Reject ❀ c.h. [punk au]

47

"Yeah, it has."

"How have you been?"

My eyes flicker to Louis who's gaze is already locked on me and I simply nod my head.

"I've been alright."

"That's good." Niall smiles, taking a deep inhale of his cigarette.

I turn back to Louis and his smirk is still in place.

As if he already knows the things I want to say to him.

"Louis, can I talk to you for a second?"

He exhales a small cloud of smoke and tosses the remaining bit onto the ground, squashing it into the cement with his foot before looking at me again.

"Sure."

We both step away from Ethan and Niall and my heart starts pounding in my chest at the thought of finally knowing something about where Calum could possibly be.

Or if he's been thinking about me as much as I've been thinking about him.

"I was wondering when you would come to me." Louis says, leaning back against the brick wall of an appliance store.

"All I want to know is if he's okay." I reply, standing in front of him.

"He's fine."

"Have you heard from him?"

"Yes."

"Why hasn't he answered me?"

"He's his own person, Shay. Who knows."

"I have a feeling that you do."

Louis holds his hands up in defense.

"I have no clue."

"Where is he?"

Louis smirks once again and drops his hands down to his sides.

"That, I also don't know."

"You're such a liar." I glare at him, the hole in my chest growing larger by the second.

"I mean it, Shaine. I have no idea where he could be." He says slowly, his crystal eyes pouring into mine. "Or who he's with."

I feel a lump in my throat rising at the thought of Calum blowing me off for over a week to be with someone else.

"Or what he could be doing."

I stare up at Louis with watery eyes, my chest growing heavier with each word that falls from his lips.

"I think you should just move on, Shaine. You know how Calum is, he does what he wants, and who he wants."

I shut my eyes tightly for a moment, fighting as hard as I can not to let any tears spill in front of him.

I didn't want to give Louis the satisfaction of getting inside my head, when I know damn well that Calum would never do anything behind my back like that.

But then again, I never thought he'd up and leave me without saying goodbye.

I open my eyes and take a deep breath, finally meeting his eyes again.

"I have to go."

"It was nice talking to you." He smiles at me, pulling a box of cigarettes out of his jacket pocket.

I watched him as he pulled one out and stuck it between his lips.

"Can I have one?" I asked him, catching him off guard.

He lifted an eyebrow at me before holding the box out to me.

I slowly took one and looked up at him again.

"A light?"

He shoved the box back into his pocket and pulled out his lighter, holding it up to the end of the cigarette that I now held between my lips.

I took a deep inhale and coughed afterwards, earning a chuckle from Louis who shook his head at me.

"You're such a mess, Shay."

Without another word, I took another inhale and made my way down toward the coffee shop.

As much as I didn't want to, I couldn't help but let a tear slip down my cheek.

Louis' words got to me as much as I didn't want them to and now my mind is swirling with crazy ideas.

A part of me knows that it was just Louis trying to make me even more insane than I already was, but another part of me knows how Calum used to be before me, and the ideas don't seem that impossible.

I finished the cigarette within the few minutes I had left before I needed to be at work and I quickly dropped it to the sidewalk, smashing it with my shoe.

I wiped my face and took a deep breath, shoving all of Louis' words to the back of my mind before opening the door and stepping inside where I was greeted by a cheerful Shawna.

"Hey!" She exclaims. "Ready to work?"

I return her smile and nod my head, still afraid that the sound of my voice would give away how I'm feeling.

"Perfect!" She smiles, picking up a tray full of small coffee cups and little donuts.
"Follow me."