Hoodwinked | Calum Hood AU

22

"Hey, that's my cereal."

"You snooze, you lose."

"You don't even live here!" Alfie whines. "Eat your own cereal in your own house."

"I'm all out."

"Then go to the grocery store like a real adult."

I storm into the kitchen and scowl at Finn, then with a smile I tell Alfie that I'll make us some pancakes. This puts a smile on his face, and a frown on Finn's. That's what you get for stealing the last of the cereal, I want to tell him.

"So what are you guys going to do today?" I ask, taking the eggs and the milk out of the fridge. When Mum left, I didn't even know how to make pancakes. Now I cook them on a weekly basis.

Alfie sighs. Uh, oh. That's not a good sigh. "What wrong?"

"Ask Finn," he pouts.

"Finn?" I say sternly. Something else I've inherited since she left: the stern frown and the disapproving tone that goes with it. I hate being the little sister trying to tell him what to do but I need him to watch Alfie today. The time on the microwave clock tells me I need to hurry up with the pancakes if I want to get out of the house on time. "Finn," I say again. I don't have time to referee Alfie and Finn's sibling squabbles.

"I'm taking the kid bowling," he answers with a mouth full of cereal and milk.

"Hey, you love bowling," I point out to Alfie, giving him a big smile.

"Tell her the rest," Alfie says to Finn, rolling his eyes. Finn keeps on eating his cereal and eventually Alfie gives an exasperated sigh. "Mikayla's coming."

Mikaela?  Like... "Like... Joss's sister, Mikayla?" The spatula slips from my hands and falls onto the fall. I put it in the sink and get a clean one out of the draw, flipping the pancakes over in the pan. "Since when are you and Mikayla friendly enough to go bowling together?"

"Since last week when we made out in my car... after our date," Finn grins like a teenage boy getting his first ever under-the-shirt action. "Joss didn't tell you?"

"Joss knows?" And she didn't say anything? I know we haven't been on the best terms lately, but she could have sent me a text or something. "So, is it... is it serious?"

I know I'm getting ahead of myself but I'm skipping years and imagining the day that Finn and Mikayla announce their engagement, and then a wedding. And, oh my gosh, what if they had kids one day? Joss and I would share a niece or nephew. I can't tell if the idea is exciting or terrifying.

"It's serious enough that I'm having dinner with her parents next weekend," Finn answers, still grinning as he tips the cereal bowl and slurps back the remaining milk.

"I don't like Mikayla. Her face paint scares me."

"Face paint?" Finn says. I just laugh.

"It's make-up, Alfie," I tell him, not adding that she does where far too much of it. You can barely see her actual face. 

"I know," he says in his grown up voice, setting out some plates for the cooked pancakes. He takes the spatula from my hand and starts placing the pancakes on the plates. "I was politely insulting her."

I let out another short laugh while Finn looks unimpressed with the way the conversation is turning. Before Alfie sits down to eat, he puts the fry pan in the dishwasher and puts the milk and eggs back in the fridge. And as I sit, scoffing down my own pancakes, I'm thinking that Alfie really is mature enough for a dog.

I'm in the passenger seat and Luke gets into the drivers side, throwing a backpack at me in the process. When I unzip it I find it filled with packets of popcorn, a block of chocolate, two iced coffees and two apples. 

"You know we're going to the dog shelter. Not Antartica."

"Firstly," Luke raises his eyebrows at me and starting the car. "The shelter is two hours from here. And secondly, you can't drive to Antartica." He places a hand on the back of my headrest. His skin's close, yet  still so far from mine. I sigh.

We pull out of the driveway and relief fills my lungs. Finn has no idea where I'm going today, and Dad doesn't either. This is probably the worst idea I've ever had. Surprising everyone with a dog for Alfie's birthday. Maybe I've been hanging out with Luke too much.

It's just Dad that I'm worried about. I mean, I know Alfie will be delighted. Finn won't really care. He only ever comes home when he needs money or food or he's run out of friends to bother. Speaking of...

"Did you know Finn and Mikayla were, like, seeing each other?"

"No," Luke answers, borderline laughing. "Since when?"

"I have no idea! He sort of dropped it onto me this morning. It's the first I've heard of it. A while ago I gave her his number, but that was just as a favour because she needed her car fixed." My shoulders shrug, "I guess they really hit it off."

"Does Joss know?"

"I don't know, I haven't spoken to her." She can say she's okay as much as she likes, but I could tell yesterday that she was upset about her and Michael breaking up. I sent her a few texts last night and this morning, just to check in and see if she's okay. They've all gone unanswered though. She's probably burying herself in blueberry sorbet and romantic comedies. "I don't even understand why they broke up," I tell Luke, changing the conversation and hoping he'll follow.

"You know what young love is like," I grab the packet of popcorn from Luke's backpack, opening it and offering him some. He shakes his head and I scoop a handful into my mouth, watching him talk. "Young love is temperamental. One minute you can't keep your hands off each other and you're texting every two seconds, and the next it's like they could be sitting on top of you naked and you still wouldn't notice they're in the room."

"That's the -" I'm about to say that's the dumbest thing I've ever heard, but now I'm thinking about it, and I kind of get it. Once upon a time Michael and Joss were attached at the face. You could never talk to her because she'd always be texting him. The most annoying thing was when she'd make plans with me and then abandon them at last minute to hang out with Michael instead. And now it's all over, just like that?

I take in a small panicked breath: is that what's happening with Calum? I do find myself thinking about him less lately, searching for him less when I go into a room or walk into school. When I'm around him though, or talking to him, it's still all there: the excitement, the butterflies, the burning desire to just grab his face and kiss him.

But once he's out of sight, he's almost out of mind. Are my feelings for Calum one step away from fizzling out completely? That's not fair. I'm finally getting somewhere with him now. My feelings can't give out on me now after all this time. I've got to have some sort of control over them.

Surely, when you've pined for something as long as I've pined for Calum, those feelings can't just disappear. Luke's hand moves from the back of the headrest to my shoulder, startling me. 

Unless your heart catches someone else.

:)) don't worry there'll be more luke and ruby road trip in the next update