Strike (Cake) [Completed] (#Wattys2017)

13: Just

...

Calum got to the lecture hall a few minutes early. He had his headphones in, listening to All Time Low, when he pulled open the door and stepped inside.

The hall was completely empty, save for Luke pacing the front by the board. He heard the door open and looked up, freezing in place, seeing Calum standing there. He smoothed his shirt and waved.

Calum took out his headphones, rolling them and putting them in his backpack as he walked up to Luke. "Did I miss something?"

"I cancelled class." Luke looked like he didn't know what to do with his hands. Calum thought about what Peter had said and tried to push it out of his mind.

"I didn't get an email."

"I went through the roster and sent it to everyone but you."

"Is that even allowed?"

"I don't know."

They just looked at each other for a moment.

All at once, Calum wanted to just step forward and kiss Luke as hard as he could. Screw it if someone came in here by accident. Luke looked amazing and his eyes and his hands and... But he also looked really anxious. Nervous. Scared. Calum understood that Luke had done this so they could have all the time they needed to talk to each other. He calmed himself down.

"So I guess we're here to talk," he said.

Luke swallowed and nodded. "Well...if you wanted to go to my office, we could do that too. I just...wanted time."

"Sure. I like your office. It's comfortable. In multiple ways."

Luke nodded again. "Okay."

They were in their respective positions on the couches, like always.

Neither of them knew how to start.

Calum could tell how uncomfortable Luke was. Luke looked like he had a million things running through his mind right now. And Calum did too, but Calum had been right—the tables turned, and their positions switched. Calum was more confident now, and Luke was entirely out of place. Maybe they should begin with something less touchy.

"So, Feldmann is in two weeks. That's crazy," Calum said.

Luke tried to hide his relief. "I know. I'm excited to see you and Michael. We still have that last practice on Thursday though."

Calum nodded. "Right. Do they do the same pairings?"

"No. Different ones than last time. For variety, I suppose."

"Right. Makes sense."

"Yeah. I got paired with Ashton once, for the first practice I think. God, he crushed me."

Calum smiled. "Like if they'd paired me with Michael. Would've been just the same."

"You're even better than you think, Calum."

"But Michael is even better than that."

Luke shrugged. "Maybe. We'll see how it goes on Thursday." He gave Calum his first smile of the day, and Calum was more than happy to return it. The air cleared.

Calum took a deep breath. "We need to talk about it."

Luke nodded quickly. "I know."