ʟᴀᴄᴇᴅ ᴡɪᴛʜ ʜɪᴍ- ᴄ.ʜ

Vol 49: Too Coincidental

As soon as Lacey left the residence of Micheal and Ashton, Micheal closed the door with a confused look plastered on his face; looking directly down at the objects stuffed in the box. He made his way to the kitchen, propping the box on top of the counter and continuing to look into it to ensure it was Calum's stuff.

"Who was at the door?" Ashton cheerfully asked as he entered the room. Ashton started to jog on the spot, wearing track shorts and a tank top, looking like he was about to go running.

"Lacey." Micheal scratched the two-day-old stubble on his chin, looking up at Ashton who couldn't just simply stand still. "Said it was Calum's shit- something about his ex." Micheal shrugged as he made his way to the pantry, pulled out a bag of chips and made his way back to his room; leaving Ashton in the kitchen by himself- staring at the box.

Why would Lacey have Calum's stuff? The first question Ashton asked himself. But then as he got closer to the contents of the box he saw Calum's favourite green hoodie that Calum thought Micheal stole and other random belongings like vinyls, guitar picks and beanies. Ashton remembered how Calum was so pissed off as his favourite hoodie; the same green one, was torn by Amiee- his crazy ex, the peak of their break up. So somehow this must be Calum's stuff that Calum left at his ex's house- but how did Lacey end up having it? But when Ashton grabbed the hoodie, there was no rip on the sleeve. It was perfectly stitched together like it was brand new.

And then he noticed a sticky note sticking from the bottom of the box. Ashton couldn't see the writing from the bottom of the box, but he could see that Lacey signed it off.

If this were Micheal or Luke, they would have grabbed the note and read it of course- anyone would. But the thing was, Ashton, was someone who paid attention to things that the usual eye wouldn't think twice about paying attention to.

For example, the night of the gathering a Luke's house with the rest of the boys and Angie's girls. It didn't add up that both Calum and Lacey disappeared at the exact same time and arrived at the same time when Ashton found them at the front door in the middle of the night. And it didn't add up to the fact that Lacey would have been at Mia's house- as Mia wasn't even in Australia then- she was still in Europe; according to Tara. But maybe Lacey was just visiting another friend, not wanting to deal with Angie and her friends regardless.

But he also remembered how he'd catch Calum randomly smiling to himself and to his phone sometimes. Calum would be more in his thoughts and he'd smile more; not just to himself but to everyone around him- which was really rare for him. He was a little softer in how he'd talk, especially to Lacey. The way he'd look down at her and his eyes would change. It wouldn't be the same harsh lifeless eyes Ashton was mostly used to. They were instead filled with something different.

But then Ashton also remembered the random outbursts Calum would have when Ashton would bring up the subject of Lucy; and how Calum tense up when talking about how she treats Lacey. And not to mention Calum's face when Lacey was clutching onto Luke while she was having a panic attack, and the way he disappeared right after.

And let's not forget how Calum lashed out at Luke after he left Lacey in the middle of the dark street after the incident at that party. He'd never seen Calum so angry before, especially for the safety of Lacey; a mate's sister. Of course, everyone worried about Lacey, but this was different- Calum's emotions looked different.

But recently, it's like Calum went back to the same dark empty person for some reason. Ashton also saw Lacey's face too, as she came back a couple of minutes after Calum from rehearsal the day before; where she had to hassle Angie to leave- like she had enough of being in the room.

But that wasn't it. While Micheal was whining to Ashton about how he couldn't properly play on the beat, he noticed how Calum's face dropped when he saw Lacey. And it wasn't so subtle when he took off and Lacey followed him. And when Calum came back to help pack up the instruments, he looked stern and ridged, not seeing Lacey beside him.