Sweater Paws ☻ Malum AU

six - worry

Author's Note: Hi! I'm doing an author's note at the beginning of the chapter for a reason. Slight trigger warning for anxiety/panic attack in one particular scene (the scene with the ☁︎ mark at the beginning and end) but that's about it. There's only one chapter left of this story and then the epilogue. -Megan :-)

Michael was finally going to meet up with Calum for the first time outside of work and he was nervous, to say the least. He didn't know if he really had much in common with Calum. He didn't know what to say. He didn't know how he would act. He didn't know what to wear. He didn't know what to do in general.

What if Calum was completely different outside of work?

What if Calum was as nervous as he was?

What if Calum was worried about what to do just as Michael was?

All these "what if" questions ran through Michael's mind on a continuous loop and Michael couldn't do anything but worry. Worrying seemed to become a habit for him now. He didn't know why, but he always got worried that he would mess something up, no matter what the scenario was. He would stress about saying or doing the wrong thing and even doing just that in the slightest way would freak him out.

•

"Crap."

Calum frantically raced to the kitchen counter for his phone so he could check the time once again.

It was 11:55 P.M. Calum was supposed to pick up Michael at noon, and he was nowhere near ready to even leave the house.

When Calum was younger, he came off as an outgoing person, but he went through a rough patch and became a bit more of an introvert. He would hide his hands with his sweater sleeves because he was too shy and didn't want to be noticed. He shut himself out. He slowly recovered from that rough patch, but hiding himself with sweaters was still a habit. It gave him comfort. It gave im peace. It made him happy. He just became used to it. People had wondered if Calum had been hiding anything by wearing sweaters almost all the time, but they decided not to bug him about it.

Calum sighed, remembering his past and how lonely he felt. He just hoped that Michael wouldn't judge him or treat him differently.

☁︎

Calum eventually arrived at Michael's house about ten minutes later than he said he would. When Michael got a text from Calum saying that he would be a bit late, Michael worried that Calum wasn't going to come to his house at all.

Maybe he was joking.

Maybe he was just playing with Michael's emotions.

Maybe he didn't even care.

"He doesn't care. He doesn't care. He doesn't care."

Michael whispered that to himself over and over and over, slowly starting to believe it and give up on even having a friendship with Calum.

Michael's hands started shaking.

"Crap. Crap. Crap. Crap. Crap."

He was so worried about the slight possibilities that could happen with Calum but they were most likely not true. He didn't see that. He always assumed the worst in a situation.

Michael broke down crying and heard the doorbell ring right in that moment.

"H-He can't s-see me l-like this," Michael mumbled to himself, trying to calm down, "T-this can't b-be happening."

With his hands still shaking, he picked up his phone and called Calum.

Calum was waiting outside, confused as to why Michael was calling him and wasn't downstairs about to open the door, but decided to answer the call anyways.

Michael felt a little bit of relief when Calum picked up the phone.

"C-Calum," Michael stuttered.

"What's going on? Is everything okay?" Calum asked concerningly.

"Y-you don't c-care," Michael said, sobbing.

"Of course I care, Michael," Calum explained, "Why the heck would you think that I wouldn't care?"

"I-I don't know," Michael mumbled, "Crap, I c-can't calm d-down."

"Michael, you'll be okay," Calum told him, "Breathe in, breathe out."

Michael softly mumbled "okay" and hung up the phone.

☁︎

After Michael had calmed down a bit, he slowly walked down the stairs and opened the door to see Calum waiting outside for him.

Calum immediately hugged Michael.

"Are you feeling better?" he asked.

Michael nodded his head.

"Good. Let's go," Calum said, walking outside with Michael and leading him to the car.