bulletproof - calm ot4

4- i hope you find yourself

I hope you find yourself, I hope you turn it all around. I hope you're holding onto me like it's the last breath you'll ever breathe.

-

"Calum, would you please wipe that off your face?" Calum's mother sighs in exasperation.

Like usual, he ignores her and continues painting his eyelids gold. Surprisingly--and much to his relief--his father and his sister, Mali-Koa, are supportive of his feminine nature.

It's his mother that has a problem with it.

"I still don't understand why you think this is cute," Joy remarks, huffing. "No girl is going to want to date a boy who wants to be a girl."

"For the last time, mum!" Calum exclaimed, throwing his eyeshadow brush onto his vanity in frustration. "I'm a boy! I don't want to be a girl." The tan boy rolls his eyes. Encounters like these are so frequent that they don't even make him cry anymore, they just bother him. "I'm gay anyways."

Making an exaggerated noise of disapproval, Joy disappears from Calum's room. The petite boy puts the finishing touches on his face before grabbing his pastel backpack, ready to go to school and see his boyfriends.

At least, he thinks that's what they are. It hasn't even been twenty four hours yet and Calum barely knows Luke or Ashton, but he's excited to get to know them. He thinks he must be the most excited for the relationship. It isn't hard to tell that Michael and Ashton aren't too fond of each other, and Luke is too nervous to actually speak to anyone besides Michael.

But it's going to work. Calum knows it will.

-

Calum walks into the cafeteria after three stressful class periods, realizing that both Luke and Ashton have the same lunch period as him. A smile forces its way onto his lips. Being the youngest in the relationship--the only junior, the other boys are all seniors--he doesn't have any classes with his boyfriends.

Except, apparently, lunch.

The tan boy quickly scans the cafeteria in an attempt to locate the pale boy and the dirty blonde. He spots them--already seated across from each other--and hurries over to their table.

"Hi," Calum grins, sitting down next to Luke. The tan boy crosses his legs, smoothing out his skirt.

"Well, someone looks pretty today," Ashton compliments him, making Calum's cheeks darken.

"I look pretty every day," Calum points out, still fighting the blush.

"Can't say I disagree."

Calum reaches into his backpack, pulling out his Vera Bradley lunch box and unzipping it to reveal his pink tupperware. It makes Ashton--who has a textbook in front of him and a bag of chips on top of it--giggle.

Calum turns to smile at Luke, but it quickly turns into a frown when he sees that Luke doesn't have any food in front of him. "Did you forget your lunch?"

Luke's lip quivers and he shakes his head. "N-Not hungry." His eyes are set on the table, making Calum a bit upset. He doesn't understand why Luke will only open up when Michael is around.

"Are you sure?" Calum asks, digging around in his pretty lunchbox. "I have an extra granola bar--"

"I'm n-not hungry," Luke insists, his voice raised slightly. It's enough to make Calum back off.

"That's okay," Ashton assures Luke quickly, reaching across the table to grab the frail boy's shaking hand with his own.

Calum knows that Ashton knows that that actually is not okay, but he doesn't say anything. He just wants his boys to be happy.