Inspired (CH) •DISCONTINUED•

Chapter 19

Calum's POV

As both me and Ashely laid back down in my bedroom, I stared ahead of me, up at the ceiling, while she curled her limbs into mine. "Should I feel bad for doing that to Cassie?" I spoke aloud, causing Ashley immediately lift her head so she could directly see me.

"I don't think so." She scoffed, resting her sleepy head onto my shoulder, and I wrapped my arm around her. "Remember, Calum, she's the one who hurt you, so you not speaking to her or caring for her shouldn't really faze her since she never cared in the first place."

Sighing, I turned towards Ashley and let myself relax, nuzzling my face into her soft neck. "Yeah, you're probably right." I sighed again, my voice muffled from how I was pressed up against her. "Sorry for bringing it up."

"Don't be sorry. This is a hard situation for you and I'm here to help, to turn you back into the Calum I once knew and loved." She hummed into my shoulder, her words slightly confusing me.

"And which Calum did you actually love? The nice and innocent version from high school, the lost puppy version while we dated after school, or the jerk who hated everyone and held extreme grudges on people." I furrowed my brows, watching her as she thought over her response.

As she came up with one that was appropriate for the time, she looked down at me with loving eyes. "I loved you as all of those people Calum. See, what you don't understand is, that's not different versions of yourself, that's just all of your unique personalities showing at different points in your life."

Her small hand ran through my curly locks as I processed what she had said, a giddy and heartwarming feeling forming in my chest. "Well, you're the first to love all sides of me, thank you for that." I murmured, a little blush spreading across the apples of my cheeks.

"All of your friends love you and all your ranges of personalities Cal, but none of them understand and cope with them as I do." She kissed my forehead, untangling her fingers from my hair. "I will love any side of you that you throw my way, don't forget that."

Taking in her peaceful words, I sighed in content, the both of us snuggling together in preparation to go to sleep once again. "I love you Ashley." I breathed out. "Goodnight."

Since my head was against her chest, I heard her heart 'skip a beat', as some would say, as she heard my statement. "Calum." She gasped, sounding a bit shocked. "I love you too, so much." She gripped onto my body tightly. "Goodnight."

__________

The next day, as soon as I woke up and rubbed the sleep from my eyes, I noticed my phone was blown up with messages from both Michael and Luke.

Groaning inwardly, I reached over to my bedside table and unplugged my phone from it's charger and brought it closer to my view. I looked over a the texts that they had sent me, the majority being that I should 'stay away from Ashley', and that I really hurt Cassie's feelings last night.

Ashley then woke up as well, while I was looking over the other texts, the many threats the boys sent my way, quickly snatching the phone out of my hands so she could read all the messages better. "Why are they being so rude to you all of a sudden? I thought you guys made up after that night they barged in here."

"We did." I rolled my eyes, scrolling up to the beginning of the group chat they started last night, and letting her read from there down. "They are holding what happened last night against me this time."

As she looked at all the texts a few more times, she seemed to be very pissed. "That's no reason for them to send you death threats!" She was standing at this pointed, stomping around my room as she was notably in deep thought about something.

"We need to tell someone about this." She finally said, giving my phone back to me and then crossing her arms over her chest with a huff.

I shook my head side to side, refusing to do as she said. "No Ashley, they're still my best friends and I'm not going to get them in trouble over something so stupid." I threw my phone onto the bed behind me, crossing my arms as well.

"Friends don't send other friends death threats Calum." She sassed, stomping over to me, standing between my thighs. "I don't what you to send those messages to anyone, I wouldn't make you do that, but this is awful!" Whining, she sat down on my lap as I draped my arms around her.

"You don't need to worry about the boys doing any of the things they said. I promise you, they're all talk." I smiled, stretching up a little so I could plant a kiss on the tip of her nose, my action making her giggle and scrunch up her nose.

"I just don't want anything bad to happen to you." She looked at me, a serious and worrisome glint in her eyes. "I just got you back. I'm not ready to lose you again."

Her gushiness making me roll my eyes at her, but in a playful way. "You won't lose me again. I can also promise you that." I laughed quietly, picking her up and carrying her to the kitchen. "Now, let's get something to eat. All this serious talk in making me quite hungry."

Michael's POV

"Do you think he'll believe the threats we sent him?" Luke mumbled, trying his best to not wake up Cassie, who was just a few feet away from us, still sleeping peacefully.

Shrugging up my shoulders, I sighed deeply. "I don't know Luke. I hope not, I don't want him go be scared of us or what we could do. This is supposed to help him on the long run, remember."

"So what exactly is this plan of yours again?" He raised an eyebrow at me, sitting down at the kitchen island beside me. "And how is it supposed to help Calum come back to us?"

"You have a plan to get Calum to leave her?" Cassie's morning voice was heard through the silence of my apartment. She then walked towards both me and Luke with a questioning and hopeful look spread over her face. "I want to know."