difficult | calum hood

10

Calum

I run down the hall to the room me and Luke are sharing, my heart pounding in my chest. "Luke! Luke! Wake up!" I hiss, shaking his shoulders violently. 

Oh god, I need to talk to him. 

"Luke!" I shake him again  and he groans, rolling away from me. "Luke. This is important!" 

"It's six in the morning bro, go away." He mumbles, wrapping his arms around a cushion and hugging it to his chest. I sigh and shove him, which makes him fall to the floor with a thud. "Cal!" He whines, sitting up and leaning against the bed. "Fine! What could be so important that you just absolutely had to wake me up?" Luke teases, rubbing his eyes and looking at me. 

"Um," 

I don't know how to start, where do you even begin with something like this? 

"Calum if you've woken me up for no reason-" 

"No, no. I don't know how to start..." I pause and sit opposite Luke, my fingers actually trembling with nervousness. 

"Cal, just chill, okay?" Luke says, and he actually looks awake now that he's seen how nervous I am. "Speak when you're ready." He soothes, and I nod, running my hands through my hair and exhaling heavily. 

"Right. Okay. So basically, I think possibly I'm probably like, you know," I pause and look down, mumbling something and then looking back at Luke. "I think I have feelings for Zoe. And like, not just 'ooh she's pretty' but like 'what the hell how can someone be so perfect' kinda feelings, and it's also like I know I can't have her, and it's like, she's like, Ashton's little sister, and like, I don't know!" I groan and laugh nervously, tugging on my hair. 

Luke's hand lands on my shoulder, startling me. "Oh Calum. You've got it bad. You used the world 'like' a million times mate." He chuckles, shaking his head quickly and brushing his hair from his forehead. "I think you should trust yourself." 

"What? I should 'trust myself'? Luke, what even, I need advice not mystical therapy!" I shake my head and smile slightly. 

"Look, Cal, all I'm saying is she said you're cute, right? And she's right. You're very cuddly, and she'll like that. Calum, you have to believe in yourself." Luke babbles, his eyes glinting with something. 

"Since when did you turn into a motivational speaker?" I tease, pushing him lightly. Rolling his eyes, he pushes me back and shuffles his butt. "She is pretty though, isn't she? She's got a beautiful smile, and I could stare into her eyes forever." I daydream, leaning on my elbows and looking past Luke. 

"You need sleep." He tousles my hair and pushes me to one side, climbing back into bed. 

"No, I need advice. What do I do? Do I just get over her? I can't act on my feelings, can I?" I'm rambling now, word-vomiting. As I climb into my side of the bed, I giggle excitedly and stretch out my legs. "Luke what should I do?" 

"Sleep. It's too early." 

When I wake up, Luke's head is leaning on my shoulder, the rest of his body sprawled across the other side of the bed. I lightly push him off of me and sit up, groaning and leaning forward. Reaching for my phone, I check the time and sigh. It's only  half nine, and I know for a fact no one else will be up except Anne Marie and possibly Zoe herself. 

I brush my fingers through my hair and pull on a baggy white t-shirt, blinking a few times and heading towards the door. 

"Calum..." 

It's her. 

My heart suddenly leaps into action, battering against my ribs with this passion, this eagerness. She waves at me from her door and I force myself to wave back, it turning into this awkward hand shake. 

"Morning Zoe." I whisper, and she beams at me, her smile so bright and lightening. 

"You're up early." She comments, moving towards me as I make my way down the stairs. 

"I guess I just slept well," I reply, winking at her and placing my hand on her back to let her go in front of me. I'm scared of  coming across too strong, but I was only trying to appear confident and, well, normal. 

"I slept well too." She replies, softly putting her hand on my arm and grinning at me. 

Fire trickles up my arm as her skin comes into contact with mine, her hazel eyes meeting my brown ones. I find myself smiling moronically, standing beside her like some creep. 

This is bad, but it's good. It feels right, but I know it's wrong. 

You shouldn't like your ex's friend, or your friend's sister, but here I am, doing just that.