The cold wind hit Michael's face, as he walked, hands stuffed in his pockets to try and keep them averagely warm.
He shuffled his head, lowering it slightly, to angle it into his scarf, and tucking his nose in.
It was freezing, and Luke had even questioned why Michael was going out. The blonde had checked the weather online and read that it was actually the coldest night of December so far.
But Michael didn't care. All he cared about was seeing Calum once again. He knew that as soon as his eyes landed on the boy, he'd feel warmer than he would do if he was snuggled up at home.
( As cheesy as that sounds. )
The boy's boots made small sounds, as he walked on the grey pavement, covered with small areas of frost, which was a sight, as it still hadn't snowed in the town.
He smiled to himself, just thinking about how cute Calum would look standing out in the snow, all wrapped up in Christmas clothing.
But he rapidly shook that thought off, not wanting to creep himself out as he had just met the boy yesterday, and picked up his walking pace.
The shop hadn't changed, and Michael didn't know why he was surprised. It wasn't like the store was going to go through a complete redecoration in the course of 24 hours.
Michael took his hands out of his pockets, immediately feeling that tingly feeling you get when your heated hands get slapped with the contrast of the cold air outside.
He pressed his palms against the rotating door, and pushed it slowly, his eyes looking around him, the same smile he had yesterday forming as he witnessed the decorations.
But his grin widened even more when a certain boy was trapped in his view point.
A small bell that hung above the door jingled, and the pale boy saw as the sweater wearing boy jumped at the sudden sound.
His back was facing Michael, but he could already imagine Calum's adorable expression on his frightened face.
"Oh, I'm sorry we're close-"
Calum's brown eyes widened as soon as he turned around, his mouth turning into a small "o" shape, as he stayed paralysed for a split second.
"Oh." he squeaked out, and immediately began playing with his sweater sleeve, his eyes still glued onto Michael.
The pale boy couldn't help but give off a small smirk. "Even for me?" he asked.
The tanner boy ripped his eyes away from Michael, looking down to the floor, obviously trying to hide a blush.
But Michael still picked up on it.
And as with everything that Calum did, it was adorable.
"You can -- you can come in." Calum spoke softly, eyes looking everywhere but towards the boy with the dyed hair.
However, he still waved his arm to indicate that Michael could enter.
Michael took a few steps forward, as Calum tucked a stray strand of hair from his curled fringe behind his ear.
"Did you not like the gift -- for your friend?" he asked, eyes still looking down.
Michael raised his eyebrows in surprise, and soon shook his head.
"Oh. No! The gift was perfect. It's like you're like the cuter version of Santa." the boy replied, with an exaggerated smile to punctuate the sentence.
The Kiwi boy nodded along, but his mind was still frazzled.
If the gift was okay, then why on Earth, had Michael revisited the store? It can't be to buy something, because the shop's closed.
The boy's thoughts were interrupted by a low chuckle.
Calum's head shot up, forgetting his completely made up rule of avoiding eye contact with the very attractive boy.
"You look cute when you're in deep thought." he said, and Calum could feel himself turning hotter than the fire burning in the fire place back at home.
"But to answer the question you never asked. I came here because I wanted to see you."
The tanned boy's puppy eyes grew larger than they already were, and a grin he didn't even know he had, was spreading even wider across his face.
But he rapidly bit his bottom lip to hide it, pretending to play with the hem of his skirt.
"No one -- No one has ever wanted to revisit my presence." he spoke, shyly.
Michael's green eyes filled with bewilderment.
"I find that hard to believe. No one would be able to resist wanting to witness those pretty brown eyes of yours."
Calum tried his best to ignore the reoccurring compliments Michael gave him, but it was becoming rather hard.
But he managed to dodge this particular one by saying:
"Well, I'm not the most entertaining person, so you'll just have to watch me stack shelves."
"I don't mind." Michael replied, and leaned his side on a cabinet, tucking his hand into his pocket.
"By the way, I never did get your last name."
Calum raised one eyebrow, with a questioning expression. But he still managed to look adorable whilst doing so.
"Why do you need my last name for?"
Michael shrugged. "Preference. I just think that knowing people's last name is a key part of getting to know them better."
The two had a secret staring contest, before Calum broke the silence with just one word.
"Hood." the smallest hint of a smile cracking. "My last name's Hood."
Michael smiled. "Clifford. Mine's Clifford."
The raven haired let out a little giggle, looking down at the floor for a split second as he did so.
But when he looked back up, his brain had completely shut down.
Michael's eyes were staring right down at him. But not in a creepy way. In a way Calum couldn't really put his finger on.
And as he stared at Michael's eyes, he noticed that they weren't the green colour he thought they were from afar.
They were a teal mixed with turquoise, and hints of forest green, and ocean blue sprinkled in random places.
And they had this shine to them. A shine that you would only picture in cartoons, when that one split second of a spark flashes on the screen.
But Calum didn't have to picture that because it was right in front of him, shimmering like the sea at night with the moon floating over it.
He could stare at them all day, and describe how gorgeous they were for weeks on end, but suddenly the powercut in his brain had ended, and all the lights were switched back on.
He blinked twice in a row, and then blinking once more at the floor to regain his focus.
"I -- uh, better get started then."
* °.• *
There was never awkward silence between the two.
Michael always having something to say, and Calum always listening carefully to everything he was being told.
Calum was an amazing listener, but that was only to people he wanted to listen to.
And he definitely wanted to listen to Michael Clifford.
The Kiwi boy tip toed to reach a higher shelf, placing three packs of Lego sets on top of it, as Michael watched over him with the fondest of smiles.
During the time Michael was watching Calum, he couldn't help but pick up more key points that added onto the list of How Adorable Calum Was.
For example; Michael had noticed that whenever something fell or something didn't go to his liking, Calum's first word to say out loud was "darn."
And the reason that was so adorable, was because that showed that Calum probably wasn't a fan of swearing. ( A large contrast to Michael. )
And that was just one endearing little habit that the pale boy picked up.
"And that's the story of how I had to pretend to be my cousin's father to get him out of a 3 week detention."
Calum giggled at the boy's story, as he stacked the last item on the last shelf.
As Michael chuckled along, the tanned boy walked towards the till, collecting his bag and his coat, causing Michael to furrow his eyebrows in confusion.
"Where are you going?"
"Home, silly." Calum replied with a breathy laugh. "My shift is over, and the next employer is gonna take over the shop today." he continued, wrapping himself up with a baby blue scarf.
The pale boy looked down at the floor.
He didn't want Calum to go just yet. He understood that he had a home, and was probably dying to walk through his front door, Michael would as well.
But not now.
Michael still wanted to talk to him more.
"You okay?"
That sweet voice snapped Michael out of his thoughts, as his wide green eyes looked over at Calum.
"Oh, uh, yeah. Yeah." he replied, as Calum let off a soft smile, and Michael couldn't help but feel happier because of it.
"I was just thinking, uh --" he started, but immediately began panicking when Calum focused on him once more.
"May - Maybe I could walk you home?"
The side of Calum's mouth was being pulled on by a thread, as he could feel the small smile creeping up on him.
"That's really sweet of you, Michael. But I don't want to be any trouble, isn't your friend going to get worried."
Michael scoffed slightly. "He's my friend, not my mother. And plus, it's pretty cold outside, what if you turn into a statue and only a kiss from me, specifically can defrost you."
The raven haired blushed at the thought of what Michael had just said, and bit his lip as hard as he could to try and tame the heat circulating his body.
"Well -- if that's the case, then yes. You may walk me home, Mr Clifford." he smiled.
"Perfect. Shall we?" Michael spoke, putting his arm out to tell Calum to walk in front of him.
And so that's exactly what the tanned boy did.
* °.• *
Michael couldn't stop staring at Calum during the walk.
He tried his hardest to look ahead, but his eyes would always fall back on the smaller boy beside him, and linger there for a while.
And as they lingered, he'd think about all the ways Calum looked perfect at that moment.
Which happened a lot ever since he first stepped foot into that store.
But, it would always end because the raven haired would look up at him, and Michael would have to look away and pretend it never happened.
But Calum knew, and he would look down to let out a small chuckle at Michael's behaviour.
The tanned boy stopped in his steps, and Michael copied, taking that as an indication that they had arrived.
The red head looked up and saying that Michael was surprised about Calum's house was an understatement.
It was an average size house, small patio out front, steps leading to the red front door, and a beige colour covering the building.
But what really stood out were all the decorations. Lights were hung everywhere and small festive pieces were displayed in the small patches of greenery.
However, it didn't look overwhelming. In fact, it looked rather endearing, and a small smile crept on Michael's face the more he stared.
"Thanks." Calum spoke suddenly. Michael turned to face him, and mentally awed at the Kiwi boy.
"For walking me home." he continued, and the red head shurgged innocently.
"It's nothing. Didn't want you to get hurt."
Calum let out one of his cute giggles again, looking down at his shoes for a small second.
"I can take care of myself, you know." he said, not able to lock away his smile.
Michael let out a soft chuckle.
"I know. I just needed an excuse to talk to you more." he said, his voice quieter than usual.
Michael needed to stop with his comments because Calum's cheeks were hurting from smiling so much.
But Michael wasn't going to stop because he knew that if he did, he wouldn't get to see Calum's smile as much.
And Calum's smile was Michael's favourite thing about the pretty boy.
"Well, I, um, I better get inside now." the raven haired said, forcing his lips to turn up.
Inside, he was a little disappointed that he had to leave the green eyed boy.
Michael nodded in agreement, but inside he was feeling the exact same emotion Calum was feeling at that moment.
The smaller of the two sent one more closed mouth smile, and wiggled his fingers as a wave.
He turned, lowering his head slightly as he reached for the door knob, Michael watching every movement with a disappointed look.
However, right as he was about to push the door open, he turned around to face Michael once more, taking the paler boy by surprise.
He walked quickly down the small steps, tiptoe-ing to reach Michael's level, and leaning in to kiss the boy's check.
But because of the awkward position Calum was in, and the small height difference, the kiss was closer to the corner of Michael's mouth than his cheek.
But Michael didn't complain.
Calum placed his hand on Michael's chest to keep his balance as he stepped down to his short height again.
"Thanks again." he said, smiling as he looked up, directly into Michael's eyes.
But the red head was way too flustered to produce a coherent sentence.
"I, uh, yea - Uh, you're wel -- welcome." he stuttured, Calum letting out the smallest and the cutest giggle he had let out yet.
"Goodbye, Michael Clifford." he spoke, with a confident attitude, and spun on his heels to finally enter his house.
The pale boy gave off a toothy grin, and turned himself around to walk away.
"Hey, Michael?"
"Yeah?" he asked back, titling his head a little to look back at Calum.
"Are you coming back tomorrow?"
Michael smirked.
"Of course."
* °.• *
can we talk about the fact that this was basically 3000 words wth
i felt a little bad for not updating, whilst @pitifuls was updating everyday so i tried to make this chapter a little better than my previously written chapters
i hope it's alright uhhh
- ria