Between Brothers. [Cake]

Chapter two: "You're too cute."

*Calum's POV*

I sat down on the chair in front of Luke, beside my dad.

My dad was a good person. The only problem was that he worked a lot, and so I couldn't maintain a "normal" father-son relationship with him. I would like to, however. I would like to tell him about my day, tell him about all my dreams but also my fears. Above all, I would like to talk to him about my sexuality.

I was pulled out of my thoughts when my dad waved a hand in front of my face.

Father: "Earth to Calum! Are you with us?"

Calum: "Yeah, sorry," I answered quickly, blinking and rubbing at my eyes. They stung due to the fact that I hadn't blinked in quite some time.

Our parents continued with their conversation that only interested them. Luke and I ate in silence, not listening to a single word that was coming out of our parents' mouths.

Luke: "I like your blond streak," he said, lifting his head to look at me.

Calum: "Thank you, Luke," I answered, blushing slightly.

And then, we turned our attention back to our plates.

Once we had finished eating, we waited to leave the table and go upstairs to do something or the other, maybe play video games.

When everyone was finally finished, we went upstairs together, to my new room I shared with Luke.

Luke: "I invited my friends to come spend the afternoon here since our parents are going out. That doesn't bother you, I hope?" He looked over at me with a raised eyebrow, awaiting my answer.

Calum: "Of course not, I mean that way I can get to know them, it'd be better for school... I guess." I shrugged while he smiled softly.

Luke: "You're too cute."

He just blurted that out, as though he was thinking out loud. At first I asked myself that, and then I wondered whether he was actually paying me a compliment, or if he was just being nice. After all, between friends things like this happen, I could just take it as a friendly compliment.

I looked at him with wide eyes, surprised. And then I lowered my gaze to the floor, blushing. Luke's eyes were wide as well, surprised by his own words.

Luke: "Oh, well this is a little embarrassing... If you want, you can pretend like that never happened." He simply shrugged, head held low and cheeks surely heating up.

Calum: "You're cute too, Luke," I said with my gaze still on the floor, a small smile forming at the corner of my lips.

We lifted our heads at the same time, meeting each other's gaze, but I quickly looked away when someone entered the room.

Liz: "We're leaving. We'll be back pretty late, so don't wait up. Oh, and Luke, ask your friends not to make too much of a mess in the house this time." Despite her words, she had a small smile.

Luke simply nodded, and we waited to hear the front door close.

Luke: "Come on, let's go downstairs, it's better."

I didn't answer, and we climbed down the stairs to go to the living room and sit on the couch, turning on the tv in the process. We didn't say anything, we had our eyes fixed on the tv. From time to time, I could see Luke's eyes on me, but I forced myself to keep my eyes on the screen, despite the fact that it was torture not to meet his azure eyes.

The doorbell snapped us out of our little bubble, and Luke got up to open the door. Hearing exclamations and the sound of hands slapping against one another, I figured it must be Luke's friends. I got up from my comfortable spot on the couch and went to the door to greet Luke's friends.

Luke: "Guys, this is my stepbrother Calum. Calum, this is Michael," he said, gesturing to a young man with red hair. "And this is Ashton," he said, pointing to a young man with curly hair and hazel eyes.

Calum: "Hey," I answered, with a little wave, and they returned the greeting.

Michael: "I love your tattoos, they're really cool!"

I smiled at Michael, and looked at the tattoos on his arm. They were not bad, even though they didn't seem to have an obvious meaning. Eh, I liked them anyways.

Calum: "Yours are cool, too."

He smiled softly, and we went to the living room, turning on the video game console and starting a four-player game. After a few minutes, I realised that Michael was pretty good, but not good enough to discourage me from wanting to beat him. In the meanwhile, I probably had to practice more.

Michael: "I'm invincible, guys, don't even try to beat me!"

Ashton & Calum: "Yeah, sure."

The two of us laughed and high fived each other.

We played all afternoon until they had to leave. They were cool, I liked them already.

Once they left, I checked the time: 7:30pm. My stomach was rumbling due to the fact that we didn't eat anything.

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translator's note: I won't translate all author's notes, I'll translate only the relevant ones :-) hope you enjoyed x