Push Me Away : Book 2 of the Teeth Series

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She pondered her words for a few more minutes and then reread what she had written, pressing the post button before she had a chance to talk herself out of it. With that done and the adrenaline coursing through her veins she returned to the kitchen, Duke yipping at her heels hoping for a treat. She obliged him, grabbing the box of specialty dog snacks from the cabinet where Calum had always kept them and rewarding the pup.

"Alright buddy, it's after nine. Your daddy should be getting up soon, you wanna help me make breakfast?" The small dog barked as if he were actually responding to her and she couldn't help but crack a grin as she began to assemble the ingredients and set to work preparing breakfast for herself, Calum, and his roommate Roy. She was just putting the finishing touches on the food when a sleepy eyed, still shirtless Calum trod into view.

"'Morning." He said through a yawn, his arms raising above his chest as he stretched before finally turning his full attention to her. "Is that an omelet?"

"It is." She turned to face him, a smile on her face and plate in her hand.

"You didn't have to make me anything." He chastised.

"I know I didn't, but yesterday was a big day for you and I thought you deserved a celebratory breakfast."

"Not sure if there's anything to celebrate yet." He shrugged and she used her free hand to playfully slap his shoulder.

"That's bullshit. You guys released a fucking phenomenal album that you should be really proud of. The charts aren't everything."

"Just a good bit of pressure on us every time we release."
"Oh cry me a river Mr. My band has three number one albums and is sure to have a fourth next week." She mocked him and was pleased when his stone facade faded and a smile tugged up the corners of his mouth.

"So, let's backtrack, you thought the record was phenomenal?"

"That's the part of all that you fixated on, huh?" She said through a laugh before continuing,  "and well, yeah. I have ears."

His smile morphed into a full blown grin at that as he picked up the fork Fallon had placed beside his plate and dug in. "Fuck that's good." He praised, talking around a second mouthful.

"Glad you like it. I made one for Roy as well. You think he'll be up soon?"

"Probably won't be long, he's a light sleeper so he'll hear us." Fallon nodded, placing the omelet she had made for Roy in the microwave to stay warm, before joining him at the long bar that separated the living room from the kitchen.

The silence that followed wasn't an awkward one like Fallon had come to know in the past year. Instead it was a familiar and peaceful one, It reminded her of how things had once been and it stoked the hopeful flame that had begun to burn within her again.

"Good Morningggg!" Roy sang out as he filed into the living room looking entirely too chipper to have just woken up.

Fallon's eyebrows shot upwards as she turned to face him. "Are you always so chipper right after you wake up?"

"I'm a happy guy." He shrugged. "I smelled food."

"I made you one too. It's in the microwave."

"Ah, Fal. You truly are my favorite roommate."—"Oi!"Calum's mouth dropped open in offense as Roy shot her a quick wink and turned towards the kitchen.

"Can't help the truth. You don't ever make me breakfast."

"I've done it multiple times!" Calum defended, clutching a hand to his chest as if he had been actually wounded by his friend's words.

"Yeah, your cooking has nothing on hers though." Roy told him around a mouth full of eggs.

Fallon giggled and Calum's head snapped to face her direction. "That'll be enough out of you."

"You should probably be a tad nicer to her Cal. She was on the socials full-fangirl this morning."

Heat rushed to Fallon's face, coating her cheeks a cherry red as Calum's eyes narrowed to look at her. "What?"

"I–It wasn't a big deal or anything, I just shared a few tweets."

"It was a bit more than that." Roy continued, clearly pleased with himself as Fallon shot daggers through him with her eyes. If looks could kill, Roy wouldn't have stood a chance.

Calum's eyes remained focused on her for one further moment before he picked his phone that had been laying on the counter up, and tapped his fingers across the screen clearly searching for the incriminating evidence.

All of the earlier confidence and gusto Fallon had about her posts evaporated and her lungs burned as she held her breath and waited for his reaction.

His mouth moved as he read and in her brain she could see the message she had typed only a few hours prior: Beautiful. Honest. A masterpiece. Forever proud. Stream CALM.

At the time it had seemed perfect. She had linked the album and called it good. She didn't let herself get mushy and write a long post. Her thought had been that she could be supportive while still keeping the attention on the band and she had turned the comments off in an effort to keep any backlash out of her notifications but she was sure her timeline would still be full of them. With the way Calum was currently staring at her though she was beginning to doubt everything.

"I uh...I think I'm going to take my breakfast to my room." Roy said, taking a few steps backwards though the other two people in the room were now only vaguely aware of his presence.

An: lots to digest here!

What do we think of Cal's sleepy confession? Is anyone actually surprised?

What about Fallon's public display of support?

How will Cal/fans react to that?

What about Roy's meddling?

Let me know!
Ily,
Sav 🖤