Fool's Holiday ☾Malum

08

This time, wasn't like the other times. Calum thought third time is the charm, he thought he was fully prepared this time. He even got his car checked before he left. He thought that it was going to work this time.

He stopped at the small hotel for the night, just so that he wouldn't fall asleep at the wheel - he was really tired after all.

What he didn't expect was the string of bad luck that followed. He'd sleep well into the evening and would have slept even longer if it hadn't been for the cleaning lady waking him up.

Here he was, on Christmas Eve trying frantically to get his stuff in the car. Once he was settled, he turned the car on only to find that the gas tank was completely empty. It had been nearly full the night before, after a little bit of looking, it was clear that someone had syphoned his gas and today just kept getting better.

Calum groaned and called for a tow truck, only to find that they were closed, which was probably reasonable because it was late Christmas Eve. It was reasonable but it just frustrated Calum even more.

He was left with one option, he reluctantly trudged up the street, as people turned on their Christmas lights with thoughts of Santa Claus and presents in their head. And maybe, Calum was beginning to understand why Michael didn't care much for Christmas.

It felt like the billionth time, even though it was only the third that Calum walked up to Michael's front door with a few bags in each hand that contained presents that he'd hoped to give to his family on time this year.

With slight hesitation - would Michael finally be annoyed enough by Calum's reoccurring appearances that he wouldn't let him in? - he knocked, it sounded quieter than he intended and he wasn't sure if he should knock louder, it seemed rude but Michael could also be sleeping.

Calum did a double take when a blonde opened the door, did he have the wrong house? It had Michael's trademark truck in the driveway, but he couldn't be sure.

He realized eventually that it was Jessica, the lady that worked at the inn. She probably wouldn't recognize him though, Calum had changed even more since the last time he was over.

"Jess, the pasta is almost done. Did someone knock on the door?" Michael called, walking down the hall while wiping some sauce from his hand onto his apron. He hadn't looked up until the last few words tumbled out of his mouth, immediately making eye contact with Calum.

"Holy cow." Michael stated pronouncing every syllable like he really couldn't believe his eyes. There stood Calum, looking more different than ever. The boy had a scarf wrapped up to his nose and happened to be clad in heavy snow gear, Michael was surprised he even recognized the boy. All you could see was his eyes, but then again Michael wouldn't admit it but he'd never forget eyes like those.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" Michael said after he got over his initial shock, laughing as he pulled the bundled up boy into his arms. He didn't mind that the snow on Calum's shoulders was melting into the fabric of his shirt because he truly missed the boy.

"As ironic as it may be, third time is not the charm." Calum chuckled, finally removing his snow gear. Now, Michael wasn't gay, not in the slightest but he had to admit that Calum had grown nicely. His hair was floppy now, with blond streaks that made even Michael self-conscious of his own hair. And his cheeks had evened out show off his jawline even more. He'd gotten taller, even taller than Michael now despite him being at least 6'2 himself. Calum would be the definition of h-o-t if Michael had a chance to write the dictionary.

Someone cleared their throat and Michael coughed awkwardly as he untangled himself from the lingering hug. Jessica raised her eyebrow at the exchange.

"Oh, Jess this is Calum." Michael introduced, moving the bags Calum brought out of the way so that Calum could enter the house properly without tripping over them. "I've gotta check on the pasta, want some Cal?

"If you don't mind." Calum replied politely, hanging his jacket up in the hall's closet.

"Michael's friend?" Jessica asked once Michael disappeared into the kitchen.

"Yeah, I've known him for a long time. Hasn't changed a bit." He said with a laugh, catching a glimpse of fluorescent pink hair out of the corner of his eye.

"That's odd, he hasn't mentioned you." Jessica mumbled, looking like she was waiting for the name Calum to ring a bell.

"We don't see each other very often, he can't have much to talk about." The boy shrugged, quickly texting Mali the bad news about his car. It's not like he wasn't interested in the conversation with Michael's friend, it's just that he could be doing something more fun than listening to Jessica.

"He's got quite a lot to say about the postman, when he actually wakes up early." Jess inquired, easily coming to the conclusion that Calum was more or less bad news if Michael hadn't a single thing to say about him.

Calum snorted, "Yep, Michael hasn't changed."

He flattened the folded up materials of his sweater casually, scratching the back of his neck when he suddenly didn't know how to act. Knowing Michael, he could easily flop down on the soft leather of the sofa until Michael joined him but under Jessica's scrutiny, he felt unwelcome in the house he'd been in before her.

* * * *

"So what's it this time?" Michael asked, spooning the swirly noodles into his mouth as he stared at Calum who was seated across the table. Jess sat noticeably closer to the pink haired boy as they ate, she appeared uninterested whenever the conversation went back to Calum, which happened a lot more than expected.

"Some A-Hole siphoned my gas." Calum grumbled, rolling his eyes when Michael let out a loud laugh.

"It's not funny." He couldn't help the teeny tiny smile that broke out on his face when Michael started laughing again as he nodded, clearly finding it a lot funnier than Calum did.

"What is this? The third time?" Michael asked when he'd settled down enough to continue eating his pasta. Calum nodded, frown drooping onto his lips at the indication of spending Christmas away from home yet again.

Michael could recognize the look on the boy's face easily, it was the same sad smile he saw on the first Christmas Calum and him had spent together. It was the kind of smile that you saw once and never wanted to see again.

"Why don't I drive you?" The clatter of fork against plate stopped when Jessica paused, the question leaving Michael's lips only to weigh heavily in the air between the three of them.

"I don't know..." Calum's reply came out with a small amount of hope which he tried to stifle seeing as Michael really liked Jessica last time they talked and he didn't want to fuck that up for him.

"Jess won't mind," Michael practically scoffed, he was so convinced that he didn't even bother asking the lady that sat next to him. With a bowl in his hand, Michael already seemed enthused by the idea of driving Calum home for his favourite holiday.

In fact, he'd decided that the perfect time to leave was right after dinner, he was practically pushing Calum into the vehicle before the boy could even get his jacket on fully.