The Space Between a Rock and a Hard Place- 5SOS

Chapter Four

4am - girl in red

I was now conscious on the uncomfortable couch, but my eyes remained shut trying to force myself back to sleep. I don't think I slept for long, it can't be time to get up yet. Readjusting myself on the couch, I heard the sound of a plastic party cup tip and hit the table.

"Aw, shit"

I blink open my eyes, half-asleep, to see a sleepy Calum busy soaking up the spilled drink on the center table between the couches.

"Are you cleaning? What time is it?" I ask, clearly taking him by surprise.

"Oh my gosh- jeez Av, why are you awake?"

"I'm sleeping on your freaking couch, Calum, that's why I'm awake" I answered, sleep-deprived, cold, and instantly annoyed.

"It's almost four in the morning, do you want me to take you home?" he says ignoring my tone, still trying to get all the drink off the table with the few napkins he had.

"You wanna get us almost killed now too? You're not driving on no sleep in the middle of the night," I snapped back.

"Okay then Av," he put his hands up in surrender, "Just offering... and I'm still gonna clean this all up though, I'm not even that tired"

"That's a load of shit and you know it, I'm basically watching you fall asleep right now," I say as I watch him yawn, losing the battle to me.

"I hate that you're always right"

I shift my body away from him on the couch, pulling my jacket tighter around me and leaning back towards Luke, now trying to soak up his body heat. Calum keeps picking up the mess from a few hours earlier, the paper plates and red plastic cups, and I just sit and watch his frustrated self clean and take trips to and from the kitchen.

"So you're just gonna stare at me now, huh?" Calum stops in his tracks across from me, looking down at myself still curled into a ball against Luke.

"It's freezing in here and I'm uncomfortable. I'm not gonna just instantly go back to sleep,"

"Okay, you know what, Av? I'm sorry. I honestly don't know what I did to make you suddenly upset with me tonight, and I'll go get you a blanket right now,"

He leaves the room. Does he seriously not remember what happened at the concert? The eye contact, the verse-- it didn't seem like an accident. Typical Calum. He's just going to ignore it all. It's always been one way or another with him. Complete harmony or picking fights until we lose the energy to keep the bickering going. And we'd hit that point. No energy to keep it going anymore.

"Here, I found this one for you, Av," Calum says reentering the room. I planted my feet to the floor and got off the couch, meeting him halfway and taking the green blanket from him.

"I'm sorry I got all defensive Cal, I'm really tired... and I think you are too. You should really get some rest while you're home,"

He walks away from me, no answer. Okay then, Calum. I follow him outside onto the balcony attached to the living room to be met with the hot, humid summer air. We both stood near the edge in complete silence.

Eventually, he answers.

"I... I can't sleep right now, my brain is exploding," Calum sighs and rubs his forehead, stressed, "Fuck, my thoughts... I just keep it all in and then it reaches a breaking point"

"Do you wanna tell me, Cal?"

"No... well, not yet. Right now isn't a good time," he says and turns away, collapsing down on the patio near the external wall of the house.

"Okay, I understand," I responded, but I definitely wanted to know what was going on in his head after everything that had happened in the last twelve hours. I went and sat down next to him, leaning against the brick.

"C'mere Av, I'm not sleeping, but you can," Cal says, taking the blanket from my hands and laying it across the both of us. Even through our fights, we're friends, and we move on. He puts one arm around me so my head rests on his chest, and lays his other across his legs. I take my fingers and trace over his tattoos again even though they are one with his skin. It is peaceful outside, the stars looking down at us. We look back up at the constellations and hidden planets too far away for our eyes to identify until the heaviness hits me again and I drift off into my second brief sleep.

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I'm definitely not writing this all wishing I had a boyfriend... yeah... anyways, hope you're enjoying it so far!

Also, I'm working on making the chapters longer, I'm sorry they're so short rn, bear with me plz :)