Shot In The Dark [Book 1]

4.9 - Pucker Up

"Margo can I talk to you for a second?" Noelle clears her throat and I nod as Koleton turns off the camera.

I stand up from my seat and approach her as she steps off to a far, empty corner.

"You didn't deny the tumour." Her voice cracks and I look down at the ground. "Why didn't you deny the tumour?"

"I didn't think it was fitting for the vibe of the interview." I shake my head, shrugging slightly. "Not to mention, I didn't think it mattered since she didn't ask about it."

"She didn't ask about the other rumours either, Margo." Noelle snaps at me and i back away slightly. "Margo, what are you hiding from me?"

"I-" I can't get the words out. It was hard enough to tell the guys, but Noelle has been here since I first moved to Los Angeles. She's been by my side for all of it.

"It's true, isn't it?" She whispers, a glassy look washing over her eyes. "You have a tumour, don't you?"

"Noelle, I was going to tell you, but I didn't know how to. And I knew you wouldn't let me be alone at all and you would keep me in a bubble." I try to explain my reasoning and she wipes her tears away.

"Damn right I would! Margo, you're so young! You have your whole life ahead of you and you're keeping important things from me!" Her yelling causes me to feel guilty as her voice cracks. "Margo, I know that we fight, but you're my best friend..."

"And you're mine, but I need you to realize when it's too much for me to tell you something." I whisper and she nods, pressing her lips into a thin line. "I tell you everything, but I didn't want you to be upset with me."

"I wouldn't have been upset if you had told me." She stares at me in betrayal before sucking in a sharp breath. "How long do you have left?"

"Until October." I look down at my hands and she places her hand over her mouth. "It's July, we have time."

"We have months. Three, to be exact." She places her hand on top of her head and I feel like I'm going to throw up. "How long have you known?"

"Since the day before we bought the camera."

"You've known for two years?! Margo you've got to be kidding." She lets out a shaky breath before backing away from me. "I need time to think about this. I'll talk to you later, I just can't do it right now."

She walks away from me and Koleton comes up behind me, placing his hand on my shoulder. "Are you okay?"

"I'm dying, Koleton. No, I'm not okay." I pull away from him and walk towards the hallway. "I'll be out in the car."

———

"What do you have so far?" I ask quietly as Calum writes in his journal.

The other guys left around forty minutes ago to get a few things from the store as Calum and I write songs for their new album.

"Not much, I'm stumped." He drops his pen and I shake my head.

"Hey, no." I shove the pen towards him and stand up, walking over to grab his guitar. "Play it for me. Play what you have so far."

He lets out a sigh and grabs the guitar from me as I go back to my seat on the other side of the table.

He begins softly strumming chords on the guitar before beginning to sing. "I've been thinking about you lots lately. Or are you moving along?"

I slowly grab the camera and begin recording him subtly.

He seems so at peace when he's zoned out on the guitar. After a few moments, he looks up at me, smiling sheepishly.

"What are you smiling at?" I tilt my head, turning the camera off as he shrugs.

"You look happy, that's all." He sets the guitar on the couch beside him and I lean back.

"I am." I sigh and lick my lips. "You guys make me happy. Help me feel at peace with the world around me."

"You haven't talked about what happened with your dad since that night." He furrows his eyebrows, clasping his hands in front of his torso. "Why not?"

"I forgot about it, besides, life's too short to worry about all of that. I want to spend the next three months focusing on us." I shake my head and he looks down at his hands. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I just can't help but feel like I could've done more to help you. Or I could've found a reason to talk to you sooner." He looks up at me and I stand up from my spot on the couch to walk over to him. "It sounds dumb, I know, but I just want to help."

"Calum, you being here helps more than anything else you could possibly do. You've helped me more than anyone else. Please, don't beat yourself up over something that neither of us can control." I pull him into a hug and plant a soft kiss onto him shoulder.

"I love you." He whispers, causing a smile to spread across my lips.

"I love you too, more than you'll ever know." I whisper in response and he lets out a laugh before sniffling.

As soon as we pull away, the front door opens signalling that the other guys are home.

Calum jumps up from the couch and grabs the camera before running into the hallway. Luke walks into the kitchen as Calum and I follow him, Calum recording him.

"Hey Luke, how was the trip?" Calum asks, causing Luke to look up at him and let out a soft laugh.

"It was fine, Calum. We actually planned on going up to the hills to hangout soon." Luke responds and I give Ashton a look of confusion.

"It was Luke's idea." He tosses his hands up in defence, causing me to turn back to Luke.

"What made you want to go up to the hills?" I furrow my eyebrows as Calum turns the camera off and sets it onto the counter.

"Well, I remember you mentioning how you wanted to take a trip up to the hills while we were on tour so I thought, what's stopping us from going now?" He shrugs and I grin as he continues. "It's just for an evening, but it would help us have a lot of fun."

"I love the idea, Luke." I smile, running around the counter and hugging him. I pull away and place my hands onto his shoulders. "You're a genius."

"Yeah, well I get it from a certain someone that told me to live life on the edge of the cliff." His eyes flicker over mine as we stand in silence.

That is, until Ashton clears his throat.

"I don't know if you guys forgot, but we have dinner to be making." He points at the pile of groceries and I nod, pulling away from Luke.

"What are we making?" I ask as I reach for the groceries. "And to be fair, no one told me anything about making dinner."

"Yeah, it was supposed to be a secret." Mikey frowns, smacking Ashton causing him to wince.

"I didn't know, dick-head." Ashton rubs the spot that Mikey slapped, pouting. He turns to me and mumbles a quick apology.

"Don't sweat it, I can help make dinner." I smile, looking over to Calum. "We both can. We weren't doing anything except writing songs."

"Yeah, and we don't want you guys to burn the house down." Calum snickers and I roll my eyes.

"Ignore him. He doesn't mean that." I roll my eyes. "He's just moody."

"I am not moody." Calum pouts and I let out a small giggle. "Fine, maybe a little."

"Get a room, you're going to make me vomit all over the food before we even get to make it." Ashton gags and it makes Calum smirk.

"Aww, Ashton do you want a kiss?" He teases Ashton who backs away nervously.

"No, I'm fine, really. Don't bother." He holds his hands up in defence as Calum approaches him. "Calum, I'm serious. You don't want to make Margo jealous."

"It's okay, I'm perfectly fine with the events playing out in front of me. I trust you guys." I laugh and Ashton's eyes widen as Calum turns back to him.

"You heard her Ash, pucker up." Calum reaches out for Ashton as he runs away.

"No!"