AVERY.
PRESENT DAY
CHRISTMAS EVE
Calum hadn't come home the other night from his dinner date with Ashton.
Nor the following evening.
He did have the decency, however, to update sparsely me via text, assuring me that he's okay and he and Ashton have been in numerous deep conversations regarding the direction of their possible relationship. I'm proud of him, for dealing with his feelings head on and not ignoring them like he usually does these days.
Anticipating that he'd come back to the apartment tonight, seeing as it was Christmas Eve, I had gone to Target this morning and spent way too much fucking money on decorations. The holidays are really rough for Calum, since the relationship with his family was strained, I know he misses them more than anything but never explains further.
So, I did what any best friend and roommate would do, I decorated the apartment. And I wasn't subtle about it either. I had purchased a small, fake tree, that no doubt will end up donated afterwards, seeing as we have no storage space in this tiny apartment, and a few little ornaments to place on there.
Then I went full-send. I figured fuck it, why not?
Stockings, little sparkly trees, and I even purchased matching ugly sweaters for the two of us.
The combination of Calum's holiday blues and the situation with Ashton, I figured he could really use the cheering up. I had also snagged a few little gifts for him, sitting awkwardly perched under our new small ass Christmas tree.
Between checking my silent phone and nearly forgetting the prepackaged sugar cookies in the oven, I hadn't fully realized it was already nearing dinner time. Calum had been radio silent since this morning, a short text letting me know he'll be home today. He never specified a time, and didn't respond when I had asked.
I wasn't a good cook by any means. I could follow a recipe decently well, and my borderline hoarder stash of Southern Living magazines provided me with a few holiday themed recipes I knew Calum would like. Thank god for the Crockpot I impulsively bought last summer.
Our normally stale smelling apartment was coated in various new smells, ranging from the roasted chicken nestled in the oven, the sugar cookies cooling on the counter top, and the pine scented candle I snagged from Target's dollar spot.
It actually felt cozy.
The entire time I'd lived with Calum, he would blatantly ignore Thanksgiving and Christmas. What's there to be excited about when you don't have family to celebrate with? I mean, I was in a similar boat, aside from the fact that my mother- who I refuse to engage with- still sends me text messages from time to time.
I don't like telling Calum about that though. After the first few times, he sort of shut down, got really pissed off and told me at least my mother wanted me in her life. That's the furthest glimpse I've seen into Calum's home life, he keeps that pretty private.
A sigh escapes my lips as I placed the final batch of cookies onto the corny plate I'd purchased specifically for that purpose. I quite liked them, even if some of the little santa prints on the cookies turned out a little bit lopsided.
I quickly check the time on my phone, and the lack of messages from my roommate. My bottom lip juts out into a pout, fingers quick to type him yet another message.
HARPER:
hey, it's almost 6. are you coming home tonight?
YOU ARE READING
somebody else. ❀ lrh
Fanfiction"i'm looking through you while you're looking through your phone, and then leaving with somebody else." It didn't matter what time it was. Every time his name appeared on my phone, accompanied by that annoying little ping, I'd hang my head in shame...
