The Space Between a Rock and a Hard Place|OT4

. 5 .

The next day, Michael texts Luke and tells him that Calum will hang out with him as soon as Luke is free and wants to, and Luke offers they do it that day, that he'd come pick up Calum in an hour, so Ashton goes to inform Calum he needs to get ready.

Calum nods, accepting ashtons hug and telling him he's okay when Ashton asks, and then he gets dressed in a shirt, jeans, and a flannel. He still doesn't feel very good, but he doesn't exactly feel like he can say that either. They wouldn't listen.

"Good morning." He greets Michael who smiles and kisses his head.

"How are you baby?" Michael asks and Calum shrugs. He feels a bit warm, this is how they treated him before, all sweet and kisses and hugs and pet names. And yet, it feels fake.

"I'm fine." He answers, eating the cereal Michael puts in front of him.

"When you get home we're gonna talk about last night, okay?" Michael informs and Calum frowns, feeling his heart skip a beat in the bad way.

"Am I in trouble?" He worries.

"No, babyboy. We just wanna make sure you're okay." Calum nods and sighs in relief at ashtons response.

Soon after calums eaten there's a knock at the door and Ashton answers. "Hey Luke." He greets and Luke smiles and hugs him, and then hugs Michael.

"You ready to go Calum?" He asks, hoping Calum really does want to hang out with him and the other two aren't just forcing him.

"Yeah." Calum smiles and stands, saying goodbyes and love yous to his boyfriends before heading out to lukes car.

"I'm glad you agreed to come. I was thinking um, a picnic at this really pretty place I found and we can just like, talk and get to know each other?" Luke offers nervously.

"That sounds nice." Calum answers with a small shy smile and Luke grins.

"Good. What kind of music do you like? You can plug your phone into the aux if you'd like." Calum smiles genuinely and nods, taking the aux and playing stuff he hopes Luke won't mind, and Luke seems to enjoy his music, singing along to some songs. Even his voice is pretty, Calum thinks.

It takes around twenty minutes and a short walk with a picnic basket and blanket Luke brought to get to where Luke wants to set out the stuff, and he was right, it's beautiful. In a clearing full of bright orange flowers and grass in the middle of some woods. Calum lays out the blanket and they sit down, Luke opening the basket and giving Calum the food he's made him.

"I hope you like it all, I didn't know if you didn't like certain things-"

"It's okay, I'm not picky." Calum smiles as he assures. "Thankyou." Luke nods.

"So." Luke says and Calum looks at him. "Michael said you guys were gonna talk last night? Is that what made you change your mind about hanging out?" He asks.

"Oh, um. Well they- I got in trouble." He answers quietly and honestly, blushing brightly from embarrassment, and Luke frowns.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to get you in trouble, I was just worried-" Luke explains, feeling horrible and guilty. "I told them you didn't want to hang out and I was just worried that you're not okay with all of this and when they said they'd talk to you I thought they meant they would make sure you don't mind me becoming a part of the relationship, not punish you." Luke finished and Calum nods, feeling relieved at sorting things out and realizing lukes not some evil submissive trying to get him in trouble and make his dominants leave him.

"It's alright, it was rude of me-"

"No, Calum, if you don't like me or don't want to hang out with me or intrude on your relationship, that's not rude, that's your right." Calum likes hearing that, likes being validated in his feeling a bit betrayed. He's been so confused lately about whether or not he was justified in feeling how he's feeling or if he's overreacting. "And you've never been rude to me. I just- you don't seem to want to get to know me and I don't want to force this on you. If you don't want a fourth person in your relationship, or just don't want it to be me, that's fine. I want to be in a relationship with all of you, not just Michael and Ashton. But You can't be forced to like me and I don't want to be a home wrecker." The blonde says and Calum shakes his head.

"It's not that I don't like you, I promise." Calum quickly explains. "You're really nice, you've been so nice." He doesn't explain further. Luke frowns.

"Then... what's wrong? Did they even ask you?" Luke worries. Calum bites his lip.

"They didn't tell me what we were going to dinner for until we were in the car on the way there." Calum admits. "I didn't know they were talking to you or wanted another submissive or anything. I don't blame them, though." He doesn't elaborate on his last thought.

"Calum, I'm so sorry. I had no idea. I wouldnt have kept talking to them if I wasnt under the impression you knew about me and were okay with it. I can't believe they did that to you." Luke says sympathetically. "I feel horrible, I would be so pissed if someone did that to me."

"I'm not mad, I just... I probably would've been fine with it if they just asked me. I think sometimes they forget that I'm a human with emotions, I'm not just a pet that has to put up with their new pet- sorry." Calum sighs as he catches himself ranting. "I just kind of feel like they're kind of, cheating on me." Luke remains silent, wanting to hear the rest of the boys feelings. "They still haven't asked me if I'm okay with any of this, and like you said, this is my relationship too. They can't just- change it like this without having a discussion with me. I'm not their property, I have feelings." Lukes easy to talk to. Calum thinks.

"I'm so sorry calum, I swear I didn't know." Luke says guiltily.

"No, I have nothing against you. You're really nice and if they would've just talked to me about it I would've loved you, but just- it made me feel so inferior and replaced and insecure. And then they'd get mad when I'd show emotion to try to mention that I wish they'd talked to me. " Lukes eyes tear up in sadness for the other boy and he scoots closer to the other boy, wrapping an arm around him.

"They talk about you so highly calum. They love you, they think you're a really good submissive and a really good boyfriend. That was really sucky of them, but their intentions weren't as bad as their execution. They really love you." Calum smiles at that. "And you shouldn't feel insecure. You're so pretty and sweet. They shouldn't hurt you like that."

"Yeah." He hums. "It's hard not to feel insecure when you're the one I'm comparing myself to, though." Luke smiles at the compliment, wondering if the boys flirting.

"Well Thankyou. But you shouldn't. You're so pretty, and I don't know how I could ever compare to how sweet and obedient and what a well behaved sub you are." Calum blushes at that, lukes complimenting him how he's been missing being complimented by his dominants for weeks. He wonders how submissive Luke actually is, if he's a switch and whether he would top Calum or not.

Lukes hand rubbing his waist feels so good, so comforting and warm, and calums thinking he could really like Luke.

"Can we not talk about sad stuff anymore? I want to actually get to know you and were only talking about me." Calum says and Luke grins.

"Okay. You should try the food, though." Calum nods and opens the container with the sandwich in it, taking a bite.

"That's really good!" It's a chicken salad sandwich, but it tastes so much better than usual.

"Thankyou, i made it myself." The blonde replies proudly, taking a bite of his own, and Calum chuckles.