Winter break /c.h\

Chapter 12

The next weeks flew by and spring was here. We had seen less and less of Mikey because he was always hanging out with Charlotte. They weren't dating, but she still always wanted to be around him. He on the other hand, he didn't seem as into her, as she was in him, but he was a nice person, and still hung out with her.
I'm coming over -Mikey
Will Charlotte be joining you? -Grace
No I'll be coming alone today. Shall I bring food? -Mikey
Wow that's a first. And yes, is that really a question? -Grace
No. I'll bring pizza -Mikey
"MIKEYS COMING!!" I announced loudly, even though it was just me and Calum in the house.
"Is he really?" Calum came out of our now shared room
"Yesssss, without Charlotte" I answered happily
"Finally. I know she's your friend and all, but she's crampin' our style"
"Be nice. Mikey might really be into her. You can't be baggin' on your best friends girl like that"
"I didn't bag on Kai. Or Elly" he laughed
"Calum you're a dick"
"I'm kidding. I'm kidding. Michael's my lover boy too"
"Wow okay. That escalated quickly. Are you cheating on me with Michael?!"
"AND WHAT IF I AM?"
"CALUM THOMAS HOOD. I WILL HURT YOU. ARE YOU OR AREN'T YOU CHEATING ON ME WITH MICHAEL FUCKING CLIFFORD?!"
"I AM GODDAMIT. YOU CAUGHT ME OKAY" joke fights like these were common, we just needed a way to pass the time, and make ourselves laugh. "We're dorks" he giggled, pulling me into his arms
"We are. But I love it."
"I do too" he paused as if he was thinking "And I love you"  he had said it to me before, when we were just friends, but this was the first time he had said it while we were together. I looked up at him, smiling a little, admiring his big brown eyes
"I love you too Cal"
"You better"
"Damn, now I want to take it back" he pulled away from me, acting insulted
"You can't now. YOU ALREADY SAID IT. NO BACKSIES!" He pointed his finger at me, waving it in front of my fave.
"I don't think backsies apply to "I love you's" do they?"
"Now they do. I'm making it a rule. So you love me. You have to" he laughed, and sat down in the couch, pulling me into his lap.
"You know I love you. No matter what" I laughed, scooting around a little, trying to get comfortable. He shifted uncomfortably and stiffened
"Stop that" he grabbed my hips, stopping my movement
"Why? I was trying to get comfortable. No offense, but your lap isn't the most comfortable" I shifted again, pushing against his hands
"Stoppp" he whined
"WHYYY?"  I mimicked his tone
"Because Grace, I can't have a boner when Michael gets here"
"Well.." Mikey's voice said from the door, causing us both to jump "now that I know Calum has a boner, lets get this party started" he laughed, pizza in his hand
"Mikey!!!!!" I pushed off of Calum's lap, causing him to groan, and ran over to Michael. "I haven't seen you in forever" I said, laughing my arms around his neck.
"I know. I know. I've been.... preoccupied" he explained, handing me the pizza, and bro-hugging Calum
"I know, always with Charrrlottteeee" I dragged out her name, adding emphasis
"Shut up. Don't talk about her right now. This is our bonding time"
"Fine. Pizza time"
We all sat down and ate the pizza, that didn't even come close to filling us up, so I grabbed some chips from the kitchen.
"Okay. So Mikey.." I dipped my hand into the chip bag again and shoved a couple into my mouth "what's up with you and Charlotte, honestly" I asked, chewing
"I don't know. She's cool. We hang out a lot. We play video games. That's about it" 
"That's it?"
"Yeah. That's absolutely it"
"Well is that what you're happy with?"
"Yeah. I'm not tying myself down to her and that's good. I don't have time for that. I'm working on the band I'm on and that's what I need to focus on"
"Band?"
"Yeah. Band. You didn't know I was in a band?"
"Um.." I looked at Calum, who looked just as surprised as me "neither of us knew that. It was never mentioned before"
"Oh well yeah"
"I guess you've been too busy to inform us of things"
"Shut up. At least you know now"
"Yeah so what kind of band is this? What do you do in it? Are there any shows coming up?"
"It's a rock band, what else did you expect? I do vocals and play my guitar. And yes, there's a show coming up this weekend"
"Wow. Where is this show and can we come?"
"It's at The Vic and yes you can come. I'd love you guys to see there"
"What about everyone else? Can they come too?"
"Wow. You're just full of questions tonight. Yes they can come" he laughed
"Okay. I'm done with questions now. I've been fulfilled" c
"Good. I think I was running out of answers. Why do you want to come to the gif so bad?"
"Because I want to see what you're capable of"
"Well it's good to know someone believes in me"
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Saturday rolled around and we were at the gig early, talking to Michael before the show. His band members were super nice, and they all looked to have the same style as Mikey.
When everyone started filing in, though there weren't many people, we took our place in the pit. Michael looked a little disappointed at the amount of people that were there, but he stilled played his heart out on that stage. He strummed that guitar like it was nobodies business. I had never really heard Mikey sing or play, and I had to admit, he was amazing.
After the show we went to Michael's apartment, helping him drag in his gear. His apartment was messy, but not dirty. It was covered in lyric pages and music sheets, from corner to corner. "You're really taking this music thing seriously, aren't you?" I questioned, picking up a paper with notes all over it "Yeah I am. I really think this band could go places. We could be big"
"That's good to hear Mikey. I'm glad you've found something that made you happy" I smiled
"Me too" he returned the smile
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Monday in class I didn't see Charlotte right away, but I sat in our same spot anyway, hoping she'd show up, which she did.
"Hey" I smiled, moving my book-bag from her seat
"Hi" she returned the smile and sat down, handing me a red Starbucks cup.
"Where were you on Saturday?" I asked, trying to figure out why she wasn't at Mikey's gig.
"What do you mean?" She looked at me confused
"At Michael's concert, you weren't there"
"I didn't know he had a concert. He didn't mention it to me"
"Oh" I quickly put the cup to my mouth, trying to relieve some awkwardness, but failing. Thankfully, our professor came in and saved me from the conversation.
She left class, not saying a word to me. I got through the rest of the day and rushed home. Michael's car was in the parking lot and I was hoping I hadn't started trouble.
I walked in, seeing his, newly, dyed black hair peeking over the top of the couch.
"Hey" I said, almost inaudible, really hoping he wouldn't notice I came in
"Hey" he turned around, flashing his smile.
"What's up? Where's Cal?" I asked, looking for the boy that ideally wanted to talk to right now, not that I didn't love seeing Mikey.
"In your room. He's getting ready"
"Ready? For what?"
"He's coming with to rehearsal tonight. We need someone to help us with melodies"
"Oh. Okay"
"What's wrong?" He had noticed my sudden tone change
"Nothing. I'm fine"
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah. I'm good" I made my way over to the couch and sat down next to him.
"Okay. How was school?"
"Fine I guess. I just didn't want to be there today, so it was a bummer"
"At least you don't have to go tomorrow" he offered, as a way to cheer me up
"Yeah. That's true" Calum came out and I turned to look at him. He was dressed in a black and white flannel, black jeans, and black combat boots, it was the nicest he had been dressed since we went clubbing and it caught me off guard. "Hey babe"
"Hey Grace" he kissed the top of my head, disregarding my shocked expression and heading to the kitchen, I immediately got up and followed him in.
"Why're you so dressed up?"
"I'm not dressed up. I'm wearing my normal stuff" he explained, grabbing a water bottle out of the fridge
"No you're not. Your normal stuff is a t-shirt and Vans. This is special"
"Grace, why're you so worried about it?"
"I don't know. It's just the first time you've gone out without me, I guess. It's making me anxious." I brought my hand up to my mouth and started chewing the skin on the side of my thumb
"Are you afraid I'm going to cheat on you with Michael's band mates?" He laughed, trying to soften the serious situation
"No. I'm just... overreacting. I guess. Don't worry about me, have a good time" I tried to help relive the situation, that I shouldn't even have created in the first place.
"Are you sure? I'll stay if you want me to" he offered, but I knew he really didn't want to do that, he seemed genuinely excited about this.
"Yeah I'm sure. Go have fun. Just text me when you're coming home"
"Okay" he came over and pulled my lips to his, pulling away for a moment and then placing another kiss on my forehead "I love you"
"I love you too" I smiled and we walked out of the kitchen, to see Mikey, waiting by the door
"Ready?" Mikey asked, looking at his phone
"Yeah" Calum gave me another kiss, and I hugged Mikey, before they left out, leaving me, standing alone, in an empty apartment.
It was the first time since we left for vacation that I was alone and I didn't know what to do, so I pulled out my phone and texted the group chat.
Hey you guys want to come over? -Grace
Can't. Hanging out with Luke. Sorry babe -Kai
I'm with Ashton. Sorry 😘 -Elly
It's ok -Grace
I flopped down on the couch and started scrolling through my Twitter feed, hoping to find something interesting, but there wasn't anything, so I turned on the TV. I tried flipping through all the channels, trying to find something, but there wasn't anything there either so I turned it off.
I pulled out my laptop and started watching tutorials on YouTube and learned how to do a Dutch braid, but failed miserably, so I put the laptop away too. I finally decided music was what I needed. I put my phone in its dock and cranked the music up as far as it would go. The first song to come on was Chocolate by The 1975, and I couldn't stop myself from dancing. I danced around the apartment, cleaning up things and dancing as I went. I had made it to the bedroom, and was cleaning up in there, when I heard laughing from the doorway, causing me to jump.
"Shit! Calum!" I swore and smacked the dock, pausing the music
"That was cute" his words were slower than usual, and he was smiling lazily
"Are you okay?" I asked, throwing a shirt on the bed, and walking towards him. His eyes were bloodshot and half closed, he had obviously been smoking "God, you're high off your ass" I laughed, grabbing his hand and dragging him to the bed " Go to sleep"
"I canttt" he whine
"Why not?"
"I'm still dressed" I rolled my eyes and unbuttoned his flannel
"You're lucky I love you" I laughed sliding a muscle shirt over his head "take your own pants off"he struggled a little, and pulled his skinny jeans off, kicking them on the ground, then climbed up to the top of the bed and curling up under the blanket.
"Will you come to bed with me?" He stretched out his arms, still smiling like a goof.
"Let me turn all the lights off and stuff, I'll be right back" he groaned a little, but I blew it off and went to turn off the lights. When I got back to room, he was already sound asleep, but I curled up next to him anyway, smelling sweat and the slight scent of weed on his skin.