this is what it feels like // calum hood

18

Aly sat on the counter top in Calum's kitchen as she watched him cook. He had open containers and random spices all over the place but he seemed like he knew what he was doing.

She felt like she could of sat there and watched him all night. She shook her head, forcing the thought away and her feelings down deep.

"Try this," Calum turned from the stove, wooden spoon full of sauce hovering over his hand as he brought it to Aly's lips.

She took a taste, nodding and humming happily, "I didn't know you could cook."

"See we're both learning things about each other," he made his way back to the stove. Aly rolled her eyes knowing he was making a dig at her 'too deep' comment from earlier.

"Can you grab a couple plates from behind you?" Calum asked.

"Yep," Aly slid off the counter, doing exactly what he said.

He plated the food and they sat down next to each other outside to eat.

"Thank you for cooking," Aly smiled admiring the full plate of food in front of her.

"Of course," he picked up his beer, Aly looked over at him, he smiled, "Cheers!"

Their bottles clicked and they both took a sip before starting to eat. They talked about their favorite food, dogs, only small talk. Aly made sure of that.

Aly was laughing at a joke Calum had made about the band. Their eyes met, a soft silence falling between them.

"You've got," Calum gestured to his own lips.

"Hm?" Aly asked, picking up her napkin.

"Here," he smiled leaning over, taking the napkin and wiping the sauce away from under her lip.

"Be careful, don't wipe off my make up," Aly warned.

"Aly?" Calum sat back in his chair.

"Calum?" she copied his curious tone as she loaded her fork up with the last few pieces of chicken on her plate.

"Why do you do that?"

"Do what?" Aly furrowed her brows, putting the food in her mouth.

"Hide from me, I get not wanting Luke and Sierra to know about this but you keep pulling away," Calum sighed, "One moment I feel like you've finally let your guard down and the next you're taking ten steps back again."

Aly looked down at her nails, chewing her food slowly, processing his words. She didn't have a good response besides just not understanding her emotions. She swallowed hard.

"Because....this is uhm," Aly ran her fingers through her hair, combing through the ends, her fingers looking for something to do as she avoided eye contact. She didn't have the right word, "It's just..."

"What are we doing?" He cut her off.

Aly took a deep breath, "Do we have to figure it out? Can't we just have fun?"

"I would like to know if I'm wasting my time or not," Calum admitted, starting to get annoyed.

"Wasting your time?" The words struck something with in her, sadness? She didn't know what it was.