Bad Dreams // c.t.h

8.

a car horn beeped loudly at me, and i pulled my earphones from my ears, my eyes wide. was i about to get hit by another car?

i let out a sigh of relief when i saw that it was only calum, sitting in his car, which was safely parked a few feet away from me. he shot me a smile as he got out of the car, jasper jumping out right after him.

"i thought i was about to get hit again," i said when he reached me.

he laughed as he clipped jaspers lead onto his collar. "are you leaving or have you just gotten here?" he asked. i bent down to pet jasper and he licked my hand.

"no, i just got here."

"we could walk together?" he suggested and i nodded.

"sounds good."

we began walking off in the direction of the walking trail, calum being dragged along by jasper more than actually walking. it was a sunday morning, and the sky was cloudless, a warm breeze floating around us.

i felt more nervous around calum than i usually was, probably because of what i had admitted to jess, and myself, last night. i couldn't help but gaze at his perfect features every time he wasn't looking, and i noticed things i had never noticed before, like, he had a slight, but adorable lisp and his eyes crinkled at the corners every time he smiled.

"you guys were great yesterday," i said over the comfortable silence. "i think you could go really far."

he shrugged. "really?"

i nodded in response and he gave me a bashful smile. "that means a lot. most people don't give a shit about us. all we want is to share our music with the world, but it's not that easy when no one believes in you."

i nudged him with my shoulder. "well, i believe in you. jess believes in you. i'm sure michelle believes in you as well."

he didn't say anything for a while. he stopped walking, and i almost bumped into him. jasper whined from ahead of us, eager to get going. "aoife, if i-- would you be completely honest with me if i asked you something?"

"of course," i answered, wondering what he was getting at.

he scratched the back of his neck. "what do you think about michelle?"

i blinked, surprised that he was asking me about his relationship. "um, i don't know her that well, but she seems... nice."

"the others don't like her. and she doesn't really like them, which makes me feel bad because they're my best friends and i'd prefer if my girlfriend actually liked them."

i shrugged, not knowing what to say. "but do you like her?"

he frowned at me. "of course i like her, i wouldn't be dating her if i didn't..." he trailed off, looking me in the eyes. "but i don't think i like her as much as i used to."

"look, calum, if you don't want to date her, then just dump her," i said bluntly, getting tired of talking about stuck-up michelle.

he stared at me, surprised. "yeah," he mumbled.

we started walking again, much to jasper's happiness, but an awkward silence fell between me and calum. i bit my lip, worried that i had been a bit rude about everything. "calum? i didn't mean to sound so rude about that. i just meant that there's no point in dating someone if you don't really want to be with them," i said, trying to clear it up.

he shook his head. "no, i think that's what i needed to hear." he nudged his shoulder off mine. "yolo, and all."

i cringed. "you did not just say that."

he poked me in the side. "oh, but i did."

"that is the most awful, cringiest word ever to exist," i laughed, poking him back.

he started laughing too, and soon it was the sequel to the episode we had last night in the car after luke's awful joke. the corners of his eyes crinkled and he held his stomach from laughing too much, unable to breathe. i was in a similar situation. calum wheezed in front of me, a huge grin on his face, and honestly, i had never seen such a beautiful sight.

"aoife?"

the familiar voice rang in my ears, and i stood up straighter, my laughter dying down. calum looked behind me and his grin almost disappeared, his lips pressing into a hard line. "what do you want, dickhead?" he growled, and i turned around to see a smirking kyle.

"who even are you?" he asked calum, walking nearer to us. calum stepped closer to me.

calum cocked his head to the side. "i asked you a question. if you're back to hurt aoife, then i suggest you leave."

kyle rolled his eyes. "so you were the one who beat the shit out of me the other day?" he still had a purple bruise on his left eye and his lip was swollen.

"i can do it again," calum stated, stepping so close to me that our arms were pressed together.

"i just want to talk to my ex," he replied, referring to me.

calum sniggered. "let me guess. you'll ask her to take you back, she refuses and you try the same thing you tried last time."

kyle rolled his eyes again, and i hoped his eyes would somehow get stuck like that. "what does it even matter to you?"

calum wrapped his arm around my shoulders. he let out a long breath and finally answered kyle's question. "because i don't like shitbags like you touching my girlfriend."

kyle's eyes narrowed and he gave us a fake smile. he walked past us and elbowed calum hard in the side. when he was gone, i stepped away from calum and shot him a glare. "why the fuck would you say that?" i shrieked.

he just shrugged. "because he wasn't going to leave you alone. we both know that."

"but we aren't dating!"

he smirked at me. "it's something called a lie. ever heard of it?"

i giggled and he frowned at me. "what?"

"you're so sassy," i said, pinching his squishy cheeks. he snorted.

"sassy's my middle name."

~~~~~

ooh the sass

anyway i have big things planned so...!

shoutouts to AquaAmnesia96 gemlogan and Ashtonmyunicorn because they're active af and they're cool

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