Suicide Hotline - Malum

Five

**Michael's pov**

We arrived at the park and sat on a bench next to each other. I pulled my sleeves over my hands and sighed. "Michael", Calum said and I hummed. "Am I the first person from school that you've talked to?", he asked and I could feel myself blush. I was afraid that he would judge me or laugh at me if I told him the truth but I decided to do it anyway. "Yes", I said and looked at him. He smiled and nodded a bit.

"Why me?", he asked and I bit my lower lip. "You're nice to me?", I said but it sounded more like a question. "I'm sure other people are nice to you too", he said and I shook my head. "Only you", I said quietly and he looked sad. "I'm sorry about that", he said and I nodded. "It's not your fault", I said and he shot me a weak smile.

"Do you do anything after school usually?", he asked and I shook my head. "Okay", he said and I looked at him. "Do you?", I asked and he nodded. "I work at the suicide hotline", he said smiling and I almost choked on my saliva. That's the reason why his voice sounded so familiar. I had talked to him before but he didn't  know that it was me, at least that's what I hoped. "Why do you want to listen to other's problems?", I asked and he shrugged.

"I like to help people", he said. "It has it's up and downs", he continued and I nodded. "Like?", I asked. "I always worry about the people who call because I don't know what happens to them, I don't even know if the people that I've talked to are alive or not", he spoke and I nodded a bit. "I just try to make them laugh and feel a bit better but I don't know if it helps", he continued. "I'm sure it helps", I said and he looked at me.

"Why?", he asked. "It helps me", I said. "You", I continued quietly. "What do you mean?", he asked. "You make me feel better, just listening to you", I said blushing and he smiled. "That's good to hear", he said and I nodded. We sat in silence until it started to rain. "Come on", Calum said, grabbing my hand and dragging me to the library.

We walked around in the library still holding hands and I tried to ignore people staring. I pulled my hand away from Calum's and he looked at me. "Oh, sorry", he apologized and I blushed. "It's okay", I said and he nodded. "I should call Ash to come and pick us up", Calum said. "Why?", I asked. "I don't want to walk home in the rain", he spoke and chuckled. He took out his phone and called Ashton.

We headed out when Ashton texted Calum, telling he was outside. We got in the backseat of his car and I looked out of the window. "Is that Calum's shirt?", Ashton asked and I looked at him. I looked down and then back up at him nodding. "Oh, did something happen between you two?", he asked smirking, looking at Calum this time. "Fuck off Ash", Calum said with a chuckle and I felt a bang in my chest. How could I even think that Calum would go for someone like me? I didn't even know if he was gay or not.

"Hey", someone said and placed their hand on mine. I looked at Calum who was still sitting next to me in Ashton's car. I hummed and pulled my hand away from Calum's. "You okay?", he asked and I nodded. "Do you have a phone?", he asked and I chuckled. "What the fuck Calum, why wouldn't he have a phone?", Ashton asked and I chuckled again. "I was just asking", he said with a chuckle. "Can I have your number?", he asked and I blushed. "For the group project", he continued and I bit my lower lip. "Oh yea", I said, disappointed.

"Sure", I said and handed him my phone. He handed his to me and I saved my number in it under 'Mikey C'. "What does the C stand for?", he asked when we swapped our phones back. "Clifford", I said and he looked confused. "It's my last name", I said and he nodded. "Oh, right", he said and I chuckled. "I like it", he said smiling and I blushed. "Thanks", I said and smiled.