Carry Me Home // cake

three

a/n: I'm on a roll updating this and no one's even reading lmao

The next day, Calum was still sleeping when Luke got ready and left for work. He knew Mia was going to ask all about it, so he planned out his responses on his commute to work.

When he got there, however, she wasn't there. Disappointed, he sent her a text asking where she was, but it was two and a half hours later that he got an answer.

And not via text. The door to their office burst open, Mia rushing through to her cubicle. She dropped her bag on the floor and flopped onto the chair, quickly turning on her computer. Luke watched in slight amusement, his chair wheeled back enough to look past the divider at his flustered coworker.

"What happened to you?" he asked, causing her to jump in surprise.

"Oh, my, god," she huffed out, not looking at Luke yet as she typed in her computer password. "It's just been the worst morning ever. I woke up late, couldn't get this mass of hair to cooperate, and then spilt coffee on myself. Twice." She then glanced at Luke and shook her head. "I'll talk to you about Calum later. Right now, I gotta catch up on all this shit."

Luke wished her good luck before returning to work. He was looking up details about Sum 41 to add to his article about their upcoming album. He was super excited about it - the album, not his article - and couldn't wait to talk to Calum about it.

He chuckled to himself at that. Calum had been in his life for less than a week, and yet, he was already excited to go home to talk to him about his day. He valued Calum's company, that was for sure.

When he got home, though, Calum wasn't there. He was a little surprised, as it was nearly 7pm, but then he noticed a Post-it on the round dining table, saying Work till 9 :) -Cal on it. He sighed, leaving the Post-it where it was and heading towards the nearly empty fridge, pulling out the bowl of leftover spaghetti. There was only enough for one, and he wasn't really feeling it, so he left it in there for Calum and opted on a tuna sandwich.

But of course, no tuna.

He groaned, put his shoes back on, grabbed his keys, and left the apartment. 5 flights of stairs and a quick walk later, he was at the nearby grocery store, looking for tuna when his phone started ringing. He stopped in his tracks in front of the rows of canned food, and fished his phone out of his pocket. "Hey, Mia!"

"Hey! Sorry we didn't get to talk today. Are you busy?"

"Not really," Luke told her, grabbing three cans of the first brand of tuna he saw (this was what his mother used to buy... Right?) and headed for the express line. He told her to wait a second as he paid for his stuff, and headed out, back to the apartment.

"Okay. So tell me all about Calum now."

"Um, well, do you know him?" Luke asked, putting his phone on speaker as he put a piece of bread in the toaster and began opening one of the cans.

"I've met him once or twice. Haven't ever said much to him, though. He keeps to himself."

"Ah." Luke kept making his food. "Well, he's pretty cool. We like the same music and he plays bass, and works at Dunkin Donuts. He's still at work right now."

"Is that really all you can tell me?" she laughed, and Luke huffed at her.

"I don't know him well at all. I literally met him two days ago! I'll find out more along the way, Mia. Don't be so impatient."

Mia whined through the phone. "You know I can't do that. But okay, fair enough. Let me know. I'll see you tomorrow, yeah?"

"Yeah, have a good night! I'll see you."

The call ended, and Luke grabbed his toast and put the tuna on one slice, chiding himself for not waiting a little bit longer for the toast as he pressed the other slice of hot bread on top. He shook his free hand to dispel the pain of the slight burn and took the plate with his other hand, sitting down at the tiny round dining table. He began to eat, one hand absently fiddling with the Post-It note. The handwriting was neat, much neater than one he would've associated to Calum.

Mia's words resonated with him, though. He really didn't know Calum at all. Was it that good of an idea to share a flat with him? They could be polar opposites, for heaven's sake!

Trying not to think about it, Luke finished his sandwich thinking about the Sum 41 article, and slid his plate into the sink before heading to the shower, making sure to grab his phone along the way. A shower and some good music would be sure to stop him from overthinking the whole Calum situation.

Instead, he thought about his brothers. He missed their presence, even though neither of them had lived with him for a long time now. He still used to see them both quite frequently, and they were pretty close. Luke had emailed them and his mum earlier in the day using his work computer, which was one of the only times he'd contacted them since coming here. He sighed when he remembered that he needed to get his internet set up.

After a long while, he exited the shower, grabbing his light blue towel and drying his chest before wrapping it around his waist. He threw his dirty clothes into the hamper and exited the bathroom to go get some clean clothes. He opted for checkered pyjama pants, as he knew he wasn't gonna leave the house tonight, and a simple muscle tee. He dropped his towel at the foot of his bed, making a mental note to remember to pick it up later.

Calum entered the apartment an hour or so later, while Luke was fucking around on his guitar. The blond man looked up to see the brunet in a white polo shirt, with dishevelled hair, and holding a long pink box. "I brought home some donuts." He smiled.

Luke's face split into a wide grin, and he put the guitar down on the couch to check out what his room-mate had brought. "Any glazed donuts?"

"Chocolate and regular, but only one of each," Calum answered, putting his bag down on one of the chairs and the box on the table. Luke wasted no time opening it, causing Calum to laugh at his enthusiasm. "Slow down there cowboy!"

"I love glazed donuts," Luke informed him, picking out the regular one and looking up at Calum as he took a bite. He smiled goofily, mumbling, "Oh yeah, that hits the spot," through a mouthful of sugar and dough.

Calum giggled, picking out a chocolate frosted donut. "That sounds wrong."

Luke was confused for a second, but then rolled his eyes. "Yeah, okay, get your mind out of the gutter."

"The way you said it, too!" Calum laughed harder. "You sounded like you were in pure bliss!"

"I was! But not like that!" Luke protested, smacking Calum on the arm, but that only made the brunet laugh more. "You're awful."

"I'm sorry! I have the mind of a horny teenage boy!" Calum laughed, but it subsided at the sight of Luke pouting. "Hey, I'm just kidding."

"I know," Luke smiled, and it was his turn to laugh at Calum. "I was just kidding, too."

Calum rolled his eyes. "Last time I'm bringing you donuts." And the two of them laughed together that time, knowing that it was definitely a lie.

Later that night, when both of them were just doing their own thing in their own beds, Luke realised that yeah, maybe he didn't know that much about Calum, but so far, there was no reason for him to regret anything. And that thought made him smile stupidly to himself.