Yours. » miniminter ff

CHAPTER N I N E

that you were out of my league
all the things I believed

M O R E

It was only a few days after filming with the Sidemen that I had a knock at our door early in the morning. Imani was probably still sleeping because she was never up before eleven in the morning, which meant I was the lucky gal who got to answer the door.

When I saw Cal standing on the other side I looked at him confused. Why was he at my apartment and why so early in the day, what could he possibly want?

"Morning!" He said cheerfully. "Uh, morning Cal. What's up?" I asked him, still looking at him confused. "You busy today?" He asked as his smile turned into a grin. "Not really, why?" I asked and he just crossed his arms. "I have something to show you, get dressed."

It took some persuading on his part, I was in comfy clothes I didn't feel like leaving the apartment but somehow he swayed me and so when we ended up outside some small cafe, a part of me wanted to slap him.

That was mostly my hunger talking though, and I let him lead us to a table in the back where he ordered for the both of us (which I hate by the way), and then looked at me strangely. "Cal what the hell is going on?" I asked him, leaning my elbows on the table. "Alright, I do have to tell you sometime." He said with a chuckle. "I wanted to surprise you, but this is us on a date." He said casually. I looked at him in disbelief and then quickly looked away. Never had I been in a situation like this, what was the protocol?

I must've been quiet for too long because he started to speak quickly. "I just thought you should give me a fair chance before you say no." He explained, laughing nervously. I looked at him and smiled softly, not wanting to be entirely mean but also still in a bit of shock. I didn't have feelings for Cal like that. He was a sweetheart but that was the extent of it, if I had known this was a date I would've said no. "Cal.." I started to say but he raised a hand to cut me off. "Just give me a few hours okay? After that if you still don't feel anything towards me, I'll drop it and we can remain friends, yeah?" He said while looking at me expectantly. I sighed and nodded my head. "Okay, just a few hours." I reiterated.

We talked and ate and he cracked jokes like he always did, I could see something in him change and yet I was still where I was at the beginning. I learned more about him and it was nice to have conversations with someone I was close to but I wasn't sure what he thought he would gain by doing all of this. He tricked me into going on a date with him and still couldn't win me over. I wasn't going to say that to him directly it was too mean but I was feeling slightly frustrated. This all could've been avoided if I had just said no.

However, it did look like it brightened his day a bit and so for that I was willing to push my annoyance away for awhile if it meant it made him feel a little better.

He drove me back to my apartment where he opened the door for me. "You don't have to come up." I said quickly, noticing him beginning to walk inside. "Imani is waiting for me anyway." I said with a small laugh. "Alright. So I think the date went pretty well don't you?" He questioned.

I glanced down at my shoes and then back up into his eyes and smiled a bit. "Cal..I think you're great I really do, but I think you're great as a friend." I said honestly. "I appreciate you taking me out today, but I think you and I are just buds." I said as I watched the look on his face fall a bit.

I didn't stick around long enough to wait to hear his answer and maybe it was harsh but I didn't want to continue to give him any sort of hope.

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The next morning I had text messages from Freya saying something about getting together with the gang for dinner later that night. She also made mention of the fact that Cal wouldn't be coming if it made me more inclined to go.

I did tell her and Imani what happened with Cal, both of them agreed that it was weird but also that he would be fine in a few days. That was a week ago.

I tried reaching out just to be friendly but I could tell in his responses he just wasn't feeling it and I respected that. He shot his shot and I commended him for that, just thought he could've done it in a better way.

Imani begged me to go to this dinner so I agreed to accompany her even though she said she was going with Vik. I wore the new dress I got and I even checked in with Simon to see if he was going but got no reply.

Was I slightly disappointed? Yes. I had been for awhile it almost seemed so easy for him to just avoid me at all costs, but I was trying to look on the bright side of things, just hadn't found any yet.

I walked into the restaurant with Vik and Imani in front of me, I was in my own world that I didn't notice them stop, so I bumped into their backs hard. "What the hell, what are you doing?" I snapped, rubbing my nose and taking a step back to glare at them.

Imani glanced at me and when I looked passed her, Simon was sitting next to some blonde in a black dress, smiling and laughing with each other.

"Oh." Was all I managed to say, I cleared my throat and got ahold of myself, approaching the table where Freya stood up to embrace me. "I had no clue he was bringing someone." She whispered in my ear. I frowned and nudged her. "Why would I care?" I asked her, sitting down next to her.

"Oh you must be Lily! I'm Victoria it's nice to meet you." The blonde said cheerfully. "Hi, nice to meet you." I said as I threw a smile in Simon's direction.

"Hey, I heard you're the reason Cal isn't coming tonight." Lux said with a laugh. Ethan giggled as he looked at me. "You messed him up bad." He said before his girlfriend slapped his arm. "I did not." I mumbled.

I noticed Simon's arm around Victoria's shoulder and I rolled my eyes a bit. "What do you mean?" Simon asked looking at Lux. "Yeah what's the secret?" The rest of the group joined in. I rubbed my forehead and sighed. "Cal showed up at Lily's door last week and just took her on a date, she rejected him the poor lad." Lux said.

"Jeez." JJ said with a slight laugh. "Better he knows it now than later." Josh added trying to add something positive.

I glared at the entire table before getting up and going to the bathroom. After fixing my hair and staring at myself in the mirror just to pass some time, I saw Ethan's girlfriend, Faith walk in. "Hey love, you doing okay?" She asked and I sighed. "I just didn't want anyone talking about it." I said while looking down.

"Look, I've been meaning to say something to you." She said softly. "That night at Tobi's place, when they were all hanging out. I overheard Cal tell Simon to back off from you."

I looked at her and crossed my arms. "What do you mean?"

Faith took a deep breath and leaned her weight on her back foot. "Meaning, that they were both interested in you and Cal told Minter to back off so he'd have a better chance with you."

My arms dropped to my sides and I frowned. "So that's why he's been-"

"Ignoring you? Yeah and him bringing Victoria here was also a way to show Cal he backed off."

"I hate men." I said simply.

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this chapter was rewritten on august 10th, 2021

song of the chapter: out of my league by fitz and the tantrums