Imagines and One-Shots (Book Three)

Prompt Blurb #1: Calum Hood (Part 2)

prompt: "I know you love me, but I'm sick of lying when I say it back."

~

Two months later

"I don't think it's a good idea for me to keep doing this, Maisie..." you told your cousin softly after her cheerful 'Hello?' in answering your phone call.

"But it's going so well!" she insisted, "He doesn't suspect a thing!"

"I know – that's what I have a problem with... I don't like having to lie to him... And he keeps asking when we're gonna meet in person, but I... I can't do that knowing I'm not the one he's in love with... I really think you need to tell him the truth..."

"Come on, Y/N," she pouted, "Just a few more weeks! I was planning on breaking up with him anyway."

"Mais, he's a really sweet guy," you shook your head, "He doesn't deserve that."

"I'm just getting bored, you know?"

"Are you going to come clean when you do it at least?"

"Nah," she replied, "Think I'm just gonna end it and leave it at that."

"Don't you think he deserves to know the truth?" you asked.

You heard her make a sound of indifference, envisioning her shrugging along with the noise. So you took a deep breath in and forced yourself to say what you'd been trying to for the last two months.

"Maisie, you have to tell him the truth," you said as bravely as you could, "If you don't, I will."

"Okay, okay," she said, "I'll think about it."

"Promise?"

"Pinky," she nodded. The two of you said your goodbyes, but you couldn't shake the sinking feeling that she was lying to you now as well.

~

A few days later, you were sitting with your laptop on your bed – scrolling through Twitter – when a notification that Calum was calling you on Skype popped up on your screen. You were confused for a moment – Calum didn't have your Skype name – before realizing that you must have forgotten to log out of Maisie's account.

Either way though, something – you didn't know what – was telling you to answer. So you did.

You couldn't keep the small smile from pulling at the corner of your mouth when he came up on the screen – you did that whenever you thought about him now, it seemed like – and Calum's grin only widened when he saw you.

"Mais!" he said, "Hi! I've missed seeing your pretty face!" And it was then that you realized Maisie hadn't meant what she told you.

"Hi, Cal," your smile faltered slightly, "What's up?"

"Nothin' really," he pouted, making you let out a little breath of amusement, "Just wanted someone to talk to."

"Is everything okay?"

"Yeah!" he assured you, "I just wanted to talk to my favorite girl!" You mentally reprimanded yourself for blushing at the comment – he thinks you're Maisie, Y/N, stop it; You can't fall for him – before you and Calum started talking.

You talked for about half an hour about your days and what you did, but the longer your listened to his voice, the more you hated yourself for what you were doing to him. You waited for a moment to try to work in the confession you desperately wanted to give him into the conversation, but nothing ever felt right... Until the call was almost over.

"Well... I have errands to run, so I should go..." Calum told you, "But trust me, I'd much rather stay here and talk to you."

"I don't blame you, Cal," you giggled softly, "I'm pretty great."

"Yeah, you are," he smiled, "Well, bye, Mais. I love you."

"Calum... Wait..." you said, wondering if he could hear how shaky your voice was through his computer speakers.

Calum watched you breathe in and let it out slowly, understandably worrying him. But he didn't get a chance to ask what was wrong.

"Cal, I... I know you love me, but I'm sick of lying when I say it back," you swallowed thickly.

"What?" his face fell and the smile was no longer there, "What do you mean?" You forced out a laugh – wiping the tear your felt fall down your cheek.

"I... I'm not the one you've been talking to..." you admitted, "My cousin Maisie... She's been using my pictures instead of her own... She... She's been catfishing you..."

"No... No, she hasn't – no, you haven't!" he furrowed his eyebrows, "Maisie – she... You wouldn't lie to me like that!"

"I'm not," you shook your head, "But she is..."

"No... She...promised she'd never lie to me..." You breathed out shakily as you began typing in the Skype chat to send him two links.

"My name isn't Maisie – it's Y/N... These are our real Twitter accounts," you said lowly, unable to force yourself to look at him, "The one you met her on was created to talk to people pretending to be me... Calum, I... I know I can't make you believe me... I know you think I'm making it up... But the girl you've been talking to... It's not me... And I'm sorry I ever went along with her and pretended it was..." Calum went to speak again, but you immediately ended the Skype call and logged off of Maisie's account.

You honestly felt like you were going to throw up – you knew it was wrong to spill the secret Maisie should have come clean about herself, but you felt so incredibly guilty every time Calum looked at you with a smile, thinking you were the one he'd fallen in love with. And while you knew your relationship with Maisie would never be the same, you truly felt like a weight had been lifted off of you as you got up from your bed and stepped away from your computer.

~

Not even two hours later, your ringtone began filling the otherwise quiet room. You'd been watching Netflix, but the sound was low, just needing something to distract you from the events of earlier that day. Unfortunately, you knew you'd have to face them again at some point. And apparently, that some point was now.

You picked up your phone from its spot beside your thigh, not even needing to look at the caller ID to know who it was. You answered it, but were unable to get a word out as the girl on the other line immediately went off on you.

"You told him?!" Maisie screamed into her phone, "How could you do that to me?!"

"I gave you the chance to tell him yourself, and you didn't take it," you replied calmly, though your heart was pounding, "Whether you like it or not, Calum had the right to know."

"You're fucked up, Y/N! You had no right to do that!"

"I told you to tell him or I would, Maisie," you shook your head, "And you didn't."

"That wasn't your choice!"

"Well..." you trailed off with a light shrug, "Maybe you'll think twice about using my pictures to catfish someone next time."

"Fuck you," you could just see her rolling her eyes, "I hate you." Maisie hung up, causing you to sigh as you stared at the screen for a moment.

You were about to lock your phone and turn back to your show when you were surprised by a notification popping up on your screen – a Twitter DM from Calum, sent to your own account. You tapped it and waited for it to load – and when it did, your heart skipped a beat.

I still want to meet you if you're up for it

~

prompt used from this list: https://prompt-bank.tumblr.com/post/158088084598/angsty-otp-prompts