10:53 [calum hood] - new

0.5

the ride to the city was filled with complete silence. riley thought that maybe it was because calum wanted to save all the talking for lunch, but she didn't know what they would talk about anyway. how's your life been after i fucked it up? great, thanks for asking!

"just so you know," calum said randomly, pulling into a 24 hour parking garage and paying the man, "this isn't a date. i just wanted to see how you were doing and... make amends."

"okay," she answered, not really sure what to say. she hadn't thought of it as a date, especially considering that he had a lot of explaining to do. they reached a small mcdonald's off 6th avenue. when riley saw where they were headed, she looked at calum with a glare. "you took me all the way to new york," she started, "for mcdonald's."

calum shrugged. "the food here is better."

it really wasn't, but riley wasn't in the mood to argue. the two took seats as calum asked what she wanted.

"i'll have a big mac and small fries. and a coke, or something," riley answered, not really in the mood for mcdonald's at an ungodly hour.

"don't you want something from the breakfast menu? i mean, that's what i'm getting," calum said, even though riley didn't appreciate him voicing his opinion.

"just get my food, please," she said irritably, now even more annoyed that he had dragged her all the way to the city to debate about what to get from mcdonald's at 10:30 am.

calum shrugged and waited in line, leaving riley alone to think about why she had agreed to go this morning.

oh right, because her mom had practically kicked her out and forced her to come.

calum came back minutes later with worried eyes. "they ran out of coke."

"how does this place run out of coke?" riley groaned, trying not to express her strange coca cola fetish.

"i know how much you like it, if that's what you're trying to tell me. we've been friends since, like, the second grade. i think i know what your favorite drink is." before riley could begin to protest, he interrupted with, "and i also know that your second favorite drink is apple juice, which they unfortunately don't have here. unless you want one of those juice boxes off the kids menu."

"get me three of those," riley muttered.

she had to be one of the pickiest people on the planet, and calum knew this as he shook his head with a wide grin on his face, repeating, "you're fucking impossible" under his breath.

after a three year absence, calum had really matured. he seemed to have a different aura about him. he was no longer obsessed with power and popularity, but was otherwise drawn into music. he had joined the band in his junior year, which is what michael had told her (michael is quite the virtuoso on the tuba).

calum came back and set the food on the table, separating his own food from riley's. he placed the three apple juice boxes near riley's burger, eyeing it doubtfully.

"so," calum started, taking a monstrous bite of his sausage mcmuffin, "how've you been over the years?"

"uh, good," she answered, opening one of her juice boxes and poking the straw into its respective location. "what about you?"

"i've been good," he replied, and the two fell silent.

all that could be heard for a while was the crinkling of paper and juice seeping out of the burger with each bite they took. "can i explain myself?" calum said suddenly, and riley looked up from her food in interest.

"what is there to explain?"

"why i was being such an asshole that day." riley bit her lip, not sure if she wanted to relive the moment once more. "we were going into high school, right? and i just had this perfect vision of the two of us walking side by side during the first day of freshman year. i imagined us going to prom together and homecoming and you could come to all of my soccer games and i could come to every single one of your track meets. but with luke and michael and even ashton there... my vision was blurred. i was selfish and i wanted you all to myself. i guess in the end i lost the part of you that i already had and wanted the most."

riley had stopped eating altogether, half confused and half amazed at calum's sudden confession. "so what made you spread the rumor? what made you change your mind and come back?"

calum rubbed his greasy fingers on a napkin before scratching his head, looking around dumbly. "i don't know why i said what i did, to be honest. i thought it would just be a little joke and it blew way out of proportion. and what made me come back? i've been watching you for so long—this sounds super stalkerish, my apologies—and i've always been to afraid to approach you. i knew you would ignore me or scream at me or something like that. i guess i had one of those ten seconds of courage moments last night?"

"yeah, i guess," riley whispered, slowly popping another fry into her mouth.

"ry, say something," calum pleaded, anxious to hear her reply with a cohesive thought.

"uh, well... you know i can't forgive you this easily, right?"

he nodded, a small smile appearing on his face. "i know. which is why i'm gonna work hard to make sure you trust me again. maybe you'll even love me one day."

the couple laughed, but for different reasons; riley because she knew this would never happen, and calum because he knew that it someday would.

-

ah shit this sucks mONKEY BALLS HA HA NICE

so i finished ap testing ((yay me)) so i'll be writing a HELLA LOT MORE SO BE PREPARED WOOHOO

this is horrible and i literally wrote this whole thing in like 15 minutes shoot me :)))))