Walls||CTH AU||

Chapter 29 - Stories

"You know Bailey, I don't know that much about you." Calum mused as he stretched out on the bench, taking in the autumn sunshine.

"Really?"

"Yeah, like, I don't know your favourite colour, or the type of music you like other than All Time Low. What's your favourite subject, I don't know? I claim to be your friend but if someone was to test me, I wouldn't have a clue."

"The same applies to me as well though. Other than you being a whizz at History, I don't know anything about you." Bailey replied, playing with a strand of her hair.

"How great is that? I've known you for what, 5 weeks now, and neither of us had a clue what the others favourite colour is." Calum laughed.

"What is it then?"

"My favourite colour? I'd have to say blue, like not dark blue like the ocean, more of an icy blue, like crystals." Calum explained. He wanted to add that her eyes were the exact shade he was describing, but he didn't want to embarrass himself. "What's yours?"

"My favourite colour? That is a simple question but I can't answer it. It might be purple, like my hair purple, but then I also really like teal. I'm going to go with purple. Yeah purple." Bailey answered, glancing at the ombre ends of her hair.

Calum wanted to laugh. Both of their favourite colours were something to do with Bailey's appearance.

"What about your favourite subject?" Calum asked, shielding his eyes from the sun with his hand. He was still lying down because he was far too comfortable to move.

"Lunch."

"That's not a subject Buttercup." Calum laughed, rolling his eyes.

"Don't roll your eyes at me Tattoos." Bailey scolded.

"You can't even see my face." Calum replied.

"I don't need to, I know you rolled your eyes."

"Well, Lunch still isn't a subject."

"I like English," Bailey said quietly. "It's the only subject I'm not failing at the moment."

"English. Can't say I've met anyone who actually likes that before but everyone's different. My favourite subject is Music, which I guess is similar."

Bailey frowned in confusion, then realised that Calum couldn't see her from where he was.

"How?"

"Well, aren't songs just poems with a beat and a melody? And lyrics tell a story, like novels and plays. Music and English are very similar, yet completely different at the same time." Calum explained, sitting up to face Bailey.

"I've never thought about it like that." Bailey muttered, staring at her interlocked fingers. "Do you have anymore strangely deep observations for me?"

"Afraid not, that's the extent of my genius." Calum shrugged. "What do you want to be when you're older?"

"That was a random subject change."

"I'm conscious that Lunch is almost over and if we want to be experts on each other we need to fire through questions pretty quickly."

"We don't need to know everything about each other for next period," Bailey argued, rolling her eyes at Calum.

"Humour me Buttercup."

"Fine, I don't know what I want to be when I'm older. I just want to get out of this hellhole." Bailey sighed. "I'll probably move back to Adelaide and live with my aunt, maybe work at her tattoo parlour."

"That's sounds like you've got it all planned out." Calum teased. "Especially for someone who doesn't know what they want to do when they're older."

"Shut up. What do you want to do then?"

"I want to be in a band, but that's more of a dream than an actual plan. I guess being a personal trainer would be fun, or a music teacher. I could even be a history teacher. I don't know what path I'll go down."

"You'd make a good teacher," Bailey told him. "Only you have been able to get me to understand the the shit they teach us in History."

"Thank you Buttercup."

"You're welcome Tattoos."

"So you say you're aunt has a tattoo parlour?" Calum asked. He didn't want to ask too many questions, so he went with something they could have a conversation about."

"Yeah, in Adelaide. She did all my tattoos, for free, and the piercings. My mum flipped out when she saw the first tattoo when I was 16. Jac technically bent the rules a little, she gave me them without parental permission, but she said she was close enough."

"Is that your mums sister? Cause if it is, they seem to be polar opposites of each other."

"They are." Bailey laughed. "They couldn't be more different. Mum's business like and professional whereas Auntie Jac is laid back and fun loving. That's why they fell out."

"There is definetely a story there."

"It's a story, not a great one, but it's a story. Auntie Jac had just given me my last tattoo, which is this one." She pointed to the ECG line on her right hand. "All of the other tattoos could be covered up, but that one couldn't. Mum went ballistic, and they got into a massive argument. When Mum discovered that I had 9 tattoos, she slapped Jac. Jac said some stuff about her letting me live and she was far too uptight for her own good. Mum told her to leave. A month later we moved here and she deleted Jac's number off my phone. I haven't seen her since."

After Bailey finished her story, she looked down at her hand, sighing a little. She definitely missed her aunt, but there was nothing she could do about it until she left school. Calum placed his hand on top of hers, and squeezed comfortingly.

"It sucks when you can't contact your loved ones." Calum said, smiling sadly. Bailey peered at him through a gap in her hair that had fallen across her face, expecting an explanation for his statement.

Just as she thought she was going to get one, the bell rang and Calum jumped up, internally grateful that it had. Talking about his mother and sister would only make him sad, and he didn't want Bailey to see that. He was the strong one, he was there to comfort her, not the other way round. She didn't need to hear his sob story. It wasn't important.