REMEMBER // Calum Hood

Seventy five // drew

From Calum:
Good morning my love
How did you sleep?
I'm sorry I didn't see you leave this morning
Why didn't you take the car today??
Baby
Where are you
Are you mad at me for going to the party?

Those were the texts from Calum waiting from me when I checked my phone, on my way to the golf club. No missed calls. He didn't even tried calling me when I didn't answer his messages the entire day. Deciding I will deal with it later, I ignore Calum's poor attempt of contacting me and focus on the song playing on the radio until we reach the club. It's been a few months since I've been here but it's still the same as when I was a little kid and my family came here to spend the weekends. Drew and I take a seat by the window at the bar upstairs and it doesn't take long until Jason joins us, dressed in his uniform and apron.
"Hey Gi"
Right now, everything about Jason is apologetic. The tone of his voice greeting me with a simple Hi is already apologizing. The look on his face and the way he carries his shoulders. How he pulls out his chair and takes a seat on it. He doesn't need to tell me he feels like shit because he already looks like it.
"Hi" I reply, feeling very unsure about my feelings at the moment
Jason and Drew come in my life nowadays as a combo but it wasn't always like this. For a very long time, it was only Jason and I, ever since he was nothing but a spoiled rich kid. I've known Jason since we were both 7 years old and he was practically my first friend in Los Angeles. I could easily say he was my first friend ever because I moved out of San Francisco when I was 5 and don't remember making any long lasting friendships at that age.
"We know we fucked up" Jason starts off saying "We should've never hidden this from you and I'm so sorry we did it"
"But we never lied" Drew adds "We never said Derek wasn't living with us"
Jason throws an indignant look his way as if saying 'You are not helping' before we fall into a short silence. I love these two boys with my entire heart and there is nothing they could do that would change that. But I can't quite ignore the feeling inside of me, the feeling of hurt and betrayal.
"How long?" I ask after a while "For how long has he been living there?"
"It's been a little more than a week" Drew tells me
"And we were going to tell you" Jason is quick to add "We never planned on hiding this from you but..."
" But we weren't expecting you to stop by so suddenly"
"Which you are more than welcome to do. Stop by anytime you want" Jason explains as if I was a kid "You have the keys and that is still your apartment too"
"It was my fault, really" Drew takes all the blame "I offered him a place to stay, Derek never asked for anything"
"Except the money" I bitterly add, feeling like a complete bitch the next second
"Yes, except the money" Drew slowly agrees, sadness written all over his expression
We fall back into silence once again. I fold the napkin in front of me a million times, analyzing it as if it's the most interesting thing in the world.
"Don't you hate him?" I quietly ask, wondering if I would be able to hate Aaron if he did the same to me
"I did, for a long time" Drew admits "But then my hatred turned into envy because for many times I wish I could run away from all of that, and I never did"
No one says a single word. I can't say I understand Drew because I grew up in an stable home. I had both my parents figures always present in my life while Drew had none of it. His mother died while giving birth to Derek and his father became abusive and alcoholic shortly after she was gone.
"Derek says my father always blamed him for my mother's death, cause that's what he would say when he hit him. He thought that if he disappeared, my father would stop... being like he is" He explains, tearing my heart apart
I've always judged Derek and always hated him for doing what he did. I blamed him for everything that Drew had to go through and never once tried to see the other side of things.

I met Drew when we were 14, he was the school's bad boy and I was the teacher's pet. Our teacher - Mrs Bloom, the one Alec had a fling with - assigned us together for a Biology project and we instantly hated each other. Drew already smoked by the age of 14, he skipped half of the classes and slept through the other half of them. He would usually come to class with bruises and busted knuckles and I thought I had Drew figured out just by looking at him. I was quick to judge and label him - like everyone else did. The project lasted 3 months and by the end of it, we became friends. I promised to tutor him and help him pass his classes if he promised to work on his anger. He was very short tempered at the time and recurred to violence frequently when trying to solve his problems. Jason and Alec thought I had gone insane because like I first did - they had also judged Drew way too quickly.
"He is nothing but trouble, Gigi. You shouldn't be associating yourself with him" I remember Alec telling me and making me very angry
Drew walked the hallways alone and had no one to call a friend because people were stupid and judgemental. And since my always overprotective friends didn't want me spending time alone with Drew, I started inviting him to sit with us at lunch. At the time, it was me, Jason, Alec, Lis, Natalie and Eric - Nate was the last one to join our group. I remember seeing Drew alone all the time and used to think he didn't like company - or was simply a loner - but the truth was that no one took their time to really get to know him.
Because once you do, I swear there's no way you won't like Drew.