•Calum
"So Cass told me that her nineteenth birthday is like this Friday," Luke stated as he threw another handful of M&M's into his mouth. "Did you get her a present yet?"
I sat up straight, since I had previously been laying on the floor in the boys' living room while the four of us just hung out and did our usual crap together. I missed being with them every second of the day. A part of me felt disconnected, for a lack of a better word, from the band since I was living like twenty minutes away from them and it was a hassle to travel there every morning.
"Not yet," I answered, scooping up some of the chocolate candy out of his bag and plopping them in my mouth as well. I remembered that Cassidy's birthday was coming up but I had no clue what that girl even needed or wanted.
"Maybe you'll get lucky and Cassidy will give you the present," Michael suggested cheekily, wiggling his eyebrows at Luke and poking him in his side. He started to sing that old Birthday Sex song that used to be on the radio.
I rolled my eyes at them, trying not to look uncomfortable about this subject.
"I sure hope so," Luke agreed, smiling widely with his cheeks flushed pinker than normal. "It's so weird how we haven't hooked up yet. Like this is the longest I've had to wait, especially since we already know we both like each other."
A knot began to grow in my stomach as my desire to get myself out of this situation increased. He didn't know Cassidy like I did, and he didn't know about her cautious behavior around guys or the fact that she had morals that she clung to.
"You shouldn't have sex unless you love each other, not like each other," I blurted out, not being able to bite back the words from escaping my mouth.
The laughter halted instantly, and all of their eyes shot to me in complete and utter shock. "What the Hell? Calum, are you okay?"
I shrugged. "Yeah. I just genuinely think you should wait until you guys are both in love. That's the way it should be."
"You're such a hypocrite," Ashton said with a chuckle. "You weren't in love with Reagan, or with Sophie, or with Marissa or with-"
"Alright, alright," I cut him off before he could blab on about all of the girls I did the deed with while were on tour. "Just because I may not listen to my own advice doesn't mean it's not true. Cassidy isn't some random girl. She's a successful girl with her own career that doesn't need to sleep with someone famous to get famous, so she actually has feelings unlike those other girls who are just in it for the fame. I just don't want her to get hurt, okay? Especially because that puts me in a weird position."
Luke just shook his head at me in disbelief. "Okay, whatever. Well I'm going over to hang out with Cass right now. I promise I'm not going to hurt her so don't get all pissy, it's weirding me out."
"Aren't we going to the studio to write today, though?" I asked, suddenly feeling disappointed in the fact that he was skipping our session today to go visit my best girl friend. Maybe it was because I was acting strange, but I was so protective over her that I couldn't help it.
"I'll go with you instead, Cal," Ashton announced, placing his hand on my shoulder as Luke scurried towards the door to leave. "I have a lot on my mind anyways. Bree said she wasn't feeling it so I guess I have to find another fish."
I sent him a sympathetic glance. I felt bad for him, and I wonder if he was aware of the fact that Bree and Michael kissed at the party. Actually, I don't even know if Michael knows that they did that. He was pretty drunk.
•*•*•
By the time Ashton and I finished our basically unsuccessful writing session, it was late. My hands had cramps in them from constantly writing and erasing, and now they were gripping onto the steering wheel as my eyes peered out the front of the car into the dimly-lit streets. Barely anyone was on the road, leaving only me, the gusts of midnight wind, and the radio to be the creator of any noise.
My eyelids were starting to droop as soon as I parked the car in our driveway. I can imagine bags were clinging underneath my bloodshot eyes. I was absolutely exhausted and wanted nothing more than to curl up into bed and let my body rest.
When I opened the front door, I didn't expect to see Luke and Cassidy making out on the sofa. In fact, that was probably the last thing I wanted to see. A pang of anger pulsed through my veins as I realized that the two of them had become so obsessed with each other already, and there was no doubt in my mind that at least one of them would get hurt.
"Oh, hi Cal," Cassidy greeted awkwardly as she climbed off of Luke's lap that she was previously straddling.
"Hi," I said shortly, throwing my keys onto the counter and heading to the fridge to retrieve a bottle of water.
Luke was mumbling something to Cass that made her giggle and I had the urge to roll my eyes at them. "How did the writing go?" He asked, suddenly becoming interested in me and not my roommate.
I shrugged, taking a swig of water that felt extremely refreshing after a long day of trying to sing the lyrics we had written. "I don't know. Ash likes it, but I just don't think it's right for us. I can't get the melody right either. It's decent, I guess, I just can't picture us singing it on stage. Like, ever."
Luke frowned, standing up off the sofa and lacing his hands together with Cass, making her stand up with him. "We'll have to play around with it, I guess."
"Yeah. Just not today. I'm so tired I can barely stand up straight," I explained, leaning forward so my elbows were propping me up on the counter.
"I'll leave so you can get some sleep then, Cal," Luke told me with a laugh, ruffling my hair. He turned to Cassidy with a bright grin plastered over his pale face. "So, come over on Friday and then we will go out to dinner, okay? I want to make your birthday special."
She shook her head at him, placing her hands on his forearms as his palms gripped her waist. "Luke, it's fine. I told you it's not really a big deal. Nineteenth birthdays are lame."
"Well this one isn't going to be," He declared, leaning in to plant another kiss on her lips, even though I was standing right there. "Bye, Cass. I'll text you tomorrow, okay? And Cal I'll see you soon probably."
I nodded, heading towards the bedroom as soon as he was gone. I instantly threw my shirt off, leaving it right on the carpet floor, and changed into my sweatpants. Cassidy walked into the room with her pajamas on as well, right when I had collapsed onto the air mattress and attempted to nestle my head into the pillow.
She sauntered past me and crawled underneath the duvet, letting out a content sigh when she was all snuggled up, while I was tossing and turning and causing the lumpy mattress to sink whenever my butt would press into it. I groaned, much louder than I meant to, and it echoed throughout our room.
"Calum?" Cassidy called timidly, and I just merely huffed in reply. "I know you're tired, so do you, um, do you want to sleep up here?"
"No, that's okay. I don't want you to have to sleep on this crappy thing," I mumbled in response.
She cleared her throat. "Well I wouldn't. I mean, this bed is big enough for two people if you, uh, wanted to share it?"
My eyes widened immediately, as I registered what she had said. This was a huge leap for the two of us in terms of getting back to the way things used to be, and I was really appreciative of the fact that she was being so caring. Especially since the act that had tore us apart had happened on a bed.
"Oh, okay. Thanks," I said breathlessly, crawling off of the air mattress and and hesitantly up onto Cassidy's bed. She scooted over a bit so I had more room, and my body instantly reacted to how comfortable and soft this mattress was when I let out a content sigh of my own. "Jesus, this is like laying on a cloud."
I slept on it that one night, but it just didn't feel the same as it did right now. My aching muscles were relived of some of the tension and my head rested perfectly against the curved pillow. "I didn't realize song writing could take that much out of you."
"Me either," I agreed, turning on my side so I could look at her. Her lush blonde hair was gathered onto the side of her face, making it hard for me to view her expressions. "It's what I love to do though, so I don't really mind."
"Where do you get your inspiration to write?" She questioned, rotating her body to face me, with her ears practically perked up with sparked interest.
I shrugged, letting out a soft yawn. "From everything we do. We experience a lot on tour. It's kind of harder to write when we are on breaks like this cause nothing is really happening," I stated nonchalantly. "Except Ashton just wrote that whole song today about Bree and it was super uncomfortable."
"Oh God," Cass grumbled, making a little chuckle escape my mouth. "She's been texting me about how bad she feels constantly for the past few days. I don't even know what I'm supposed to tell her."
"He'll get over it," I assured her. "If he wrote about it then he was trying to get it off his chest to feel better. That's why I used to write about you in a lot of our old songs."
Shit.
Her mouth opened in complete surprise. "You did? Really? Which ones?"
I gulped. There was no turning back now. I had already confessed that bits and pieces of our music were influenced by our friendship. "Um, not like a whole specific song is about you. Just some parts that I can relate to. I don't know. Sorry, if it's weird."
Cassidy grinned, a complete and genuine grin that made me want to smile too. "No, it's not weird. That's actually super sweet. I didn't even think you thought about me at all after I left Australia."
I grimaced, taking a brave leap and reaching my arms to gently grip her waist and pull her closer to me. She put her head on my chest as I enveloped her in my arms. "Of course I did, Cass. I regretted what I did everyday. You were my best friend. And you still are."
"Good," She replied, moving her finger across my bare stomach to trace patterns over the surface of my skin. It tickled, but it also caused my heart rate to incline dramatically.
"How was your day?" I wondered after a few moments of silence. My eyes were closed. I was soaking up the feeling of being able to cuddle while on a proper place to sleep.
"It was kind of boring until Luke came over. Mel keeps bugging me about this photoshoot next week and I really need to go the gym but I'm too lazy to go," Cass whined, shifting her head so her cheek was placed directly over my pounding heart.
My palms rubbed her back as I held her even tighter. "We can go together if you want. I really need to go for a run."
"Okay. Thanks, Cal." Score. I might get to see her butt in yoga pants.
I exhaled loudly. I was forcing myself to stay awake just so I could talk to her. I always craved these late night conversations where we could open up to each other more, with the absence of awkwardness that is accompanied with daylight. "Cass, can I ask you something?"
"Sure," She whispered, obviously becoming as groggy as I was.
"Are you and Luke like, together, now? 'Cause if you are then I want you to be really careful around him, okay? I don't want you getting hurt-"
"Goodnight, Calum," Cassidy interrupted, cutting me off from rambling about my worries of Luke completely breaking her heart. He has done that before, mainly because he never seems to take relationships as seriously as the girl does, and I was worried that Cassidy would fall for him too quickly.
I decided to keep my mouth shut before pressing on this subject even further. I suppose I'd rather her date my best friend than some random guy, but it was also scary since I knew Luke's history with some of his girlfriends. I didn't want him to leave her right when she started to actually develop strong feelings.
Right before I was about to finally drift into slumber, Cassidy traced a very distinct shape against my stomach. A heart.
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Author's Note: i don't really like this chapter tbh idk but we can start to see calum and cassidy changing for the good ay thats what i like to see
ok so the only old songs i can think of that relate to c squared are out of my limit, heartbreak girl, i've got this friend, everything i didnt say um i dont even know if you guys can think of any more let me know. i should probably make a playlist or something
i love you all my lil sugarplums are da best i hope you guys have a good week and remember to smile bc youre all rad af thank u for 14k followers thats so many i
dedicated to peter_pan13 for saying that reading my stories make her really happy and have helped her through a hard time and that my updates like make her day and i dont even know how to react to that, that is the sweetest and most humbling thing ive ever heard and im really glad i could help in some way and i love you so much :) im here for all of u if you ever need someone to talk to ok babes!