw out ideas of what you could make, searching for recipes of fancy yet still manageable by the inexperienced. You eventually decided on making a rigatoni dish that looked pretty tasty in the picture. You could only hope yours turned out that way. 

A quick trip to the grocery store provided you with everything you needed, and you were ready to cook. You glanced at the directions, reading the first step out loud.

“We have to cook the pasta in salted water.” 

Calum read on as you grabbed a pot and filled it with water, and then reached for a saucepan. 

“I’ll melt the butter in the meantime,” he said, each of you claiming a burner on the stove.

The cooking was going well, you and Calum working smoothly together as a team, until you got to the part about making breadcrumbs. It called for a food processor, something you definitely did not have. 

“Well, it says it’s supposed to mince the garlic...we can do that with a knife, right?” Calum questioned slowly, glancing over at you with a confused look. You shrugged.

“I guess so,” you mumbled, opening the cabinet to get the cutting board. You huffed seeing it was on the highest shelf, far out of your reach. You looked over at Calum with your best puppy dog eyes. 

“Can you get the cutting board for me, please, bub?” You drawled. He chuckled, shaking his head. 

“Not until you give me a kiss,” he teased, grinning down at you. You playfully rolled your eyes but still leaned up to kiss him, softly locking lips for a moment. He pulled only to lean in for one more peck right after, a soft smile still gracing his features.

“Much better,” he mumbled, then grabbed the cutting board for you. 

“Thank you, bub,” you uttered with a smile, then turned your attention to mincing the garlic.

You were confident going into the task, but now that you had started, you were struggling a bit. You could see why the recipe called to use a food processor, since it was quite tedious to cut the garlic that small. Calum watched, trying to refrain from laughing at your furrowed brows and tongue poking out from between your teeth.

“Need some help there, baby?” He chuckled, leaning against the counter. You immediately shook your head.

“I got it,” you muttered, working the knife against the garlic. Calum watched for another moment before he spoke up again. 

“Baby, you’re-”

“I know what I’m doing, okay?” You cut him off sharply, eyes never leaving the board. He sighed, pushing off the counter and walking over to you. He gently reached for your hands and placed his over yours.

“You’re holding the knife wrong,” he explained, helping move your fingers to the correct position. “It’ll be a lot easier like this.”

He pulled his hands away and you continued to mince, your motions becoming a lot more fluid now that you were holding the knife correctly. Calum laughed softly at how more visibly relaxed you became. 

“Told ya,” he teased, grinning. You rolled your eyes and looked up at him for a moment to smile.

“Whatever.”

You eventually finished the recipe, and you were now ready to eat. It didn’t look quite like it did in the picture, but it still looked appetizing. You sat down at the table to eat, each of you taking a bite of your food. It was quiet for a moment, as if thinking. Calum was the first to speak. 

“Think we could win Chopped with this?” He asked, a smile starting to creep onto his face. 

“Oh, hell yeah,” you exclaimed. “Ted Allen would be so damn proud of us.” 

Calum’s smile fully reached his eyes, high fiving you across the table. 

“We make a pretty good team, you and I,” he mumbled, adoration in his eyes. “Love you so much.”