Separated: 5SOS BSM

22. Blackmail (CALM)

"One more." You thought long and hard about something that was in there but not easy to pinpoint or admit.

"Who is my favorite member of 5 Seconds of Summer." You thought that for sure he hadn't read that little tidbit scribbled back the margins somewhere, and that he would automatically guess himself.

"... Michael." He spat looking at you in pure disgust as if you had committed an act of treason, which you had, in a way, but right now you were more worried about the implications of him answering you correctly.

"Correct." You mumbled in a daze looking at him in bewilderment.

"I'll just chock that last one up to hormones, I know that Michael will find it hilarious," Calum cackled, throwing his arm around your shoulder as you stood frozen. He was going to show Michael?

"Oh yea, and I wonder if that guy you like has a twitter?" He tapped his chin thoughtfully and it felt like your heart stopped beating. He was probably joking, you weren't going to risk it, and pulled out your phone anyway.

"You won't show them anything," you said authoritatively catching Calum off guard.

"Oh really? And what are you going to do to stop me?" He grinned amused at the game he was sure he was winning.

"I may or may not have some photos that you don't want out on the internet," you shrugged, looking up at him innocently as the blood began to drain from his face.

"What kind of photos?"

"Well, I have some pretty gnarly selfies, and Mali sent me some baby pictures that are just precious," you cooed, reaching out to pinch his cheeks while he glared.

"I want proof," he snarled, and you shrugged, pulling out your phone and texting him a few of the pictures you had in your collection.

"Believe me now?"

"What do you want?" Calum pointedly avoided the question, but it was of little consequence now as he was ready to make a deal, whomever had more dirt on the other would pull out on top.

"I want the book back, and reassurance that none of it or its content will be leaked anywhere," you stood up a little straighter and looked him in the eye as you said this, trying to make him see just how serious you were.

"That's an awful lot," he groaned, looking back down at your journal longingly.

"Not really considering the fact that you will still undoubtedly tease me privately," you offered, and he perked up a little, so you decided just to give in, "and I'll mow the lawn."

"We have a deal," Calum nodded and you shook on it, collecting your journal, you ran up the stairs to change into something more appropriate for your next activity, stopping halfway to turn back at Calum.

"Just remember, for everything you let slip, I misplace a baby picture online," you threatened, and he saluted, walking away. You just hoped that this wouldn't turn out too ugly.

Michael:

Michael always was so unapologetically shameless. He did what he wanted when he wanted to, not giving a single thought to what others may think. That is, except for one dirty little secret that he had kept hidden from you when you first arrived, it wasn't until you had roamed the house bored that you found it. Stuffed under the pile of nasty old pizza boxes that never seemed to disappear was a small mountain of pamphlets, and not just any old generic pamphlets, no, they were hair regrowth guides. It seemed that Michael was far more scared of going bald than he let on, and simply tried to hide his insecurities under the garbage pile. He should've listened when you told him that dyeing his hair red again was a bad idea, seemed to be too late now. You snatched them to read yourself, going up to your room to find a more appropriate and sneaky hiding place. After a few days however, the novelty wore off and you soon forgot all about the stack of papers in the back of your closet.