Dead Love | Michael Clifford

fifteen.

Amanda's POV:

"Who is it?" I call after hearing a knock on my door.
"It's... Calum," he answers through the door.
"Come in."
He opens the door and I watch from my spot on my bed.
"What's up?" I ask, confused.
"Umm... I have something to tell you. It's kinda awkward, but the world is over and I guess it doesn't really matter..." He looks up at me.
"What is it?"
"I... Kinda like you," he mumbles, his cheeks rapidly turning pink. "B-but you don't have to like me back if you don't and I won't be offended but we barely know each other so we could get closer and-"
"Calum. Shhh," I interrupt his rambling. He stops and looks into my eyes again, and I smile. "I'd love to get to know you better."
"Thank you," he breathes.
I pull him down onto the bed to sit beside me.
"So... Tell me about the band. What was it like?"
"It was amazing. I wanted to care about and know every single fan personally, but that would have been really hard to do. And when we performed I just had this rush of adrenaline and it was a wonderful feeling getting feedback from the crowd, and just being able to be ourselves onstage. Well, offstage, too. Ugh, I just loved everything about it."
"That sounds really awesome," I sigh.
We talk for a while longer before he decides to leave to go back to his own room.

Calum's POV:

The next day I'm sitting at the table for breakfast when Amanda plops herself down next to me.
"Hey," I greet with a smile.
"Hi. Wanna come with me today?" She asks.
"Where to?"
"Exploring. We need to know what's around us," she explains, opening a can of fruit.
"Sure," I nod.
After everyone joins us and when we all finish, Kyra helps Amanda and I with our weapons. I'm equipped with my slingshot, three throwing knives, three shurikens, and a dagger. Amanda has her usual guns and knife.
"Let's go," she smirks and starts climbing up the ladder to leave. I follow her.
Once we make it out, we waste no time and start walking immediately. We talk about our origins and what our lives used to be like.
I find out that she had an older brother who annoyed her a lot, a mom who was kinda like her best friend, and a dad who smoked constantly and was barely a father at all. She loved the same kinds of music as I did; punkish, but also some of the pop side of things.
On our journey we find a cliff that's hundreds of feet high. It overlooks rock formations in the distance, and desert landscape. We also find a lake, and an old office building that's still standing.
When the sun is halfway between setting and the middle of the sky, we start heading back. We return home in time to eat with the others and we tell them about everything we found today.
Michael informs us that he's figured out how to fix the water so now we have running water in the bathrooms. I let Amanda shower first and then I shower, myself. I have a feeling that everyone else will want to do the same.
I change into a clean set of clothes then go to Amanda's door. She lets me in again.
"I had fun today," she smiles, sitting down on the bed. I sit next to her.
"Me too. I enjoyed talking with you," I agree.
"So..." She kicks her legs, since they're just barely too short to reach the ground.
"So," I repeat, laughing a little. Amanda turns to look up at me, a smile on her lips. I smile back and she turn forwards again, but I continue staring at her.
"You're really pretty," I mumble, wanting her to know that.
"Thanks, but I'm really not," she argues with a small laugh.
"No, you really are," I defend. "Maybe not to you, but to me you are."
"Well... Thank you."
I nod, looking down again.

Amanda's POV:

My heart is racing from Calum's compliment. I need to think of something to say.
"You are too- attractive, I mean," I nearly stumble on my words. "I like your hair a lot. And your eyes."
He smiles, blushing.
I watch his eyes and he stares back. The air is thick with tension and I feel awkward just sitting there next to him. He seems so smooth and like he never messes up.
"Um... If I do something right now, can you promise not to get weirded out?" Calum asks out of nowhere.
"It depends on what you're gonna do."
"Oh... I guess I won't do it," he shrugs and looks down.
"Wait, no," I laugh. "You can do whatever it is."
"Okay, uh..."
He stands up from the bed and pulls me up with him so we're facing each other. I look up at him, curious as to what he's doing.
Calum touches my jaw, pushing my face upwards to look at him and my heart skips a beat. As his face nears mine I know exactly what he's doing. I tilt my head slightly to the right and let him finish leaning in.
Our lips press together softly before he pulls away.
"S-sorry, I know... That was uncalled for," he mumbles, looking down.
I grab the collar of his shirt and pull him against me, standing on my toes to kiss him again. He kisses back and leans down since I'm a lot shorter than him.
I pull away this time and he smiles, making me smile.
"Well that was a pleasant surprise," he comments. I laugh and pull him into a hug, feeling closer with him than ever, physically and emotionally.
"I should go to bed now," Calum says.
"You can stay in here... If you want," I object to his statement.
"I will if you want me to."
"Yes."
"Then I better go tell Luke," he smirks and leaves the room. I sigh and flop onto my bed, the kiss stuck on repeat in my mind.
He returns moments later and we lay down together. After I turn off the light we cuddle, him being the big spoon.

Lijy's POV:

Mikey and I haven't left each others' sides for more than ten minutes at a time since he tried to run away.
I've fallen for him completely and I'm not quite sure if he's been able to tell that, but he's all I ever think about and all I ever see. I've been too nervous to bring it up with him but I know we need to talk about our current status.
He acts somewhat flirty but also like his perverted self around me and I can't tell which are his real emotions.
I'm currently laying in bed, waiting for Mikey to finish showering.
The door opens from behind me and I look up to expect him to be coming in for bed, but it's Calum again.
"We kissed," he states, a giant smile on his face.
"Congrats," I shrug.
Cal nods and leaves quickly.
A minute later, Mikey comes back. He sits next to me and takes my hand, interlocking our fingers. I smile slightly, then remember what I wanted to talk to him about.
"Michael," I start, running my thumb along his hand.
"Oh god..." He mumbles.
"What?"
"I'm scared. You've only called me that when you barely knew me and when you didn't want to like me," he explains.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," I laugh, squeezing his hand. "I just... Wanted to talk."
"About?"
"Us."
"What is there to talk about?" He asks softly.
"Well... We kinda established that we like each other," I say quietly.
"Yeah," he shrugs. "What are you trying to say?"
"I don't really know. I really really like you but we're... Just friends?"
"Well, kinda friends who may be in love I guess."
"I don't like that title," I sigh, leaning my head on his shoulder.
"Then will you be my girlfriend?" He asks, squeezing my hand again.
"Yes," I smile. "I will."
Mikey leans away from me and uses his left hand to turn my face gently towards him. Then he leans in and briefly kisses my lips for the first time.
"Is that all you wanted to talk about?" He asks.
I nod in response.
"Let's go to bed now," he decides, getting up to turn off the light.
I'm frozen in my spot but somehow manage to lay down in my spot on the bed.
He lays beside me and wraps his arms around me, burying his face in my hair.
"Mikey, you just kissed me," I mumble.
"And...?"
"Nothing."
"Would you like me to do it again? I think I could sacrifice one more kiss for you."
I blush in the dark and his hands find my face again. I can hear him moving and then his lips are against mine once more.
He lingers there, kissing me slowly and I kiss back. Finally I break away and he runs his hand through my hair.
"Goodnight, love," he whispers, pulling me closer to him.
"Night Mikey."