Thick and Thin [l. hemmings]

fifty-eight

He laughs, "Sure, yeah."

I grab my things, Calum as well. We both walk out the door and into the sun. I follow him as he starts waking up the sidewalk.

"Luke abandoned you this morning?"

I nod, "I get it, he's gotta work. I also don't think I want to spend every single second with him anyway."

He laughs, "I get it, he can be annoying."

"It's not just that. I need alone time. I need to figure shit out. I don't know."

"If he ever bothers you, let me know." Calum says, a lot more serious than he just was.

"Of course. I wouldn't put up with it. He's already in shit with me. I'm holding him the highest standard I ever have."

"Good. I do believe he's changed and it's great he's trying to fix things with you. But if he pushes it too far I will kill him."

"Thanks for being so supportive. I didn't really hear much from you for a while after the breakup happened and I really thought I had lost you. I thought you 'took his side' in it." I tell him, using air quotes around took his side. I don't want to accuse him of anything, and it's not like you have to pick sides in a situation like this.

Calum stops us in the middle of the sidewalk, "I'm sorry. I know I definitely seemed that way. I just really needed to support Luke. I knew what he did to you was awful. But I also saw how torn up he was. He's my best friend."

"Don't worry, Cal. I get it. I'm glad we're close again and that we don't let Luke get in the way of that." I tell him, nudging him so we can keep walking.

"Okay. As long as you're not upset with me."

"No! Never! It's all good here." I let him know, smiling over at him quickly.

"Hey, we're pretty much back at Luke's, do you wanna just head there?" Calum asks while we're stopped at a crosswalk.

"Yeah, that's fine." I nod, as we begin walking again.

-

"Kels, I was gone way longer than I thought, I'm sorry I left you here." Luke starts as he bursts through the door, tossing his keys. "I'm- Cal?"

Calum waves when Luke looks over and spots him, "I was bored and wanted to hang with her."

Luke chuckles, "Of course. What do you guys want for dinner? It's on me, I'll order now."

I chuckle, "Calum only ever wants pizza, so..."

"Yes! Let's go with that!" Calum exclaims.

As he shakes his head, Luke laughs, "I'm on it."

The two of us make eye contact, Luke's smile getting even bigger as I laugh. He waves his phone as he walks off to put in the order.

Giggling, I look over at Calum who's tapping away at his phone.

"The energy between you two is fucking insane." Calum says, dropping his phone in his lap, immediately looking up at me.

"What?"

"You two are going to fuck. Like, it's gonna be intense."

"What the fuck!" I yell, leaning over to playfully smack his arm.

He laughs, laughing so hard that he's hunched over trying to catch his breath.

"It's not funny! Why would you say that?" I exclaim, quieter this time.

"Look at how you look at each other!" He replies, taking deep breaths to relax himself.

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"There's so much tension there that it turns me on."

"Ew! Stop!" I grimace, my face scrunching up in disgust.

"I'm kidding! Sort of. But I swear, within a couple days after Kiana's wedding, you're going to end up having sex with him. Weddings do that to people."

"I promise you, it won't happen." I tell him, shaking my head.

"I promise you, it will."

"Enough!" I chuckle, just wanting him to shut up.

"What did I miss?" Luke asks, joining us after ordering our food.

"Nothing. Just discussing the wedding." Calum lies.

Luke nods, "I see."

"Anyway, any other plans for tonight?" Calum asks.

"I was actually going to see if you guys would wanna do one of our old game nights?" Luke questions, as both Calum and I smiling right away. "I guess that's a yes?"

"Fuck yes." Calum cheers, running off, clearly going to grab a game.

I just laugh, knowing we're going to have a great night.

-

After dinner and some games, Calum left. He was going to meet up with some girl. So Luke and I curled up on opposite ends of the couch. He puts on the first show that pops up on Netflix.

"Remember how we used to watch this?"

I let out a quiet chuckle, "How I Met Your Mother was our show."

Luke smiles at me, before turning to the TV.

"I haven't watched it since." I tell him, starting to pay more attention to the TV.

"Really? This is what I always go back to."

I shrug, "Ashton and I like to watch really bad reality TV a lot. I also related How I Met Your Mother to you, and Seattle. I don't think I would've been able to watch it."

"Fuck-"

"Sorry! I'm not trying to make you feel guilty. I'm trying to work through all this." I interrupt not wanting to hear him apologize again.

"I feel horrible." He replies, frowning at me.

I slide over, closer to him, "Luke, listen. Yeah, I'm still weary of you. But, again, I'm working on it. I'm sorry."

He nods, "I get it, yeah. It's okay."

I nervously move closer to Luke, grabbing his arm that's closest to me, and wrapping it around me. I curl into his side, closing my eyes.

"Kels, uh-"

"I cuddle with my friends all the time." I tell him, already knowing what he's going to say.

"None of your friends are your ex."

"I'm sorry." I mutter, going to move away.

"Wait- I didn't say you needed to move."

I smile, curling back up in my spot. Luke gets more comfortable as well, pulling me closer.

"It's like I never left." I mumble to myself, extremely confused.

"Hmm?" Luke hums, as if he were asking me to repeat myself.

"Nothing." I reply, taking a deep breath as I relax in Luke's arms.

This wasn't how I expected this trip to go. I wasn't supposed to be cuddling with Luke at midnight while we watch shows we used to love watching together. I knew this trip would be great to figure out what I wanted. I knew it would be helpful. But this isn't what I thought. I didn't expect this.

Though I felt like I was going to start panicking from overthinking, I was able to calm myself down, to the point I fell asleep in Luke's arms.

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ok I was going to wait longer to update but hi I hope it's ok