after sunset // cake

1:22

Luke was an idiot.

Of course, he'd figured this out at the same time he'd admitted to himself that he liked Calum Hood.

However, the reason he was an idiot this time is because he'd somehow believed that Calum was a nighttime thing.

How wrong he'd been. Calum slipped into his life—before and after sunset—and filled a spot that Luke realized had been made just for him.

It started with the early mornings, when the sun was just peeking above the bare treetops and making the icy sidewalks shine.

Luke was sadly staring at his empty bag of coffee and his even-emptier refrigerator when he heard a knock on the door. He shuffled over to it, feet freezing despite his socks, and pulled it open to reveal Calum standing in the doorway, jacket zipped to his chin and a grey knit hat pulled over his ears. He was holding a bag and a tray of coffee.

"Let me in," Calum said, sucking a breath in through his teeth. "I'm freezing my ass out here. And it'd be a damn shame if I lost it."

Luke blinked, wondering if he was dreaming. "Um."

"Okay, Luke, you're cute and all but it's fucking ten degrees outside." When Luke still didn't move, Calum shouldered past Luke and into the living room.

Luke closed the door, still trying to wrap his head around the fact that Calum was here, in his house, at seven in the morning.

Seven in the morning.

It had been a week since the coffee shop meeting, and they'd met up three or four times since then, but only after school. What made today different?

"Calum, what are you doing here?" Luke asked. It came out harsher than he'd thought, apparently, because Calum shrunk back slightly.

"I have coffee?" He replied, but it sounded like a question. "If you don't want it—"

"No, no," Luke said, starting forward and reaching out, but then stopping. Calum looked at him, questioning and curious, and Luke flushed. "I...um...thanks," Luke offered lamely.

Calum swallowed, and offered the coffee. They were still standing too far apart. It was too formal, too stiff, too awkward.

Was it because Calum looked beautifully pink-cheeked and bright-eyed in this light? Was it because Luke was seeing him without the flickering of the streetlights on his face, without the unease at the growing darkness churning in his stomach?

Luke took the coffee, and their fingers brushed, static electricity shocking Luke.

"Ouch," he muttered, and Calum looked embarrassed, the split-second of silence soon erupting into laughter. Calum reached for Luke at the same time Luke reached for Calum, and the coffee was gently crushed between them as Calum locked his fingers behind Luke's back as the younger boy hesitantly brushed his nose into the crook of Calum's neck.

"Thanks for the coffee, really," Luke said, and Calum nudged him.

"See, I'm a nice person," Calum said. Luke rolled his eyes and Calum responded with a flat look. "Last week of classes," Calum said. "You're flying home for Christmas?"

"Right," Luke, shifting. He wanted to tell Calum that he'd briefly thought of Christmas together, but then was sure Calum would make a joke or a snarky remark and they'd be too caught up laughing to take anything seriously.

Luke realized just then that he was starting to take him and Calum seriously.

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