Push Me Away : Book 2 of the Teeth Series

14

Days after Fallon's confession Calum was still walking around with his brain in a bit of a fog. There was no denying that he was heartbroken over the series of unfortunate events that had led to the demise of he and Fallon's relationship.  He hadn't heard much from her following his offer of forgiveness and he was doing his best not to allow himself to overthink that.

Luckily, with their album set to drop in only a few short days and the enthralled in the state of the pandemic like the rest of the world, he had more than enough to keep his mind occupied. Fallon hadn't really given him a straight answer as far as where she stood where they were concerned moving forward.

Calum was tired. He assumed she was too and though he knew that the road ahead of them was rough, he wasn't particularly keen on continuing to fight off his emotions. Yes, he still held anger in his heart but it was time to face it head on and then move forward.

Even after everything, every scenario of his future he could picture, featured Fallon by his side.

Clearing his throat Calum made his way through his home until he reached his kitchen. He poured himself a hot cup of coffee and took a sip before crouching down to say good morning to his dog Duke.

"Hey bubba." He scratched behind the small dog's ears and smiled as the pup's tail wagged furiously. "Wanna go outside for a bit?"

Duke responded with a yip as if he was actually answering Calum's question and he couldn't hold back the soft chuckle as he stood once again to his full height and followed his dog out the sliding door to the back yard.

The morning was warm and pleasant, the light barely breaking in the farthest reaches of the horizon. It wasn't often he found himself awake before the world but there was something beautiful about the silence and peace that if offered. Silence and peace were a few things he could probably use a bit more of.

He sighed and took another sip of his coffee before placing it on his patio table and walking around to the side of his house to his gym area. Duke eyed him and padded behind him before returning to his perusal of the backyard as Calum unrolled his yoga mat.

Roy, Calum's roommate, had turned him onto yoga and meditation. Both Roy and Ashton boasted of the benefits of the practice and while Calum doubted he was anywhere near their level of expertise but it couldn't hurt to spend his morning focusing on mindfulness and garnering a positive headspace.

A few weeks prior Roy had walked him through a few simple yoga poses and he worked his way through the list before following through a guided meditation. When he finished the sun was firmly in the sky and Duke was asleep, basking in the warm light.

"C'mon bubs, let's go in." He called out, rousing his furry friend and letting them both back inside the house.

After taking a moment to refill Duke's food and water he switched his phone off of do-not-disturb mode only to be greeted with a flurry of notifications, his eyes widening as he read the news of the shelter-in-place order from the Governor of California. So much for promo for the new record.

The serene calm he had reached through his morning efforts seemed to dissolve instantaneously. As if with a snap of fingers all of the stresses and worries he had managed to silence were back and roaring loud in his ears now accompanied by the additional ones brought about by not being able to leave his home.

It felt a bit like he was starring in some science fiction film and he had never been much of an actor. His hands moved on instinct and a few seconds later he patiently waited for the phone to go through.

Ashton coughed before beginning to speak. "Cal?"

"Mate...you sound dreadful."

A heavy sigh followed another cough. "Yeah, I know. I'm gonna go get tested tomorrow."

"Shit."

Calum could picture his best friend running his hand through his hair as the silence settled. "Yeah, 'm not doing too well so I guess the stay at home thing's probably for the best for me."

"Well, shit." Calum responded, dragging out the second word as he shoved his hand in the pocket of his gray joggers. "I was kinda hoping I would be able to shove the phone interviews, or whatever else management comes up with to try to salvage promo for this album, on you."

"Not sure that's going to work for you this time my brother."

"Guess I'll just have to suffer through." He said, cringing at the thought of all the ridiculous and uncomfortable questions he would have to answer.

"You'll be a'ight. I'm gonna get some rest and try to eat something. I'll talk to you soon."

"Feel better."

The line went dead and Calum let out a large breath. He wasn't the biggest fan of change, especially unexpected ones and the past few weeks had been full of nothing but just that. His fingers hovered over the name of the one other person he wanted to talk to, before he could overthink it he pressed Fallon's name and waited for her to pick up.

"Cal?"

Her voice was soft and disoriented as if she had just woken up and he pulled his phone away from his ear just long enough to glance at the time. Fuck, it was only just after eight. She had definitely been sleeping.

"Shit, Fal. I've been up for a while and didn't realize how early it was. I'm sorry—I'll let you go."

"No Cal, it's fine. What's up?"

"I—I just, I miss you and I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed this morning with all this news and I just wanted to see how you were doing with everything."

"What news?" She asked.

"Oh yeah, I guess if you're just waking up then you haven't seen it." He muttered to himself as he scratched at the back of his head. "The state's going into lockdown starting tonight."

"Fuck!"

"That was my thoughts about it as well. We're meant to be revving up our efforts for promotion for this album drop next week and now I don't think that's going to happen."

"Aw, Cal, that sucks."

"I don't know, I'm sure management will come up with something but it certainly makes things a bit different than anticipated."

"And you hate change." She said knowingly.

"Yep." He agreed.

"Oh shit!" Fallon yelled and his eyebrows lifted.

"What?" he asked quickly, wondering what had caused her exclamation.

"Let me go and I'll call you back. There's water all over my bedroom floor. I—I gotta go."

AN: Y'all I am so sorry it has been SO long. Like, I think this is the longest I have ever gone between chapters. We spent last week at the beach celebrating my mom kicking cancer's ass and then had to evacuate because of Hurricane Elsa. BUT I am back and ready to get back to regular updates on my new schedule which includes updates twice a week on Wednesdays and Saturdays. This will help me out tremendously as the school year approaches and I take on teaching a new subject. I hope to also be able to include a few random updates occasionally as well but feel the twice a week ones are something I can maintain with the consistency y'all expect from me!

So: Cal is working through his feelings

Covid is coming

Ash is sick

Fallon and he had a normal convo? sort of?

What's next?

Let me know your thoughts!

I missed you and I love you!

Sav🖤