#so took a sick day anyway which sending those emails gives me major anxiety but like who wants a sick person in their office cmon???

[miralparis]

ughughugh

[lavieendonna]

Brushwork || Art Major!Calum AU (Chapter 14)

Summary: An Art Major AU where Dallas - third year gawky art student at VCA -  makes a deal with Calum - her cute new neighbour and project partner - and they spend the entire year learning that the perfect masterpiece takes a whole lot of brushwork.

Date: 24 August 2017 Requested: as always  Pairing: Calum + Dallas Words: 3.4K Warnings: nothing other than the occasional f-bomb. A bit of Mali in this chapter too, and we all love her so.  A/N: IT’S A MIRCALE! TWO CHAPTER UPDATES IN ONE MONTH! AM I GOOD OR WHAT?! I’m so immensely proud of myself for sticking to my guns and pumping out another chapter less than a month from the last. Thank you to everyone who still reads this and to those who have kept up their faith in me and sent me positive vibes to keep going. This is one of my favourite pieces and I’m so excited to finish it with you all :-) big love xo 

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Chapter 14:I Was Too Terrified To Speak Much Louder In Fear Polly Would Legitimately Tear My Head Off And Put It On A Spike At The Door To Warn Her Future Best Friend.

Now is probably a good time to mention that Mali had gotten my number the day after I left her in Calum's apartment. She’d messaged me and said that she felt bad for not saying goodbye before she went back to Sydney – and to be honest, I felt bad for forgetting that she was even leaving. But she forgave me soon enough – word travels fast in the Hood Family, apparently.

She messaged me not long after Calum had officially called our Friday night plans a date, demanding that I called her immediately. Part of me thought maybe she was just being nosey, but by the sounds of things she just really wanted to know how I was feeling. I told her I couldn’t talk yet, that I still had class and – oh, yeah – Calum was still with me and would be for the majority of the day. She wasn’t overly impressed with that, but it kept her off my back until 4pm on the dot when I told her I’d be back at home.

I dialled Mali’s number and as I waited for her to pick up, it occurred to me that maybe I should have been calling my own sister instead of the sister of my upcoming date. Isabelle would be squealing in her seat if she knew that I, Dallas ‘Social Anxiety Makes Me Inept and Useless’ James, was going on a date for the first time in Jesus knew how long. She’d be proud of me, even, and she almost never said that out loud. There was something about telling her, though, that freaked me out even more than the date itself. Once it was news in the family then I was never going to hear the end of it. And if things ended badly (which, you know, it usually did considering it’s me we’re talking about), well, that was something I didn’t think I could handle even slightly.

“I want to hear the exact words, okay, Calum is being surprisingly tight-lipped about this.” Mali didn’t even say ‘hello’ which lead me to believe that she was more excited about this than I was.

“Well,” I had to think about it. The last 24 hours were a bit of a blur, they happened so fast. “First we were talking about our mural.”

“Yawn.” I could almost hear her eyes roll to the back of her head.

“It was the lead up!” I defended her brother. “It was pretty smooth actually.”

“My brother? Smooth?” Mali snorted. “Who knew.”

“Yeah, it was… nice. He was confident.”

“Another miracle.” Mali laughed. “What did he say after that?”

“Uh, well he said he had a question for me and asked if I wanted to go see Luke perform at this open mic night thing on Friday.” Mali squealed, but quietly as if she was trying to wait until the very end of the story to let loose her fangirl heart. “I didn’t really catch that he was asking me out, though, so I said that I would go if Luke wanted me to and then –”

I paused to smile because Calum’s voice started ringing in my ears a little bit. I never thought I’d be That Girl that reminisced about every moment between her and The Boy, but it was hard not to be. Now that we officially had a date, every moment counted. And I hadn’t made it all up in my head, either. He’d said the words himself.

“Then what?!” Mali asked, impatient. I chuckled quietly.

“Then, uh. He laughed at me. He said it wasn’t Luke that wanted me there but him.”

“Wow.”

“Then I asked if he meant a date and he said it was. So, yeah, we uh. We called it a date.”

“Of course it’s a fucking date!” Mali exclaimed, and I could hear the grin in her voice. “You’re going on a date with Calum Fucking Hood!”

“Oh my god, can you…” I face-palmed, feeling the blush creep up my cheeks. It was all well and good when I whispered it out loud to myself that I was going on a date with Calum Fucking Hood, but when Mali said it out loud like that it made it seem like he was some sort of international heart throb guitar player and that dating him was a total miracle beyond belief. It was still a miracle, but not for reasons to that extreme.

“Look, it’s not a big deal.” I tried to continue, but I laughed anyway because that was the biggest lie I’d told myself in ages. Mali laughed too, and I did not blame her.

“I know, I know!” She said anyway. “Still. I’m glad for you two. This will be good for him, I can tell.”

“How can you tell?” I had my eyebrow cocked as if she was really here. I imagined her shrugging, but tapping her nose while she shot me a wink.

“It’s a sister’s intuition.” She said very matter-of-factly. “We all have it, even you.”

“Even me?” I feigned offense. “What’s that supposed to mean?!” Mali cackled much like my own sister would have. And that alone made me wonder if maybe, by chance, Isabelle wasn’t just bullying me our entire lives and I really was just as gawky as she was saying I was.

“You know what that’s supposed to mean.” Mali said very slyly, not giving me the benefit of the doubt in the slightest. “But anyway, how are you feeling? You are okay with this right?” I took a breath, though I wasn’t sure if it was because I was nervous or if it was because I was giving myself more time to answer. Likely, it was a combination of both. I lived nervous, and the longer I took to think about my words was always the better.

“Yeah.” I said, probably less enthusiastic than I meant. “Yeah, definitely. I, uh. I’m… I mean, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want this. I just convinced myself it never would I’m, like, in shock or something.”

“Why the hell not?” Mali seemed to demand of me and I shrugged because the list of ‘Why Not’ reasons was too long to even know where to start.

“Because it’s me!” I laughed. “And I don't look like Polly and I’m not like my sister or his friends. I didn’t think I was his type.”

“Calum doesn’t have a type.” Mali said after a small pause on her end of the phone.

“Really?” I asked. “I figured he was a tall, leggy, blonde kind of guy.” Mali scoffed and I kind of just accepted it as I wondered out of my room and out into the kitchenette (I’d made the realisation that I was starving when my stomach growled half-way through that sentence). She didn’t comment on how I’d just described her as Calum’s type – which I was glad for because I didn’t really want to re-visit that awkward conversation.

“Nah, nah.” Mali sounded like she was trying to reassure me of this (which I wouldn’t put passed her, if I was being honest). “Calum… He likes who he likes.”

That statement made me feel better than I thought it would. Because even though on one hand that meant I basically every human alive was my competition, it also meant that there was a chance I was good enough for something.

“Well, thanks.” I said dumbly while I stared at mine and Polly’s mostly empty fridge, frowning at the lack of appeal it had. “I’ll keep that in mind next time I say something unnecessarily sexual that he could charge me with sexual harassment for.”

“Wait, what? I need the story behind that one.”  

“Maybe another time.” I said with no intention of ever reliving the moments I’d accidentally come on to her brother. “When are you coming back to Melbourne?” I thought changing the subject might make this conversation less humiliating.

“As soon as you and Calum send out your save the dates.” Mali fired back, making me kind of regret ringing her to begin with. I laughed, though. Her dig at me didn’t seem to sting the same way as when Polly did it. “I do have to go, though, my Mum is calling me to help with dinner.”

“Alright,” I said, giving up on the fridge and trying my luck in the pantry instead. “Well don’t give anyone food poisoning.”

“I’ll send you a package for taste-testing.”

“I’ll pass. Talk to you soon.”

“Send me a picture of The Outfit!”

“If I remember.”

And then that was it. I found a box of chocolate Pop Tarts on the top shelf, and I had no idea how old they were, but you can bet like hell I was going to eat the shit out of them.

“What’ve you got there?” That was Polly. She’d wondered out of her bedroom, and that confused me because I was under the impression she had classes until later tonight.

“Pop Tarts.” I said with a grin. “Want some?”

“Always.” Polly nodded and I threw her a pack, knowing she didn’t much care to heat them up. I thought she was a monster for it, but I didn’t often say that out loud. Also, she was in a funny mood so I didn’t want to push my luck.

“I thought you had classes tonight?” I asked her as I unwrapped my snack and jammed them into the shitty toaster on the bench. Polly shrugged, sitting on the Ghost Stool on the other side of the counter, and rolling her eyes nearly into the back of her head.

“Got an email from the lecturer and the tutor. They’re both sick and out until next week so they’ve given everyone an extension on our folios.”

“Huh.” I raised an eyebrow. “Fair enough – I think?” Polly was chuckling darkly and making me second guess if this was a good thing for her or not.

“I mean, sure,” Polly scoffed. “But I don’t think they’re really sick. I’m pretty sure they’re fucking and have gone on holiday together.”

“You think so?” I asked. And Polly nodded wildly.

“Oh yeah. They’re both young for their jobs, in the same field, and they see each other every day.” Polly laughed again, this time less darkly. “Everyone can spot the sexual tension between them – they try to pretend they hate each other but it doesn’t work very well.”

I chuckled, not because what Polly was saying funny but rather, because Polly always had a knack for creating conspiracy theories about everything.

“Well, either way,” I took to saying as I switched the toaster off at the wall and just about threw the steaming hot chocolate tarts onto a small plate to let them cool down. “You got the extension to make up for it. And even if you don’t need it –” I could see Polly about to interrupt with that exact excuse. “– At least you’ve got time to do other stuff. Whatever you want, really.” Polly paused and then shrugged as if I’d made a good point.

“True.” She said simply before taking another bite of her Pop Tart. I took a chunk out of mine too, swearing loudly when the melted chocolate within blistered the roof of my mouth. Polly snickered at me, and I glared back.

“Rude.” I mumbled, sticking my aching tongue out at her.

“No.” She said, straightening her posture and staring me down very intensely. “No, what’s rude is my best friend scoring a date with a total hottie and not telling me about it.”

I flushed a brilliant red from neck to cheeks.

“You, uh… You heard about that?” I mumbled out. I was too terrified to speak much louder in fear Polly would legitimately tear my head off and put it on a spike at the door to warn her future best friend.

“Yeah, I heard about that.” She said. She was not impressed in the slightest. “Why did I have to hear it from Michael that you and Calum were finally dating?!” I opened my mouth to object, but then what she’d said hit me and I frowned.

“Wait,” My mouth was full of Pop Tart. “How did Michael find out?!”

“Luke!” Polly practically wailed, her mouth also full. This was the most uncivilised conversation I’d ever had, probably. We were such barbarians. Michael heard from Luke who heard from Calum.”

“Jesus…” I muttered, turning back to my Tarts. “Luke and Michael have such big mouths.”

“So do you, usually.” Polly pointed out and I sulked because she was right. “Why didn’t you tell me?” She sounded less annoyed with me now and more… upset. I looked back up to my friend and while she didn’t look like she was about to with the Oscar for Best On-Cue Crying, she did look like she wanted an explanation. And to be honest, she probably deserved one. I usually told her everything.

“Sorry, Pol.” I said with tight lips and a small, one-shouldered shrug. “I just… I didn’t want to bother you.” That wasn’t really the whole truth, but it was definitely part of it. Problem was, Polly frowned at me for it which probably meant she wasn’t buying it at all.

“Since when have we worried about bothering each other?” She deadpanned, crossing her arms over her chest and leaning on the counter on her elbows. “You know I don’t care about that, good news or bad.”

“I know.” I said guiltily. I felt like I was getting lectured by my parents – but worse, since I actually cared what Polly thought and what she had to say was almost always important to me. “I just… I-I was confused about how to feel. I’ve kinda only just come to terms with the fact that I liked Calum like that, and the idea of him liking me back was some kind of fucking miracle so… I dunno, I guess, I just wanted to work it out for myself, and I knew you were caught up doing whatever with Ashton so I just… I didn’t think it would be a big deal.”

There was a pause, and I was scared because as soon as all of those words come out of my mouth they sounded like the wrong thing to say. And I hated that – when the truth is the truth but it feels like it’s not. And Polly was looking at me with these eyes that I just couldn’t read properly, so I didn’t know if I’d just offended the shit out of her or hurt her feelings or what.

“First of all,” She finally spoke after a minute or so of pure silence (aside from my heaving breathing as I tried to cool down the Pop Tart that was already in my mouth like a dickhead). “You shouldn’t feel like you need to do anything on your own. That’s why we’re friends, dude, and you need me just as much as I need you.” I nodded, still refusing to look the girl in the eye, just in case I turned to stone. “Second of all, it is a big deal. I knew you were going to like him like that the moment we met him – hell, I nearly liked Calum like that when we met him, have you seen the kid?!” I laughed at that one, rolling my eyes slightly at Polly’s theatrics.

“Yeah, yeah.” I waved her off as she reached over the counter to push me in the arm (gently – it was too awkward of a position to punch me for real). “Will you be less mad if I promise you can help me with my hair and make-up before I go?” I finally looked back up at her face and she was beaming cheekily the way she did, and it was a nice change to see her smiling at me. I could almost see the Old, warm twinkle in her eye.

“Always.” She said for a second time and she pushed me again. “Anyway,” She continued. “Third of all, there’s nothing going on with me and Ashton so that shouldn’t even be an excuse at all.” This time, Polly looked away from me and I shot her a challenging cocked eyebrow.

“Uh, yeah, because you and Ashton rocking up the next morning after a Tequila party in your underwear is ‘nothing’.” I shot. “Care to explain that one, since we’re on the topic.” Polly gave another wild shrug, her face pulled together in a grimace as she tried to find the words. She swallowed the last of her Pop Tart and shrugged again. I thought I could see the hint of a smile twitching in the corners of her mouth.

“We’re… Ugh, I don’t know, it’s complicated.” I furrowed my eyebrows together.

“What’s complicated?” I asked. “You like him, don’t you?”

“Well, yeah.” She huffed.

“And he likes you?” She shrugged.

“I think so.” She sighed. “But there’s… there’s more to it than, that, we’re… well, we’re working it out.”

Polly gave a crooked, unconvinced smile before standing up to put her wrapper in the rubbish bin. She didn’t sound (or look) like she was going to say any more on the topic so I didn’t press for any more answers. I wanted to, because she was being very vague about this whole situation and I wanted nothing more than to ask her straight out if her and Ashton were sleeping together. I had the feeling they were, because based on this conversation alone, ‘more to it than that’ could really only mean one thing. I could have been reading into it too much, but I didn’t think so. It was Polly and it was Ashton. They had a habit of making things complicated with sex.

I was a little bit annoyed, especially when Polly wondered off back to her bedroom. She’d just grilled me (lightly) until I spilled what was on my mind and apologised for offending her and our friendship, and yet when I tried to do the same and get her to open up, she shut me out and got vague. I was finding it hard to understand how that was fair. Part of me felt like it was just me being dramatic and entitled, but like it had been all the time lately, there was something about this friendship between Polly and I that seemed very one-sided. I frowned, staring at Polly’s closed door for a moment before huffing and waving it off. It was a future problem for future Dallas. I had more important things to worry about.

I realised, as I sulked around the kitchen and put the rest of my things away and changed clothes, that I was quickly running out of daylight and I needed to haul ass down to the mural. Calum and I were slowly running out of time and considering we almost never had time to work on this shit together, we were relying on each other to pick up the pieces every time we worked on it separately. The last I’d checked, Calum had finished the last coats of base paint and, since he’d drawn and given me a copy of the final design, I gave him the creative freedom to choose his colour scheme too. That meant it was up to me, today, to start the outlining on the wall.

It was going to be tough, limited daylight aside. Calum’s design on paper was almost flawless, and I was crazy scared whatever I started on that damn wall wasn’t going to do it justice at all. I worried the whole way down to the atrium, and even more when I laid out the tarp and paint. I figured out that spotlights were going to help my sunlight issue – but they weren’t going to help if I fucked up big time.

For yet another night, I spent hours down working on that wall. Security asked me 3 times for my ID, my pass and the letter from our teacher explaining what the fuck I was doing painting on school property in the middle of the night. It was a new record. It was nearing one in the morning when I’d finished the outlines for each stage of our ballerina transformation, each one was only missing one thing.

Her face.