"Okay, Luke, calm down." Naomi's voice came through the device Luke was holding tightly to his ear. He was pacing around aimlessly in the lobby of the movie theatre, keeping a close eye on the door of room 5 to make sure Calum didn't come out and overhear him.
"Naomi, his roommate fucking left." Luke sighed, covering his eyes with his hands and huffing. "Packed his stuff and left. He left money for his half of the rent until the end of the lease, but nothing else other than a small note saying he had to leave."
"Well, okay." Naomi said softly. Luke could hear the sound of a chair scrapping against tiled floor, and he could picture the blonde taking a seat on the kitchen stool at home. Luke sighed yet again, walking down the corridor filled with double doors that led to rooms playing different movies. He stopped by the door of the bathroom, walking inside before locking himself in one of the stalls. "At least financially Calum is sorted, right? He'll be okay."
"No, he won't." Luke muttered, clicking his tongue as he threw his head back so it was leaning on the bathroom wall. Luke didn't care that that wall was possibly one of the dirtiest surfaces in the entire movie theatre, he didn't care that Calum would notice he was taking way too long for someone who only went out to grab another coke. All he cared about was finding a way to make sure Calum was safe. And that meant not alone. "Calum needs a roommate, Naomi. Seriously, I can't let him live alone."
"Well, why doesn't he just live with you until he can find a new roommate?" The blond could almost picture his friend shrugging her shoulders, the sounds in the background indicating she was getting something to eat. Luke's stomach instantly grumbled, making a sigh escape his lips. He hadn't been able to eat earlier, the amount of concern for Calum being too big to even allow him to think of food.
"He could stay the night, yeah, but I'm never home during the day. Aidan was perfect because he worked from home so Calum was never alone." Luke felt like crying. At that moment, the only solution he had was to put Calum in a hospital, and he knew the Kiwi would hate him for that. Calum hadn't had a problem in over two weeks, but knowing Calum could have one, alone in an apartment, without anyone to call Luke for help, made his heart clench. He wouldn't let that happen, not in a million years would he allow Calum to spend the majority of his day alone.
"Look, I don't know what it is that is making you so paranoid about this, but honestly, Luke, chill." Naomi sighed softly, making Luke frown. "You overthink things and everything stresses you out. You need to stop worrying about every single detail and just make due with what you have. Calum just lost his roommate. Take him to your house, talk to him about it and start looking for a new roommate. Let him crash at your place for a few nights and then, when he finds someone, he'll go back home."
"You don't understand." Luke groaned, rubbing his temples as he rested his elbow on his leg. He screwed his eyes shut and shook his head. "Calum can't be alone for seven hours, Ni." Luke didn't want to tell her. Luke didn't want to have to say the words out loud again, he didn't want to have to go through the same process of explaining everything to Naomi like he did with Michael and in all honestly, he didn't think it was his place to tell someone else about Calum's mental issues. But he did need to get it across to her that leaving Calum alone was not an option. "He's mentally unstable, I can't have him alone for that long without knowing what is going on."
There was a long silence. A heavy, deafening silence that made Luke's skin crawl. He hated that silence more than he hated the way it seemed to be everyone's reaction to what he had just said. He hated how he could always feel how uncomfortable that made other people and how they automatically felt like they needed to pity Calum for being the way he was or pity Luke for having to take care of his best friend. It wasn't pitiful, it was just the way things were and it drove Luke crazy to think that people would think that pitying them seemed like the right thing.
"Oh." Was all Naomi said for a few minutes. Luke couldn't even hear anything going on in the background, meaning his friend was simply sitting there, probably with the same blank expression as Luke. "I'm sorry, Luke, I didn't know." There it was. "I get where you're coming from now."
"What do I do?" The blond whispered, hearing his own voice waver as he swallowed down the desperate tears that threatened to spill.
"Dean's mum doesn't work, maybe he could stay there during the day until he finds a roommate? I'm sure she wouldn't mind."
"That would help a lot, actually." Luke sighed, nodding even though he knew Naomi couldn't see him. "Thank you."
"No worries." Luke could almost hear her smile, the gentleness of her tone making him smile softly. "I'll give you a call later, okay?" Luke hummed in response, ready to end the call before Naomi's voice made him freeze. "Oh, and Luke? It'll be okay."
Luke thanked her, his voice almost too faint for Naomi to hear. He hung up the phone seconds later, not daring to move from his position on the closed toilet seat, his eyes focused on the stall door in front of him. His mind was everywhere, his thoughts being mixed up in Calum, the wedding, Michael and his parents. It was starting to weigh down on him, and for some reason, Luke couldn't shake the feeling off. After his talk with Michael, all Luke wanted to do was call his dad and see how he was. He wanted to buy a plane ticket to Sydney and spend the weekend with his brothers. Somehow, with Michael, Luke felt a warmth only family could give him, and that made him miss his own.
The blond shook his head, deciding that he should worry about that another time. At that moment, he had to focus on Calum and the movie he was supposed to be watching. He stood up, flattening out his dress and unlocking the stall door. As he stepped out, he was met with his own reflection in the mirror, eyes seeming redder than usual and dark bags under his eyes. He clicked his tongue, shaking his head yet again as he took a sharp turn to the door, swinging it open without much care. Seeing Calum right in front of him with a confused expression stunned him, causing Luke to freeze in his spot, tilting his head slightly.
"Cal?" He asked with a small frown. "You okay?"
"You knew." Was all the Kiwi said, eyes avoiding Luke's as he frowned. His gaze was fixed on his shoes, and Luke knew his best friend's thoughts were screaming at him. Luke felt sorry for him, he felt bad for the way Calum looked at that moment, vulnerable and exposed.
"I did, Cal, I'm sorry, I-"
"Can we just..." The brunette interrupted, raising a hand so Luke would stop talking. The blond obliged. "Go home?"
Luke was quiet for a few seconds, biting his lower lip slowly. Calum didn't look angry, he didn't look like he felt betrayed or anything of the sorts. He looked simply confused, and Luke's chest tightened at the sight. He was hesitant, not sure if his words could trigger his best friend or if he would snap at any given moment. The blond nodded slowly, his voice coming out almost too soft for Calum to catch.
"Yeah." He bit the inside of his cheek. "Let's go home."
Neither of them spoke during the drive home. Luke's knuckles were turning white thanks to his tight grip around the steering wheel. Calum's eyes fixed on the road again. The radio was off, and the only sound that filled Luke's car was their breathing; steady, even and rhythmic. Dark clouds began to cover the sky, indicating it would rain soon. It hadn't rained in months, and Luke distracted himself from the thought of Calum with the thought of raindrops clattering against his windshield, even though there were none to be seen or heard yet. It was almost as if Luke could feel the anticipation growing in him, hoping for rain.
"Can we talk?" Luke sighed as he closed the front door behind him, shrugging his jacket off before draping it over one of the chairs in the unused dining table. "I don't like this."
"Is there even stuff to talk about?" Calum asked hesitantly, taking a seat on Luke's white leather couch and running his hands down his knees, covered in his skinny black jeans. "You know all of it already."
The blond took two beers from the fridge, handing one to his best friend as he took a seat on the armchair across from the Kiwi. Silence filled the room, Luke's eyes focusing on the droplets of condensation that ran down the bottle of beer. Calum himself had his eyes focused on the tattoo in his hand, his mother's initials. His eyes drifted to the tattoo on his other hand, his grandmother's. He pushed his lips into a thin line, listening to the sound of cars and unrecognisable voices from downstairs.
"How does that make you feel?" Luke asked, clearing his throat. He was almost too scared to look at Calum, too scared that he'd hear his best friend say he didn't like the fact he knew about his darkest secret. He hoped, from the bottom of his heart, that Calum understood that Luke was there to help. That he was not an enemy and that that detail about him would never change how he felt about the Kiwi.
"Weird." Calum frowned before shaking his head. "I just don't understand why you never told me before."
Luke sighed heavily, looking down at his shoes before closing his eyes. "Your grandmother explained everything to me before she died; she said I needed to know all of this because I was all you had. I didn't want to tell you so you'd think it'd change anything in our friendship because believe me, Calum, it hasn't. You're still Calum and I'm still Luke, and that's how it'll always be. I just... it's getting hard to deal with this alone, now."
"Does it cause you pain?" Calum blurted out. Luke opened his eyes, flickering over to Calum only to find him looking back, curious and innocent eyes boring into his. He wanted to hug the brunette, he wanted to curl up to Calum and fall asleep to the sound of his breathing and dream of a world in which everything was perfect. He knew by the look on Calum's face that he hated himself at that moment. He hated the way his mental problems were now causing problems to Luke.
"No." Luke lied, shaking his head softly. "I just worry for you, that's all. I try to keep you safe and to keep things as normal as possible, but with Aidan gone, I don't know how I'll do that."
"I'm so sorry about that." Calum shrunk into the couch, rubbing his temples as he took a swig of the beer. Luke did the same, already feeling lighter. He was glad he was talking to Calum about it.
"You don't have to be sorry." Luke smiled faintly, receiving a slow nod from the Kiwi.
"I think it's time I get checked in, huh?" Calum laughed humourlessly. He knew he was still lucid most of the time, but his attacks were getting more and more frequent, and the thought of that adding up to the stresses in Luke's life made him feel like a burden. He didn't want to be a burden.
"Only if you want to." Luke shook his head softly, wanting to make sure Calum knew that was his choice at that moment.
There was a short silence, Calum smiling shyly at his best friend. "I do want to."
~~~
i'm sorry for scaring you guys making you think i was gonna delete this story lol i would never
i hope you guys are okay with these chapters without muke but worry not bc the next few chapters will be full of fluff ,,,,and smut