Redesigned > cake au [complete.]

20

After many internal arguments, I found myself following Michael's advice.

So, three mornings after he talked to me, I was leaning against the grey fire hydrant in front of Calum's building, waiting for him to come downstairs. I had one headphone in, playing some song by The Clash, and I was spinning the other one around nervously.

At 7:42, as if on cue, the door to the grey and white brick building opened and Calum stepped out, biting at his lip ring absently. He took a step onto the sidewalk before he noticed me, pausing in his steps and just staring, before pulling out his headphones and murmuring a, "Good morning," in my direction.

"Morning," I answered, pausing my music and shoving my headphones into my pocket. "You ready?"

He furrowed his eyebrows cutely, and I had to look away. "I-" he began, but a passerby walked between us, grumbling something about teenagers, cutting Calum off.

"Rude," Calum muttered, and I cracked a little smile. He must've seen it, because within seconds he was grinning, tilting his head to the side as our cue to begin walking.

"How have you been?" He asked me, looking at me but I was looking straight ahead, at all the people hurrying to and fro on the busy streets.

"I've been good," I nodded. "Same as usual. You?"

"Fine," he breathed out, and I knew he was lying. Why, I didn't know.

I simply answered with, "Okay," and that was it...

Until we got to the metro station. Then, something seemed to click, and after we swiped our cards at the turnstile and stepped onto the platform, he turned to me with a determined face. "What did you mean by playing with people? When you yelled at me that day?"

I was so caught off guard that I didn't even bother to stop myself from going, "Hunh?!" out loud.

Calum rolled his eyes, huffing a bit and readjusting his bag strap. "That day, when I ditched... You yelled at me for what happened at the concert. Said I shouldn't 'play' with people. What was that about?"

I shook my head, shrugging but not looking at him. "It was in the heat of the moment. I don't know. It wasn't cool, that's all."

He gripped my arm, forcing me to look at him. "Luke," he asked quietly, his brown eyes boring into mine. "Just tell me."

My chest felt tight and my mouth felt dry. I couldn't have gotten the words out even if I wanted to, but luckily, I didn't have to. The screeching sound of the braking metro made itself heard at the end of the tunnel, causing Calum to sigh and let me go.

When the metro stopped and the two of us got on, he didn't bring it up again. Half of me was relieved, but the second half was disappointed.

Wait. Disappointed?