Love is Blind || c.h.

07 • Incredible

Alex's POV

"Could you please pass the peas?" My mom asked. I nodded and handed her the bowl of peas that were placed in front of me. "Thank you." At family dinner my mom always made it a requirement to say 'please' and 'thank you.'

"So Candice, how was your day?" My mom asked her.

"It was really productive if I do say so myself," Candice nodded in agreement with herself. "While you little ones were at school," she gestured at Jake and I with her fork, "I went over to the Hood's and helped Mali with her application."

"Well that's so nice of you to help her!" Mom complimented her. "That poor family must have it so rough. Moving across the world without knowing anyone, that has to be hard. Not to mention Calum's disability, I just don't know how Joy does it!" If only she knew how capable Calum really was. His 'disability' didn't disable him hardly at all. "Joy has been telling me how much of a blessing you are, Alex."

"What?" I looked up from my food in surprise.

"She says you've been helping Calum so much," my mother beamed. Nothing makes a parent prouder than their kid helping a blind person.

"I've done hardly anything though," I said. "If anything, Calum is helping me way more than I'm helping him. As a matter of fact, he's going to teach me to play the bass for a school project."

"Are you guys going to make out after?" Jake snickered.

"Jake!" I reached over and smacked the back of his head.

"What!"

~*~*~

"Hey Hercules!" I knelt down and started petting the huge dog that was sprawled across the floor. His tail wagged vigorously as I scratched him behind his ears, making sure I scratched long and hard. "Who's a good boy?" I used my voice that was specially reserved for dogs and babies.

"That's me right?" Calum interjected into the one sided conversation I was having with Hercules. "I'm the good boy?"

"Of course you are," I cooed and pinched his chubby cheeks.

"Oi!" He swatted my hands away from his face. "We should probably get started now."

"Okay, okay," I sighed, sitting down in the chair that Mali had provided for me, since Calum only had one chair in his room. Calum picked up his bass as I quickly put my hair into a makeshift messy bun, I didn't want my long hair to get in the way of my playing. I grabbed the bass from Calum and placed it on my legs, doing my best to imitate what Calum did when I saw him play.

"The first thing to playing the bass is how you hold it," Calum explained. "And I'm really sorry, but this is about to get super awkward. But I have no other way of knowing if you're doing this right." He reached out, searching for some part of me I assumed, so my arm lifted and met his wandering hand. Calum got out of his seat, using me as an anchor, and put one hand on each of my shoulders. Goosebumps appeared on my skin as he slid his calloused fingers down my arms. His arms were completely engulfing me now. Normally I would be uncomfortable if somebody had most of their body practically laying on me, but it was different with Calum.

"You want the bass to rest on your leg like this," he repositioned the bass so the curve rested comfortably on my thigh. "And you want you arms to be here." First he lifted up my right arm and placed it loosely on the body of the bass, so that my fingers dangled right above the strings. Next he grabbed my left hand and put it on the neck of the instrument. He must know the bass really well if he knew exactly where to place me even without sight.

"What song do you want to learn?" Calum asked me, his hands now comfortably resting on my shoulders again. I hadn't really thought about a song, I had been too caught up in sheer idea of learning to play the bass.