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softforcal · 6 years ago

Text

Noise : Neighbour!Cal

Summary: Annabelle’s new neighbour is a douche bag man whore, but he insists that his ego isn’t the biggest part of him.

Warnings: there is smut

OC moodboard

Requested by @palliddark

Word count: 13.7k

------

Annabelle had arrived home after a New Years party at around nine in the morning on the first of January. It was moving day, and the apartment next to hers, that had been vacant for two months, was no longer empty. She caught sight of a tall blonde disappearing into the apartment with a box in his arms as she walked down the hall. Her heart thumped a little, having only gotten a glimpse, but it was enough to make her excited.

He looked young, early twenties, around Annabelle’s age, and he was cute. Maybe a little different from her usual type, but still attractive nonetheless. Annabelle approached her apartment, fumbling with the keys. She had just unlocked her door when another man left the newly rented suite next to hers.

It wasn’t the blonde from before.

Annabelle tried not to look, but she couldn’t help herself, taking in the strong shoulders, the bleach blonde hair with already darkening roots, strong jaw, tan skin covered in tattoos and beautiful eyebrows. She’d never seen eyebrows that she’d classify as ‘beautiful’ before and yet there she was, thinking about how they perfectly suited his face, bringing out the strong, boxiness of his jawline.

The guy looked her up and down as he walked past, a small smirk on his face. Annabelle flushed, having been caught staring at the man.

He walked behind her and continued down the hall, Annabelle waited a suitable amount of time before turning to watch his figure get farther and farther away.

The grey sweatpants looked comfy, and Annabelle found herself appreciating his bum. Gaze sweeping over the strong shoulders covered by a a black v-neck stretched taught over the muscle, Annabelle’s breath was caught in her throat.

Continuing with her day, Annabelle nursed her hangover, binging netflix and getting started on course reading for school. She went to bed early, having not gotten much sleep the night before.

At around one AM, the noises started.

It began with a dull thudding, steady and slow. At first, Annabelle even thought she was hearing things, maybe someone walking down the hall too loudly. But then the pace of the thumps got quicker and Annabelle’s eyes opened, staring at her ceiling in the darkness of her room.

A soft sound mingled with the beat, but that too, got louder. Annabelle groaned, reaching for her phone but she stopped as the sound hit a new pitch, and even half asleep, the reality of what the noise was, smacked Annabelle from her post slumber daze.

The guy in the apartment next to her, was fucking someone.

Fucking someone hard, fast, and, if Annabelle could assume anything from the noise level, he was fucking her very well.

Annabelle groaned, hiding her head in her pillow, she supposed there were worse ways to christen a new apartment. She’d spent her whole first night puking after a housewarming party that she should not have had in the first place.

She laid there for a few minutes, listening to the sounds. She wondered which boy it was. The blonde or the ashy haired one.

It had been about ten minutes and Annabelle assumed it would be ending soon so she could go back to sleep. Ten minutes became fifteen and Annabelle had sat up by that point, scrolling through her phone to pass the time.

At twenty minutes the sounds finally stopped and Annabelle put her phone away, cuddling back into her pillow.

Just as Annabelle was drifting off again, there was a small screaming sound that made her eyes snap back open with worry. For a moment, the worst things imaginable popped into her head. God, what if her new neighbour was an asshole who hit women? What if they were sleep talkers or had night terrors that woke them up screaming every night? What if-

More thuds cut off Annabelle’s thoughts.

She turned and stared at her wall as if it could give her a glimpse into the room next door.

It had only been about ten minutes since the noises had stopped and now they were going again? Annabelle had to give the guy, whichever one it was, some credit. In another instance, she might have even felt a bit of pride for the guy, after all, stamina and skill to make a girl scream? But he was interrupting her sleep.

In that moment, Annabelle decided that whoever the guy was, she hated him.

All she could do was lay there and listen, hoping his stamina would finally run out, and vowing to go buy some ear plugs in the morning.

----

With her busy schedule, Annabelle had not had time to go grab ear plugs, or maybe she was just lazy, too exhausted after classes and studying to walk the block to the store. It took a whole week of interrupted sleep for Annabelle to finally go get ear plugs. The store was open late, closing at 2AM and she’d arrived just in time, trudging to the till in an oversized hoodie.

When she got back to her apartment, she was almost too tired to get her key into the keyhole. The sound of a door opening drew her attention and Annabelle looked up.

She hadn’t seen the new neighbour since he’d moved in and she was curious to finally find out which guy was the one keeping her up all night, and not in a good way.

A girl walked backwards out of the apartment. She was smiling at someone who Annabelle assumed was in the doorway but she couldn’t see from her angle.

“So call me?” the girl asked, arms going up to reach for whoever was standing just out of Annabelle’s view.

Annabelle watched the girl pull the man who had been hidden from her gaze into a hug and, for the first time, she could see him. It was the ashy haired guy. The one who’d made her heart race.

“Yeah, I’ll call you.” the guy grumbled.

He was shirtless and the grey sweatpants hung low on his hips. Annabelle could see the muscles in his abdomen and the strength in his arms and for a moment she thought she was about to start drooling.

He didn’t sound like he was going to call the girl back.

The girl went in for a kiss and the mans hand came up to cup her face, Annabelle spotted more tattoos and she looked away, still paying attention through her peripheral vision. After one last goodbye, the girl turned to leave, walking past Annabelle who turned the key to unlock her door.

She could feel eyes on her and although she didn’t want to, Annabelle found herself looking up.

Her new neighbour stood there, leaning against the wall, brown eyes bearing into hers. His arms were crossed over his strong chest and his biceps bulged deliciously, “hey.” he said. His voice was low, raspy, and it had Annabelle’s heart fluttering in her chest.

“Hi.”

She wanted to call him out for keeping her awake the past three nights in a row but there was something so intimidating about him, she couldn’t bring herself to.

“I’m Calum.”

“Annabelle.”

He nodded, giving her one last look up and down, “Night Belle.”

Before she could correct him, tell him that people called her ‘Anna’ never ‘Belle,’ he had gone back into his apartment and the door had shut behind him.

Annabelle sighed, “douchebag.”

---

“Do you even work?” Annabelle groaned, pulling out her keys as a redhead walked down the hall.

Calum eyed her, face expressionless, “what?”

“Its like every time im home, all I can hear is you fucking your girlfriend-”

“Not my girlfriend.”

“Yeah, that makes it better.” Annabelle scoffed.

“Maybe I’m a prostitute.” Calum said.

Annabelle looked up, noticing the grin on his face. He was teasing her. This fuck had been her neighbour for three months and had given her more sleepless nights than she could count, and now he was joking about being a prostitute.

“Oh and you’re so good your clients come to you?”

“They come for me.” Calum stated, “and, as my neighbour, you should know that at least that’s the truth.” he turned to go back into his apartment.

“Fifty bucks.” she called.

“What?” he looked at her, eyebrows furrowed.

“Fifty bucks is how much money I’ve spent on ear plugs so far so that I can get through one god damned night. The ones I bought the first week weren’t strong enough apparently so I had to go for some actual construction grade shit.”

Calum studied her for a moment, then, he pushed off the wall, walking the short distance to Annabelle. He pulled out his wallet from his back pocket and removed three twenties, holding them out to her.

When Annabelle didn’t accept the cash, Calum rolled his eyes, one hand coming up to brush her blonde hair over her shoulder. His fingers moved her shirt to the side slightly to expose her black, lacy bra strap and he slipped the money underneath, securing it.

Annabelle’s heart was racing from the touch of his skin against hers and she felt frozen under his intimidating gaze. He turned and walked back to his apartment, “next time, I’ll put my hand over their mouths, keep it quieter for you.”

----

Annabelle was locking her door when the sound of Calum’s door opening interrupted her thoughts. She looked up and laughed, “wow, this is the first time since you moved in that I’ve seen you with a shirt.”

“Sorry.” he said, eyes scanning her as well.

“Sorry? Seriously?” Annabelle laughed, “I prefer the shirt.”

“No you don’t.”

Annabelle rolled her eyes, “what are you even doing awake this early?”

“I have work.”

“So the prostitute thing didn’t work out for ya?”

“Ha ha.” Calum said sarcastically, “where are you headed?”

“School.”

“Hmm.” he finished locking up his place and approached her, hands shoved into his leather jacket. Annabelle had to admit he looked great. The gray sweats were a look but black ripped jeans and black leather… the full black outfit contrasted the ashy silver hair and brought out the darkness in his eyes. He was a vision. “What year are you?”

“Last one. Almost done.”

He leaned against the wall and watched her lock her door, “what are you taking?”

“Psychology.”

Calum chuckled, grin spreading across his features and turning him from a ten into a fourteen or some shit, something that broke the scale, Annabelle was sure of that at least.

“What?” Annabelle asked, putting her keys into her bag.

“No, it’s nothing, just,” Calum was still grinning, “what’s your read on me then?”

“My read on you?”

“Yeah. Tell me about my dark childhood trauma.”

“I don’t know you.”

“Well, from what you do know.” Calum said.

Annabelle looked the gorgeous man up and down, “where do I even start with you?”

Calum shrugged, “up to you doc.”

Annabelle rolled her eyes, “I’m going to be late.”

“You’re headed to campus?”

“Yeah.”

“Taking the subway?”

“Uh huh.”

“What if I give you a ride?”

She was running late… “you’d do that?”

“You give me a therapy sesh, I give you a ride. Seems pretty even to me.” Calum shrugged, “I’m headed that way anyways. Take it or leave it Belle.”

“Stop calling me Belle, people call me Anna, Belle sounds too much like-”

“A princess?”

“Yeah.”

“And you’re not a princess?”

Annabelle narrowed her eyes at him, “no, of course not.”

“Sure little miss ‘I can’t sleep because you keep fucking girls and I had to pay fifty bucks to get ear plugs and you have to pay me back-’”

“I never said you had to pay me back.”

“But I did.”

“But I didn’t say you had to. You just wanted to. You wanted to flaunt your money at me.” Annabelle glared.

“Oh yeah? And why would I do that?”

“I accept your ride.”

“Hmm, wanna have the guarantee of a chauffeur before you tear into me princess?” Calum grinned.

“Yeah.” Calum pushed off the wall and began walking down the hall, Annabelle followed, falling into step with him. They stayed quiet as they took the elevator down to the parking garage.

Calum pulled out his keys and Annabelle looked at all the cars, trying to decide which one she felt belonged to a guy like Cal. her eyes spotted the old, sleak, black camaro and she just knew that it was his.

“What did you say your job was again?” she asked, watching him unlock it.

“I didn’t.” he got in the car and closed the door but Annabelle stood there looking at the car with awe. She didn’t know much about cars, but she could tell when something was expensive and this car… it was nice. Very nice.

Calum leaned over in his seat and opened the passengers door, pushing it open a little and prompting Annabelle to get in. The car smelt a little like smoke and expensive cologne, a mix that wasn’t wholly unpleasant, but it definitely would take some getting used to.

“Are you seriously not going to tell me what you do for work?” Annabelle asked.

“That would make it too easy and we don’t want that do we?” Calum smirked, pressing down on the gas pedal, “you ravage me or I ravage you princess, your decision.”

Annabelle rolled her eyes, holding her backpack tight to her chest, “quit being such a dick.”

“I’m literally giving you a ride to school, how am I being a dick?”

“Why do you seem so obsessed with me giving you a psychological profile?”

Calum sighed loudly, “fine. Don’t pay up for the ride.”

Annabelle groaned, turning to look at Calum. Even his side profile was beautiful and it made her angry, “well, I guess I’ll start out with the physical-”

“As one does.” he grinned, looking at her for a moment before turning his gaze back to the road.

“You obviously work out, your hair is dyed and you have tattoos. You care about your appearance. Before today I’d only seen you in sweats but now that I’m looking at you with actual clothes, you obviously have style too. And that’s real leather. And this is a nice car. So you have money. But this is the first time I’ve ever seen you leave your place in the morning so you don’t have a regular nine to five job but you have money so…” Annabelle thought about it for a moment, “you seem kind of arrogant… confident, so I’m going to guess your money runs in your family. Am I right?”

“Do you think you’re right?” he countered.

“Are you going to confirm or deny any of this?” Annabelle sighed.

“Nah.”

“Fuck you.”

“You wish.”

“I do not.”

“Yes you do.”

“Pff, and what makes you so sure?” Annabelle rolled her eyes.

“You’re the psychologist.”

“I’m not a psychologist.”

“Coulda fooled me.” Calum reached forward and the sound of music began to fill the car.

“Conversation over I guess.”

“Do you have something else to say to me?” he asked.

Annabelle opened her mouth then closed it, shaking her head.

Calum turned the music up and Annabelle laughed, “are you serious?”

He flashed her a grin, “what, you don’t like Country Roads?”

Before Annabelle could answer, her asshole neighbour opened his mouth and began to sing along to the music. Every word was accentuated with a southern twang that made Annabelle laugh, staring at the guy with shock.

Her asshole neighbour, who fucked a new girl every night, was covered in tattoos and leather, hair dyed and just itching to have fingers running through it… was singing a country song like he was in a dodgy karaoke bar with no one watching.

He was really throwing a wrench in her whole psychological profile of him and the shit eating grin on his face told her he knew it.

“Not a fan of country Princess? Too hick for you?” Calum asked, changing the channel, he flipped through songs, listening a few moments before deciding against a number of top tens until he found… “Bohemian fucking Rhapsody, you have to like this one or I will pull over this fucking car and kick you out.”

“Are you serious?”

“Don’t I look serious to you?”

He did.

“Sing.” he commanded.

Annabelle took a deep breath and began to sing.

Calum turned up the music, screaming out the lyrics. He wanted her to sing, but he was making it obvious that it was just a formality. His eyes stayed on the road and before Annabelle knew what she was even doing, she was singing louder.

By the time they got to the chorus, they were both belting out the lyrics.

In those moments, they weren’t neighbours. He wasn’t the guy who kept her up all night by being a dick and she wasn’t the cute girl next door who he hoped to bump into every time he left his place.

They were just two kindred souls, in a car, sharing an extraordinary experience.

As Calum pulled up in front of one of the main campus buildings, the song ended.

“So uh… thanks for the ride.” Annabelle said, awkwardness returning.

“Don’t mention it.”

Annabelle got out of the car, closing the door behind her.

Calum watched her disappear into one of the buildings. He was about to drive away when his phone rang, his sister’s face on the screen, “I’m coming, I’m coming.” he said as he answered it.

“You better have a great excuse as to why you’re making the whole board wait for you Cal.” she seethed, “mom and dad are going to be pissed-”

“I gave a ride to my neighbour, I’m trying to make friends.” he lied.

“I still don’t know why you even moved out to some shit apartment when mom literally offered to get you a penthouse-”

“I don’t want a penthouse.” Calum groaned, “i want to be normal.”

“You’re not normal Cal, you’re a Hood-”

“Look I’ll be there soon okay?”

“You better be wearing something nice.”

Calum chuckled, “put on my nicest pair of ripped jeans just for you.”

“Calum I swear to god if you weren’t so fucking good at business-”

“Yeah yeah, but I am, so deal with it.”

“Just get here.”

“Fuck, I just told you i’m coming!”

She hung up and Calum laughed to himself, turning up the radio, enjoying the lingering smell of coconut that Annabelle had left in his car.

---

Annabelle had had a better sleep that week than she’d had since Calum moved in. She wondered if he’d gone away for a bit on vacation, but she tried not to think about it, instead enjoying the quiet.

But nothing good lasts forever and on Saturday morning she was awoken around nine in the morning by music seeping through her walls. Annabelle groaned and sat up, listening for a moment. She could hear Calum’s voice amongst the noise and a smile worked its way onto her face.

Slipping out of bed and into her fuzzy pink flip flops, Annabelle pulled on her uni hoodie. Her sleeping shorts were small and the hoodie almost obscured them, acting more as a dress but Annabelle didn’t care about her appearance as she trudged through her apartment.

She found herself in front of his door, like so many women before her.

Annabelle knocked and waited. The music must have been too loud for him to hear so she held up her hand to knock again and the door swung open. He was standing there, shirtless as usual. His ashy hair was messy and it was a good look, it even knocked the air out of Annabelle.

“Your music is loud.” she said.

“Did it wake you up?” he asked, grinning as he leaned against his door frame.

“Yes.”

“Are you mad?” his smile widened.

“No Cal, I’m peachy, look at me, I look completely well rested and happy right?” she asked sarcastically.

“First, since when did I say you could call me Cal? Second, you look very cute and well rested and maybe you don’t know this, but you always look very happy whenever you see me, except last time but I assumed that’s because I was wearing a shirt.”

“I can call you Cal because you call me Belle, and piss off, I look like trash. Just turn it down all right?”

She turned to go, “you hungry?”

Annabelle stopped, “uh… yeah?”

“I made pancakes, come have some.” Calum moved to the side, giving her space to walk past him into his apartment if she chose to.

“Pancakes with chocolate chips?” she asked.

“Pfff, of course, I’m not a fucking animal.”

The smell of food wafted out of his apartment and Annabelle just couldn’t help herself. She walked past Calum and inside.

It was odd. Exactly like hers but everything seemed more modern. All the appliances were new, a huge tv was against the wall with multiple gaming consoles underneath, a plush couch, it was a hell of a lot nicer than Annabelle’s place based solely on the things that filled it.

“Is that a waffle iron?” Annabelle asked, stepping into the kitchen.

“Yeah.”

“Do you use it?”

“Haven’t yet.”

“Yeah you are definitely old money.” Annabelle said, leaning against the kitchen counter and watching Calum return to his post in front of a pan where a pancake was cooking.

“Shit, maybe I shouldn’t have invited you in, now you’ll know all my secrets.” Calum laughed, running a hand through his messy hair.

“Too late now.” Annabelle said, looking around, “you know how to cook. You have money but you’re here, in this apartment. You can pretend to be living amongst us middle class uni students but your appliances and your car tell the true story, don’t they Cal?”

His smile was gone and Annabelle knew that she’d hit it spot on.

“Why do you want to be so common Calum? Why here? Why a place where the walls are so thin that people can hear all of your business?” she asked.

Calum took the pancake from the pan and put it onto a plate. He slid it in front of Annabelle and then grabbed a fork and knife, giving it to her. A muscle in his jaw feathered and he poured more batter into the pan. “Wanted to see what it’s like to live alone for a bit.”

“But you’re never alone.” Annabelle pointed out, “besides this past week, you’ve had a girl over almost every night, and judging from the beer cans in the living room, it looks like you’ve had at least friends or someone over this week, I probably just didn’t notice because I’ve been at school a lot.”

“You like keeping track of me huh?” Calum asked, suddenly sounding mad.

“You’re loud.” Annabelle said, also getting defensive, “it’s not like I do it on purpose. Besides, you invited me to analyze you so I don’t see why you’re having such a fit over this. ‘Ravage me or I ravage you’ remember?”

His grip on the spatula tightened. “So you have me figured out then.”

“I wouldn’t say that.” Annabelle sighed, taking a bite of pancake, “look man, I can stop analyzing you if you don’t like it but you asked me too-”

“Well I didn’t think you’d actually fucking get anything right.”

“Oh wow thanks.” Annabelle glared, “you know what, thanks for the pancake but you obviously don’t want me here.” she stood up abruptly and he didn’t react as she simply left. The door shut behind her and Calum cursed, slamming his hand down on the table.

It was a touchy subject for him. He had his mother, his father and his sister all riding his ass about this “dumb fuck idea” every single god damned day. None of them thought he could make it in life on his own and although he had moved out and got some cheap apartment, obviously that wasn’t enough.

As Annabelle had pointed out, he still had a bunch of unnecessary, expensive shit that betrayed his true nature the moment anyone stepped into the fucking apartment.

Calum had hated growing up with all the expectations. The knowledge that he’d be part of the family business. He’d tried to work for things in his life but even though he tried, things always seemed to be given to him. Everything was made easier because of his name.

The worst part about it, was that Calum actually had a knack for business.

No problem was too difficult for him to solve and he had a natural air of superiority that made people listen to him. He was young, tattooed and his new hair colour had nearly given his mother a heart attack when he’d walked into the boardroom with it, but damn it if people didn’t shut their mouths and pay attention the second he showed up.

Well, most people shut their mouths and paid attention.

But not Annabelle. She always had something interesting to say. Something to keep Calum on his toes. Something that made him work, like he’d never had to work in his life.

However, if their interaction was anything to go by, Calum realized that he was really shit at working. He’d never had to work for a girl, they were always throwing themselves at him. Whether they knew about his family name and reputation, or they just saw his devilishly good looks and their panties dropped, it always ended the same way.

Standing in his kitchen, Calum began to feel the weight of being alone again.

He managed to ignore it for a few hours, but, as darkness descended, the thought of going to an empty bed for a seventh night in a row just didn’t seem so nice.

He felt stupid. Had he really been choosing not to call a fuck buddy because he felt something for Annabelle? Calum nearly kicked himself, stupid, stupid, stupid.

He pulled out his phone.

----

Another few weeks passed and Calum never seemed to be able to catch the blonde in the hallway. Calum was on edge. It was all he could think about. He owed her an explanation. He owed her an apology. He tried to catch her in the hall but things never seemed to work.

Every time he watched a girl retreat down the hallway at around two AM, he’d look at Annabelle’s door, hoping it would open and she’d be standing there ready to call him out for keeping her awake.

Even if she was mad, at least he’d be able to see her.

He knew it probably wasn’t the best idea in the world but he wasn’t sure what else he could do.

It was a Saturday and Calum’s friends were over. They had been drinking since noon and all of them were inebriated. It became obvious as time went on that Calum was upset about something and Luke, having always been quite a direct person, was the first to say “why are you sad Cal?”

“I’m not sad.”

“Yes you are.” Luke insisted, “you keep staring at that wall.”

It was true. Calum had been staring at the wall for a while, wondering what Annabelle was doing on the other side of it. “It’s my fucking neighbour-”

“The hot blonde?” Michael asked, eyes still on the tv as he played Mario Kart against Ashton.

“Yeah. Belle- Annabelle.” Calum corrected himself, taking a swig of beer.

“She’s the chick that analyzed you and pissed you off right?” Ashton asked.

“Yeah.”

“What a bitch.” Luke stated.

“She’s not a bitch.” Calum said immediately.

“Yeah, Calum’s the bitch.” Michael giggled, “you know how much of a little bitch he is about being a pampered rich boy.”

“Fuck off Michael.”

“You see?” Michael grinned, making everyone laugh.

“Fuck!” Calum groaned.

“So like… go talk to her.” Luke suggested.

“What?!” Calum asked.

“Punch a hole through the wall and go talk to her.” Luke said louder.

“Or use the door.” Ashton piped up, “she’s right there man, go get her.”

“I can’t-”

“Why?”

“I was a dick-”

Michael laughed, “when are you not a dick.”

“Fuck off.”

“Just apologize!” Luke screamed.

“Take another shot, then go apologize.” Ashton said, louder than Luke.

With shaky hands, Luke poured Calum a shot and handed it to him. Calum drank it quickly and Luke pulled him to his feet, “now go fucking get her!”

Calum nodded, feeling the courage running through his body, he took a deep breath then walked towards the door. “Wait!” he stopped, “i need to take my shirt off.”

“What?”

“She likes it better with my shirt off.” Calum insisted.

Everyone looked at him and Luke was the first to go “then take it off man! What the fuck are you waiting for!?”

Calum took his shirt off and everyone cheered as he left his apartment, walking with a purpose down the hallway. He knocked on her door and waited. “Just a second!” he heard. His heart was racing, pumping blood through his body and he felt it everywhere.

Annabelle opened the door and her eyes widened in shock, “Calum?”

“Hey.”

“Hi…” she looked him up and down, “why aren’t you wearing a shirt?”

Calum looked down at himself, “uh… you like me better this way.”

“Calum are you drunk?”

“I want you to analyze me again.” he stated.

“I don’t think that’s a good-”

“You ravage me or I ravage you remember princess?” Calum grinned.

“Calum-”

“Five.”

“Are you counting down?”

“Four.”

“Calum stop.”

“Three.” his smirk widened.

“I swear-”

“Two.”

“To god Calum I’ll-”

“One.” he grabbed her face, pressing his lips against hers. Annabelle was taken aback for a second but she melted into it after a moment, letting Calum’s tongue slide over her lower lip as she opened her mouth to give him more access.

Her hands reached out, grabbing the waistband of his sweatpants to pull him closer as his teeth nipped at her. She could taste the alcohol on him and for a moment she felt like maybe she should pull away, but, before she could, he had moved forward and they were in her apartment, her back against a wall as he kicked the door closed behind him.

His skin was warm under her touch as she let her hands wander the perfect muscles under the gorgeous skin. Her nails scratched over his sensitive flesh and Calum groaned into her mouth, the sound making Annabelle’s stomach flutter.

Calum tensed under her finger tips and and she pulled away with concern, looking at him. Before she could ask what was wrong, he was running past her to the bathroom, puking into the toilet. Annabelle went after him, sitting on the floor next to her neighbour as he coughed and sputtered. She poured him some water from the sink and held it out for him, rubbing his back with a hand.

He pulled away from the toilet and looked at her from under hooded eyes, “fuck.” he groaned, hiding his face with his hands, “fuuuuck.”

“Don’t worry Cal, I’m not judging you, have some water.” she assured him, holding it out.

He accepted it and drank, handing her back the cup, “I should go-” he began to try to get up but doubled over, puking into the toilet again.

Annabelle continued to rub his back. His hair was sweaty and stuck to his forehead so she pushed it away, enjoying the odd feeling of the dyed strands against her fingers. She continued to massage at his head and it seemed to offer some relief as he closed his eyes, sitting up and taking deep breaths.

“I’m sorry.” he groaned.

“Shh, it’s okay, you’re drunk.”

“Im an asshole.” he stated, “you hate me.”

“I don’t hate you.”

“I was a dick to you.”

“We can talk about this later-”

“I’m so sorry.” Calum groaned, “I don’t like people knowing I’m rich. They treat me differently.”

He puked again and Annabelle sighed, rubbing his back, “shh baby-”

“Baby?” he turned and grinned at her, “I’m baby now?”

“Calum-”

“Baby.” he corrected.

Annabelle sighed, “I’ll be right back.”

“Don’t leave.”

“This is my apartment.” she reminded him.

“Right.” he watched her exit the bathroom.

A short while later she came back with two pillows and two blankets. She set them up and put a blanket over Calum’s shoulders which is when he realized he was shivering, “you should have worn a shirt.”

“But then you wouldn’t love me.” Calum whined.

“Woah-” Calum puked again and Annabelle sighed. He’d been keeping her up all night for weeks and now he was going to be doing it yet again.

He only puked a little while longer before collapsing on the floor and mumbling something about being tired. Annabelle appreciated how peaceful he looked for a moment, before he was dragging her down next to him. Suddenly Annabelle was a big spoon and her little spoon was a massive, tattooed, drunk, manwhore.

----

Calum blinked, trying to get a sense of where he was. His head hurt and little blurred memories of the night before flashed through his head. He froze, realizing that an arm was slung over his side and it was obviously Annabelle’s.

Shit. She was still there. On her bathroom floor, spooning him. Because he had gotten drunk, like a little pussy bitch.

He was so screwed.

“You awake?” came a small voice.

Fuck.

“Yeah.”

“How do you feel?”

“Not that bad.”

“Must have puked everything out last night.” her arm slid away and Calum’s skin mourned the loss, feeling cold where she’d left.

“I’m sorry.” he said.

“Stop saying that.” Annabelle sighed.

“Shit.” Calum groaned.

“What?”

“My friends are probably still at my place.”

“Your friends?” Annabelle groaned, “you had friends last night who could have taken care of you but you came here? Shit, I thought you were getting drunk alone on a Saturday, only reason I let you in.”

Calum was about to feel bad when he looked at her and realized by her smile that she was teasing, “I should go then?”

“Probably, I have to study, I have a test tomorrow morning.”

“Shit. What time?”

“Early. Like nine.” Annabelle sighed, “so if you could refrain from getting a tinder date tonight, I would appreciate it.”

Calum sat up, grabbing onto the edge of the tub to push himself up. Annabelle’s hand came to steady him and he offered her a small smile, gaze lingering on their interlocked fingers as she helped him to the door to the hallway. He got two steps before stumbling and suddenly she was under one of his arms, hands supporting him to his door.

He gave her the keys and she unlocked the door for him. The two entered and there was a small groan from the living room.

Ashton was laying on the couch, hands over his face, “Cal?”

“Yeah, where are Mike and Luke?”

“Bathroom.”

“Okay, I’m going to go-” Annabelle began.

The sound of a female voice made Ashton sit up, groaning as he squinted at her, “you’re the girl- fuck, I know your name, you’re uh… uh…” he snapped his fingers, “the princess-”

“Annabelle.” Calum said,

She looked at him, he’d never called her by her full name and oddly enough, part of her missed just ‘Belle.’

“She’s real pretty Cal.” Ashton said, falling back down against the couch and covering his eyes, “did you apologize?”

Annabelle laughed, “I’m going to head out.”

She detached herself from Calum’s side and he watched her go, “don’t die.” she called.

“Thanks.” he said, slouching to the floor as the door closed behind her.

There was a sound from the bathroom and Luke crawled through the doorway, resting his face against the ground, “did you kiss her?”

Calum groaned, remembering everything more clearly, “fuck.”

“Did you puke in her mouth?” came the sound of Michael’s voice from the bathroom.

“No but I almost did.”

Luke smiled against the floor, “You’re fucked man.”

-----

She was going to be so late.

Annabelle rushed around her apartment, tossing her bag over her shoulder as she threw her door open, almost running directly into Calum who was standing there in the hallway. “Cal?”

“Hey, I thought I’d give you a ride to school for your test.” he said.

In that moment she could have fucking kissed the man.

“Oh my god yes please.” she breathed, quickly locking her apartment, “you’re such a life saver. How are you feeling?”

“Uh, I mean, I’m not hungover anymore which is nice. Thanks again for uh, taking care of me that night.” he said awkwardly, running a hand through his hair.

“Don’t mention it.” she said. And she meant it.

Annabelle had no idea what to think about that night. She didn’t know what he remembered, didn’t know what actions had been genuine and what had been caused by the booze. And she couldn’t afford to think about it, she had a test to worry about.

They got into Calum’s car and as he pressed down on the gas he said: “my family runs a business. Put a lot of pressure on me when I was growing up. Been trying to get away for a bit, but uh, probably going to go back to it so I don’t know who i’m trying to kid anymore.”

Annabelle studied him, “do you not like business?”

“No I do, and I guess I’m good at it, I just, wanted to work for something, you know?”

“Working for your family business isn’t working?” she asked.

“I mean it is, but I didn’t have to work to get the job-”

“But you just said you’re good at it.” Annabelle pointed out, “sounds like you deserve the job. Unless you think they wouldn’t hire you if you weren’t related to your family.”

He considered it for a moment. “I guess I’ve never really asked myself that.”

“You seem like you put a lot of pressure on yourself Cal, might be one of the reasons you self medicate so much.” Annabelle said, looking out the window.

“You think I’m an alcoholic?”

“Not necessarily booze dummy, but you do seem to need a lot of distraction, lady distraction.” Annabelle pointed out.

“About that-”

“You don’t have to explain yourself, being a manwhore is chill, kudos to you-”

“I’m not a manwhore.”

“Manwhoresayswhat?”

“What?” Calum furrowed his eyebrows, sneaking a glance at her before realizing he’d fallen into her juvenile trap when she giggled, “wow. What a professional therapist you are, princess.”

Annabelle grinned, “you fell for it.”

“Well I’m tired, didn’t sleep well.”

“Why’s that?”

“Bed was cold.” Calum answered.

Annabelle opened her mouth to say something but she realized he was parking, he had gotten her to campus, “thank you so much for the ride, it really helped-”

“Good luck.” he said, hands fidgeting with the steering wheel.

“Thanks.”

She opened the door.

“Maybe you need a good luck kiss?”

Annabelle laughed, turning to look at him, “hmm, maybe,” she looked out the windshield, “who do you think seems suitable to give me one? That guy walking by right now looks cute-”

Calum scoffed, “get out of my car.”

“Cal.”

He turned to look at her “wha-” but her lips were on his. Hands cupping his face, Annabelle could feel the slight stubble under her fingers and it made her smile into the kiss. He smiled back, she pulled away and their eyes fluttered open, admiring each other.

“Thanks for the luck.” she said.

His eyes flickered down to her lips but before he could go in for another kiss she was getting out of the car. She looked back once and Calum smiled. His heart was still racing in his chest as he drove home, once again enjoying the smell of coconuts.

---

The first thing Annabelle wanted to do when she got out of the exam was call Calum. Which made zero sense to her seeing as A: he wasn’t her friend, B: she had no clue what he was, and C: she didn’t even have his phone number.

She liked their teasing. She enjoyed looking at his face. And when he was drunk, well, that had been a new side to him that she never thought she would ever see, but she also hadn’t expected the guy to listen to Queen or John Denver either so he was full of surprises.

Standing in the subway, Annabelle thought a lot about Calum.

He was an interesting guy, that was sure.

Sex addiction? Check.

Devilishly good looks? Check.

Rich? Check.

Probably in the midst of an identity crisis? Check.

He was ticking all of the boxes she hadn’t even known she had. And Annabelle had to admit, some of these boxer were definitely not good boxes. The identity crisis? Not good. And the sex addiction that had been keeping her up every night and not because she was the one getting dicked down? Very bad. Kind of annoying. Kind of aggravating actually.

She had no idea what was going on in his head. She usually knew that sort of thing. But with Calum? Annabelle figured maybe he wanted something more from her, she couldn’t think of any other guy who would offer to drive her to school for an exam. But, who knew? Maybe it was all a lie. After all, she was a perfect option as a fuck buddy seeing as they lived next to each other.

Annabelle had never been trusting of men. Always second guessing everything. It was one of the reasons she’d gone into psychology. An effort to learn just a little bit more, to figure people out. But, obviously, it wasn’t working that well on Calum and that annoyed her.

She got back to the apartment and walked quietly down the hall, entering her place without bumping into the bleach blonde god who lived next door. She wasn't sure if that was a good thing, or a bad thing.

-------

He’d dated before.

It was sort of expected for him to date. Encouraged for Calum to be in the same circles as other wealthy young adults. With his last name, Calum Hood was chased by anyone who knew anything about business and he’d always had his choice of the gorgeous rich girls.

They had expensive cars, arguably too much plastic surgery, walk in closets and usually a pomeranian or two (or sometimes a greyhound). There had even been a rumor that a number of the girls who wanted to lock the young bachelor down had, in fact, bought a dog with the explicit motive of grabbing the known dog lovers attention. None of it had ever worked though.

Yeah, they were good for a fuck, but the rich girls always wanted something more, or at least the ones pining after Calum Hood did.

Calum had always given the girls a chance… not at love, but at a good time.

It was easy enough for them to get blinded by his good looks and charm, neglecting to ask the questions “what does this mean” or “what do you want from me” until after he’d bedded them. Most assumed that a mumbled response to them asking “call me?” as he kicked them out was a legitimate affirmation, only to be sorely mistaken a week later when they’re phone had gone unrung.

The good ones, he kept around as fuck buddies, but he made sure that they knew what they were agreeing too, like a business contract.

But he’d never consider actually dating any of them.

In some ways, he enjoyed the power that came with his reputation. The ability to have his choice of women every night. But, at the same time, there was something about it that threw him off. The girls he got with never asked questions, never did anything to make him upset or challenge him. After all, they knew his reputation so why would they challenge him?

It was one of the things that made Annabelle so endearing.

She talked back.

And she had no clue who he was.

She’d guessed he had money but Calum knew that she probably had no clue just how much money he had.

And he liked that.

But did he like it enough to ditch all his other girls?

He’d tried that. And it had been a shit week. He was into Annabelle for sure, but he still needed to have his needs met.

Buried in a brunette who was heiress to a pharmaceutical company, Calum found himself wondering how Annabelle had done on her test. He tried to brush away the thought, knowing that she was a smart girl and she probably did fine.

But what if she hadn’t?

What if it was hard?

Did she need ice cream?

Did she need a shoulder to cry on?

“Calum!” the girl underneath him moaned. Calum refocused his attention on her face. She was being loud. Fuck, what if Annabelle heard them?

Calum’s hand came over her mouth and the girl moaned again, the sound muffled but still evident. “Be quiet.” he stated, voice taking its usual commanding tone that it always had in board meetings.

Once he was sure that the girl, who he often referred to as Pharma Bitch (but he was pretty sure her name was Karen, or Corin, or Carin or something), was quiet, he took his hand away. She bit at her lip, small whines still leaving her mouth and Calum sighed.

He couldn't… he couldn’t look at her.

He pulled out and easily flipped her around, pulling her hips up so he could slam into her from behind.

Even without having to see her face, she still wasn’t Annabelle. She was a brunette and the contrast was obvious. With huge extensions that tumbled in curls down her back… well, she wasn’t Annabelle.

First of all, Annabelle definitely didn’t have the money for extensions.

Second, Annabelle was gorgeously blonde and he’d never had a preference before but damn, he enjoyed the golden strands that she was always pushing from her face.

Third, Calum doubted she would get extensions even if she had the money. Which oddly, he kind of enjoyed.

Calum closed his eyes, focusing on the feeling of ramming in and out of the girl underneath him.

With no sound or visuals, he could almost imagine that the girl he was fucking was his hot blonde neighbour and not the Pharma bitch.

That’s when he noticed the sound of his bed hitting the wall with each thrust.

“Fuck.” Calum cursed, pulling out, “get on the floor.”

“What?!” Pharma Bitch shrieked. She could deal with the shitty apartment instead of his penthouse, she could deal with the creaky bed and the duvet cover that wasn’t high grade silk, but fucking on the floor? No. that was a no go.

“I said. Get on the floor.” Calum stated.

She did.

The floor didn’t squeak.

----

“So word around town is you’re fucking girls with the lights off now?” Michael said, collapsing onto Calum’s couch.

“No I heard he’s making them not make noises.” Luke quipped.

“Nah, he’s only fucking them doggy.” Ashton interjected.

They all turned to Calum who took a sip from his beer, “all three.”

“Ouch.” Michael laughed, “what the fuck has gotten into you?”

“He’s in love with the blonde.” Ashton answered, “Belle.”

“Annabelle-” Calum corrected, “and no I’m not.”

“Then why are you being such a wack job about fucking these girls Hood?” Michael asked, “looks like somebody’s lost their mojo.”

“Fuck off.” Calum groaned.

It was true though.

It had started with the doggy, no noise and not fucking in his bed.

But that had been a week ago and Calum found that he almost couldn’t even bear to do that anymore. He was sneaking the women inside the apartment building like a smuggler dealing contraband.

His heart raced every time he walked a new girl past Annabelle’s apartment.

And he always reminded them that when they left, they had to be quiet and not be seen.

He knew the girls were starting to get pissed.

He just didn’t know why he felt so goddamn bad about it. It wasn’t like he was dating Annabelle! He had no allegiance. They’d kissed twice and that was it. So why the fuck did he feel so bad about it!

Michael set up the video games and Ashton dealt with the music.

Calum was in the bathroom when there was a knock at the door. All the boys looked at each other and grinned, Luke and Ashton both hopping to their feet while Michael stayed with his attention on the tv.

Luke, with his long legs, got to the door first.

He threw it open and just like that, the tall Aussies were looking down at the adorable blonde girl.

She was in a uni hoodie that went down to her mid thigh and it wasn’t obvious whether or not she was wearing shorts underneath the fabric that drowned out her body. Her eyes were an emerald green and she had the most adorable mouth either guy had ever seen, a perfect cupid bow on beautiful pink lips. Her blonde hair was in a half bun and it had an effortlessly, messy, cute, girl next door sort of vibe to it.

Luke’s words caught in his throat and Ashton jumped in, “can we do something for you?” he asked.

“I uh…” she looked a little shocked, “I was expecting Calum-”

“Bathroom.”

“Oh.” she fidgeted with her long hoodie sleeves, “do you mind turning down the music? I mean, I’m usually chill when he’s playing Queen but this is a little excessive.”

“Excessive?!” Michael screamed from inside, shocked at the slander towards the Guns and Roses thumping through the apartment.

“Queen?” Ashton said in shock, “since when does Calum listen to Queen.”

“Oh are you more John Denver because that was a shock too.” Annabelle laughed, beginning to twirl her hair.

“John Denver!?” Michael screamed, throwing his controller down as he stood abruptly from the couch and ran to the bathroom.

There was a sound of the door being thrown open then a “What the fuck?!” then screaming and cursing as Michael attacked Calum.

“Anyways, could you turn the music down a bit?” Annabelle asked, anxious to get back to her studying. It had calmed down slightly, a new beat that wasn’t wholly unpleasant replacing the last song.

Just when she began to feel bad about requesting the music to be turned down, the lyrics for the song began. ‘You let me violate you. You let me desecrate you. You let me penetrate you-’

Annabelle made a face and the boys in front of her grinned, “you don’t like Nine Inch Nails?” Luke mused.

“Surprised you haven't heard this one yet, it’s Cal’s favourite.” Ashton smirked as the lyrics began to scream ‘I wanna fuck you like an animal. I wanna feel you from the inside.’

“I don’t know if it’s his favourite.” Luke said, “but it’s definitely his song if you know what I mean.”

They both looked at Annabelle expectantly and she took a deep breath. She guessed they expected her to crack under the pressure of their gaze.

Instead, she crossed her arms over her chest, leaning against the doorway, “you know, I can definitely see that.” she stated.

Ashton laughed loudly and Calum and Michael appeared behind the two blondes, “Cal, we like her.” Luke stated.

“Fuck someone turn this music down.” Calum said, looking distressed.

Michael went back to the living room, but instead of turning it down he turned it up and suddenly the vulgar lyrics were booming through the apartment and out into the hallway.

Someone else opened their apartment door, glaring at Annabelle who was getting second hand embarrassment for Calum and his friends. A hand grabbed Annabelle and the taller blonde pulled her inside the apartment, closing the door as Calum went and grabbed the phone from Michael, turning the music down.

He turned to look at Annabelle, “what’s up?” he asked, looking worried.

“I just uh… the music, needed to be turned down a little.” Annabelle said.

The boys looked between the two.

Annabelle, who had actually seemed kind of cocky and ready to converse at the door, was suddenly clamming up.

And Calum? Their future CEO, dominant, powerhouse, sex god, was suddenly worried and ready to bend over backwards, which was something he never fucking did.

“Right, sorry, I’ll keep it down.” Calum apologized.

Luke and Ashton exchanged a glance.

“So how did your exam go?” Calum asked.

“My exam?”

“Yeah the one last week.” Calum clarified.

“Fuck, right, that one, uh, it was good, I think it went well. Thanks for the ride, I appreciated it.” Annabelle smiled and Calum ate it up, grinning back.

“He let you drive in his car?!” Michael screamed, taking this new information as a personal offense, “since fucking when!?”

“She’s not a pig like you are.” Calum said absentmindedly.

“Fuck you Hood I am not a fucking pig.” Michael glared.

Calum tensed up.

His last name had just been dropped.

But when he looked at Annabelle it seemed like she hadn’t noticed, and he let out a sigh of relief.

“Aren’t you going to properly introduce us?” Luke asked, interrupting Michael who was still seething.

“Fuck, right,” Calum groaned, he kept missing all the steps and this guy never missed steps, “that’s Ashton, the tall guy is Luke and the pig is Michael.”

Michael groaned loudly again.

“Nice to meet you guys, I’m-”

“Annabelle, not Belle, trust me,” Luke grinned, “we know.”

“Fuck off Luke.” Calum cussed.

“I have to study so I should get going-”

“Yeah, sure.” Calum walked Annabelle to the door, opening it for her. He offered a small smile and as she left, he couldn’t help but follow her out, closing his door behind him.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

“Walking you home.” he answered as if it was the most regular thing in the world.

“I’m literally five meters away.” Annabelle laughed.

“Well fuck, if you don’t want me to be a gentleman-” Annabelle laughed and Calum grinned, walking her the five meters to her door, “hey so, I have to be at work tomorrow morning and I figured I could give you a ride or-”

“I don’t have class till noon tomorrow.” Annabelle said.

“Well, maybe we could grab breakfast or fuck, I guess noon is brunch huh? And I could drive you after.” Calum tried to gage her reactions and when she didn’t automatically smile (like any other girl he knew would, they’d be jumping at the chance to see him in the morning) he got worried, “or not, if you’re busy-”

“Brunch.” Annabelle interrupted him, “you don’t peg me as a brunch kind of guy.”

“I’m not.” he confessed.

“So what’s that about? Hood?” Annabelle crossed her arms over her chest and leaned against her door, looking up at Calum.

He studied her face, trying to decipher if she knew who he was but, as was always the frustrating case, he had no clue what the fuck she was thinking.

“I-”

“You don’t have to explain yourself actually, I don’t know why I asked.” Annabelle sighed.

“You’re into psychology.” Calum stated. He’d been pissed about it before but for some reason, he wasn’t anymore. “It’s uh, it’s cute.”

God. He hated himself.

He hated himself.

He never fucking blushed with girls. He was the hardcore dom boy who made the girls blush. So why did this small, uni girl, study bug, mess of a thing, have so much control over him?

Annabelle’s heart was beating a mile a minute in her chest as she smiled up at the guy in front of her. The asshole neighbour. “You’re cute.” she stated before she could help herself.

Calum laughed, head lolling back to expose the most beautiful throat Annabelle had ever seen. Both of his hands came up to cover his face and she noticed the rings as he turned his body to the wall, resting his forehead against it.

“You good?” Annabelle laughed.

“Would you believe me if I said i’m drunk?” he groaned, turning to look at her.

“You’re not.”

“But if I was-”

“Then I’d be worried you’d kiss me again.”

“Woah, you’re the one who kissed me last time.” Calum pointed out.

“You suggested it.” Annabelle fired back.

“Did I though?” Calum narrowed his eyes at her, grinning.

“You said good luck kiss-”

“I also told you to get out of my car.” Calum reminded her.

Annabelle rolled her eyes, “you’re such a dick.”

“You keep calling me that princess, but I’m pretty sure you like me.” Calum smirked.

“Oh yeah? And what gives you that idea?”

“You took care of me while I was drunk and you called me baby-”

“Well fuck me, I’m a good person you can’t use that against me!” Annabelle said, voice raising defensively as she looked at him with a smile.

“I could.”

“You could what?”

“Fuck you.” he grinned.

“Calum!” Annabelle’s eyes widened and she pushed at him but he caught her hand as it almost made contact with his chest, pulling it forward so she tumbled towards him. His arms caught her and she looked up at him in shock.

“You gonna make me kiss you this time, or are you going to take control?” he asked.

“Why does something tell me you’re the one who’s used to being in control.” Annabelle countered but she sounded breathless.

“I am.”

“So be in control.”

Calum’s heart melted and if he wasn’t already kissing her a soon as the words left her mouth, he may have accidentally let an ‘i love you’ slip out because, holy fuck, he was over the moon.

His hands cupped her face as his tongue slid over her bottom lip. Her mouth opened immediately to receive him and Calum grinned, biting her lower lip between his teeth to take a breather, something he almost never needed.

Annabelle’s hands kept her steady, pressed against his strong shoulders, keeping her upright.

His thumb brushed against her cheek and as he was about to go in for another kiss when the sound of music vibrated through the hallway again and a head popped out of his apartment. Blue eyes bore into Calum’s back and he groaned as Annabelle peaked around him at Luke who was gaping at her.

Annabelle stepped backwards and Calum’s hands dropped to his sides.

“See you tomorrow?” he asked.

Fuck. He felt like one of the girls he kicked out every night.

But he thanked god that Annabelle wasn’t him. She nodded, smiling, “yeah. Brunch.”

Calum grinned and Annabelle went inside her apartment, offering one last smile as the door shut. Calum turned to glare at Luke, “I fucking hate you.”

-----

When Annabelle opened her door, she realized immediately how distressed Calum looked.

His outfit was on point. Black jeans, a white t shirt and a leather jacket that fit him in all the right places.

“Are you okay?” she asked, noticing how he was leaning with one arm against her doorway.

He made a small face, “can I come in?”

“Of course.” she moved out of the way for him and Calum entered, pacing in her hallway, “do you want coffee or are you hungry?”

Calum turned to look at her. He was worried for a moment, but then he thought about what she’d said the night before about taking control.

“Starved.” he stated.

Calum grabbed Annabelle around her waist, pulling her to his chest so he could press his lips against hers. She let out a small shocked sound at first but her body relaxed almost instantly. Her fingers hooked in his belt loops to pull him closer and Calum groaned.

He couldn’t help himself. Couldn’t contain it any longer.

His hands moved down to her ass and he lifted her up easily, Annabelle’s legs wrapped around Calum’s waist as he took her to her dinner table, setting her down on top of it. His hands grabbed at her bum harshly and Annabelle groaned into his mouth, fingers going to his hair as she pulled at the silver strands and a low grumble left his chest.

He pushed her down against the tabletop and immediately he unbuttoned her pants.

“Calum-” she breathed.

“I told you. I’m starving.” he said, pulling her jeans off completely. He looked up at her, his beautiful hands skimming up her bare thighs, “unless you actually want pancakes or some shit.”

“After?”

“Dessert first, pancakes later, sounds good to me.” he said, nipping at her inner thigh. He pressed a soft kiss to the skin he’d just bitten and Annabelle settled back against the table, her hands finding his hair.

His fingers hooked in her panties and he slid those down as well. Once they were on the floor he put her legs over his shoulders, pulling her closer. Calum had a thing for eating girls out. He just did. For some odd reason he enjoyed it. Enjoyed the power of it.

But he hadn’t been enjoying it lately.

It was as if he was a guy craving an amazing meal but only having ever been given fast food, after a while he’d gotten tired of the Big Macs. But here he was, at the open doors of a Gordon Ramsay Level five star restaurant and boy was going to eat.

As soon as his lips wraps around her clit, Annabelle’s fingers tightened in his hair and she moaned. The sound was music to Calum’s ears. Fuck, it had been ages since he’d heard the sound of a woman receiving pleasure from him because he hadn’t wanted to hear any sounds that weren’t from Annabelle.

And now that he was earning each whimper, he wanted her louder. He sucked harder on her clit and Annabelle let out a whiney breath, grip tightening on his hair. The small amount of pain made Calum groan and the vibrations against Annabelle’s clit threw her over the edge as her legs shook on his shoulders and she moaned loudly. His hands on her hips kept her steady as he worked her through the orgasm.

As soon as Annabelle had calmed down a bit, Calum stood fully again.

“Now I know why the girls you always have over are so goddamn loud.” Annabelle laughed.

Calum grinned, “that was nothing princess.”

“Oh yeah?” Annabelle smiled.

“Come here.” Calum said.

Annabelle pushed herself up so he could kiss her again. His left hand cupped her face as his ring clad fingers of his right hand rubbed at her still sensitive clit. They dipped inside and Annabelle moaned into Calum’s mouth. His digits curled up and hit that spot that made Annabelle grab at his shoulders “oh my god.” she said against his lips.

Calum smirked, he knew he was good at this too.

Calum was good at everything in the bedroom. It was just a fact. And he needed to prove it to Annabelle. He needed to make her addicted. He needed her to be thinking about this for weeks. He needed her to not be able to get him out of her perfect little head, to be tortured like he had.

Annabelle was moaning too much to kiss properly but Calum didn’t mind, he moved his lips to her neck instead. At first he pressed a few soft kisses to the sensitive skin but as he let his teeth drag across the flesh, Annabelle mewled, her fingers tugged at his hair and Calum knew that she was into it.

He sucked at her neck while moving his fingers faster. He could feel her heart racing in the artery he pressed kisses against and it drove him wild to feel her reacting to him.

Her loud moans in his ear egged him on and he could feel her getting closer and closer as she began to flutter around his ring clad digits. She pulled at his hair and he brought his lips to hers again as she came, whimpering into his mouth as he continued to pump his fingers in and out.

Calum took his fingers out of her and brought them to his lips, watching her as he licked them clean. As he did that, Annabelle reached out, unbuckling his belt then his jean button and zipper.

Calum took off his leather jacket, removing a condom from his pocket, then also got rid of his shirt. He stopped Annabelle’s motions with his pants, holding out the packaged condom for Annabelle to take between her teeth as he helped take her hoodie off that was still adorning her body. He grinned, “no bra? Dirty girl.”

“It’s just for uni.” Annabelle breathed, taking the condom out from between her teeth.

“Hmm, glad I’m not in your class or I wouldn’t be able to focus. You’re a menace.” he took the condom from her.

“You’re just horny all the time.” Annabelle said, going back to her job of shoving Calum’s pants down.

“You’re just sexy.” he rolled the condom on and his hands found her thighs, gently brushing the skin, “you ready?”

“Fuck me Mr. Hood.”

Calum burst out laughing and so did Annabelle, “please don’t call me that.” Calum groaned, grabbing her face to kiss her.

“Yeah sorry that was not good.” Annabelle agreed.

“It’s okay.” Calum assured her, pressing one more soft kiss to her lips before he grabbed himself, lining up with Annabelle before pushing in slowly.

They both moaned, one of Calum’s hands continued to cup her face while the other went around to the small of her back, keeping her close as he did the first few thrusts slow and deep.

Fucking on a counter was great and everything but something about it felt wrong. Calum had been fucking people decidedly not in his bedroom to avoid Annabelle having to hear it, but now that he had her in his arms he wanted to go to the “bedroom.” he said, hands grabbing her bum again as he lifted her up, still inside, then walked to her room.

They collapsed onto her bed with giggles, teeth clashing slightly as they grinned into the kisses they shared. Annabelle couldn’t get enough of his gorgeously dyed hair, running her fingers through it repeatedly.

One of Calum’s hands moved Annabelle’s leg higher on his waist to get a better angle and he began a quick, rough, unrelenting pace that had Annabelle’s moans getting louder and louder.

Calum buried his face in her neck, enjoying the up close smell of coconuts that he already adored. He bit down into her skin and she let out a high, breathy moan that sent shivers through Calum’s entire body.

“Fuck.” he groaned, and the sound of him, all low and grumbly, made Annabelle’s heart lurch.

“Cal I’m so close.” she whispered, tangling her fingers in his hair to tug at it again which earned another groan from him.

“Me too princess.” he said, lips on her again. He wanted to be kissing her, wanted to be sharing the moment completely as they both came. A few more deep thrusts had them both going over the edge. Eyes clenched shut, hands groping each other to be as close as physically possible, they were just two souls sharing a moment where nothing else in the entire world mattered.

Annabelle took her lips from his and Calum went back to her neck as they both panted. Her fingers tracing patterns on his back and shoulders, adoring his beautiful skin.

“So… pancakes?” Annabelle asked, voice still breathless.

Calum laughed, rolling off her, “you’re wild.”

“You promised pancakes.” she reminded him.

“Where do you want to go?” he asked.

“I was thinking you could make me pancakes at your place.” Annabelle said.

“You’re a real piece of work aren’t you?” Calum laughed.

Annabelle shrugged, “you’re the one who started calling me princess, baby.”

Calum groaned, “you got me there.”

---

“So you fucked her, made her pancakes, then drove her to school.” Michael stated.

“Pretty much.” Cal answered, eyes scanning over the menu even though he knew what he wanted already. They’d been coming to this restaurant for years and Calum always ordered the exact same thing. He liked to pretend he was considering something else but Calum just didn’t enjoy change that much. He liked what he liked and he liked that he was used to it.

“That sounds kind of coupley man.” Ashton said, not even bothering to look at the menu.

“Hmmm.” Calum said. He knew that it was super coupley. It’s all he’d been able to think about all day. As he dropped her off, earning a small kiss, then went to work. In the board meeting, he’d been distracted. And if there was one thing Calum Hood wasn’t, it was the type to to get distracted.

It was kind of pissing him off.

“Well it’s wednesday.” Luke pointed out.

“So?” Michael asked.

“So, Wednesday is the day he fucks the flight attendant right?”

Their eyes all went to Calum.

He’d forgotten about that.

----

“Calum Hood.” Mary stated, “as in, Calum Hood of Hood enterprises, that huge contracting company that owns like half the city.”

“I mean, I guess so.” Annabelle shrugged, flipping through the pages of her text book.

“Why the fuck is he living next to you if he’s rich as fuck though?”

“He has this weird thing about having not earned his money or something. I guess he wants to see how us commoners live.”

“But you fucked this guy.”

“Yeah I just told you.” Annabelle sighed.

“Lock it down babe, lock it down!” Marry screamed into the phone and Annabelle grinned.

“I’m not a gold digger, plus he can be kind of a dick.”

“But like… money though.” there was a pause, “and the guy has driven you to school twice now? He seems okay to me.”

Annabelle had to admit, Calum was okay. She was being hard on him. She’d been thinking about the name Hood all day and in her last class she’d finally looked him up, curiosity having gotten the better of her. Sure enough, there was his picture, connected to some trash article about him leaving the club with another heiress of sorts.

Annabelle would be lying if she said that the article hadn’t hurt just a little.

He had access to heiresses and models, hell, there was even a rumour about a new pop song having been written about him and his (since dyed silver) notoriously gorgeous black curls.

“I mean, he’s okay-” she began.

“He’s hot as fuck Anna.” Mary interrupted her.

“How do you know that?”

“I looked him up. Is his hair still silver?”

“Yeah.”

“Hot as fuck.” Mary reiterated.

“Don’t tell him that, he doesn’t need another boost to his ego.” Annabelle sighed.There was a knock at her door, “shit, someone’s here I have to go. Call you later?”

“Who the fuck is at your place at twelve at night?” her friend groaned.

“I don’t know.” Anna could guess though, “call you right back.”

“Yeah yeah.”

Annabelle hung up and walked to the door, opening it to reveal Calum who looked just as distressed as he had in the morning. “Hey.” he said, looking her up and down.

“Hi.” she was wondering what he was doing at her apartment. She’d seen him that morning when he’d dropped her off at school at noon, which had been only around twelve hours before. She hadn’t expected to see him so soon, “what’s up? It’s late.”

“I was, uh…” he rubbed at the back of his neck and Annabelle narrowed her eyes at him.

He looked uncomfortable and Annabelle couldn’t help but verbalize the first thought that came to her mind, “you’re not here for a booty call are you?” Calum opened his mouth then closed at and Annabelle rolled her eyes, “what? Your other booty calls are busy?”

“Well when you make it sound like that-”

“How else is it supposed to sound Calum?” Annabelle glared, crossing her arms over her chest.

Once more, Calum didn’t know what to say. “Fuck.” he groaned. He kept messing up. “I don’t… I don’t want the other girls-”

“Wow. Wooing of the century Calum.” Annabelle said sarcastically, “‘hey babe, I’m like super horny and I know I can call any of my other fuck buddies, of which I have hundreds, but you’re my favourite, so I know you’re studying a lot, but how about you drop all of that, and let me make use of the fact that you’re my neighbour.’”

“Wow.” Calum laughed awkwardly, “so that’s what you think I’m like.”

“You literally kept me awake for a month straight fucking girls in the room next to mine.” Annabelle reminded him.

He had to admit, that was true.

“But that was before I knew you.”

“God Calum-”

“Baby.” he corrected, trying to sound charming.

“What do you even want from me?” Annabelle sighed, Calum didn’t answer, “look, we fucked, you had a taste of the common life, good for you-”

“What do you mean?” he furrowed his eyebrows at her, confused.

Annabelle took a deep breath. She was mad, worried that she’d been considering dating a guy who only saw her as a quick and easy fuck. “Rich boy has the cheap apartment and now he’s fucked a girl who doesn’t have fake tits or lips-”

“So I’m ‘rich boy’ now?” Calum laughed, but it hurt, and he could feel his blood beginning to boil, “that’s fucking great.”

“It’s who you are Calum-”

“I mean yeah, it’s part of who I am, how could it not be, but I’m more than that-”

“Really?”

“Yeah!” he said, voice raising a little, “but you wouldn’t know because just like every other fucking girl in my life, you can’t see past my money can you?”

Annabelle��s eyes widened, looking at him in shock. He’d told her while he was drunk that people treated him differently because of his money, and in the moment, Annabelle had judged the people who let that blind them, but here she was, being one of those people. All the anger and defensiveness she had been feeling disappeared.

“I didn’t mean to-”

“No one ever fucking means to. Not really. But they can’t help it.” Calum sighed, running a hand through his hair, “the girls expect you to pay for dinner because you can, then they want gifts on Valentines day but of course a box of chocolates isn’t enough when your boyfriend is a millionaire is it? Who even knows if a girl actually likes me or if she just wants money?” he shrugged, “I don’t fucking know. So yeah, I don’t tell people and you didn’t know, not right away and when you found out, your opinion of me changed, but yeah, not your fault, people can’t fucking help it. You know. Maybe I should be happy that you’re actually mad about it, that you’re not trying to get me to buy you a ring like every other girl I fucking know, cuz that means that what we had this morning? That shit was real. Just sucks that you’re letting the fact that I have money get in the way of this now.”

He turned to go.

Annabelle watched him. She didn’t know why she’d brought the money into it. She was kicking herself.

“Calum.” she called. He didn’t turn around. She knew in that moment that she had to be vulnerable and she hated it. “I’m scared.”

“About what?” he asked, whipping around to look at her.

“Well…” Annabelle groaned, “you have models chasing you Cal, models. I don’t want to be just your easy-fuck neighbour-”

“You’re not.”

“Well how the fuck am I supposed to know that?!” she yelled, “we barely talk, until like two days ago I didn’t even know your last name-”

“I don’t know your last name.” he pointed out.

“Well it’s not like I’m trying to hide it.”

“So we’re back to the whole family name thing.” Calum turned to go again.

“God, see that’s the other thing, as soon as things get tough you leave!”

“I can have a conversation as long as you don’t keep going back to my family, you don’t know them, they’re good people.”

Annabelle took a deep breath, “do you have siblings?”

“Yeah, sister.” he eyed her, letting out a breath as his shoulders relaxed slightly, “You?”

“No, I’m an only child.”

“So that explains a few things Princess.” Calum stated but there was something lighter in his tone and Annabelle found herself smiling. Just like that, a stupid pet name, and things calmed down.

“This is such a mess.” Annabelle groaned.

“Great things never come easy.” Calum pointed out.

“Great things?” Annabelle quirked her eyebrow at him and Calum leaned against his door, eying her, “this is a great thing?”

“I think it could be.” he paused, “what do you think?”

Annabelle thought about it for a moment, “want to come in?” Calum’s eyebrows raised and Annabelle rolled her eyes, “not for sex. We should get to know each other or something.”

Calum was silent for a moment, “fine. But you have to trust me when I say that I actually like you.” he approached her again, “I mean, yeah, you’re great in bed too-” Annabelle shoved at his shoulder and Calum grinned, “but I like you, okay?”

“Okay. I mean, you can be a bit of a dick sometimes but I like you too.”

“Again with calling me a dick?” Calum smirked, “thought we decided this morning that you don’t actually think I’m a dick.”

“I don’t think we ever decided that-” Annabelle looked up at the gorgeous man who was invading her space

“Sure we didn’t, you sleep with all the guys you think are douchebags huh?” he teased.

“Don’t test your luck hot shot.” Annabelle glared.

“Or what?”

She could feel his breath, and his pleasant, smokey smell wafted over her. “I’m still mad at you.” she stated.

“Sure you are.” he said.

God, he made her so angry sometimes. But fuck, was he hot. Annabelle looked up at him and she couldn’t help herself, wanting to feel the beautiful skin against her fingers, the strong muscles of his shoulders, the softness of his hair. Her heart was still racing, all worked up from their small argument.

Her hand went behind his neck and pulled his lips down to hers. Their tongues clashed immediately as her fingers gripped at his shirt, itching to tear it off right there in the hallway. His hands went to her waist and he pushed her against the hallway wall next to her door, grinding against her.

Annabelle groaned into his mouth and when he moved to bite at her neck she breathed, “no sex.”

“No sex.” he agreed, hand moving past Annabelle to open the door to her apartment. As soon as it was open, she ducked under his arm and went inside, grabbing his hand to pull him in after her. When the door was closed, she shoved him against the wall and he smirked as her hands grabbed at the hem of his shirt, lifting it to pull it over his head and reveal the beautiful, tattooed skin.

Annabelle couldn’t help herself as her hands went to his pants, as she slipped them down she realized “are these silk boxers?”

Calum groaned, “yeah.”

“Okay, how can you expect me not to comment on these.” Annabelle grinned.

“God, you’re a piece of fucking work has anyone told you that?”

“Pretty sure you did this morning.”

“Well I guess I’m just a genius then hmm?”

“You have a massive ego.”

“I have a massive something and it’s not my ego, princess.” he brought his mouth to hers again, cupping her face.

Annabelle groaned against his lips, “you sure about that?”

“You weren’t complaining this morning.”

Annabelle pulled away from Calum and his eyes opened, watching her retreat, still fully clothed, as he stood there shirtless, with his pants on the ground, “what are you doing?” he asked.

“Getting a good view.”

“How about you get your ass back here?” he suggested.

“Or what?”

Calum groaned, “touche.”

“Look, I think you should at least take me on a date first or something.” Annabelle said, “or I could order pizza-”

“Whatever you want.” Calum said, ready to do just about anything to get his hands back on her.

She picked up his shirt and tossed it to him, “I meant it when I said no sex.” she stated.

Calum sighed, pulling up his pants and putting on the shirt, “you’re really starting to make me question the idea that you prefer me better without this on you know.”

“Well I like to keep you guessing.” Annabelle shrugged, walking to the living room where she sat on the couch and patted the seat next to her. He sat down and she looked at him, “so what do you like on your pizza?”

They talked about their favourite things for a while. Annabelle ordered food and they chatted until there was a buzzer beep, Annabelle let the pizza guy up and as Calum grabbed his wallet, Annabelle walked to the door. Before Calum could do anything, she had already paid, closing the door behind the guy and brining the pizza into the small apartment.

Calum looked at her.

“What?” she asked.

“I don’t think anyone’s ever bought me pizza before.” he stated.

“Who says you get to have any?” Annabelle teased, grabbing two plates, she handed one to Calum.

He smiled down at her.

They were going to be great. He could feel it. And Calum had a knack for that sort of thing.

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

part two here

Oneshot Masterlist

Regular Masterlist

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harry-styles-buttcheeks · 4 years ago

Text

WHEN I TELL YOU THAT I SCREAMED THE MOMENT I SAW LUKE HEMMINGS HAD A STORY

I S C R E A M E D

#we love to see it #i really did scream #im sorry to my neighbours #we love a king who posts about voting #i love him so much #HES ALIVE FELLAS #luke hemmings #5sos #5 seconds of summer #michael clifford #calum hood #ashton irwin

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writingfortoomanyfandoms · 5 years ago

Note

could i request for #13 with Neighbour!AU with Calum? thank you 💗

Sure thing

Speech 13 - “Apparently all our friends have a bet going that we end up together.”

AU 8 - Neighbour!AU

—————————————————

“This is nice, we should do it more,” Y/N declared, nudging Calum playfully with her elbow as she moved to stand next to him at the edge of her living room, watching the party playing out in front of her.

Calum had invited his friends over earlier - Ashton, Michael, Luke, Sierra, Crystal and Kaykay, that was - and had visited Y/N’s apartment wanting to borrow a bottle opener after Ashton had accidentally dropped his out of the window.

Y/N had not been offered the full story regarding that but she went along with it regardless.

She, however, had also had her own friends over, hosting a party of her own and had eagerly invited her cute neighbour and his funny friends over to join them, knowing that they would all get along well.

“Weird, though, right?”

“Oh so weird,” Y/N agreed, laughing. “But I don’t know why.”

“You know what the weirdest part about it is?” Calum asked, looking at her from the corner of his eye and raising his beer bottle to his lips challengingly.

“What’s that?”

“That apparently all our friends have a bet going that we end up together.”

“What do you mean?” Y/N laughed.

“I overheard Ash talking about it earlier, it happened about five minutes into them all meeting each other,” Calum confirmed, his eyebrows raised in amusement.

“That’s... funny,” Y/N decided. “Unexpected, but funny.”

“Unexpected?”

“Well they’ve gotta know it’s never going to happen, right?”

“What do you mean?” Calum asked, seeming genuinely offended.

“Oh, come on, Cal, you don’t like me that way!” Y/N pointed that and Calum scoffed.

“Whoever told you that informed you wrong.” Y/N froze at that, looking at him in confusion.

“So you’re saying...?” Calum’s cheeks were tinged red, refusing to look at her as he admitted:

“I’d.... I’d really like to take you out for a date sometime.”

#courts blurbs #blurbs #Valentines Day 2020 #Valentines Day Blurbs #5 seconds of summer #calum hood #calum hood fanfiction #calum hood imagine #calum hood x reader #neighbour!Calum Hood #calum hood blurbs #neighbour!AU #requested

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buckybarnesbitchz · 5 years ago

Text

I’ve listened to Wildfolower nonstop since it came out

#no regrets #ashton irwin #luke hemmings #micheal clifford #calum hood #5sos #calm #wildflower #5 seconds of summer #neighbours are mad

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cashtonsbetch · 6 years ago

Text

Fun story

I was listening to "She looks so perfect" and I screamed 'I made a mix-tape straight out of '94' and my neighbour literally screamed back "Turn that shit up" idk who he is but we can be best friends.

#5sos #calum hood #ashton irwin #luke hemmings #michael clifford #cool neighbour

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afatallovesong · 2 years ago

Note

I am absolutely IN LOVE with the way you write. so real, always gets me hooked. BUT the way you write calum? deceased-completely swiped away... cant wait for your next work :3 (maybe some spicy calum action because i LIVE for those? love u!)

I LOVED writing this piece!!! I may be persuaded to write a part 2.

Purely Transactional

A Calum Hood one shot

18+, Smut, NSFW

The one where you fake date

Word Count: 12,700

Picture this; you’re being forced to attend your sisters engagement party, it’s a weekend event a couple towns over. You’ve got a room booked for two, yourself and your boyfriend. Your family can’t wait to meet the man who’s stolen your heart at last. It’s actually the second biggest event in your family history for years. The issue: you don’t have a boyfriend. You haven’t had one since you were 16. You only said you did have a boyfriend because you thought you would have by now. You never saw life going this way at all. Now you either have to fess up to being a single mother of two beautiful little dogs or find a last minute lover to feel less alone. Yay.

You asked everyone you knew. The neighbour, the neighbour’s neighbour. His cousin from out of town, his cousin from out of town’s neighbour. Every single one of your friends and only one of them gave you something or more, someone to work with. “Why don’t you ask Calum?” You’re slouching on his sofa, sinking into the leather as he strums away at his guitar a joint hanging dangerously from his mouth. “I don’t know him.” You say it like it’s obvious, kicking your feet up. “Which is exactly why you should.” You catch his drift, but you don’t want to. It wasn’t as ideal as he thought it was. “I’m gonna get asked questions.” You deadpan. “So, make some notecards.” You tug the joint from his mouth, bringing it to your own. “Yes you may have that.” You flick him. “Rude.” You take a drag before slotting it back gently between his lips, returning to your seat.

“He won’t do it.” Ashton doesn’t respond. “I know he won’t, he doesn’t like me.” He huffs. ‘You hadn’t given him a chance to’ is what he says in his mind. “Has he told you that?” He quit playing, giving you more of his attention. He really did want to help. “Not exactly, no.” He leaned over his guitar, placing the joint down in his hand painted ash tray on the coffee table. The one you made for him for Christmas the year before. The one that he loved and guarded with his life. “Ask him.” You shake your head. “Ask him.” He says again, the guitar now being rested carefully against the table alerting you that he meant business. “No. Way.” You continue. He moves over to you; you slot your legs across his lap, and he leans back into his seat comfortably under the weight of them. “I’m gonna ask him.” You think he’s joking. You hoped he was joking. He wasn’t joking.

“Calum, we don’t know each other that well so I thought you’d be perfect plus you’re kinda the only other single one left, so it had to be you.” There were no lies told. You were the only ones; it might have been the only thing you actually had in common in your little inner circle of friends. You weren’t close but you also weren’t complete strangers. You were a little more than acquaintances, but not really friends. He was your only shot at this, that much you did know. “I resent that.” You roll your eyes, ‘you would,’ you think. You’re running out of options, he was your last chance, you had a week to prepare, this had to be it. You considered throwing in the towel moments before he arrived at your place. Half an hour late. It should have been enough of a sign not to go through with it but then he did arrive. Meaning that somewhere deep down inside him, he was interested. You could work with interested.

“I’ll pay you.” You can’t imagine anything worse; you were desperate sure, not desperate enough to actually pay him but desperate all the same. He seemed reasonable enough though. He had more money than he knew what to do with and he was close with Ashton. Ashton was good people; he’d turn your offer down, you were sure of it. “How much?” He perks up, stroking his chin now his attention was caught. “You weren’t actually supposed to want payment.” You panicked, feet shuffling, hands tapping your thighs relentlessly. He was smirking. “Isn’t that how this is supposed to work?” He steps in close, a couple feet between you, not enough. “Want me to act like an escort? You’re gonna have to pay me like one.” If you hadn’t ever had a conversation with him, you might have found that attractive. He was tall, dark, and handsome. His jawline so picturesque you may have thought about kissing it once or twice. You also liked his eyes, even if he was cold and callous beneath them, only out for himself. But he wasn’t that attractive, and he didn’t intimidate you like he thought he did. Much.

“Like you don’t have more money than my entire family combined.” You dig. This was never going to happen. You don’t know why he even entertained it this far. There wasn’t a single helpful bone in his body, no matter how much you wished there were. “How bad do you need a boyfriend sweetheart?” He shortens the space between you even more. Your chest feels tight, the confidence dripping from his tongue was actually working on you, you were out of your depth. The way he looked at you too. Eyes flicking down to your lips and back, head tilting slightly, almost robotically, like he was sizing you up. Seeing if he could make it work. Make you work for him. You felt a heat on the back of your neck. You felt gross.

“100 bucks if they believe it, 50 if they don’t.” You couldn’t believe you were even saying it. You’d have to make him forget you agreed to any of that. “For how long?” He quipped back. “You’re so greedy. I’m gonna have to make a note of that in our very public lovers spat.” You lace it with venom as well as humour, standing your ground. The corner of his lips begins to curl. He fights it. “How long?” He repeats again, just as steady in tone. “A weekend.” You breathe. “Like Saturday and Sunday.” He asks. “Like Friday to Monday,” you respond just as deadpan. “200.” He takes a dangerous step closer. You don’t flinch. “150 and no black eye.” His brows furrow, forehead creasing in confusion. He kind of reminded you of a neanderthal. Dumb little boy.

“Why would I have a black eye?” You raise your fist. “OKAY PUT YOUR FIST DOWN. Jesus woman, I’ll do it.” He admits defeat. “Perfect. I made some note cards, things about me you may get asked about, read them, memorise them, guard them with your life.” You tug the notes from your back pocket, pushing them into his chest abruptly. He looks down at them quizzically. “What if they ask about me?” You shrug your shoulders. “I’m sure you’re not that complex.” He doesn’t attempt to hide how insulted he is by that.

“When is it?” You point to the cards. “All the information you need is in the notes.” He opens his mouth, closes it, then opens it again, “how are we-“ you go to open your front door, you’d had the entire conversation in the hallway, not wanting him to go any further into your home than that. “In the notes Calum.” He takes a look down at the cards in his hands, he hated reading other people’s handwriting, made him feel dumb when he couldn’t understand it as well as he’d liked. You joined your letters all curly too which didn’t help. He actually half expected you to dot the I’s with hearts, you seemed like that kind of girl. He wasn’t sure if he was disappointed that you hadn’t.

You’re ushering him out the door, waving your hand to make him move faster. He pauses in your doorframe. You were so close. You could just kick him; he’d be off your property in no time. You wouldn’t have to think about him for another week then. You could pack your bags in peace. “You spelt my name wrong.” He points to the card; you’d done it on purpose. “No, I think your parents did.” He frowns. Before he can respond again you give him that much needed shove out the door. “BYE CALUM!” You slam it behind him, leaning your back against it as if that would prevent him from getting back inside and on top of your nerves again. He found the whole ordeal just as unpleasant as you had but he still finds himself on the other side of that door with a smile on his face. He read every single card you wrote for him. You were way more annoying than he thought.

“What part are you guys having trouble understanding?” You ask the table, leaning over, reaching for your cocktail to distract your mouth before you can step your foot in it. You were being tested way harder than you ever anticipated you would. You really never imagined they’d care let alone put you on trial for the crime of getting a boyfriend without their prior knowledge or approval. It’s nice to know how friendly and welcoming they really are when push comes to shove. You’d have to keep that in mind for the real thing, whenever that might be.

You’d laugh the nerves away, but you were afraid you might never stop laughing. You’d just manically laugh until you sank under the table, down into the ground, right to centre of the earth, burning up at the core before passing away painfully. You wished you could laugh. Instead, you just took the longest sip, looking to your left and right as subtly as you could muster under the immense pressure placed upon your shoulders by your sister and her fiancé. Deep breaths, it’ll all be over soon.

“I don’t buy it.” She states matter of factly. “You go from a single dog mom to suddenly in love with the perfect guy.” You open your mouth to speak but you daren't even try, she’s not finished yet. “It’s a little conveniently timed don’t you think?” She waves her hands to illustrate her point in that annoying fashion that only she could. Waving her fresh manicure right in your face, whether accidental or on purpose, still ridiculously annoying and yet another reminder that she had her life together and you didn’t. She turned to her fiancé before glancing towards the rest of the table for back up, all nodding along with her instantly as if she were a puppet master stringing them along. Cowards.

Your gaze remains steady and ice cold, colder than the slushy cocktail in your hands. The only thing that made the weekend worth it were the free bar and the adorable outdoor beer garden. You release the straw after a long sip with an “Ahh.” You try not to enjoy the twitch of your sister’s right eye at the sound. She’d always loathed when people did that. Anyone who made a noise of satisfaction after a drink no matter how delicious or refreshing it may be, was a colossal pain in her ass. You think she just despises other people’s enjoyment. She thinks it’s an unnecessary sound that people tend to use to exaggerate how nice something is as a performance for other people rather than for themselves. She also thinks it’s incredibly unladylike, which gives you a bigger kick to try it out every single time.

“Why would I lie?” You place your drink down harder than you intend to, wincing as the glass clangs on the table so hard you thought it may shatter. “You know I love you sis, but I don’t think I’d go to the length of faking a relationship just because you’re getting engaged.” Which would be such a wonderful sentence to throw out into the universe if that weren’t exactly what you were doing. “I just met the right guy.” You try not to grimace at the cheesiness of it all, that, and the fact you still hadn’t decided if you’d even liked him more than just a piece of eye candy. Because there was no denying that he was attractive, from the start he’d had that going at least. You’d only been admitting it because of the influence of alcohol too. It was just the rest of the package that gave you a headache.

“But he’s-“ You scowl before she continues that sentence, you almost will her to continue. “He’s what?” You push. If anyone were going to come for Calum they had better make it good because that was an area you excelled in and would absolutely love to be a part of even if you did have to defend him right now. You could always use any good material at a later date when left to your own devices though, a pen and paper would be wonderful.

“He’s not your type.” You don’t believe that’s what she planned to say, it came out far too polite to be something she’d actually thought of. “What is my type then?” You probably shouldn’t have asked her this, but your curiosity trumps all reason. She flails her hand around in her lap, trying to think of the correct way to phrase it. You had no doubt your past relationships were displaying in her mind, enough horrendous options for her to choose from right out of a hat.

“Nerds,” she begins to list on her fingers, which is quite alarming because you really didn’t think you had that much of a track record. “Gamer boys,” which basically comes under ‘nerds.’ “Skinny guys,” that was absolutely not exclusive, “Gamer boy nerds.” She throws 3 fingers up. That’s if she was classing ‘boy’ as a type which you assume she was. You had to hand it to her, she wasn’t entirely wrong about your past dating pool, but Calum wasn’t exactly far off that. “Calum just, doesn’t seem much of a nerd.” You’re certain that’s not what she intended to say, and you thought she might stop herself there, but she doesn’t, why would she? “He’s, well I hate to say it,” you bet she doesn’t though, “he’s out of your league.” Ahh, there it is. That’s more like it. She even says it with an apologetic expression to make you consider it for a millisecond. If only he were here. Oh, how he’d love this.

Calum was the lucky one in this scenario, whether it was fake or not, you were a catch. One that no one had ever caught and kept hold of but a catch, nonetheless. Your mom would agree, probably not the best argument but it’s there and it counted. You reached for your drink once again and prayed he returned soon; you were drowning out here and you weren’t even out of the shallows. “Then lucky me.” You sip as aggressively as one can with a shitty paper straw wedged between their teeth. You were so glad the sea turtles were safer at the hands of recycled paper straws, but you so missed being able to drink a cocktail without the added ingredient of paper mache sinking at the bottom of each glass.

“Why are we in luck?” His voice swings in joining the conversation as he walks back over to your table. His hearing was impeccable, you wonder what else had slipped by him on his way over. You’d honestly never felt so relieved to hear his voice either, even if his steps closer bought the smell of cheap cigarettes and your early twenties. You’d have loved him back then. Back in college, your first taste of freedom, the option to date whoever you liked, to experiment a little. You’d have eaten up that bad boy, leather jacket, cigarette smoking musician act he had going for him. Quiet and brooding too, oh yeah, your knickers would have never left the floor. Good thing you grew up since then.

He grabbed his chair, pushing it right next to yours, as close as he could get without sitting directly on top of you and for a second you ponder about why he bothered with his chair at all. His eyes burned into the side of your face, and you plastered a smile wide enough to match his as you leant into him. “What took you so long?” You whispered while maintaining that sickeningly sweet smile that hurt your face to pull. “You miss me that much?” He licked across his bottom lip, and you mentally scold yourself for looking at it. “I’m getting eaten alive out here.” He grinned wider. “Must be because you’re so damn delicious.” Your stomach fluttered. What the fuck?

He pressed a chaste kiss to your cheek. You felt yourself relax into him, like his lips had sucked all of the tension from your body. You may not like him very much but you sure were glad he was here right now. Even without the facade, it was hard being in environments where you had to face your entire family alone. It’s not that you weren’t close with them, or didn’t love them, it was just difficult standing your own ground sometimes. You needed that extra shield for the invasive questions and high expectations, the anchor to keep you firmly in place, sure of yourself. It was a tough act to balance.

He couldn’t deny that he’d gained some respect for you for how well you’d handled things. He wasn’t entirely sure he’d manage a family dynamic like this alone, even if he were part of it. He was kind of developing a soft spot for you, probably more than you were anyway. Okay, definitely more than you were. He wasn’t sure when it started. He’d had the message exchanges throughout the last week. He had the detailed notes about your life from start to finish to divulge. The 3 hour car journey where you refused to play music, instead forcing him to answer questions about you in preparation for the event. It was somewhere amongst there. Maybe even when you’d shared a room the past two nights without killing each other. In seeing a vulnerable side of you that made you appear a little more human. He’d also seen a larger portion of you without clothing, that certainly helped.

Yes. Perhaps somewhere around there he’d liked you. All he knew now was that in watching your interactions with your family, it made him want to stick to you like glue and support you the best he could for however long you would let him. You had it covered, and you’d tell him that too, afraid of showing any weaknesses, but that’s exactly why he felt like he should support you, he didn’t want you to feel so alone, you didn’t have to be so alone.

He didn’t even have to force himself to kiss your cheek that time, he’d just wanted to rid your face of the frown that threatened to grace it, even if he found it adorable. His issue now was that he had trouble moving away. His lips lingering, breath tickling your cheek, until you coughed under your breath for him to shift away. For a moment he’d wished it weren’t all play pretend. That he could stay there and have it not feel so strange. He couldn’t pin point when his eyes started to soften at the sight of you. All he knew was that they had. It was getting increasingly easier to act enamoured by you, because, well, he might have been.

“So, what did I miss?” He tilts his head towards the rest of the table, it felt like such a difficult task to withdraw his attention from you. You yourself took the opportunity to catch a much needed breath. You also needed to pat your stomach to hold off the swarm of butterflies scrambling around in there. There was this dizzying, uneasiness in the pit of your tummy, like you were fighting the emotions within yourself. Those damn love bugs were wasting their time going crazy for this situation. It wasn’t real, not worth the energy. Surely you didn’t need to be convinced of that, it was clear as day. You didn’t need this unnecessary nausea. “We were just talking about what a wonderful couple you are.” Your brother in law speaks, directing his attention towards the man at your side. You really thought you’d liked that man, he betrayed you. You kept a special scowl just for him. He felt hot under the collar when he felt the intensity of it. Good, you thought. Traitor.

Calum dipped his hand down onto your thigh where he’d noticed your hand was already resting, slipping his fingers between yours, resting atop your knuckles effortlessly for all to see. You’d felt your breath hitching in your throat. The simplicity of the action shouldn’t have caused such a stir, but it was just so easy for him. He was so touchy feely like it was the most natural thing in the world. He loved to touch. It was one of the main reasons that made it so hard to remain sure that this was all an act. Was he like this with everyone? You’d half hoped he wasn’t, even if your other half screamed at you for that naivety. It wasn’t exactly your love language, but you’d wished it were, you wanted to touch him. Too many drinks maybe.

“Why do I feel like that’s sarcasm?” He threw back with nothing but charm, sweet like honey dripping from his tongue. If he weren’t in a band you could certainly picture him as an actor with some of the crap he pulled. Sometimes he even had you believing this whole thing, lines blurring like no other. Especially when nuzzled his nose into your neck eliciting a squeal from your lips. All before deciding to stay there, sitting with his chin resting on your shoulder happily. Like the most casual position in the world.

Your heart pounded against your chest. His arm slunk around your waist. His mouth opened for you, signalling you to bring his cocktail and straw between his lips to take a sip. A ridiculously over the top public display of affection you swore you’d never partake in. Yet for some reason your hands were ignoring every judgment your mind was making, allowing you to feed him his drink like some kind of mother to a parched child. It was interesting to you how fast you’d been able to communicate with him like that without it ever needing to be said or asked for. “You owe me.” You whisper. “Not how this transaction really works.” He says between sips rather impressively. It might even be considered cute if it wasn’t such a threat. Your cheeks burned.

“It just seems so sudden.” Your sister just can’t bite back her tongue for more than two seconds huh. You’re literally sat there with giant, red, beaming heart eyes for each other. So, close your personal space would never be described as such for as long as you shall live, ever again. Literally feeding each other. Squeezing each other’s hands. Hating every second you’re apart. Feeling like you may break without the other. Whispering sweet nothings (more like threats but no one else had spotted that) into each other’s ears. You’re both so over the top, overwhelmingly infatuated (although falsely) with each other you may as well claim this engagement party as your own and YET, no one believed you for a second. Hell, even you thought you might be falling. Thank you vodka.

“When you know, you know.” You say, lifting your hand to pat his cheek after putting his drink back on the table. He squeezes your other hand instinctively. He’d almost forgotten he was holding it in the first place, it felt so nice and soft, like it belonged in his. It could belong there. “What will it take to convince you?” He offers. You squeeze his hand even harder, this time hoping to pump the breaks on this one. As much as you appreciated him sticking up for the relationship. You weren’t up for a quick fire round of questions that you weren’t prepared in the slightest. Especially since he refused to learn the answers to any potential enquiries a day prior. Deeming the impromptu quiz session in the car ‘enough learning for a lifetime.’

“Cal,” is all you warn while you beg him to shut up with your mind instead. “No, no sweetie, we can answer all the questions they have.” He grinned at you so menacingly; you wanted to wipe that smirk right off his adorably smug little face. Woah. When did he become adorable? Scratch that. Shush. You’re so pissed you don’t even fawn over the pet name, much. You may as well pack your bags now and return home though, you were done for, the hoax was over. The end.

“What’s her favourite band?” Okay, we’re actually doing this. “Or singer, if that’s easier.” Ryan, your least favourite brother in law and your only brother in law, fires out. He only knew the answer himself because he tried to impress you one Christmas by buying you a limited edition vinyl. Of all the people at this table, you thought at least he wouldn’t be sceptical of you. Unbelievable.

“There isn’t just one, its multiple, depends what mood she’s in.” You’re intrigued already on where this is going. Your sister jeered at the response, already less than impressed. Calum turns his head, lifting his hand to silence her before she can say anything. You almost pat him on the back for it. “But, if I had to choose.” Which he did. He really did. “Queen, Black Sabbath, The 1975, Taylor Swift, Harry Styles and I’m going to add 5SOS in there because she’s our number one groupie, aint that right babe.” You allow yourself to roll your eyes at the last part, even if you were dating you doubt you’d let him describe you as a groupie, dick.

“That’s easy, they’re pretty generic choices minus sabbath.” You had to give them that one, it wasn’t the most cut throat list of indie artists you could only associate with your taste and yours only. You’d been a bit of a basic music lover your whole life and there was no shame in that. You liked what you liked and that was okay. You were still impressed he knew any of your list though. Maybe he actually had read your notes, lying shit. Definitely not adorable. “Favourite food?” Okay, still going. You lean back, may as well get comfortable since you’re going to be here for a while.

He snorted before answering that one and you wondered what was so insanely funny that could make him move his hand away from your thigh to explain it properly. You missed his touch the second you were without it. Gag. “Bread.” He giggled just saying it, the kind of giggle where the creases beside his eyes really stood out and his cheeks bunched up all precious and pudgy underneath them. You can’t help but smile.

“But not just plain bread right,” he looked to you before continuing as if to say ‘hey, watch this, look at me.’ He thinks he has you down. You indulge him. “So, bread in its many forms,” he lifted his fingers to start listing, “sandwiches, toast, brioche, fried bread, french toast, pizza dough, the list goes on right but at the height of it all,” he really gestured above his head to signify the detailed tier system of bread options. He added a small and useless breather to gain anticipation, it wasn’t working. “Garlic bread.”

You snorted a laugh yourself this time. Not because he was wrong either, because he was 100% correct in fact. You were mortified that, that was your own answer. He locked eyes with you in a way that he hadn’t done before, with genuine affection, maybe even a glimmer of hope that he’d done you justice. He was captivated by you, your cheeks bursting with redness, your smile tight, starting to hurt you in fighting it. You looked so pretty right now. The glow of the lamps out in this beer garden just added to the radiance he already thought you had. He couldn’t believe a girl as pretty as you considered bread your favourite food.

He also found the noise you made to be one of the cutest things he’d ever heard, and he wished he could make you do it again someday. He really didn’t consider himself that funny though. He might have to get some drinks down you for another laugh like that. “I thought your favourite were sour patch kids?” Your sister argued, using her nails again to assist her point. Calum chimed in before you could go to correct her.

“Actually, that was her hyper fixation for a little while, ate every flavour except lemon. Which are my favourite, so it works out pretty well.” Your jaw may as well have hit the floor. He’d only known that from the car ride up here. You were about to throw the packet out before he stopped you, complaining you were wasting money and food since you left all the yellow ones. You were shocked he remembered. If you were impressed by him right now, surely everyone else had to be too, right? Wrong.

“Celebrity crush?” He answered this quicker than you or he would like to admit. You also just didn’t know how he came to the conclusion he did and how he was so correct with it, suspicious. “Joseph Quinn hands down, can’t even knock it, he’s a handsome man.” The next question went swimmingly too. “Favourite hobby?” He gave it a thought for a second, glancing to you and back, “painting, she’ll say she’s no good at it but actually she’s got a gift. I’ve never seen anyone use colour the way she does. Actually, considered using some of your work for album art.” He turned to you towards the end, and you struggled to decipher whether it was bullshit or not. Your heart actually ached at the thought of it being true.

“Favourite movie?” Your brother in law’s turn to ask. You threw your head back in exasperation. “What is this, the Spanish inquisition? Is this really necessary?” You looked to your sister and her future husband. “Yes!” They admitted in unison. Calum’s hand returned to your thigh, patting it softly, his thumb rubbing soothing shapes into your bare skin. It was working. God it was working. He was like ice against your fire, the way he cooled you.

“I’ve got this.” He assured you. “Yeah, you kind of do, that’s why it’s so fucking weird.” You admitted quietly but not enough as to hide it from anyone else, deeming it safe for public consumption. He smirked. “Scared I know too much about you?” You were. You were terrified. This time you do lower your voice. “Just didn’t know you could actually read. Guess my notes were a great help after all.” You stuck your tongue out. For a second he thought about taking it in his mouth, probably some other filthier thoughts floated around his brain too. It was something about the proximity and the cocktails you’d shared, you could always blame those.

“The Harry Potter franchise but her favourite would have to be the second one,” he knows he has it right, but he just can’t think of the name, turning to you momentarily for help, you mouthed “the chamber of secrets” before he nodded and repeated it. He then paused, not for dramatic effect but so he could smile to himself as he thought about why that was your favourite. “It’s the first time we as the audience,” he gestured to his chest, “visit the Weasley house,” ‘the burrow,’ you say in your head, but it was close enough.

“The Weasley’s are the best family in the wizarding world, not up for discussion.” You leant in, your lips close to his ear. “If we were really dating, you’d be getting your dick sucked so hard tonight.” It took every bone in his body not shut the evening down and carry you back to your hotel room with that false promise in mind. He instead tried to ignore the now throbbing sensation in his trousers. Had you always done that to him?

“Ok those are fairly standard.” In what world was his last answer not specifically catered to you? “How about a random trivia round?…” The suggestions just kept going. If this were the only worthy form of entertainment they could find, married life was going to be abysmal. “Or.” He began and this is when you really, really started to panic, like exponentially. There was nothing that could have helped him out now. Your notes only consisted of the likes, dislikes, and the fake scenario in which you first met. There was nothing else. That was the end of the script. He couldn’t be that good at improvisation. You didn’t want the opportunity to find out either. You were no casting director. He no longer had to impress you or anyone else. If they were still at odds with the situation then so be it. You couldn’t please everyone. It really shouldn’t have taken you that long to realise it. Huh. The more you know.

“I can tell you about how she makes me feel.” You really, truly would rather you didn’t know. If it’s the truth, it would hurt. If it was a lie, well that might hurt even more. You begged the universe to keep him quiet. Whatever he had to say was going to blow your cover and throw this whole shit show up in flames. Your sister seemed so keen and intrigued enough to let him continue. You however, said your final goodbyes to any future you had where you weren’t a laughing stock for the entire family. A future where Calum couldn’t reject and discard you publicly. Now it was a very real possibility, you were far more upset than you ever thought you would be. Calum glances at you briefly, bucking up the courage to put on the biggest and most detrimental show of his entire life.

He doesn’t face your sister when the words come tumbling from his mouth. He faced you, addressing you like he needed you to hear this and fuck, maybe he did. You actually felt touched about it until he opened his mouth. “You’re kind of a fucking weirdo.” You went to shut him up as the embarrassment crept in, but he spoke louder as he often did. “You are, you’re a freak- and it’s so, it’s refreshing.” Your mouth closed but oh, so slowly. You began to listen to him, decided to trust him. “You’re fucking nuts.” You rolled your eyes. How many ways were there, to describe you as crazy? Why did he feel the need to use all of them? “But I like it. I do. I feel like I can be myself around you.” He talked with his hands a lot as he scrambled the words. You reached for them, settling them in your lap and he silently thanked you for it. Everything got a whole lot easier when you held his hand.

“You make it feel okay to be a bit crazy. You don’t have to be so straight or basic, you can just, be.” Just as you started to smile, you saw that you weren’t the only one. It was working, his little speech was actually working. “I like who I am around you. Even if sometimes you don’t. I like that you tell me when I piss you off. I like that you act like you hate me when you don’t. I like that you’re so fucking stubborn and headstrong you’d never rely on anyone else and that pisses me off.” You felt tingling racing across your chest. “I love that no moment with you feels forced. That, that smile, right there could make flowers bloom.” He gestured to your face with both of your hands linked together. “That your glare could cause a fucking storm or something.” You tried not to get swept up in the fact he’d stopped saying ‘like.’

“I love that everything feels okay when your hand is in mine, even when you try and say you don’t like holding hands, you’re too good at it to hate it. You know exactly the right moments.” He shook his head with a disbelief. It started to feel so real. “I think I’d miss you even if I’d never met you.” His hand tightened around yours when he said his last sentence. “And I’m glad I met you. I hope one day you’ll be glad you met me too.” The rest of his speech hadn’t mattered when he uttered those words. The words that knocked the breath out of you, leaving you fighting for your life in the seat next to him. You don’t think anyone had ever referred to you so kindly in your life, even if he did call you fucking mental at least 5 times throughout.

He couldn’t even breathe. He’d said it. He’d let it all out and now he just saw the look of shock on your face and couldn’t take a single breath, not knowing how you’d react. It was news to him too though. He could play it off as a lie, say he saw it in a movie, some chick flick or something. He’d copied it because of course he had. But then again, on the off chance you weren’t horrified, he wasn’t sure if he had any more guts left to tell you it was true. He just knew that he needed to do something. He had to fill this painful silence somehow and thankfully, he didn’t have to do it alone.

You kissed him. You scraped your jaw off the floor, and you kissed him. You’d not kissed him like this before. Like your life depended on it. Like he was the very air you needed to breathe. Like he’d meant every word he’d just said, and you’d believed it. God you might have even felt the same. You were also slightly ashamed to say it had your panties soaking between your thighs. Not to mention your heart thundering in your chest.

Calum kissed you as if he were tattooing his words across your lips for eternity. Because for the first time throughout this whole charade, he was actually allowed to mean every word he had said, whether he knew this was how he was feeling at the start of the evening or not. Neither of you could have predicted a confession like this. Even after giving one, he wasn’t quite believing it himself. But fuck, there was freedom in it. There was a lovely form of permanence. Him knowing his words were out there for the universe to take and make with what it will. He felt weightless. It wasn’t the cocktails. Something just clicked in his brain, and he knew it. You were everything.

You melted into each other when his lips found yours. It was sweet and slow but confident, with purpose. Each stroke of his lips against yours carefully considered and carried out like clockwork. You’d felt a rush from this kiss. It was hungrier than any other you’d shared. Quite frankly it was starved. You’d pressed up against him so hard and he’d done just the same to you. His hands coming up to tilt your chin up towards him for more. As if you hadn’t been close enough already. Its only when you gasped at his touch did he slip his tongue into your mouth. You knew he’d had so much practice kissing women like this, but you couldn’t care. You allowed him inside, welcomed the way he licked into your mouth delicately. Blissfully enjoying the taste of his last cigarette on his breath, shocked that it’s not even a put off for you right now.

His words had gotten you drunker than the cocktails you’d been knocking back all evening. You almost whined when he dragged himself away from you. It was way too premature for your liking. Your eyes remained on him and only him as your hands fell back from their place atop his shoulders. You weren’t even sure when they’d gotten there in the first place, just swept away with nothing but him to guide you.

He smiled at you; a smile you know he hadn’t been pretending. You were about to lean back in, sealing that gap between you, before you were reminded of exactly where you were. In public. Very much in public. You sank back into your seat sheepishly, heat rising to your cheeks, burning hot like lava ready to erupt. Calum threw his arm around you, and you seized the opportunity to hide your face in the crook of his neck out of embarrassment. He thought it might be the cutest thing you could possibly have done. He even struggled to wipe the blush off his own cheeks. He felt like a school boy again. “Okay, fine, we believe you.” Your sister threw her hands up in defeat. You’d forgotten what you were even aiming to prove, your head was so flooded with hormones. It remained that way until you were back inside the hotel.

Back in the safety of your room, deep in the darkness, the only light being from the glowing orange streetlights outside, you found yourself nervous for what would come next. You needed a moment to think. “I’m going to take a shower.” You said softly. “Do you mind?” He shook his head, unable to speak. You’d think that after he’d already lay everything down on the table, that he’d find it easier to approach you, but he resorted back to silence. “Go ahead.” He offered. You wanted to ask him to join you. You didn’t. You just thought about it while you locked the bathroom door behind you. When you wiped off your makeup. When you turned the water on and waited for it to heat up before stripping and stepping inside. You thought about it even under the water, arm stretched out to reach you shampoo. You still didn’t.

He’s already tucked away under the sheets, while you’re in there. He thought about falling asleep, willing himself into a trance before you could return, he couldn’t. His mind was swimming with thoughts. He instead insured that the wall of cushions you’d built on night one, was as high as it ever was. There to wedge a distance between you once more. Which is what you wanted, right? It was your main housekeeping rule for sharing a bed.

“Hey." He breathed, as you returned from the bathroom, steam seeping out after you. He was nervous. You ignored it. He lay flat, facing the ceiling, his arms fastened at his sides above the covers. You shouldn’t let your eyes wander but the light had given you a clear path to follow, leading you to the tattooed feather of his collarbone. You wanted to touch it, you’re not sure why. You slipped silently into bed beside him, only you turned your back on him, willing the conversation to end. But you didn’t actually want it to be over.

He rolled over without so much as a creak being made on the old bed. He barely even tugged the cover from you. It’s like a move too sudden would spook you and send you running, it might have, he couldn’t be certain. “Do you think the great wall of prevention might be ready to come down?” He nudged it into your back for emphasis. He didn’t want the night to end. You didn’t either. And yet, your stomach twisted to think of an excuse, a reason for it to stay very much where it was. Only you didn’t find one. “Okay.” You spoke softly. “Okay.” He repeats just as low, just making sure. You hardly felt him moving them. It was so unlike him to be so gentle, so light handed, treading carefully. He was so cautious and calculated, you never thought he had it in him. The cushions were gone. Now what?

“I’m gonna ask you something, you don’t have to say yes, but I really need to ask it so please just hear me out.” There were a million different things he could have asked you; you’d never have enough time to predict it or rehearse the correct answer, you could only breathe as you anticipated it. “Can I hold you?” It felt good to say it, even if his breath was shaky and his heart felt like it might just pack in. He really wanted to touch you. That was before he even saw you there, lay in the warm glow of the light, hair still a little damp, loose over your shoulder, your t-shirt clinging to your body.

The sheets weren’t covering your lower half as well as you’d thought they were, not now the barrier between you was down. Now he could see the lace band of your panties peeking bellow your sleep shorts. He was about to abandon the whole ordeal. Just a peek shouldn’t have been enough to stir him between his legs and maybe it wasn’t, not on its own. But if he’d counted every other occasion tonight where you’d looked too pretty, sounded too sweet, it all added up and he guessed it contributed to the problem.

He started to worry when you didn’t answer him. You obviously weren’t asleep. You were clearly fiddling with the sheets, your fingers tugged at the material anxiously. He’d completely overstepped, he should have expected that. You weren’t together. You wouldn’t ever be together. That was all this entire weekend was supposed to be after all. Just an opportunity to fake it. How could he be so stupid? “Come here.” He looks down to see you half turned back to him, the duvet lifted, giving him even more of a view of your shorts, but he tried not to look at you too much. To just see the invitation, which was what mattered the most.

He wasn’t sure how to approach, you couldn’t help him either. You would spoon, that was a given, you hadn’t budged your position, left him no choice but to mould his body around yours. He shuffled closer, awkwardly trying to stretch his right arm underneath your pillow without lifting your head, hurting your neck. He curled around your back, leaving inches between you, like he couldn’t quite make himself grow any closer. His left arm rested on his own hip, too afraid to reach out and touch yours. He’d asked to hold you. Why can’t he hold you?

You took matters into your own hands. You blindly reached behind you, hands finding his. Your one superpower. You interlock your fingers with his and bring his arm around your waist, the heat of his body coming with it. You could probably feel his heart pounding chest now he allowed it to press against your back. You definitely felt the goosebumps climbing his arms when you pressed a feather light kiss to his knuckle. His heart leapt in his chest.

“What was that for?” He lifted his head, you don’t know it, but he can see enough of your face from this angle to catch the blush on your cheeks and the smile that crept onto it. He’s reassured by it. “Just felt like it.” You shrugged. Only he doesn’t buy it, but he won’t push his luck. His head hit the pillow, only this time, he’s closer to you. His nose is nearly buried in your apple scented locks. You were so sweet smelling at all times, but that apple was just so incredibly you. He knew you’d only used the stuff because it came in a green bottle too. Because only you would map your product selection on the colour alone. It was one of the first facts in your note cards, that your favourite colour was green.

Fuck. He thinks. He really fucking liked you. He wouldn’t even curse himself for it. You weren’t what he expected, and he liked that. He liked that this didn’t go to plan. He liked that he couldn’t pretend any longer. He was grinning to himself, chuckling even. He boldly buried his head in the crook of your neck like he’d done a couple of times that night but more invasively now there wasn’t much space between you.

“What’s so funny?” You shook his hand in yours. “Hmm?” You fought a laugh yourself; his laughter was infectious; it was just stupid and cute. “Ash was right.” He said. You turned your head back slightly, unable to see anything really, before giving up and leaning into the pillow again. “Bout what?” He leaned his head on your shoulder, lips nearing your ear. “Told me this wouldn’t work.” Interesting really, since he ushered you into asking him into this at the start. You’re suitably confused. He’s holding you, giggling in your ear, body warm against yours in this stupidly large bed that he’d made feel tiny, after convincing your family how in love you are, and he said it wasn’t working. That Ash, your biggest influencer, had also predicted it. Well, you’d have said the opposite.

“This isn’t working.” You have a questioning tone. “Didn’t seem like that downstairs.” You were defensive, rightly so. “No, not like that.” He started. Your grip on his hand loosened and he panicked. ‘Just say what you mean, say what you mean,’ he tells himself. “Turn over.” He leant himself up, still firmly on his side. “Why?” He rolled his eyes. “Please turn over.” He pleaded. “Whyy?” You say again. “Fuck, would you just-“ he shook his hand free from yours, placing it firmly on your hip and he twisted you, so you were flat on your back, facing up at him with surprise. He didn’t expect that to work as well as it did.

“You’re so fucking annoying.” He huffed. “Thanks.” Your arms crossed over your stomach, you tried to avoid his gaze, but he manoeuvred himself so that he was directly above you. He decided you couldn’t be trusted to keep you gaze anywhere but on him. You had to give him a shot. Your expression had softened at the sight of him. Just like he’d hoped. His stupid round cheeks. The dumb smile. Why was he always smiling?

“I wanna kiss you.” He said. You thought he was childish. “Is holding not enough?” He shook his head. “Never enough.” He leaned in close, but he doesn’t kiss you, not yet. His forehead just pressed against yours, his lips hovered, breath tickling your own mouth. “Can I?” He begged for it. “Yes.” You breathed. He does. His lips brush yours and it’s just as nice as every other kiss he’d given you. You’re not sure why you expected it to be different all of a sudden. You just had the idea that maybe it would be. Now that you, well now that you actually liked it.

But it wasn’t different, it was exactly the same. “Calum.” You whined. “Yeah?” He was upset that you’d interrupted such a crucial moment. “It doesn’t feel like I thought it would.” Your fingers stroked over his cheek; he arched a brow to question you. “We have kissed before; you remember that right?” He teased. You couldn’t have been that drunk. “Yes. Shut up. That’s not what I meant.” He’s still not on the same page although relieved somewhat that you were in fact sober like he thought.

In his mind that kiss was perfect, electrifying, mind blowing, the best kiss yet, you’d have known it too if you didn’t stop him so quickly. “What’s it feel like?” He tried to understand. You thought for a moment. What did it feel like? Warm, soft, sweet, he was one of the sweetest tastes. Where most men would taste of mint, Calum didn’t. He tasted like cigarettes and the kiwi and strawberry gum he chewed to mask the scent of them on his breath. It didn’t work completely, it more meshed together into its own unique flavour.

It felt nice. “Feels normal.” You said it like it was a bad thing and he can’t understand why. “What’s so wrong with that?” You tried to shake your head. Shake some sense into yourself. You were blowing it. “Kiss me again.” You didn’t have to ask him twice. He pushed his lips against yours, harder than the first time, much harder. Barely leaving a gap between you. Suffocating you with his kiss. He feels like this time he has to try harder; he needed to give you his all. There had to be more.

His lips glided over yours, his lips rough but still careful. His tongue poking out slowly, licking gently over your bottom lip. You part it instinctively and the second his tongue slithered across your teeth, you finally felt it. You don’t know why it took you till the second try. You’re so grateful you felt it at all, but you were panicking for a second, thinking you’d made this huge mistake because how could you let yourself fall for him after all this nonsense? Then you felt it, that spark kicking you to life. That fire in your belly, burning you up inside, begging for his coolness to dampen it down. You fucking needed him.

Your hands gripped his shoulders, nails tucking into them just a little. He’s feeling the heat radiating from you, your energy pouring into him. He’s smiling against your mouth as your tongue meets his briefly. He just knows that this time, he’s got you. “You had me worried there for a second.” He panted, not wanting to pull away but needing to say something. You kissed him over and over, distracting him. Now you’d started, you couldn’t stop. “I know, I’m so cruel.” He smirked, kissing you back just as vigorously, hand coming to your throat, resting gently on it before tilting your chin up towards him.

You captured his eyes, so dark, nearing black in the dim light. If it weren’t for the golden flecks you’d be convinced they really were that dark. “Had to be sure.” He pecked your lips. “Yeah?” You did the same. “Yeah.” He’s so close that every time his eyes closed and reopened, you felt his lashes fanning your cheeks. “And now?” He asked so hopefully, heart on the line as he waited on your answer. You wanted to make him wait, torture him a little, not tonight, tonight you were kind enough to put him out of his misery. “Now I want you.” You said. He could have punched the air with excitement.

You’re kissing again. Scrambling around, his body lowered on top of you, one hand resting on your cheek, the other grazing your hip bone. His body shuddered when you whimpered under the weight of him. You let your legs widen as he slipped between them, all before he lifted your thigh, depositing it safely around his waist. You prayed that he didn’t immediately feel the dampness in your shorts but you’re not the only one struggling.

His hard on rubbed into you, your lips parting with surprise. “Fuck.” He muttered, momentarily halting your make out session, the heat between your thighs overwhelming him. You sensed his embarrassment, his cheeks burning with it. “Me too.” You breathed. Lips pressing a gentle kiss to the tip of his nose as your hand slipped between you, coming down to cup his bulge boldly through his shorts.

The groan he released is sinful, maybe even painful. He felt big. He felt impossibly big. He wouldn’t fit in your hand, maybe not even in the two of them. He thrust into your hand when he felt you touch him. It was his first instinct; he couldn’t fight it. “Shit, sorry.” You caught his lips, tugging his bottom one between your teeth, releasing it slowly. “Gonna move my hand, want you to do it again.” If he thought he was embarrassed at his neediness before, it was about to get a whole lot more mortifying.

Your hand moved away, he was grinding his hips down into you as you’d asked, and you felt the way his cock jumped into action. “Baby.” You panted. He’s sure his heart is going to explode, maybe his cock too, probably that first. “Say it again.” He needed it. “Baby.” You kissed him. He’s rocking his hips into you, you started rotating your own, rubbing yourself over his cock, hand moving out of the way. “Baby, baby, fuck.” He’s covered your lips with his, nose mashed up against you, you can’t breathe, you don’t even want to, you wouldn’t miss the feeling. All of this felt so much more important. “Feel so good.” You whine. He never would have thought you’d be so vocal. You didn’t seem like the type. Thought you’d be a bit of a brat maybe but not this, not confident and sexy and so sure of what you wanted. He could love that; he could love you.

“More, need more.” You’re eyes rolled back when he’s lifting your hips with both hands, pulling your core over him. His cock slipping through your folds through too many barriers of clothing. “Shit Cal.” You felt the sensation of fire burning into you, setting you alight. You’re dizzy and hot and you just felt so good against him. The friction of his shorts might have been frustrating, but it was also, so rewarding. It was such a good roughness against your clothed mound. “Are you?” He can’t even say it, too busy dragging you over his cock. “I’m, fuck, Calum.” He doesn’t stop, not for a second, not for a beat. He makes you ride it out. He’s so stupidly proud of himself. He’d barely touched you and you’d come undone. You’d actually fucking came. “Fucking unreal for me.” He slowed himself down before he followed a similar path to destruction.

He’s pushing your hips back down, letting your body sink into the mattress, pulling away from you to catch a breath. “I can’t believe that.” Your hand floats through your hair combing it back. He’s resting back on his knees, still between your legs. “You’re so fucking hot.” His eyes don’t look anywhere but your face. Your shirt is half way up your chest, bare tits poking out for him to see and yet, he doesn’t look.

You can’t say you share the same sentiment. Your eyes raced to the outline of his erection in them grey basketball shorts. You drank in the sight before you and your teeth clamped down into your lower lip. He reached down to squeeze your thigh. “My eyes are up here.” He gestured with his index and middle finger. You smirked up at him. “Kind of wish they weren’t.” You didn’t miss a beat. “Yeah?” You nodded. Eyes falling back to his very, large problem that he now palmed through his clothing. Shit, even his own hand wouldn’t cover him.

“Gonna keep looking or do you feel like helping?” His voice was awfully steady for someone ready to come apart at the mere thought of your touch. “You want me to?” You’re not sure what you’re asking. “Need you to.” He said. You sat yourself up. “Gonna take this shirt off me first?” You looked up at him, eyes wider than he’d ever seen, somehow so innocent even though you were anything but. “Of course, I am.” His hands didn’t waste any time lifting the material off over your head. You felt the bite of a chill rush over you, your nipples hardening, perking up with it. “So, very, sexy.” He can’t believe his luck. You’re amazed that you don’t feel shy, being so exposed to him. Guess that was good, it felt natural, you felt safe.

“Gonna help you.” You warned, hands slipping down into his shorts. You gasped at the immediate contact with his bare skin. “No underwear.” He smirked down at you. “Fucking slut.” Your hand cupped him just like before, yeah, definitely needs more than one hand. “You love it.” He chanted “I do.” You confirmed, squeezing him hard. The rush of air that left his mouth, oh it made this all so worth it. You tried to be bolder, you took his length in your palm for the first time. You gripped him tight and moaned in unison. He moaned at the feeling of finding home in your soft touch. You moaned; at the way your hand can’t even wrap around him fully. He’s too thick, too girthy, there wasn’t enough of you to take it all.

“Do something.” He urged, forehead leaning on yours for stability more than anything else. “Ah right, that’s what I was doing.” You play as you sprang to action, your hand lifting to the throbbing head of his cock, letting the trickles of beaded cum roll into your palm before you can cover him in it using it whilst you twist your hand up and down his length. “Ohh, fuck.” It came out gravelly. He’d never thought much of hand jobs, said no to many throughout his life, never being worth the time, never feeling as good as his own hand. This though. You. Your hand. You touched him and he swore your hand was made to hold his cock. Even if that sounded ridiculous, there had to be some way of it being true because he felt so good. His cock was slick and hot, it glided through your grip with ease and your tightened fist on him, it was incredible.

You knew to tug him hard at the base, to loosen around his tip. To constantly use his pooling arousal to your advantage. You worked his cock better than anyone else could, maybe even better than him. You weren’t rushing, you didn’t wank him hard begging for it all to be over, getting bored of the feeling. No, you just touched him. Switching your pace. Listening to his hot little sounds. Paying attention to what made him twitch, what made him rut his hips into your palm. You loved touching him, you wanted to touch him forever, every which way you could.

He started fucking your hand. He’s not sure he can stop himself and you’re so turned on by it you actually moan. “What are you doing to me?“ He’d never felt like this before. You’d made him so weak. He was desperately thrusting into your fist like a pathetic little virgin, and you were moaning. He had to be making this up, you weren’t real, none of this could have been real. “Fuck Cal.” You’re soaked at the idea of it all, you even clenched down on fucking nothing, the thought of him inside you instead of just the palm of your hand, it’s too much to bear. “Need to fuck me.” You quicken your pace, your hand tugging at him desperately. “Fuck, fuck. Stop, you gotta stop.” He doesn’t want you to, God knows he doesn’t, but if you don’t, he’s gonna fucking bust all over your perfect little hand.

He forced your hand out of his shorts and you have the audacity to pout up at him when he does. “You’re something fucking else.” He pushed you back, your head drops happily onto your pillow. “Something good I hope.” You toyed with him, and he is about to lose it. “Take these off.” He tugged at your own shorts, and you didn’t budge. “Off.” He commands, climbing off the bed, feet hitting the cold wooden floor of the hotel room.

You shifted behind him, pulling your shorts and panties down your thighs, tossing the material to the general vicinity of you shirt. Your hands are once again in your hair, combing through it with nerves just eating away at you. You ached for him. Your thighs were squeezed so tightly shut you thought he might never pry them open again. You were on edge, literally dying there waiting. He’d dropped his shorts; they’d hit the ground quietly. He stepped out of them quickly, hand lifting to touch himself, he let out a quiet hiss when he did. He was so turned on, cock so tight and hot in his hand, he’d bury himself in you and never wish to leave.

He climbed back onto the bed, settling on his knees like he had before. His hand rolled delicately across his tip, soaking himself still, using his own arousal to ready himself for you. His cock had a wet sheen in the light. You thought it looked even more delicious now with a coating like that. Perhaps your legs would part after all. “You sure?” He thinks he knows your answer, but he’d hate himself if he didn’t check. This had all been so perfect, better than he could have ever imagined because God, his imagination wasn’t half as creative enough to make you up. You were far better than anyone he’d ever known. The more he knew you, the better you got. Each and every layer, prettier or wittier or more perfect. You must have been real. Real and a gift made just for him because you had him hook line and sinker. He was dumb to credit himself for thinking he imagined you a few moments ago.

“Fuck me.” You spoke. He shook his head. Leaning over you, tip throbbing hard when it breached your walls for the first time before making a heady retreat, running through your slick, wet, lips instead. “Can’t.” He said. Running his cock up and down, eyes flickering shut, throat drying with his pure fucking thirst for you. “Why not?” You furrowed your brow. He’s right there, all he had to do was enter you. You could just lift your hips and he’d slip his fat cock inside. “Can’t call this fucking, not when you feel this good.” You think you might have passed out when pushed inside of you. “Oh, fuck.” He covered your lips to catch your moan. He didn’t think about the fact he’d be sinking in further, bottoming out, pelvis to pelvis with you when he did.

Your legs wrapped around him so tightly your heels began to dig into his tasty, round backside. You fasten him in place intentionally. You needed to feel him. Needed to feel him in his entirety, pulsing inside you. He bit down on your shoulder till he tasted a metal zing of fresh blood, he’d apologise at a later date. For now, he needed it. You were sopping wet around him, engulfing his cock in a warm, tight sleeve. With each breath you took he slipped a little bit further inside. You felt so full you’d felt him bulging in your stomach, so far inside you it even hurt you.

“I need to move, gotta let me move.” He locked eyes with you before you nodded, loosening your legs, letting him withdraw his hips, pulling right back away from you, tip nearly leaving the crevice of your wetness. Then he pushed back in, all the way, hips against hips and you fucking moaned. You moaned so loud he thought he hurt you, ready to withdraw and panic at that thought. But then you lifted your hips to meet his. You meet his next thrust and then the next, and the next. You don’t let him do a damn thing without your involvement. You needed to be in this together because what’s the fucking point if you can’t give each other your all?

“You’re so wet, soaking me.” You can only sigh, you’re not sorry, he got you so damn good he ought to be proud. “So damn hot. Gonna need to change the fucking sheets.” He rambled on. His hands dig delicious bite marks into your hips. Yours place a similar attack atop his shoulders. “Feel unreal.” You captured his lips in a needy kiss, chest pushing up as your back arched involuntarily. “Very real, so fucking real.” You muttered. As your back arched further, Calum found a place within you, a sensitive spot he angled into unexpectedly. A place you’d only ever touched yourself. You shook, and you clenched down on him, hard.

He’d be an idiot not to notice it. You were clamping down so much he worried he’d lose circulation all together. “You want me dead don’t you?” He slammed his hips down into you. “Won’t be happy till I’m not fit for anyone else, that it?” His chest flattened against yours, his cock reaching that angle even more intrusively than before and you’re about to scream for it.

He’s got so much pressure leaning against it you’re about to crumble and he doesn’t even know it. “Calum.” You panicked, hands snaking into his hair, tugging his brown curls. He couldn’t get any closer to you and yet you needed it, wanted him covering you. “Fuck, you’re, fuck are you cumming?“ He leaned his head back, looking down into your eyes, you have tears brimming in them and he can’t believe it, he was so right. “Please, please don’t stop.” Your voice came out so weak, soft, precious, and broken and he thought you sounded like a needy little princess when you begged for him like that. “Anything, anything for you.” He meant it too.

His hand wrapped around your throat loosely and tenderly as he coaxed your second orgasm from you. Your scream caught in your throat. He kissed you hard, breathing life erratically back into you. The way you tightened around his cock has his eyes roll back into his skull, his teeth biting down hard on your plump, cherry lips. He’s so close to cumming himself, but he will not let himself go until you’ve done it first. He had to make it through. He had to feel the way you came around his dick for the first time. Needed it imbedded in his brain as the religious experience it certainly felt like it would be.

“Calum, Calum,” you’re not even aware you’re yelling his name out there. You just do it. That’s what gets him in the end. Your pretty little voice wrapping around his name, securing the idea that he was in fact the guy who’d made you crumble into a mess in these sheets, twice. It was all him. “Where, fuck, where do you-“ he can’t even say it, can’t get the words out. “In me, need it in me, please baby.”

He did as you asked, his hips pulsing into you, cock sputtering, leaking his hot cum inside you. You felt it all. Deep inside, covering you, damning you. You were claimed from the inside out. There wasn’t a single piece of you that wasn’t marked as his now. You sighed heavily at the thought of it. “So, fucking good.” You muttered. Him filling you was just so erotic to you. He’d felt exactly the same because of course he did, he was made for you. He loved that you’d let him take you like that. It felt heavenly pouring himself into you, coating you in his colours. Pulling out might just be the hardest thing he’d ever have to do.

His body covered yours. He’s no strength to hold himself above you, but no way of pulling away just yet. You’d not minded his weight at all. You’d actually enjoyed it, felt comforted by it. Even if your bodies were sweat soaked and desperately in need of another shower, it felt nothing but perfect lying here a little longer. Your fingers massaged into his scalp, he hummed at the relief of your touch. His breathing slowed down, softly blowing over your chest where his head lay comfortably.

You decided you loved the sound of him breathing. You can’t explain exactly why that is, but it offered you some kind of comforting stimulation that you think you’d listen to happily for hours. The mere existence of him, being enough to soothe you. “So that, uh-“ he licked his bottom lip, wetting the dryness there. “That happened.” You heart leaped and you know he felt it. “Don’t make it weird.” You nearly begged. “I’m not making it weird.” You poked his head. “You’re making it weird.” You accused, poking him again. “Would you stop?”

He lifted his head this time to avoid another attack. Well fuck. If he thought you looked beautiful before, it had nothing on the way you looked now. You were flustered and tired, your eyes wet with tears and probably sweat and yet, gorgeous. “You’re staring.” He hated you. “I can’t stop.” He’s lying. He could, he just never wanted to. “What will people think?” You gasped. “How will we tell them?” He continued, following your train of thought like he’d conjured it himself.

“Well, what do we actually have to tell? You know, to get our story straight.” He knew that was your not-so-subtle way of asking what you were, after all of this, but he doesn’t mind it because he’d also liked to know. As cliché as it was. It really did happen that fast. “Well,” he rubbed your cheek with the back of his hand, watching as your face leaned into his touch. “Your family think we’re in love so, that’s kind of handled.” You laughed. “That you’re way of confessing your love for me?” You dig with a smile. “No.” Yes. But it was way too soon to verbalise that. Sure, you’d known him for a while, but this weekend was the closest you’d ever been. And yeah, he may have felt it in his bones, but he wasn’t crazy enough to admit it to you. Jesus Christ. “So, it’s just, everyone else.” He nodded, then repeated after you. “Everyone else.” Easier said than done.

“What if I uh, slip you another 200?” He rolled his eyes. Only you would ask that. “Oh, because I haven’t whored myself out enough?” You grinned. “Well, if the shoe fits baby.” He nudged your nose with his own. “No but seriously, what would 200 get me?” You tried to deadpan but the smile refused to leave you. “I’m refunding it by the way.” You feigned shock. “My money not good enough for you Hood?” He looked at you with a ‘you really asking me that?’ look on his face. Though technically, you hadn’t actually given the money to him yet. “Only asked for it because I knew it’d piss you off sweetheart.” That hadn’t surprised you at all. “I dragged my ass to the bank for nothing.” He thought he might howl with laughter.

“You got cash out?” There he goes, those chubby fucking cheeks, the crinkling eyes. “You actually withdrew 200 bucks for me?” You wanted the bed to swallow you whole. “I DON’T EXACTLY HAVE YOUR BANK DETAILS CALUM!” You yelled and he laughed harder, nearly rolling off you all together until he remembered he was still very much inside of you. “I’m so fucking dumb.” You face palmed with the embarrassment of it all. “You kinda are.” He agreed. He knew you’d hate his lack of support. “I like em dumb though.” He also knew he deserved the flick you gave him. “We’ll get you to the bank tomorrow, don’t you worry babe.” This time you didn’t flick him. “Not going anywhere tomorrow.” You sighed, arms wrapping around him. His stomach fluttered when you held him like that. “Why, what you got planned?“ He nuzzled his face happily into your breast, his spare hand squishing the other nicely. “Gonna get my fucking money’s worth that’s what.”

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ao3feed-larry · 2 years ago

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Wolves on Ice

by rebarboa

Harry Styles is the captain of the Wolves hockey team at a university. He has future in NHL on the tips of his fingers and despite his injury from the last match of the last season he is back in the game. Ready to take this year's college championship. There is only one catch. The rival team of the neighbour university, the Calamity, which shares the campus with the Wolves, just brought in a new player and immediately named him a captain.

Or: Harry and Louis are captains of two rivalry hockey teams and they hate each other.

Words: 1440, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English

Fandoms: One Direction (Band), 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)

Rating: Explicit

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: M/M

Characters: Harry Styles, Liam Payne, Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Ashton Irwin, Luke Hemmings, Michael Clifford, Calum Hood, Gemma Styles, Lottie Tomlinson, Phoebe Tomlinson, Oli Wright, Sarah Jones (One Direction), Pauli Lovejoy, Mitch Rowland, Stan Lucas

Relationships: Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson, Zayn Malik/Liam Payne, Niall Horan/Original Female Character(s)

Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - College/University, Enemies to Lovers, Hockey, Alternate Universe - Hockey, Frat Boy Harry Styles, Frat Boy Louis Tomlinson, Frat Boy Niall Horan, Frat Boy Zayn Malik, Frat Boy Liam Payne, Bottom Harry, Top Louis Tomlinson, Bottom Louis Tomlinson, Top Harry Styles, Quote: They kind of share that really (One Direction), OT5 Friendship (One Direction), Alternate Universe - No One Direction, Texting, I created instagram profiles and posts for everyone, thumb up means I love you, everyone is hot but zayn is the hottest, Louis Tomlinson Loves Harry Styles, Happy Ending, Angst, I had to use literally everyone from 1dverse to create two hockey teams, Rivalry, Bad Parenting, Daddy Issues, College Hockey, National Hockey League, I will add more tags later, everyone is a Canadian for the sake of the story, Famous Louis Tomlinson

via AO3 works tagged 'Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson' https://ift.tt/ZJk3IW8

#author #larry stylinson #larry fic #ao3 feed larry #Wolves on Ice #<p>by <a rel= href="/users/rebarboa

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hash-tag-i-dont-knows · 8 years ago

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Neighbours

“Hey so i know we dont really know each other but when we pass in the hall we always smile at each other and sometimes wave, plus you seemed really nice when exchanged names that one time so anyway my roommate has her boyfriend over AGAIN and they’re getting rather.. physical and I cannot stay and listen to them its just…wrong. Any chance I can hang out here for a couple hours?” You ranted as you stood outside his door.

“Sure.” Was all he said as he opened the door wider so you could walk in.

You began to thank him as you closed the door then carried on, “so is there anywhere specific you want me to sit?”

“Anywhere cool as long as you pass me the cookies on the counter please.”

You picked up the delicious looking cookie off the counter before heading towards Michael, deciding to just sit beside him on couch since there weren’t that many options.

“So,err, so do you wanna watch some netflix or something? I dont tend to have company so I’m not quite sure what to do.” Michael said kinda nervous.

“Netflix sounds good, so long as you know we’re not gonna be doing the ‘chill’ part.”

“Of course, never even crossed my mind, I promise. What is it you wanna watch?”

“Anything Disney is good with me.”

“Finding Nemo it is.” Mike replied getting it all set up, “Y'know you dont have to sit there all stiff, relax, take your shoes off, i’m not gonna bite.”

You couldn’t help but chuckle at his words as you removed your shoes then situated yourself on the couch so you were much more comfortable. Once Michael noticed you were now settled he began the movie.

Before long you found yourself getting rather tired, deciding to close your eyes for just a minute, however before you knew it 'just a minute’ turned into several hours meaning you found yourself waking up on an unknown couch with an extremely soft blanket on top of you with an equally soft pillow beneath your head.

“Morning sleepy head” Mikey greeted before taking a sip of his coffee.

“I was only supposed to close my eyes for a minute what happened?”

“You closed them for a lot longer.” Michael replied sarcastically before continuing, “About half way or so through the movie I noticed you had closed your eyes. I didn’t have the heart to wake you up, especially when you started using me as a pillow.”

“Oh God, I didn’t drool on you did i?” You asked as you lowered your head in embarrassment.

“No. But you do have the cutest little snore i’ve ever heard."At this you let out an embarrassed groan.

Before the two of you could say anymore there was a knock at the door, it was your room mate letting you know it was safe for you to come home.

"Well, thank you for having me Michael.” You told him with a smile once your roommate was gone.

“It was a pleasure Y/N. In fact I was thinking maybe we could do it again sometime? Maybe you could actually stay awake?”

“I’d love to.” You replied smiling at him before going back to your own apartment.

#michael clifford #my writing #neighbours #michael clifford fic #michael clifford blurb #michael clifford imagine #5sos #5 seconds of summer imagine #5 seconds of summer blurb #5 seconds of summer fic #5 seconds of summer #5sos fic #5sos blurb #5sos imagine #neighbour michael #Ashton Irwin #calum hood #Luke hemmings #6.7.17

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5sosfanfictioncatalogue · 6 months ago

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"Numbered" Fic Titles Masterlist

2am (ao3) - cthink calum/ashton N/R, 1k

Summary: Calum can’t sleep.

That is, unless he’s with Ashton.

3 A.M. - @daydadahlias (cornflowerblue (daydadahlias)) michael/luke M, 4k

Summary: Five times Michael accidentally meets Luke in the bathroom and the one time he meets him there on purpose.

3 Cheers for Sweet Revenge (ao3) - gnamjoon michael/luke, calum/ashton T, 9k

Summary: Erm, it’s me. Your upstairs neighbour, and apparently nightly supplier of audio porn. I just wanted to apologise for what has now been SIX MONTHS (you could’ve said something earlier!!) of a bad sleep cycle. So, sorry. To express this, I have decided (or rather, my roommate Ashton, who is currently looking over my shoulder and is incredibly pissed off that I don’t listen to him when he complains about the noise level, has decided) that I owe you a night of super-loudness. Just please, wait until exams are over and I have a chance to buy sound-proof headphones. Luke

Or, the one where Michael and Calum live below Ashton and Luke, the latter of which has really loud sex on weeknights, when Michael needs to study. Also, Biceps are Calum’s kryptonite

5 Seconds (ao3) - insideimasadrainbow michael/ashton, luke/calum T, 18k

Summary: “If your name is on their list, you’re already dead.” That’s the warning message about 5 Seconds, a well known group of anonymous killers who make themselves known each year for the Purge. While the world fears these killers, David Hood remains focused on his security systems business that has celebrities such as Beyonce, Adele, and Ellen DeGeneres paying big bucks for it. Due to his lack of research and knowledge on 5 Seconds, David is oblivious to how the band of killers work off a list and has no idea that his name is has made it on there for the 4th annual Purge

5 Times (ao3) - Cornelia_Love luke/ashton, michael/calum G, 2k

Summary: 5 times the boys said they would date each other and the one time they actually did.

1990 (ao3) - orphan_account luke/ashton M, 13k

Summary:

“I don’t like guys, Luke” Ashton whispered tentatively against the blonde’s pulsing throat. “But you like me?” the younger boy muttered back, his heart pounding in his chest and his eyes slipping closed in anticipation. “Yes, I like you a lot.”

Or the one where two working-class boys from Manchester fall in love, but will society’s perception of ‘normal’ stop them from being together?

20/20 (ao3) - nothingliketherain (39_killer_queen) michael/ashton T, 9k

Summary: 5 times Ashton is affected by Michael in glasses + 1 time Michael is

30,000 Feet in the Air (ao3) - antisocialhood michael/luke E, 3k

Summary: Luke teases and Michael strikes back.

Court Five - takemymoneycth luke/ashton, michael/calum E, 21k

Summary: A story in which a young college tennis player maybe likes his new coach a little too much.

Eighteen (ao3) - boomercal luke/ashton E, 56k

Summary: Eighteen-year-old Luke is done putting up with his father and brothers so he takes his father’s Corvette and credit card to track down Ashton Irwin. Who graduated a few years ahead of him and has a reputation for smoking, drinking and sleeping around; surely he’ll be enough to make his dad meet his demands… right?

Five Golden Rules of Submission (ao3) - shesagoodgirl calum/ashton E, 3k

Summary: soo, thank you to kittenmichael for the lovely idea. thank you to calum for being a filthy exhibitionist. and thank you to ashton for being ready to dom calum when you need him.

if my wall clock tells me that it’s 4 in the morning i’ll give it hell (ao3) - crankgameplays luke/ashton N/R, 1k

Summary: basically writer!ashton with a small case of lukesomnia and artstudent!luke who also cant sleep and he draws ashton a lot okay its not his fault the boy has such a nice face, he /has/ to draw it.

Number One (ao3) - iCheeseYou (EHkook) michael/luke T, 3k

Summary: Michael hasn’t seen his musician of a best friend in a year since he left for a world tour.

One Foot In The Gutter (ao3) - pommedhappy michael/ashton T, 2k

Summary: Ashton sighs, questioning his decision for a second before knocking on the door.

The thing is Michael is sad, has been for a few weeks, and Ashton can’t take it anymore. It’s not hard to understand that Michael is quite depressed right now and wants to be alone, but the way he keeps isolating himself from the rest of the band really starts to worry Ashton. That’s how he came up with a plan, in order to get Michael out of this dark place the younger boy keeps going.

It’s probably the worst decision he never took, but at this point he’s ready to try and do anything in his power to make his friend feel better.

one look and i’m enchanted (ao3) - jbhmalum michael/calum T, 1k

Summary: “Stop looking at me,” Michael grumbles, arms crossed and a pout on his face. Calum knows very well he’s not asking for safety reasons, which makes another teasing smile breakout on his face. “But you’re so cute,” he says, laughing at Michael’s disapproving noise. Michael hates being called cute. “I swear, you’re the most adorable thing I’ve ever seen.”

OR Michael now has to wear glasses. He hates it, so of course Calum teases him about it.

Scene 14 - @daydadahlias (cornflowerblue (daydadahlias)) luke/ashton, michael/crystal, roy/calum, kaykay/sierra E, 128k

Summary: It’s one of the first lessons you learn. There’s a difference between performing and acting.

Actors are intellectuals; they’re poets with their expression and the way their voices hit the air. Performers, by comparison, are children, ignorant and too bright for their own good. No one wants to admit to being only a performer. If you’re anyone worth anything, you want to be an actor.

And Luke is not an actor, but Ashton is.

Or, the one where Luke hates Ashton but has to pretend to be in love with him for five months for his acting final except for the fact that maybe he isn’t pretending anymore.

Symphony No. 4 in F Major (ao3) - orphan_account michael/luke T, 9k

Summary: What happens when Michael Clifford, esteemed member of the New York Philharmonic, meets Luke Hemmings, punk-pop rockstar?

The 5 Times Calum Ran Into a Nameless Guy at a Bar, and The One Time He Wasn’t So Nameless (ao3) - awfuldaycupcake calum/ashton N/R, 7k

Summary: The one where Calum keeps seeing Ashton in bars, but doesn’t even know his name

two can play that game (but you win me every time) (ao3) - galacticsugar luke/calum T, 10k

Summary: When Calum tells people he works at IKEA, people tend to respond enthusiastically. Some of them joke, did you have to learn Swedish?, or make a crack about the meatballs. Some of them ask how many marriages he’s seen end amongst the aisles. Basically, everyone turns into a comedian the moment Calum mentions his job.

Two, Two, Four (ao3) - cashcakeplz ot4 N/R, 9k

Summary: “So, let me get this straight. You…want to have a foursome…tonight?” Luke asked, raising an eyebrow at Calum.

or the one where Calum and Luke seduce their boys into a foursome.

#5sosfanfictioncatalogue #5sos fanfic #masterlists #numbered #numbered masterlist

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starshipsofstarlord · 4 years ago

Text

CALUM HOOD MASTERLIST

🥀 = Smut

🌺 = Requested

Broken Home

Summary: The walls to the house next door are thin. He hears the pain that his neighbour is going through, and Calum wants nothing more than to take her away.

Warnings; abuse, domestic relationship, violence, angst, mentions of sex

Homeward Bound 🥀🌺

Summary; Cal returns home from tour, and he shows his girl how much he missed her and figures out a way to help her sleep, which she had been struggling to do without him

Warnings; includes smut (handjob), swearing, fluff

Piece of Cake 🥀

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writingfortoomanyfandoms · 5 years ago

Text

FINAL STRETCH

okay so my deadlines are tomorrow for my two pieces of coursework (FUCK YEAH) and so that means that tonight I’m in for a long one likely with little sleep and so lets do this again!

Come keep me company - send some soft af concepts (last time we had some neighbour!Luke and a lot of nurse!Cal which I, as always, adored) or questions about fics or suggestions for LORS or anything really

Just come talk to me as I do my final stretch for my coursework please!!

I just looked at the previous post I put for this and I stand by the ones I was in the mood for but also some additions so... boxer, tattoo artist and uni/frat boy!5sos more and also nurse!cal is a must, along with football player!Cal and I Need You Universe concepts (also lowkey can we delve into King of Hell!Ash and maybe some more neighbour!Luke??) and also some poly!5sos would also be much appreciated (poly!Cashton, Kayshton, Lierra, etc)

And also Greaser!Niall (and tattoo artist!Niall is one that I didn’t realise I needed until I started getting requests for it) and baker!Harry are other AUs and conepts which I desperately need to talk about, and send in some for Louis because I want to get talking about louis more plz

Also some high society!AUs, hogwarts!AUs and college!AUs for anyone pleaseeeeee

#calum hood #calum hood fanfiction #nurse!Calum Hood #tattoo artist!Niall Horan #soccer player!Calum Hood #ashton irwin #ashton irwin fanfiction #luke hemmings #luke hemmings fanfiction #neighbour!Luke Hemmings #niall horan #niall horan fanfiction #harry styles #harry styles fanfiction #louis tomlinson #louis tomlinson fanfiction

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n-ctarinenga · 5 years ago

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Be Home Soon [ calum hood ]

w.a.h series | pt.1 | word count: 3,912 | masterlist

Sometimes, when you let your mind wander, you would come back to a thought that encompasses every other question you'd asked yourself in the last few years.

Where would you be now, if yours and Calum's lives hadn't merged when they did?

You admittedly hadn't had the best of weeks upon the day you had met Calum in Los Angeles. Being a graphic designer from the same side of the world as him though, it was easy to find a mutual connection.

Before sitting down in a waiting room at Interscope records, your week had been filled with paperwork. Paperwork that basically piled around your ankles as you waded through all the necessary documents to confirm your new life away from where you'd always known as home, New Zealand.

Not only was the stress of the move on your shoulders, but the stress of your new job was too. It almost didn't matter that you had gotten your bachelors degree, because nothing could prepare you for the first day on your dream job.

It was this first day on the job that you had met Calum, being sent to the same waiting room as him while you waited on your supervisor and he waited on his band mates, him being the first to arrive.

You'd recognized him instantly, and heard your boss in your head telling you not to get starstruck in front of the clients. Seeing it as your first major test, you let your shoulders relax, sitting down on one of the couches opposite him and setting your bag down by your feet.

"Morning." You smiled politely, looking over to him as you noticed him glance up at you from his phone.

He stalled for a second as he looked at you, just long enough for you to notice before he spoke.

"Morning." He replied, a small smile on his face as he nods in your direction.

Feeling like you handled the interaction well, you gave yourself a pat on the back mentally, opening twitter to catch up on whatever you'd missed overnight and this morning. As you scroll though, a text notification comes up on your screen, letting you know that your supervisor is running late in a meeting, and will take a little longer than expected.

You let out a soft sigh before you stop scrolling, letting your phone rest on the couch beside you and pulling out your smallest sketchbook while you wait.

"Hey," the man from across the room asks, catching your attention and making you look up from your pencil case, "I hope you don't mind me asking, but is that your dog on your phone case?"

You hadn't prepared yourself to actually converse with someone yet this morning, but you could feel your face light up as you flip your phone over beside you, showing off the picture of your most favorite dog in the universe.

"It is, yeah. Her name is Ayla. Normally I have flowers in my case but I had to take them out when I was coming over here and the first idea I had to replace it with was my favorite girl." You laugh lightly, handing your phone over to him so he could see the sweet neo mastiff on the back of it.

His face breaks out in a grin as he looks at the Polaroid in the back of your clear phone case, and you do your best to ignore the flutter in your heart at the sight in front of you, his bright grin helping clear the clouds that had been covering your week.

"She's adorable. My boy Duke is probably about the size of her head." He laughs, handing you your phone back, "If you don't mind me asking, where is your accent from?"

You're surprised with his question, mostly because you didn't expect to be having a conversation with him, but also because you were sure your accent wasn't that pronounced.

"It's from New Zealand. Born and raised." You smile proudly, and this time, it's his face that lights up.

"Can't believe we're practically neighbours, though I thought you sounded familiar." He admits, leaning back in his seat while you smile with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, they do always say aussies and kiwis can find each other anywhere."

He nods in agreement, and from there, it doesn't take you both long to start talking about your home towns, sharing your experiences about childhood snacks under slightly different names, the shows you'd both end up getting months after they had already screened in the US, and of course the numerous sports rivalries between your countries.

The ease in which he made you laugh felt different than your normal interaction with strangers, and as you shook your head, telling him about the extreme culture shock you felt walking into a supermarket to get your first load of food after moving, he could feel a wave of calm and familiarity coming from you that made him feel nearly instantly comfortable in your presence.

The conversation flowed easily, and as you saw your supervisor approaching while in the middle of talking about how long of a flight it is between Austrliasia and America, you felt kinda disappointed you'd be leaving your new buddy.

Once your supervisor collected you, you said your goodbyes to Calum, walking off towards the office space you could now call your own.

As you walked off with your supervisor, Calum's eyes followed you, taking a moment to catch a breath he didn't realize he'd lost.

You'd been talking for easily less than thirty minutes, but there was something about you that made Calum wish you would walk back around the corner again to tell him more about your life.

He kicked himself for not getting your number, only knowing your first name and that you're a graphic designer, but nothing that would help him contact you again.

The only thing that snapped him out of his thoughts was Ashton walking into the room, crashing down onto the couch beside him.

Little did he know, but you were feeling exactly the same as you sat down in your small office space, cursing yourself for not having the guts to ask him for his number, not wanting to seem like you wanted something from him.

There was a part of you that wanted to run back out to the waiting room, the hopeful side of you thinking there was a chance he'd still be there.

Something about leaving him back in that room didn't sit right with you, and before you could talk yourself out of it, you stood up from your desk, walking back through the hallways to the waiting room.

As you reached the entrance, someone else did too, and you bumped into someone solid that sent you wobbling back a few steps, the person reaching out to steady you.

Looking up from where you had been watching your own determined steps, your eyes widen as Calum stands in front of you, hands on your upper arms to steady you, shock crossing his face before a string of apologies fall from each of your mouths.

"Oh my god I'm so sorry-"

"I'm so sorry are you okay-"

Cutting each other off, you laugh lightly nodding at his question after a second.

"I'm fine, really. I was actually coming back here to see you so I'd say this worked out." You laugh, scratching the back of your neck nervously as he lets his hands drop to his sides.

"Really?" He asks, a small smile on his face.

"Yeah, I uh," you shrug slightly, "I would really like to hear more of your stories. Honestly, you're really interesting to me, and you haven't shown me your dog even though I showed you mine so I think you owe me." You joke, and feel your heart back flip as he bursts with laugher.

A wide grin covers his face as he nods, pulling his phone out of his pocket and unlocking it before handing it to you.

"You have a good point, and I'm glad you find me even half as interesting as I find you." He comments, looking down at your phone that you'd swapped him but still managing to make you blush as he typed his number in.

Taking a quick selfie to set as a contact icon, you save your number under "waiting room kiwi" before handing him his phone back.

The connection you felt that day did anything but sizzle out, evident by what happened after your phone first buzzed with a text from him later on that night.

With two years passing since you met, you and Calum had experience with distance from each other, being in a relationship since your chaotic first date that lasted a lot longer than anticipated, after a lost wallet sent you on a wild goose chase, knowing from that day on that you were both very much meant to be in each others lives.

Whenever you could, you would make the journeys necessary to be with each other. It was hard sometimes, fighting off the thoughts that the distance would affect your relationship negatively, but you did your best to remind yourself, and to remind Calum, that even when things were hard, you would always have a home in the other's arms when you could finally hold each other again.

With you basically living with each other while Calum was home recording Calm, it felt like you'd actually had a moment to breathe and just exist around, and with one another.

But then the pandemic hit, and everything shifted from slow motion into fast forward. With only two days to decide if you would be staying in California or going back to your families, you spent more than half of those 48 hours with tears in your eyes as you did your best to help each other pack what you could of your lives into suitcases, not knowing when you could come back.

It was the hardest decision you had ever made together, the decision to be away from each other for God knows how long.

Calum gripped your hand with a tight grasp nearly the entire 23 hour flight from California to Auckland, almost like he was trying to commit the feeling of your hand in his to his deepest, most permanent memories.

With a last "I love you" between tear flavoured kisses, your heart ached as you watched Calum's flight leaving you in Auckland while he traveled on to Sydney, and even the arms of your parents and siblings couldn't stop the aching in your heart you as you felt the distance between you and the man you love grow every second.

You sat between your older brother and sister on the way home, not far out of the city you'd only been back to a few times since moving to the States.

Calum spent a large percentage of time on his flight to Sydney with his eyes closed or cast down to his phone, flipping through pictures of your lives together before things became so uncertain and unpredictable. He knew it would make him feel worse in the long run, but with no end in sight to whatever you could even call his current situation, all he cared about was the fact he just had to say goodbye to the woman he loves.

Upon landing and seeing his big sister waiting for him from her own flight home a day earlier, Calum basically crumbled into her arms, searching for any ounce of comfort he could before they made their way back to their home.

You and Calum loved your families, and wanted to protect them and be there for them, no matter how much pain you caused yourselves.

Being at your childhood home for only hours before lock down took effect felt like the most absolutely wild fever dream your mind could come up with, but as you gathered around the TV every 1pm, the reality of it all started to sink in.

Though the first few days of being separated, you and Calum had a hard time finding space between family bonding sessions to phone each other in any capacity. You would spend hours together on facetime in the middle of the night instead, you watching him noodling with songs from the new album just around the corner, or him watching you reorganize a room you hadn't had the chance to since your teens before one of you would inevitably pass out.

With time blurring together the days quicker and quicker, the only thing that reminded you what day it was, was how many days since or how many days til it was Great British Bake Off night.

One night, the feelings of the world hit you harder than the others.

The shine of being home had quickly worn off, and sleeping became harder and harder without your boyfriend beside you like you had been used to the last few months.

With your exhaustion and situation hitting you all at once, you could barely breathe as tears ran down your face as you sat at the end of your childhood bed on the phone to Calum, doing your best to hide your current state from him as you covered the speaker with your hand.

"-and I just can't get zoom to work at all. I 'ave no idea how kids are meant to be using this for school when I can't even get it goin' to call my mate a dickhead." Calum complains, his example making you laugh, which is soon followed by an all too telling hiccup.

Hearing that small sound barely picked up by your phone made Calum freeze, tense energy immediately flowing through him.

"It's cause your WiFi is shit, babe." You laugh, but are confused with the silence you're met with on the other end.

"Babe?" You question.

Calum lets out a sigh, your quietness over the last ten minutes of your call making sense to him as things started to click.

You would only ever hiccup on two occasions, one, when you were close to blackout drunk, and two, when you had been crying.

"Darlin', you don't wanna be hearing me complain about technical issues, do you?" He asks, his heart aching as your following silence told him all he needed to know.

"I'm just happy to hear your voice, actually." You say in a soft voice, a fresh wave of tears falling down your cheeks.

Calum had to blink away his own tears at your words, inhaling as deep a breath as he could.

"This is fucking horrible." He comments, and you scoff lightly, nodding even though he can't see.

"You've got that right." You agree as you look down to the rug under you, faded from years in the sun that was nowhere to be seen as autumn's clouds quickly turned into winter rain. "I don't think I've ever missed someone so much in my life."

"Next time we're in a pandemic, we're going to Michael's." Calum adds, trying and succeeding in making you smile.

"On the way out I'll grab Moose and South, then we'll just have to steal Petunia to get the A team together." You laugh.

Calum takes a moment to drink in the sound of your laughter, knowing it had been few and far between these days, yet it still sounded like music to his ears just like the first time he'd heard it.

As your shared laughter dies down, you can hear Calum take a deep breath before he talks again.

"I didn't know I could be homesick for a person."

And with that, your heart breaks even more than it already has been.

You stay on the phone to him for a while longer before your mum calls you for dinner, leaving him with a promise of a text later on in the night.

You join your family after cleaning up your face, but take it you didn't do the best job as your brother and sister offer to do the dishes while you go back up to your room, telling you you'd looked too tired for it tonight, and hell, they weren't wrong.

Crashing down onto your bed, an idea flashed through your head as you stared at the ceiling above you.

While you'd never been one to really verbalize your feelings and emotions, you were the kind of person who knew how to get their emotions down onto paper, or in this case, into the text box to your boyfriend's number.

Hey sweetheart. Honestly, I swear sometimes you know me better than I know myself. You were right, as normal, things have been harder than I've been letting on. But because I know you and how that head of yours works, I didn't want to fill your mind with worry when so much is going on around us already. There's a large part of me that wishes we weren't as self sacrificing as we are, even though it's obvious to anyone that we're always the ones choosing the ones we love over ourselves. Things are way too scary for me to think about for too long and I hope you're doing better at distracting yourself from thinking about it than I am right now. I'm not as good with words as you are, love, but I feel like if this time apart shows me anything, it's that you're the best thing I've ever had the honour to hold, and god I'm dying to hold you again and never let you go. I could say I miss you and I love you in a million different metaphors and references, but sometimes simplicity is best, and I miss you, and I love you, so so fucking much. I'm more homesick now than I have ever been in my life. Not for LA, not for here, not for anywhere in the world, apart from the space beside you. You have my heart darlin, and you are my home. Good luck with your game of monopoly against Mali, though I gotta be honest I'm backing her on this one. Goodnight, I love you, and I'll see you (onscreen) tomorrow, honeybee.

Upon hitting send and rolling over as you close your eyes in hope for some resemblance of a full night's sleep, you couldn't have even imagined the pounding Calum felt in his chest after reading your message three times over before finally looking away.

Walking into her brother's room, a sad and understanding smile appears on Mali's face as Calum's attention pans to her.

"Rain check on the game?" She asks.

"Yeah, thanks." Calum clears his throat.

Questioning her movements for a moment, Mali moves forward into the room, sitting down beside Calum and wrapping her arm around his shoulders. It wasn't hard for her to see how much this was affecting him, both of them being as close as they are, and Mali wished she could fly you over herself to ease the heartache you were both going through right now.

"I'm gonna ask her to marry me next time I can see her again." He says, a finality and certainty to his words.

He was entirely serious, too. After this was over, Calum never wanted to let you go again, not like this. He was well aware of all the things he'd been lucky enough to do in his life, but you by far were the person who convinced him just how lucky he is.

You had his heart, and he had yours.

Mali just smiled as she comforted her little brother, knowing this was going to come from the first day you spent in the Hood family home when you joined them for Christmas two years prior. The ease at which you fit into his family was like you were meant to be there all along, and the looks shared between Mali and Joy during that period of time showed they were both very aware of that.

After promising to shift their game forward a Day, Calum is left on his own again.

Laying on his bed, staring at the ceiling, he doesn't quite know how to reply to the text message still sitting open on his phone.

He couldn't hug you through text, and knew no other way to comfort you like he wanted to, apart from the one thing that always made your heart beat at a different pace, apart from him, which was something he was capable of: music.

Picking up his acoustic guitar from the otherside of the room, Calum sits down behind his desk, phone propped up against his computer screen as he opens the camera.

Looking up to the ceiling, he takes a deep breath, collecting himself before he starts.

Gaze falling down to his hands again, he starts to slowly pick out the chords to the first song that came to his mind, the perfect song for you.

Upon playing out the final chords, Calum can feel the tears rolling down his face falling onto his shirt, wiping them away with the back of his hand that feels nothing like the soft touch of your fingers before throwing on a hoodie and walking downstairs to sit with his family, deciding against the solitude he knew would swallow him completely if he didn't do something about it.

Somewhere deep inside, something's got a hold on you.

And it's pushing me aside, see it stretch on forever.

I know I'm right, for the first time in my life.

That's why I tell you,

you'd better be home soon.

The crisp air of a morning soaked in an approaching winter wakes you earlier in the day than you would have hoped.

Fairy lights strung around your room still shined from last night, hung by your brother upon being bribed to help you earlier in the week, you not being bothered to turn them off before falling asleep.

You couldn't say you slept well, but you were grateful for anything at this point.

Rolling over, you pick your phone up from your bedside table, scrolling through a few notifications before landing on the text messages sent to you from your friends during the night, the good morning texts sent to you at two am reminding you of the time difference you were struggling with.

Your heart leaps as you see a message from Calum, remembering your own message from last night and the word vomit it contained.

You tilt your head in surprise as you sit up in bed, seeing a simple text saying "I love you too" sitting under your text to him, a video sitting under the message causing your interest to be pique.

Hitting play on the short video, your heart drops to your stomach and tears well in your eyes, the tune instantly recognisable.

After all, you had both been hearing it all your lives.

Tears flood down your face as you play the video over and over again, shaking your head as you wipe away your tears on your hoodie.

"Little shit." You laugh through your tears, knowing he would know exactly the effect the video would have on you.

Hand covering your mouth to soften the sound of your sobs, you lay back down again, curled into a ball in the middle of your bed as you feel the weight of thousands of miles press down on your chest.

taglist: @spicycal @softbabiestan @irwinkitten @mrandleer @smalla-than-a-bugg @candidcal @lukeskisses @wallflowercal @brooklynsninenine @whereveryouares

#calum hood #calum hood fanfic #calum hood blurb #calum hood imagine #5 seconds of summer #5 seconds of summer fanfic #5 seconds of summer imagine #5 seconds of summer blurb #5sos #5sos fanfic

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