Warning: ThIS is A fILLER but next chapter is interesting i promise lol
The most boring times of the day are between eight in the morning and three in the afternoon, because that's when Michael has to go to school, leaving Calum alone with his upset foster mother, Laura, for seven hours. All he can do is sit in bed and listen to her cry over the phone and come feel his forehead every ten minutes to see if his temperature has risen any more.
Calum thinks the entire ordeal is terrible, in all honesty.
But his foster mum trusts Michael, so when he gets back from school, she leaves Calum to him. Calum doesn't mind, considering Michael is his best friend and he would spend it with him even if he wasn't terminally ill. Michael is a happy kid, and he doesn't like to mention Calum's illness much. It makes him upset to think about, so in no way would the tan boy interrupt that.
Calum knows he misses things that they used to do together, like go surfing and walk around town together. They used to always be active together, but now Calum is stuck in bed and Michael's resorted to playing video games all day, for Calum's sake.
As a kid, when Calum looked forward to his teenage years, this wasn't really what he had in mind. Not that he had much of a social life before this, but now it's pretty much nonexistent. And apparently, there is no way to get rid of it, no cure. It seems anomalous to him, how the doctors can't come up with one single thing to help him other than painkillers. Absolutely ridiculous.
Which means Calum will be like this for the rest of his apparently short lived life. And there's nothing he can do about it but sit in bed and wait it out while his family and friends look on. Calum doesn't know what he did to deserve it, but here he is. He knows better than to mess with whatever plan the universe has in store for him.
~*~
"I'm not going to die just by stepping outside," Calum tells Michael, staring at him dubiously. Michael huffs and crosses his arms. His pink hair falls into his eyes and he quickly brushes it away.
"I don't care. I don't want you getting hurt," Michael argues back, trying to look serious. Calum raises his eyebrows at him, holding onto the wall for support. He has a water bottle in one hand and the other is resting on the wall for balance, ready to go.
"Come on, you're not going to make me just sit at home again, are you?" Calum asks, pouting his lips, knowing Michael will break. His pink haired friend lets out a frustrated sigh, and he opens the front door. Calum straightens up, smiling.
"You know Laura is going to kill me if something happens to you," Michael says. He holds out his arm, wrapping it around his friend's waist to help him walk outside. Calum shrugs.
"She'll get over it," he says. "Besides, nothing is going to happen."
Michael shakes his head. "If you say so."
Michael keeps his arm around Calum's waist as they walk slowly down the street, just in case something happens. Calum's used to it by now and figures it does more good than it does harm. He takes a sip of water, feeling how dry his lips are. He's always dehydrated nowadays. The doctors haven't been able to give him an explanation.
"Can we head down to the beach?" Calum asks.
Michael gives him an incredulous look. "No way, buddy. You're way too unstable for that."
"I'm way too unstable for everything," Calum mutters. Michael sighs a little and gives him a pat on the back. Calum knows it's true and so does Michael, but no one seems to just go ahead and say it aloud. As though it's a secret, although it's clearly not.
The two boys walk steadily over to a small café, sitting down at a table outside, a bti away from the others. Calum feels steadier once he is sitting, and he takes a deep breath. Calum loves being outside, and it feels nice feeling the strong breeze and enjoying the sun on his paled skin. He loves it, and he never gets to enjoy it anymore.
Calum orders another water while Michael gets lemonade. Michael sits back in his seat, crossing his arms and looking at Calum.
"Have you gone surfing since I was diagnosed?" Calum asks, feeling guilty that he's pulled Michael away from his own life as well. The pink haired boy shrugs.
"A few times. The tide hasn't been very cooperative recently. It's either too shallow or too dangerous to surf," Michael says. Calum nods, he understands. The tide needs to be just ride in order to have a good surfing day. He still feels bad that he can't go with Michael anymore. If he tried to go stand up on a surfboard and ride a wave he would probably drown.
The waitress brings over their drinks, and Calum gratefully drinks the water. Michael watches him warily. Michael's nervous about Calum. As he should be. His best friend got diagnosed with some mysterious illness that no doctor can seem to figure out. Of course he should be nervous. He doesn't want to lose his best friend, and it's hard to stay happy and oblivious with Calum when the truth is so blatantly obvious.
"At least I don't have to go to school anymore," Calum says cheerfully, grinning at his friend. "That's the biggest plus out of all of this."
"I'm jealous," Michael says, sipping his lemonade. He looks down at the ice inside his glass so that he doesn't have to look at Calum's happy face. Michael constantly wonders why his friend is so cheerful when his life is slipping right out of his hands.
Michael glances back up about to make a comment about school when he sees Calum's face. Michael chokes on his lemonade, coughing spastically. Calum furrows his eyebrows.
"Dude. Chill," he says.
"You're bleeding," Michael manages to say between his coughing fit. Calum raises his eyebrows, looking at his arms and legs.
"I don't see any blood."
"That's because it's on your face," Michael says, grabbing a handful of napkins and pressing them against Calum's nose, and then grabbing a few more and pressing them to both of Calum's ears. Calum can finally feel the blood trickling from his nose and his ears once the flow gets heavier, and he groans. Calum hurriedly cleans up the blood that has already left his body and works on stopping the rest.
Michael looks at Calum with horror, unaccustomed to how to deal with situations like these. However, Calum seems to be doing fine. He starts to open his mouth to talk but stops when he coughs up blood, the red color staining the sleeve of his tshirt. Calum groans audibly this time, frustrated. His lips are stained a bright red, his skin paler than usual. Michael stands up, tossing money onto the table.
"We need to get you back home," he says. Calum starts to protest but eventually gives up, knowing Michael's right. As Michael helps him stand up, he can see people staring at him, whispering quietly. A few manage to avoid awkward eye contact. Calum frowns at the attention, turning his back on them and letting Michael help him walk away from the café. He hates himself for being like this, not even able to sit at a café before bleeding out in front of everyone.
This is a fairly new symptom. He hasn't bled through his ears before and he can't say it's pleasant. His hearing is faded, like he's underwater. He can hear Michael asking him if he's okay though, his voice panicked. Calum feels even guiltier knowing how scared Michael must be.
"Don't tell Laura," Calum says, and Michael looks at him exasperatedly. "She'll keep me locked up forever. Just take me to my room, okay?"
After a moment of consideration, Michael sighs and says, "Anything for you, buddy."
~*~
After the drama of this afternoon, Calum is pretty much feeling like shit. He can't get over the glances of nervous people around them, whispering and avoiding eye contact as though whatever he had was contagious. He can't get the image of Michael's scared face out of his head, absolutely terrified. He can't imagine what his death is going to do to him, especially if it happens to be on his watch.
Calum's tired of being careful. Yeah, he bled out of his nose and his ears the one day that they went out to enjoy a day at the café, but that was also one of the most eventful afternoons he's had in awhile. He enjoyed it. He knows Michael enjoyed it too.
He's tired. Tired of people staring and tired of being stuck in bed and tired of his body stopping him from having a good time. He wants to do what makes him happy.
Calum waits until the house is quiet and the sky is growing dark before getting out of bed. He holds onto the walls as he puts on his shoes, moving as quiet as possible to the front door. He knows if he wakes up his foster parents he'll have to be pretty much locked in his room. Out of love, of course.
He reaches the front door and opens it quietly, slipping out without a sound. The cool breeze hits his arms and he wishes for a second that he got a jacket, but doesn't risk going back inside. He stays close to the wall for support as he walks down towards the beach. He and Michael used to meet at Calum's house whenever they went surfing, considering Calum lived right on the edge of the beach.
Calum can feel the ocean breeze whip back his hair, strong as ever. It almost causes him to stumble back a little, but he catches himself and keeps going. He can tell the ocean is strong tonight, can hear the crashes of the waves before he can see it. He finally reaches the sand, and he has to move away from the wall. He walks slowly, careful so he doesn't fall. It feels so nice, the breeze on his skin, the taste of ocean salt in his mouth.
He feels at home.
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A/N: next chapter is important stay tuned
i am hella excited for this story i think it's cute
okay so what's your favorite story here on wattpad i need some new suggestions (please let it be boyxboy or girlxgirl tho lol thx fam)
thank you for reading! hope you enjoyed it even though it was such a filler i cri. pls vote & comment and tell me what you think and such. ur really cute and i love you
bye,,xx