#ballum fanfiction

[merthurians-prat-and-idiot]

Here's a belated (shhh) seven sentence sunday!

A lil ballum 5+1 fic I was working on recently :)

🌻

The first time it happens is purely an accident.

Callum's rushing around the flat, tripping over jeans abandoned by the sofa, bashing into the coffee table as he pulls on his suit jacket and almost stacking it into the tv when he tries to tie his tie and put his shoes on at the same time.

His phone buzzes 3 times in quick succession in his pocket, like an angry wasp trying to get free.

"Cal!" Ben calls from the bedroom, his face appearing in the doorway with a fond grin.

"Calm down babe- or your paramedic interview will be carried out in the back of an ambulance when you crash through the window with all your stumblin!" He teases.

"I'm so late Ben- I can't blow it before they've even met me I-" he hops on one foot, yanking his left shoe off from where he'd been trying to jam it onto the wrong one.

"C'mere"

Callum walks closer, drawn as he always is to his boyfriend.

[callum-highway-mitchell]

They were supposed to have forever together. They promised each other “together forever” 😭😭😭

[doyelikehaggis]

Ballum + You Belong With Me!

It's free entertainment, really. Or it would be if it was more amusing and less sad to watch. Ben raises his glass and takes a drink, watching the little display at the other end of the bar. By his estimations, Callum has been on the phone with Whitney for five minutes now. It turned sour around the two-minute mark. 

He's not entirely sure why - it's a bit hard to get all of the context when he only has one side of the conversation, but he's pretty sure it's because she didn't like how Callum said something. It's ridiculous and insane, and a bit pathetic, if he's entirely honest. That doesn't stop him from taking some joy in it.

It's kind of hilarious, actually. The way that Callum and Whitney are so obviously wrong for each other. Seriously, even without the whole gay factor (which is kind of a big one, but still), they just don't work. 

She's sweet. So is he. The problem is that they're too alike. Callum needs someone different. Someone a bit rougher than him, and who pushes him, makes him feel things and question things (more than just his sexuality). Ben swallows thickly. It's bitter. And ironic. 

Perfectly timed, Callum looks right over at him. Ben freezes, lips parted with his glass resting against the bottom one. He doesn't look away. Neither does Callum, who seems to go still as well. The rest of the Vic and its noisy chatter might as well be white noise. For a moment, there's just them, and he thinks that Callum finally sees it too. 

He says something into his phone, sighs, and puts it away. His eyes dart back over in his direction. When Mick asks if he wants a drink, he waves him off and says something about needing to go. Ben watches him all the way to the doors and waits for him to disappear before downing his glass and following him.

He catches up with him easily. When he falls into step with him, Callum sighs again but doesn't tell him to piss off, so that's something. He decides to play along and stays quiet as they walk down the street, choosing instead to notice the worn-out patch on his jeans. It's endearing. 

'What's so funny?' Callum asks, and Ben lifts his head, startled. 'You're smiling.'

'Wasn't,' Ben says, quickly straightening his face out. He shakes his head to really drive it home. 'I wouldn't dare do such a thing. You might think I'm flirting with you and go all weak in the knees for me, and we can't have that.'

Callum rolls his eyes upwards. But there's a smile at the edge of his mouth and it ripples out into a laugh. Ben stares at him in awe; he's never heard him laugh, not properly. It's a genuine, albeit weary, laugh and it's... nice. It's nice. 

Raking his hands over his face, Callum comes to a stop and drops onto the bench. Ben watches him, unsure of what's happening or what to do as Callum stays buried in his hands. Finally, he reemerges, breathing out another laugh. 

'What's so funny?' Ben echoes back at him, only making Callum buckle more. 

He finally manages to answer, looking up at him. 'I have no clue.'

Ben wrinkles his brow and chuckles uncertainly, and he sits beside Callum. They don't speak. Callum hangs his head and glances up at him. It's easy to simply let the silence sit between them for a while. This is it. The way it's meant to be. It's a striking realization, one that hits him where he really feels, knocking the wind out of him. Callum inhales sharply at the same moment and looks away. Ben does, too. Maybe one day. Hopefully soon. 

[k8jax83]

It’s 3 years today since I first posted on AO3. This story (linked below) was my first attempt at writing fanfic and I remember being so scared to actually share it as I doubted it was any good or if anyone would actually like it. However I’m forever grateful to the people who were kind enough to read and leave a comment which encouraged me to keep going with it.

3 years later I’m still writing and posting and still doubting myself every time I do. Somethings will never change and I think I’ll always find it hard to put myself and my work out there. But I do enjoy writing and even if one other person likes what I do then it means the world to me. So thank you to anyone who has been kind enough to read, comment, leave kudos or reach out here to be kind on anything I’ve written.

I’d also encourage anyone who is considering writing to give it a go. As a reader I get so much joy from fics and appreciate everyone who puts effort to write and put themselves out there. I know many others do to and you never know something you write might just brighten someone’s day or help them escape reality for a while. So I also want to thank all the amazing writers who’ve done that for me. You’re all awesome 👏🏻💖

[mudbloodpotter05]

Fic Writer Asks!

I was tagged by @read-and-write- and happiness-of-the-pursuit

ao3 username: Muddbloodpotter05

Fandoms: I have only written for and published for two fandoms- EastEnders (British Soap), but I write for my Ben and Callum “Ballum”, specifically. They are my ride or die ship for that show. I also write for Red, White and Royal Blue.

(Though I did write for HP and crossed that over with Charmed way too many years ago, 😅)

Number of works: 11! (Four are for my EastEnders, Ballum ship and Seven are for RWRB, though one of those for rwrb is my catch-all for any drabbles or drabbles that exceeded the 100 word only requirement).

Work I spent the most time on: this one is a bit harder to answer…of my published stories, I would have to say it is between 3 stories. Two of them fall in my EE fandom for Ballum and those are Someone to Watch Over Me and Your Final Words. For RWRB it would have to be my Now and Then. All three of these took about the same amount of time (roughly two ish months) for each of these because I tend to agonize over my writing and wanting to make sure I frame it and get the flow how I want).

This is likely to end up changing due to the current story I am working on, which is tentatively titled “Time and Time Again” for RWRB.

Work I spent the least time on: besides any drabbles…it would be between two stories If Only for One Night, for EE and Ballum and then Lacrosse My Heart and Hope… - both of these stories just flew out of my brain and into a doc within a single day and then posted to ao3 a couple days later after my wonderful Beta went over them!

Longest fic: this would have to be Now and Then for RWRB. Again, this is likely to change as my new story is currently sitting a little over 8k and that is just chapter 1!

Shortest fic: my drabbles, definitely, though some exceed the 100 word maximum, so I will also list Is that my sweatshirt for RWRB. (It my newest story and contains smut and was inspired by some amazing art of Henry running while wearing one of Alex’s jersey’s.)

Most hits: Bump In the Night which clocks in at 5,540 hits!

Most Kudos: that would be Is that my sweatshirt and has 206 kudos! I love this for my one shot! (Again, mind the tags for Smut).

Total word count: 105,989 (published at this exact moment)

Favorite work of my own: oof, this question sort of hurts, 😅, but if I have to pick I would say any of those listed in the question about the ‘work I spent the most time on’. Those three have to be the ones I’m most proud of!

Fic you want to rewrite or expand on: it would probably have to be Now and Then, but only because I have ideas/thoughts that didn’t make it into the story.

Share a bit of a wip: this is from chapter 1 of my current multi-chapter story-

It’s old. Worn, but still seems to be in good condition. An antique. One of the drawers seems to be stuck, maybe locked. The last time he saw one that looked like this was on a trip to the Smithsonian in his Junior year. So yeah, a fucking antique it may be, but it was the only desk that Alex had found that sparked any sort of joy. (Thank you, Marie Kondo!)

That joy being: it was dirt fucking cheap and he was past being picky.

Well, not exactly. Or not only the price, exactly.

He didn’t know why, but when he looked at it…Alex felt wistful.

Maybe it was his lack of sleep. Maybe it was the air of history hanging about it. Maybe it was haunted! (Not that he believed in ghosts and crystals, voodoo and magic…that was all his sister, June) Or it could very well be the curry from the back of his fridge that he should’ve thrown away. Still, none of those were going to stop him from making this purchase.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

And I am tagging….. @orchidscript @historicallysam @everwitch-magiks and @ethel0123 , but only if you want and haven’t done it yet!

[basketcase1880]

My yearly reblog of this.

Once again it’s Remembrance Day, so I’m going to do a little self promotion.

This is one of my fics that I am proud of, mainly because I believe everyone should know the reason behind the poppy.

[ballumville]

The Warriors

The Professor and the Tormented Poet

The Cowboy and the Geek

Potential Ballum fanfiction stories, anyone???...💖🥰🙏🙏🙏🙏

[minimitchell]

just read your thrill of the fight fic last night and i loved it, really nice writing and its adorable seeing callum getting involved with the boxing stuff AND THE TRADING KISSES, SWEAT AND BUTTERFLIES IN HIS STOMACH MY HEART I CANT

callum is just too sweet.

also this is the third ballum fic ive read im late to the fanfiction game lol

ah thank you so so much! i’m glad you enjoyed it🤍 the idea of ben teaching callum how to box was just so appealing to me i couldn’t help but write it

[mistofstars]

I want every fanfiction now to have this level of bamf and craziness.

Just take a gun to the head of the guy who raped you and make him finally admit it. Insane. I love it.

[benjaminhighways]

Okay… I’m off to read as many fluffy ballum fics as I can to try and recover 🥺🥺🥺

[merthurians-prat-and-idiot]

Might fuck around and plan out an entire Ballum fic

[isaketeven]

“Holding everything in doesn’t help, you know.”

so i did a thing... i dunno? even though my degree is in creative writing the only creative writing i’ve done in the last year is shared writes with my lovely year 5 class, so forgive me if it’s rusty (or just not very good lol!) but yeah, feedback welcome!! i based it off of the prompt ‘holding everything in doesn’t help, you know’ :)

“Holding everything in doesn’t help, you know.”

As Ben entered the house, the fresh smell of chicken pasta hit his nose, overpowering all of his senses at once. He smiled softly, remembering it was Callum’s turn to make tea tonight. They usually alternated between Callum, Ben and getting a takeaway, as neither of them were particularly talented in the kitchen (though Callum would always argue otherwise, of course).

“Of course he’s gone for chicken pasta. What else would he make?” Ben thought to himself, shaking his head fondly.

Attempting to sneak through the hallway into the kitchen unnoticed, Ben tried to keep his footsteps light, wanting to surprise his boyfriend as he had managed to get a flyer from the car lot. Nearing the kitchen, he slowly opened the door, making sure it didn’t make any unforgiving creaks that would give him away. He expected to see Callum with the radio on (radio two, of course, which Ben would swiftly change once he was in the house because ‘radio two is for old people, Cal’) dancing to a Rod Stewart classic.

The scene that greeted him, however, was a one very different to the one Ben had expected: Callum was stood, statue-still, staring blankly at the bubbling pan in front of him, which appeared to be threatening to overflow at any moment. Before Ben could register what he was looking at, the pan let off a shriek, and suddenly boiling water was everywhere: all over the stove, all over the floor and, most terrifyingly, all over Callum.

“Jesus Christ! Cal, wake up! What the fuck are you playing at?!” Ben questioned, exasperated. Jumping into action, he swiftly turned the stove off to stop the pan dead in its tracks.

Callum, who was now wearing a dazed expression of bemusement, shook his head. The man, who appeared to be catching up to what had just happened, suddenly clutched his left hand tightly, agony slowly taking over his face.

“I…. I don’t know what just happened..” Callum replied, his blinking becoming erratic as he attempted to process the scene in front of him. “Shit, are you okay?!”

Callum lunged forward, an alarmed look on his face as he hysterically searched for some type of injury on Ben’s body.  

“Cal… I’m fine. I just got here… You, on the other hand…” Ben said, slowly. “You’ve just burnt your hand pretty bad, Cal. Does it hurt?”

Ben carefully lifted Callum’s hand up, assessing it.

“It hurts a little, not too much, actually,” Callum shrugged, feigning calmness while his head was spinning with pain and confusion, questioning what the fuck had just happened.

“You sure?” Ben replied, not convinced as he stared at Callum’s hand, red raw. Looking closer, however, he realised the burn appeared superficial. “Looks like you’re lucky, the water must have mostly hit the floor,” He said, making his way to the first aid drawer (Kathy’s idea, of course) to look for something, anything to make this situation better.

“Go and put your hand under the warm water, Cal, I’ve heard that makes it better,” Ben advised, attempting to stay calm and defuse the situation, for Callum’s sake.

As he searched for a plaster or something to put over the burn, however, his mind was going a hundred miles an hour as he wondered what had just happened. It’s not that Callum had been ‘weird’ the last few weeks, so to speak. It’s that he definitely hasn’t been ‘normal’, either. There have been more than a few nights where Ben has woken up to an empty bed at 6, 5, 4 o’clock in the morning; Callum has been distant. Not distant enough that Ben had thought anything drastic was happening, but distant enough that he’d vowed to keep an eye on him.

Once they had sorted Callum out and bandaged his hand up, Callum went to get the mop out, wanting to start on the kitchen.

“What are you doing, Cal? Come on, that can wait… c’mere.” Ben said, taking Callum’s hand in his and leading him to the friendlier living room atmosphere.

As the two men sat on the couch, the awkward atmosphere stifling the two of them completely, Ben could see Callum gradually becoming tenser and tenser; clearly anticipating what Ben was about to say.

“So… what exactly happened there, Cal?” Ben questioned, softly, not wanting to overpower Callum, however knowing there was something more going on here.

“What do you mean? The pan overflowed… No big deal,” Callum replied, shrugging nonchalantly as he searched for the TV remote, desperate for some type of distraction from the conversation that lay ahead of them.

“Come on Cal, we both know that’s not true. I know you better than that.” Ben replied, cautiously. Though he didn’t want to pressure Callum into talking to him, it stung that his boyfriend felt he couldn’t confide in him, especially considering everything they’d been through recently.

“Look, it’s nothing! Can we just leave it?” Callum snapped.

“No, Cal. We can’t. I’m sorry, but you’re the one who’s always encouraging me to talk about how I feel, what’s bothering me, all that shit. And even though it’s annoying most of the time…” Callum shook his head fondly as Ben smirked, “it really has helped. So now, it’s your turn. It was you who said it: holding everything in doesn’t help, you know?”

“I… It’s…” Callum tripped over his words as he tried to comprehend what had been taking over his mind recently. “It’s… The kidnapping… Keanu… It all just… Brought it all back, you know? The army, I mean.” Callum chanced a look at Ben’s face, nervously, which was etched with painful understanding.

“The fighting. The pain. All of it. And I… I’ve been struggling to sleep. Well, to be honest, I’ve been struggling to do anything recently, Ben. I can’t stop… Thinking about it. Sometimes I wake up, and I’m there, you know? I’m back, sometimes in the warehouse, screaming out for help; other times in the war… I just can’t get it out of my head. All of it. The feeling: of danger, of impending doom, of something bad being about to happen at any moment. And it’s like I can’t sleep… I can’t think… Sometimes, I can’t- I can’t breathe, Ben.” As he finished, blinking back tears, breathing shallow, Callum let out a sigh: partly of relief, partly of something entirely different.

“I… I had no idea, Cal. Shit. I knew you’d been distant, but I just thought it was because the anniversary of the wedding was coming up. Shit…” Ben shook his head, exasperated with himself that he hadn’t noticed something so big, so important, sooner.

“It’s not… it’s not your fault, Ben. You have enough going on, I know that, it’s why I haven’t said anything,” Callum replied, giving Ben a sad, knowing smile as he played nervously with a loose thread on his jeans. “I just… I’ve been struggling, you know?”

“I do have shit going on, Cal, it’s true. But that doesn’t mean your shit isn’t important too. God… I can’t believe you didn’t tell me about this because you thought I have too much going on. I want to be there for you, halfwit, don’t you get that?” Ben said, smiling, half mocking, half deadly serious, trying to get Callum to understand.

“Ya right, I know ya right, Ben. It’s just hard, to talk about, as it is. Without everything else, you know? But ya right. From now on, I’ll try. I’ll try to talk to you about it. I can’t promise I’ll be perfect, but I’ll try. That OK?” Callum questioned, finally turning to face Ben and look him in the eyes.

“That’s OK, Cal. Neither of us are ever going to be perfect at the ‘talking about our feelings’ shit, are we? But, as long as we try… that’s all that counts, yeah?” Ben replied.

A moment of contentment washed over the two men as they sat, hand in hand, taking in the conversation they’d just had. A small smile appeared on the two lover’s faces.

“I love you, you know?” Callum declared, tenderly planting a kiss on Ben’s flushed cheek.

“I know. Me too. You know that, don’t you?” Ben responded, nervously, searching Callum’s face for validation.

“I do,” Callum replied, gently cupping his hands around Ben’s face, willing him to understand what he was trying to say, “I promise, I know.” Callum leaned in, slowly planting his lips on Ben’s, kissing his boyfriend with such compassion, such devotion that Ben understood: this hadn’t been about him. Callum hadn’t kept quiet because of him, because he felt unloved, misunderstood. He’d kept quiet because of the exact opposite.

Before the kiss threatened to become deeper than was appropriate for a living room couch with a 7-year-old daughter due any minute, Ben stopped the two with one final, loving peck, getting up from the couch and heading to the kitchen.

“Alright, alright, that’s enough. Stop trying to have your wicked way with me, would ya?” Turning around, winking slyly at his boyfriend.

Callum shook his head fondly, pulling a face at his boyfriend as he followed him into the kitchen.

“So, tea… Fancy a takeaway? Don’t think that chicken pasta’s up to much, d’you?” Callum questioned, pulling a face that read ‘oops.’

“Doesn’t look like it, does it? Unless we’re eating off of the kitchen floor?” Ben responded, shooting a sarcastic look in his boyfriend’s direction.

“Better than some of the stuff you cook up, I suppose, init?” Callum retorted with ease, winking arrogantly at the Mitchell.

Ben feigned hurt, spluttering retorts as the two found their way to each other’s arms once again.

As the two bickered over which takeaway to get, the two men, in this moment, felt happy. It was never going to be easy; it was never going to be perfect.

But the one thing it was?

Worth it.

[escapingreality51]

concrete

Ben and Callum assess each other's bruises and find a little relief from the pain.

Ben knew it was bad; when he had found Callum on the concrete floor, body too still and skin too cold, it had felt like someone was carving a pattern of pain in his skin. The anger that had welled made him clench his fists and wish that Callum had never met him, never kissed him, never -

Callum’s mouth moves and their eyes meet in the mirror.

Callum is staring at Ben’s reflection as he faces it himself, his upper body bare and bruised and blue. Ben stares at the bruises that cover his ribs and stomach in the mirror, eyes flitting to the scrapes on Callum’s back.

It’s the first time he sees Callum shirtless. Ben can feel his fists clenching and his anger rising once more, anger that anyone could do that, could hurt the man he … loves.

Callum waves a hand in the mirror to catch Ben’s attention.

comfort fic, one shot, 700 words, ficlet, rated T

[jessepinkmvn]

the shape you made me

chapter one

There are tons of bars in Lambeth: tons, all of them cheap and shit. Callum's not a drinker, never has been. They got hammered together once, after too much wine at dinner and too many nightcaps at home, and Callum was so grey the next day he could have easily been mistaken as one of the stiffs.

Drinking, to Ben, is just—

It's drinking.

He doesn't need words to describe it. It just is.

alcoholism tw • ben-centred • rated m

read on ao3

[moon-canyon]

here have some ben/callum fic that i will never finish lmao

“Freddie, come on mate, up you get, you’ve got school today,” Callum said to his son, sitting on his bed, touching his shoulder gently. It was when he touched his shoulder he realised how warm his son felt. Freddie turned over in his bed, his face looking flushed. Callum moved his hand onto Freddie’s forehead, feeling the heat radiated from him.

“Don’t feel well, Papa,” Freddie mumbled, moving to crawl onto Callum’s lap. Callum kissed Freddie’s forehead, grabbing the Toy Story blanket from his chest of drawers and wrapping it around Freddie in his arms.

“No school today, Fred, that’s for sure. Will we go downstairs and put a film on ‘ey?” Callum asked, feeling Freddie nod against his shoulder. He moved to kiss his son’s forehead again, making his way downstairs and into the kitchen where his husband was trying to get their daughter to eat the strawberries that he had cut up for her. When Callum entered, Ben’s happy expression changed at seeing their son.

“What’s wrong, baby? You okay?” Ben asked, rubbing Freddie’s back over the blanket.

“Don’t feel well, Daddy.” Matthew responded, snuggling into Callum even more.

“We’re working with small sentences, today,” Callum said, shifting Freddie in his arms slightly. Ben moved to find their medicine box, grabbing the bottle of strawberry Calpol and making his way back over to his boys. “Freddie, Daddy’s got medicine, you hav’ta take it, okay? It’s the one you like!” Freddie lifted his head, opening his mouth to allow Ben to give him the Calpol. He screwed his face up as he swallowed it, Ben kissing his head and mumbling a “good boy.” Freddie rested his head back onto Callum’s shoulder, wrapping his arms back around Callum’s neck.

“I’m gonna phone Jay, I’ll stay home with Fred and Evie,” Callum said, brushing his hand over Evie’s hair, making his way over to his husband.

“I’ve only got a couple of things to do at the car lot this morning, I’ll be back by two at the latest, I promise.” Ben replied, kissing Freddie’s warm cheek then turning to give Callum a peck on the lips. Ben lifted Evie out of her high chair, following Callum and Freddie into the living room, both of them placing their kids onto the couch.

“Be good for Papa, kids. I’ll see you soon,” Ben said to them, kissing them both on their cheeks, turning to give Callum another kiss to his lips. “If you need me to come home early, phone me,” He said, kissing Callum’s forehead

“I will, have a good day,” He called to Ben as he went out their front door. “So, guys, what film do you want on?” Callum asked, looking at both of his kids.

“Toy Story,” Freddie mumbled, Callum knew that would be the answer, said film being Freddie’s absolute favourite, especially when he was feeling poorly. He loaded up the film on Netflix, turning to take a seat on the couch, opening his arms so that Freddie and Evie could clamber onto his lap. Callum never thought that he would get to a point in his life where he could say he was one hundred percent happy. For the first time in his life, he was happy with who he was, and where he was in his life. Callum looked down, Freddie laying with his head on Callum’s chest, Evie cuddled into his side, and he couldn’t be happier.