chapter six
There are moments in our simple lives in which we wish to replay, rewind, perhaps even pause; your wedding day, or your first day of college—but for Asia? She would wish to replay the first time she ever heard Calum Hood's voice. It had been November, and despite the commercialized "rush" of the Holiday's in New York, there really was no difference. People were people, the elderly Irish women who jabbed her elbow in to your side on the subway, was easily replaced by an Asian hipster who took your cab without a second thought — the Holidays really had no meaning.
The first time Calum Hood ever spoke to Asia Mills was on November 16th, 2013—a day they both recalled fondly as "Wow, you must really like Oprah" day.
But now, back in reality, Asia stood frozen. She had faced thousands of problems in her life; her mother had disowned her practically since birth, the color of her skin had subjected her to thousands of bigoted comments — but nothing was worse than the silence that surrounded her.
The line was silent, the only sound was Asia's heart slamming against her ribcage at an unsteady beat, her fingers trembled around the edge of the phone case, and the breath of fresh air she was so desperately yearning for was caught in her throat. Millions of hours ticked by—it had only been 12 seconds—as she stood with the phone pressed to her ear, the skin on her face beginning to stick to the screen.
"Asia?"
Her breath caught in her throat as soon he uttered her name, sinking to the cool floor of her apartment, she focused on breathing through her mouth, and how much his voice had changed. It was deeper than she had remembered, more hoarse—as if he had spent every night since they had been apart yelling her name (he had)—and rougher. He still said her name like it was a secret he was only in on, rolling off the tip of his tongue, his flaws being disguised by his accent, but there was something entirely different about him.
"I—uh—yeS?" she slurred out, her cheeks inflaming at the thought of him—he was intoxicating, but at the same time her anger for him was building up inside her chest, threatening to spill over.
"Asia, I um—look I just—"
"HeLLOOOOO ASIA!" a completely different voice hollered, as the phone was obviously ripped out of Calum's fists, and pressed hastily against the new voices cheek, there were shouts in the background, but Asia was having enough difficulty on remembering to breathe, so of course, she wasn't bothered to notice.
"Luke, honestly." She mumbled, pressing her forehead against her knees, a ghost of a smile on her lips, as she felt Mali move to the kitchen—leaving her alone in an empty room filled with her heavy breathing and worries. After all, she was anxiety ridden asthmatic, having a borderline panic attack.
'What?" he complained, "How come Calum gets to talk to you? Just a quick update—I miss you terribly as well."
"H-he misses me? I doubt that." Even in her own thoughts, she sounded desperate. She sounded like an unsure twelve year old, with her shaky words and trembling fingers. (Like couldn't see her fingers, but you get the point.)
"Fuck Mills, can't you understand basic logic? He fucked up, he fucked up big. Like eight point six pounds of a new born baby, big. Honestly, no amount of sad music or hanging out with that crazy friend of yours is going to fix it...,what's going to fix it is the two of you—plain and simple. Communication. Actually interacting. Maybe texting a little." He paused, obviously smiling. "Also I said I missed you, and I don't get anything back? No 'Luke you're an idiot'? What's happened to my Asia?"
She sat up, her eyebrows drawn together as the shouts in the background grew louder –"I will fucking kill you, Hemmings, she's not YOURS." and "Don't say fuck to her—oh my GOD DON'T SAY FUCK TO HER"— and found herself wondering if perhaps—in some twisted universe—Luke's words were true. (He had always meant the best, the two had bonded over their similar love for cereal and refusal to wear real pants.)
"Luke you're an idiot."
She could practically hear him crack a smile on the other end, then he laughed, muttered something about "missing her" and returned the phone to the rightful owner. Asia felt her stomach drop fourteen floors as she heard the familiar breathing pattern on the other end. Her hands grew sweaty, her heart beat quickened and her nose itched a lot. But that was love—no, Asia that's food poisoning—right?
- -
Calum used one hand to deliver punches to Luke, while the other one balanced in between the phone to his ear—and found himself smiling for the first time in months. They were talking—technically just listening to each other breath, but it was progress—and that was something he honestly hadn't prepared himself for.
"Asia." He repeated, for what seemed the thousandth time—it was only like, the fourth—in the past three minutes, he heard her stir on the other line, she was never one for words, her mouth was better for other things.
Things he missed a lot.
"Hi." She muttered. He could hear her thoughts moving a thousand miles a minute, he could almost see how her fingers nervously twitched on the Fraire strings of her jeans.
"Hello."
There was a pause, much longer then he'd care for—he heard his sister in the background calling about finding a shrimp in the kitchen sink drain, and he heard the rustle of fabric as the phone was pressed against her shirt. He heard the faint 'meow' of a cat, he heard the sounds of cars in the distance—but most of all he heard Asia. He heard her laugh at something his Mali said—oh, her laugh—he heard her whisper something about how she was sweating excessively.
"I'm b-back." She stuttered after a moment, "I, uh suppose you want to talk about the fetus inside me? You don't have to do this. Like pretend you care, I told you that when I found out I was pregnant."
"I'm not pretending."
She exhaled through her mouth, her could imagine her angrily biting her nails—a habit she couldn't kick—as she pondered what to say in response, the giant puzzle of their relationship spanning out through her mind.
"Then why are you talking to me?"
"Because I care."
The line went dead.
--
dedicated to -quean for being possibly like my biggest fan???? wow kid, keep it up. luv u xoxoxoxxo ((wow i sound bitchy omg sorry))
i honesTLY DONT KNOW HOW I FEEL ABOUT THIS CAHOTER I RUSHED IT BC
100 FOLLOWERS?????????????
3K READS?????????????????
but i promise the nexr cgapter will be long and nice and full of mindy and mali awkwardness and !!!!!!!!!!!
tell me what u think below :-)
ops thanks of monsters and men 4 making this shitty chapter pOssible!!!
with all my love
wendy
