5SOS Preferences

He Gets In A Fight - Calum Hood

The coppery taste of blood filled my mouth. I scrunched my nose up in distaste and spat it out. I hastily stepped backwards as [Y/N]'s boyfriend took a swing at me. He snarled as his fist hit air and lunged at me. I leaped to the side, sending him crashing into the floor. I attempted to steady myself before he got up, but he smacked my ankle with more force than I thought him capable of, making my body wobble. In my three seconds of unsteadiness he was on me, and we both came crashing to the ground.
I tried not to think about the pain that seared through my nose as he delivered a sharp blow to my face. I pushed him off of me with all of my strength, but it didn't give me enough time. He had me pinned again in seconds. His rage outmatched my skill.
His knee pressed into my ribs, knocking the breath out of me. I barely even tried to free myself of his grip.
The next punch caused my vision to blur and my head to spin. The next threatened to knock me unconscious, but some part of me was hanging on. Part of me knew that I deserved this. The final punch sent me into a pool of icy blackness.
---
A buzzing feeling filled my head upon waking. I peeled open my swollen eyes and realised I was in [Y/N]'s bed. Someone cleared their throat from the side of the bed so I turned to look, an agonising pain shooting through my ribs.
[Y/N]'s expression was unreadable. Her jaw was hard set and her eyes steely, an expression I rarely saw her wearing. Her arms were crossed over her chest and her entire body was tensed. She looked ready to fight.
Before she opened her mouth I knew she was going to ask for an explanation that I couldn't give. If her boyfriend hadn't already told her that is. For some reason I got the impression that he wanted to keep the details behind our fight to himself, but I had been wrong before.
"So? Are you going to tell me what the hell happened last night?" She snapped impatiently. Her mouth stretched into a thin line as her eyes narrowed slightly. I didn't respond. Even if I knew what to say, I couldn't tell her.
She sighed, accepting my silence as if she knew it were coming.
Her body loosened slightly as she sighed. "I've already guilted some details out of Zack. You're better just telling me."
What had he told her exactly? What would I give away if I gave my account of the fight?
I cleared my dry throat, "we got in a fight."
A sharp noise that could've been a laugh left her lips. She wasn't impressed with my answer.
Maybe I should just confess what I was afraid to say to her. Maybe I should just tell her.
"What did he tell you?" I asked.
I saw her debate whether or not she should tell me. Eventually she decided it wouldn't hurt anything. "That he heard you say something he didn't like to Michael. He'd had a couple to drink, so it seemed an alright idea to confront you. Apparently you'd had more, so it gave him the advantage. That's all."
"So he didn't tell you what he heard me saying?"
She shook her head. I felt a weight being lifted from my shoulders and a sudden wave of relief washed over me. I released a breath that I hadn't realised I was holding.
"Why? Is it important?" She questioned, her eyebrows creasing forward in confusion and curiosity.
"N-no."
The look on her face told me that she saw straight through my lie.
I tried to dodge the inevitable by quickly changing the subject. "Where's Zack now?"
She shrugged. Something in her face changed briefly, but her stony expression soon returned.
"What did you say?"
If I told her it would ruin everything. I would lose her and she would hate me. I was in love with her, and I'd said as much. I had hidden my feelings for so long in order to keep her close to me so that I could keep her safe, but I hadn't counted on how much it would hurt to see her with another. I had argued that it was better to have her as a friend than not at all, but that didn't make it hurt any less.
If I told her she would hate me, and I wasn't sure I could live with that.
"Calum." She said, pulling me from my thoughts. I stared back into her eyes and willed myself to keep my mouth shut. Something was screaming at me to tell her and put everything at risk. Something inside me couldn't bear to keep the secret any longer.
"He heard me telling Michael that I was in love with you." I confessed. My face heated alarmingly quickly. [Y/N] blinked rapidly and took a shaky step towards me.
"What?" She whispered, her voice hoarse.
"I'm in love with you, [Y/N]. I always have been."
Her eyes were wide and her cheeks were flushed. She shook her head, "I don't believe you."
I grinned. This was so typically [Y/N].
"I know you don't feel the same. I know you have a boyfriend. I'm sorry."
To my surprise, a smile brightened her pretty face. She shook her head again.
"What?" I asked.
"This is weird." She stated.
My heart sank.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to-"
"No," she interrupted, "not that."
She took a breath and began to speak.
"I broke up with Zack last night after the fight. He gave me an ultimatum- you or him. You were both hurt and I rushed to you, not him. He noticed and got mad at me. He said that if I looked after you instead of him then we were through." She giggled a little, "so I stuck my middle finger up at him and called my brother to help get you in my car."
She had done that for me? She had ended her relationship, for me?
I stared at her, not knowing what to say.
"So, what's weird is the fact that I realised my feelings for you yesterday - and you've just admitted yours for me."
"Come here," I choked, grabbing her hand. Happiness flooded through me, and what I was feeling seemed to be reflected in her face.
[Y/N] leaned over me, filling my senses with her perfume. I breathed her in, the scent being one that I never wanted to forget.
Her lips parted slightly, and I kissed her gently.
It took all of my willpower to not deepen the kiss. If I deepened the kiss it would inevitably lead to more, and I was too beaten up to do anything more than this.
She pulled away before I was ready to stop.
She smirked at my evidently desperate expression and laced her fingers in my hair.
"We can do more when you can keep up with me."