baby |a.i. ft j.g.|

twenty two. snitchin' and sneakin'

"Hey man, what's up?" Calum greeted when Ashton picked the phone up, stepping outside the sliding glass doors that led to Cameron's backyard.

The rain lightly dripped on his blue and gray flannel.

"Uh, nothing much, mate. What's up with you? Is there something wrong?" Ashton smoothly replied with ease though he was riding around desperately searching for his girlfriend. He wasn't going to let her get away, not again.

Never again, Ashton thought.

Calum pulled out a cigarette from his pack of Marlboro and placed it between his index and middle, furrowing his brows as he pondered on Ashton's question for a moment.

Was there really something wrong?

The brown boy thought about it for a while, wondering if he had a legit reason to call his good friend and bring something to attention that could potentially be a huge misunderstanding, on his part.

And as every second passed, Ashton was growing impatient, his opposite hand, the one on the steering wheel and not pressing the phone against his ear, began tapping.

He didn't have time for this.

"Yeah, listen man, if it's not urgent, it can wait." The golden haired one said, checking his mirror then glancing over his shoulder briefly before refocusing towards the front.

Calum bounced his brows upward in surprise then shook his head, now walking a circle in the grass. "Uh, no, I--maybe, I'm not even sure if it's urgent but it's got to do with Zoë." He confessed, biting at his bottom lip, the cancer stick shaking as his fingers nervously twiddled.

The boy only hoped this wasn't something he was over thinking and actually was something that needed to be brought to his friend's attention.

Ashton's ears perked up from the mention, his eyes growing a centimeter in length as he relaxed, not prepared for what was to come from Calum's mouth once he asked, "What about Zoë?"

30 minutes later the rain ceased.

The doorknob to Cameron's apartment bounced off the walls, though the Netflix movie they were watching was at a decent volume. All four heads, Cameron, then Calum, finally the two girls, whipped their heads in the direction of the door, which soon, half of them, the Jane Doe's, turned back to the screen a second later.

Cameron furrowed his brows. "Did you guys invite anyone else?" He asked curiously, moving his head from the door to the three--which last time he checked, Jack was here--on the couch. The two girls shook their heads while Calum just sat there.

"Uh, I don't know. That could be anybody." The silent boy spoke up, shrugging as he refrained from making eye contact with his friend.

He didn't want to come out and say he just invited someone to his house without an okay from the owner, aka, Cameron, aka his friend.

"Who--" Before Cameron could properly reply, the bell went off again, causing him to roll his eyes and stand to his feet. He stepped over to the front door, glancing up at the stairs before bringing his attention to the peep hole in the top of the door.

When he caught a glimpse of Ashton tapping his foot in the warped, small glass, he felt his confusion deepen, his face displaying his feelings.

Why was he even here?

The puzzled boy looked over his shoulder at the ones on the couch then took one last look at the staircase. He then chuckled at himself and rolled his eyes.