somebody else. ❀ lrh

i told you i was right.

AVERY.

Apparently, I wasn't as sneaky as I had thought.

The moment that Calum's last sentence fell from his lips, a high-pitched gasp left mine, attempting to turn and bolt back to my room but conveniently misjudged my sense of direction and sent myself tumbling into the wall of the hallway.

And as I sat, silently might I add, with a bag of peas on my head, Calum seemed to be caught somewhere between embarrassment on my behalf and thinking I'm a complete and utter idiot.

I didn't want to mention what I had heard, and I think Calum was too nervous to bring it up himself. He probably doesn't know the extent of what I heard but given my silence he might have a pretty good idea.

"Ave," he sighs, gently sitting on the coffee table across from me, our knees brushing. "It's been like two hours, are you gonna say something?"

I glance at my roommate for a moment, my lips pursed, but I quickly avert my eyes onto a frayed patch of carpet beside his feet. A defeated sigh escapes him, tapping his hands on his thighs impatiently.

"Look, Avery," he mutters, "I know you heard me, that's pretty fucking obvious. But ignoring what was said won't do you any favors."

"I don't know what you're talking about." my voice is small, but I know Calum heard me due to our close proximity.

Truthfully, I didn't want to talk about it. Nothing that Calum said on the phone with Ashton made a lick of sense to me. Luke wasn't- he didn't like me that way. He likes one thing about me and he's gotten it so many times I'm sure he's getting sick of it.

"You do, though," Cal groans, tossing his head back with slight frustration, "I don't know why you're acting like this, Avery, I for one thought you might be okay with the idea."

"Be okay with it?" I reply, connecting our eyes, tears nearly brimming my own, "Why the fuck would I be okay with it? Even if it was true, it's just stupid, Calum."

Calum's fists ball at his sides, his annoyance growing. I'm clearly not on the same level of thought with him right now, and I think it's starting to chip away at his patience. "You've been sleeping with Luke for three years, Avery. Don't try and tell me even a little part of you doesn't feel that way too."

"He doesn't, Calum, I don't know why that's so hard to understand," A sigh falls from my mouth as I remove the now half-thawed bag of peas from my head. "I'm a bootycall. Luke texts me when he's lonely, or if some other girl doesn't pick up, and I stupidly go to him every time. It's just sex, no feelings."

"He has feelings!" my best friend huffs out, voice raising slightly. I wince, and Calum's quick to notice as his eyes instantly soften with a hint of regret. He quickly clears his throat, placing a platonic hand on my knee. "He has feelings for you, Avery. He told Ashton, okay?"

"But, he-"

His fingers squeeze the bare skin of my knee, effectively cutting me off silently. "You need to talk to him about this. All I know is what Ashton's told me, and apparently he's even missing big chunks to the story. This isn't my business, it's between you and Luke."

"But, I-"

"Can you just stop?" Calum rolls his eyes, "I know exactly what you're gonna say. That it isn't true, that you're just a fuck- whatever you want to think, Avery, that's fine. But you need to have a conversation with him about this."

"Okay."

It took four days before I could work up the courage to even send a text message to Luke. He had sent me a few here and there, only one of them asking if I was 'available', but the others seemed to show much more concern for what had happened in the apartment before he left.