cake oneshots || book one

You're All I Need

Credit: FlowerCrowned

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Luke and Calum had been friends since before either of them could remember. They were inseparable, even that one time they fought when they were five over some dumb thing that neither one could remember the details about. They were together through preschool, kindergarten and middle school. But starting high school was different. Like clockwork, Luke was freaking out about starting school again. So, Luke calls Calum, but Calum doesn't pick up. Luke leaves a message, and it takes Calum six hours to call back, in which, Luke has collected himself, for once all on his own. The call barely lasts five minutes, Luke telling Calum how he's not scared but worried about high school, the same thing Luke has told him every year, which Calum always sits through patiently, actually attentively listening for something different. But once Luke is done rambling Calum mumbles something about having a soccer thing and hangs up, promises they'll spend a whole day together before school starts up again. Luke puts down the phone and sighs. As happy as he is for Calum to actually have made the team, he really misses his best friend, but he's not sure he can say the same thing about Calum missing him. Calum seems to spend every moment with his teammates, even though they don't have all day practice. Luke calls Calum about their whole day thing aka the "Shit School's Starting Up Soon We Need To Actually Have A Story That Makes Us Sound Like We Aren't Total Losers" End Of Summer Day. When Calum picks up, it's obvious that he's with other people, with the laughter going on in the background. Calum tells him that he has practice, but will definitely spend the afternoon with him. Luke doesn't get his hopes up.

At 1 in the afternoon, Luke is sure that Calum has bailed on him and made other plans. By the time that Calum walks through the door at 1:15, Luke's almost in tears. But they spend the rest of the day at the pool, checking out the girls, acting like 5 year olds and Calum making fun of how pale Luke is. When they're walking home, Luke briefly mentions that he's going to start taking his singing seriously. Calum tells Luke how great he will be, and how Calum will always be his number one fan, no matter how famous Luke gets. Luke thinks that Calum's on drugs if he thinks that he has a chance at being famous, and Calum tells Luke that he absolutely, positively, has to go to the first home game, because it's only fair if Luke is his number one fan too. Luke walks into his house elated. He has a guaranteed number one fan, and he still has his best friend as well. Luke feels like he's floating for the rest of the day, and even posts a cover. Luke wants to feel like this for the rest of his life.

But, three days later, school started. To Luke's relief, Calum had a few classes with him, but not enough. They sat by each other in English and Science because of their names. All Luke has to do is turn around and his best friend is right there. Even better, Calum's "new friends" aren't in those classes. Luke feels elated, and for once, excited about school.

Over the next few weeks, Luke was less excited, less elated and definitely no longer relieved. Luke noticed the change in Calum the same way you can notice a change in seasons, it was subtle and then it hit you all at once. Calum was distancing himself from Luke at school, and Luke didn't know why. Calum was always standing against someone else's locker, talking with his teammates or flirting with the cheerleaders. Luke wasn't dumb, he could tell when he was invited to something and when he wasn't. The fact that Calum avoided even looking his direction was a clear signal that Calum was done with him.

So, with Calum rejecting Luke, Luke decided to turn the tables. Luke sunk into the shadows and didn't even try to associate with Calum. He stopped returning Calum's calls, replying to texts and became a professional at avoiding eye contact, even with Calum constantly staring at him. Luke won't even turn around to pass him papers. Of course, now he's paying attention to Luke. Luke kind of felt bad about ignoring Calum, but not as bad as Calum ignoring him made him feel.