CHAPTER FIVE.
"CAN'T FIGHT THIS NO MORE, IT'S JUST YOU AND ME"
Stuck With You - Ariana Grande feat. Justin Bieber
Just as said before, Calum picked Ariana up from her house at 8 in the morning.
cal 😻❤️: i'm outside
The girl smiled, typing back a quick response before slipping out of her room. She raced downstairs, grabbing her backpack and heading out the door to see Calum's black SUV parked across the street. She smiled even wider.
"Hey!" She exclaimed, slamming the door shut as she slid in the passenger seat.
"Hi, angel." Calum looked over, his eyes travelling down her body gracefully. Today, Ariana wore a pair of black skinny jeans and old school Vans. A grey long sleeve shirt hugged her upper half graciously as her brown hair was nicely brushed, falling down her shoulders.
"Did you get a new tattoo?"
Calum glanced down at his wrist, where a thick black line was drawn horizontally. Ariana didn't realize what it meant and Calum had no desire in telling her.
"Oh, yeah."
"What's it mean?" she asked, reaching over to grab his hand and turning it over so she got a better look. She rolled up the sleeve of his leather jacket slightly, revealing many more of the thick lines. "Wow."
Calum didn't answer. He watched as Ariana counted the stripes unknowingly.
The black lines stood for how many people Calum had killed. It went by tens, and he had nine stripes across his wrist. His journey out of town yesterday, which thankfully Ariana couldn't make, had resulted in Calum getting his ninetieth, ninety-first and ninety-second kills. He wasn't proud of it, but at the same time, he was. He had to be.
"What does it mean?" she asked again, snapping him out of his trance.
"Nothing important," he said and Ariana left it at that. Calum started the vehicle and pulled out of her street. They drove in silence, only the faint radio playing in the background. Ariana didn't mind the near-silence, she liked just being in Calum's presence.
"I'm cold," she mumbled, turning down the air conditioning. Calum frowned, and pulled up to the stoplight before shrugging off his jacket. "No, Cal, it's okay—"
"Take it," he demanded, placing the article of clothing in her lap. Sighing, Ariana wrapped herself in the boy's leather jacket, smiling as she smelled his scent. It was vanilla and mint with a hint of cigarettes. "You look cute."
"Hm." She smiled. "Thank you."
They pulled up to her school and Ariana unbuckled her seat belt. They both got out after Calum had muttered something about making room in the back.
Ariana leaned against the side of the vehicle as Calum pulled the seats down in the back of his car. He sighed, closing the door and standing in front of Ariana. He placed his hands on her hips, making the girl wrap her arms around his neck with a slight smile across her lips.
"I'll pick you up," Calum said. "What time do you get out? Three?"
"It's okay, Brooks doesn't have practice today so I was gonna go with him," Ariana said, playing with the hair at the nip of Calum's neck. He sighed, nodding. Calum glanced around before leaning in. She stopped him by pressing her hands against her chest, and he frowned. "What?"
"Are you afraid of people seeing us?" she asked, her eyebrows lowering. Calum sighed, shaking his head as she pushed away from him.
"Of course not, baby—"
"Then what is it?" she asked, wrapping her arms around herself. "Why do you always look around before you do anything with me? Are you embarrassed of me or something?"
Calum's face softened as he took a step forward. "No, no, of course not, princess."
"Then what is it?" she questioned, a hard look on her face. Ariana crossed her arms over her chest, frowning as she stared into Calum's eyes.
"You're the one who should be embarrassed of me," he said and she rolled her eyes. "I'm serious, Ariana. People are gonna think wrong of you."
"I don't care what people think."
Just as Calum opened his mouth, the school bell rang and whatever he was about to say was forgotten. Ariana sighed, pushing off the boy and grabbing her books.
"Ariana—"
"I'll see you later," she muttered. Before she could walk away, Calum grasped onto her arm and pulled her back, making her hit his chest.
"Why are you so mad about this?" he asked, furrowing his eyebrows as he looked down at Ariana. she shrugged, letting him hold her. as much as she didn't want to admit it in this moment, she felt comfort in his arms.
"Why are you so secretive?"
"I'm not secretive, I just don't want people talking," he argued.
"Let people talk, Calum. What does it matter?" Ariana said and he let out a sigh. Maybe she was right; Calum should just stop thinking of what others thought.
"You're right. I'm sorry."
"It's okay," she said with a small smile. Ariana watched as he licked his lips, and then Calum dipped down, pressing a kiss to the girl gently. Ariana smiled into the kiss and allowed their lips to move in sync together. Her fingers found his hair and his hands rounded over her ass, squeezing it lightly. "Mm, go to class before I teach you a lesson myself."
"Fine," she breathed, pulling away. A smirk was written across her face.
Calum licked his lips, biting down on his lower one as he kept his hands on her hips. "Text me if you need anything."
She smiled, feeling a heat rise to her cheeks.
Calum leaned down, placing a quick kiss on Ariana's lips before pulling away just close enough so their noses were still touching. "Have a good day at school, princess."
"Thank you," she mumbled, kissing him once more before stepping out of his grasp. Calum crossed his arms, watching as she slowly began walking backwards into the school doors.
She giggled, waving as she turned around to walk in the school. Ariana felt a few glares, but she didn't care. Calum made her happy, whatever he was to her.
"Ariana mother fucking Grande!"
She turned around just before she could open the front doors, and saw her brother running up to her. He adjusted his backpack, cracking his knuckles as he fell in step with her. Brooks slung his arm around Ariana's shoulders, leaning down to whisper, "Who the fuck was that?"
Ariana smiled, looking back to see her boy still leaned against the car, his arms crossed as he watched her walk in the school. She waved, making Brooks look back too. The teenage boy waved jokingly before Ariana smacked him upside the head.
"Fuck off," she said.
"He looks like a serial killer."
"He's not. He's nice," Ariana defended, opening the school doors and walking inside. "I'm gonna go find Luke and Gia. I'll see you after fourth."
"You didn't answer my question!"
Ignoring the boy, Ariana made her way down the busy hall. She met up with Luke at their lockers, and frowned as she saw the scowl on his face.
"What?"
"You're dating Calum Hood?" Luke asked, his arms crossed as he glared at the girl. Ariana rolled her eyes, moving to dial in her locker combination. "He's bad news, Ari. Do you not remember the whole murderer on the loose thing that happened last year? That was gang violence, and I'm pretty sure I saw Calum's name somewhere in that article."
"Why were you so obsessed with that anyway?" Ariana asked as she opened her locker.
"Not the point. Why are you hanging out with him? Is he your boyfriend? Is he threatening you? So help me God, if he's threatening you, Ariana, you need to tell me before−"
"No, Luke! He's... I don't know. But he's not threatening me," she said, shaking her head as grabbed her History textbook. "I don't think he's my boyfriend. But he's actually really nice, okay? I like him."
"Nice? Ariana, he's a murderer!"
"You don't know that," she defended. Luke frowned, looking down before seeing Ariana's phone in her hand. He widened his eyes as a light bulb went off in his head.
"Wait a minute." He paused, waiting for Ariana turn around to face him. "Is he the guy from Browns that kidnapped you?"
Ariana swallowed her pride and turned back around, closing her locker door. "I need to get to class, Luke." She turned on her heel, waving slightly to the boy before looking down and walking in the other direction.
"This conversation is not over!"
----
It was 3 pm, the end of the day, and all that Ariana wanted to do was go home or be with Calum. That did not include talking to Luke.
"Just because I don't agree with you dating some psycho manic, you're gonna give me the silent treatment? Real mature, Ariana," Luke exclaimed. Giovanni, who wasn't apart of the argument but in support of both sides, smacked Luke. "Ow. What was that for?"
"He's not a psycho maniac," Ariana blurted, crossing her arms. "God, Luke, he makes me happy. Be happy for your best friend, for once in your life!" Ariana shouted, crossing her arms furiously.
"He's gonna murder you, Ari."
The brown haired girl only rolled her eyes, clutching her textbook to her chest. "He's not going to kill me. You're being paranoid, which you shouldn't be because you have no say in my relationship."
"You've known him for three days, Ariana. What relationship?"
Luke stepped a little closer to Ariana. Gia tried to step in, her hands on Luke's shoulders, but he shoved her away. "Luke, you need to relax—"
"He's using you, Ariana. You should be listening to me, your best friend, and not some serial killer who gets high off the fact of torturing people!" Luke shouted, earning a few glares from passing students. Ariana scoffed, crossing her arms. Her eyes darted from the blonde boy to Gia, who she rolled her eyes at. The blonde girl offered a sad smile.
"You're being a dick, Luke."
"I'm being a dick? You're the one fucking off with some guy and leaving your friends in the dirt! You're being such a whore, Ariana," Luke said angrily. Gia raised her eyebrows at the boy's sudden outburst.
Brooks, approaching from down the hall, saw the argument and reached the group, placing a hand on Luke's shoulder to hold him back from his sister. "Whoa, what's going on here?" the older boy asked, looking between Ariana and Gia.
"Luke is being a complete asshole," Ariana mumbled, crossing her arms. She pulled her purse farther up her shoulder, shaking her head. "Let's just go home, Brooks."
Her brother shared a glance with Gia before nodding. "Okay."
"I'll see you tomorrow, Gia," Ariana said softly, giving her friend a small smile before starting off down the hallway. Brooks followed close behind, but not before placing a hand on the small of Gia's back and saying a sweet goodbye.
"What, now you're just pretending I don't exist?" Luke exclaimed as Ariana exchanged a glance with Gia. "I didn't realize you were a whore and a bitch!"
Ariana flipped Luke the middle finger as she set off down the hall. She pushed through the front doors, feeling Brooks run up behind her.
"So you're fucking my best friend now?" she asked, looking at her older brother. He sighed, and that was the only answer Ariana needed. "Okay, wow."
"Ari, I'm sorry," he said, picking up his pace to catch up with Ariana. "I promise we were gonna tell you eventually!"
She stopped outside Brooks's Jeep, her hand on the door handle. She glared at him, her jaw set. Ariana opened her mouth to say something but stopped, shaking her head and climbing into the car instead.
Standing outside alone, Brooks sighed, lifting a hand through his raven coloured curls before cursing and climbing into the car.