thin walls / calum hood

4.0

Calum

It didn't take long for Hayley to find him. Calum was pacing furiously in the parking lot in front of the apartment complex. He'd been doing that ever since Luke had left him to calm down. The slight pulling of her hand at his arm made Calum turn around.

"Why'd you hit him?"

"He pissed me off."

"So you thought it was a good idea to run at him and hit him? What has he done to you?"

"Are you joking? The two of you have been sneaking around and then he says he loves you right in front of my face." He glared out into nowhere, trying to calm down enough o find the right words. "We got into a fight, yes, but I didn't do anything bad enough to actually hurt him," Calum mumbled, never once looking at the girl in front of him.

"Cal- You- Is that what you think this is? He's my friend. You didn't have to start a fight. You know I'd choose you over anyone, so why would you hit him?"

"Of fucking course. Do you kiss all of your friends? Don't lie to me."

"Please don't," she said.

"It's such bullshit. I've tried keeping it in, but we both know that there's something going on between the two you. I swear I should have just punched him in the dick."

Looking down to where their hands were connected, Calum felt the warmth of her hand disappear.

"He's not into me, I can promise you that. There'd be more chance of him kissing Luke than me."

"That's a joke." Calum laughed dryly.

But Hayley stayed silent, eyebrows furrowed as the words sunk in.

"So you're telling me the guy who's kissed more girls than I can count on my hands has magically turned gay?"

"He didn't say what you think he did, Cal," she said.

"Luke saw it happen."

"Luke's an idiot. Mikey could have literally said anything like I need to tie my left shoe. Or olive juice. Or maybe that his hair was colourful?"

Calum felt himself cringe at the terrible explanation. "So which one was it?"

Hayley wished she could tell him. It wasn't her story to tell, though - it was Michael's - so she bit her tongue and watched as Calum's face fell even more.

Calum frowned at her silence. "See, you can't even tell me."

"You don't trust me."

"I want to trust you," Calum said. "But I don't think I can. What if you and Mikey–"

"Calum. I kissed him once, but it was a mistake. It just kind of happened, and he won't ever try that again. I can promise you that."

Calum couldn't help but laugh. "You're not that bad of a kisser."

"Come sit down," Hayley sighed, sitting down on one of the cement stoppers. "We're no good together. All we seem to do is hurt each other."

"I know." He followed her example and sat next to her on the block. Having no idea what to do with his hands, Calum kept fidgeting. Calum had to fold his hands to keep them from nervously tapping against each other or his leg, which seemed to uncontrollably bounce against the ground, anyway.

"I've messed up really bad. I'm sorry for getting so drunk that time. I ruined our first date and I'm so embarrassed. I'm sorry for everything,"

His arm found its way around her shoulders. "You didn't mess up. We both did. We're a mess, let's face it."