faking it | cake | mashton

[4] the lies

      “See, Ashton? There’s nothing to worry about. Michael handles his personal issues by taking his anger or sadness out on other people. Growing up with him, he’s always done that. He always kept to himself, yet punished other people when he was upset with himself. That’s a quality I absolutely cannot stand in him. You’d think he would have grown out of it by now.”

      “I think I just need a distraction of some sort,” Ashton told us. “I think I’m going to go downstairs and work a little bit more on the song Michael and I started.”

      That left Calum and I alone once again, and we weren’t exactly standing here in a comfortable silence. He shuffled his feet, messing with his hair a few times before eventually meeting my gaze.

      “I feel awful for Ashton.” I broke the silence.

      “Me too. Michael has really been pissing me off lately. I wonder what’s bothering him.”

      “Yeah, I wonder.” I responded, hoping I sounded convincing. I knew that it was none of my business to tell Calum about Michael’s interest in Ashton that was bothering him, so I kept my mouth shut.

      “I feel like I just need to drive around for a little while. Just to clear my mind. Maybe I’ll get a coffee or something,” Calum stated, walking over towards the side table and picking up his car keys. “Wanna keep me company, Luke?”

      I smiled. “I’d like that. But shouldn’t we tell the others where we are going?”

      Calum shook his head. “Nah. Ashton needs time to himself, and Michael isn’t even acknowledging our existence. Let’s not waste our breath.”

      With that, he opened the door and made sure that he looked it behind us before we went out. As we walked towards the car, I started to feel incredibly nervous. It was now occurring to me that we’d left Ashton and Michael alone with each other.

      But what was I to do? I couldn’t convince Calum to stay home without telling him the truth about Michael talking to me and telling me a secret earlier. I couldn’t face Ashton because I would probably end out saying the wrong thing, and he’s already an emotional wreck. So, I just swallowed my guilt and my worries so I could allow myself to spend time with Calum.

      The dark haired boy flashed me a smile, his hands placed on the wheel. “Ready?”

      “As ready as I’ll ever be.” I replied. Before I knew it, we were on our way to drive around, drink some coffee, and talk about nothing.

[x]

      “Do you take milk in your coffee?” Calum asked me, snapping me out of my thoughts.

      “Yeah.”

      “Here, let’s get a booth.” Calum grabbed ahold of my wrist, leading me over to where he wanted to sit. We made sure not to spill the coffee, and then he crawled into the seat directly across from me.

      “It’s a good thing there are only old people in here that won’t recognize us,” I pointed out, causing Calum to laugh a little.

      “Don’t jinx it, Luke.” He told me, and I couldn’t help but smile. Calum kept his hand secured around his coffee cup, but he wasn’t ready to drink it just yet. “So, since we are a ‘couple,’ does that make this a date?”

      “I believe so,” I smirked. “That would make this our ‘first date’ then, huh?”

      “Right.” He chuckled. “Do you think I can drink this yet, or do you think if I try I might burn myself?”