Melting His Jet Black Heart [cake au] ✔

23.

Chapter 23

"Right, off to mine! You got everything?"

"Yep – you?"

Luke checked his bag but realised his phone was still in his locker upstairs. "Oh damn, my phone... wait here for a sec, yeah? I'll be back!" He rushed back upstairs to retrieve his phone, whilst Calum sat on a bench in the warming weather, staring mindlessly at a baby bird pecking at some crumbs near the bin.

"Well, if it isn't the new member of the Luke Hemmings fan club."

He looked up and saw Brittany glaring over him, with a small posse behind her all chewing gum. "What do you want?"

Her mouth made disgusting smacking sounds as the gum got churned around inside. "I have a request." She leaned in a bit closer and lowered her tone. "I've had my eyes on Luke since year eight. We've even kissed... but recently, he seems to be thinking of you, and you alone. There's no room for anyone else. Don't get me wrong – I can see why; I mean, you're hot as fuck, tall, and there are plenty of girls in our year who already have a crush on you. But what I'm trying to tell you is-"

"I get it. You don't have to reiterate everything. I'm not dumb."

She raised her eyebrows and stammered. "T-then... fine. As long as you know. Girls, come on, let's go." They tottered off in their foolishly high heels. A few minutes passed, and Calum began to get worried about what exactly Luke was up to that he was taking this long – and almost like magic, Jessie bounded over to him to take him out of his boredom.

"Whatcha waiting for? Thought you were going to Luke's after school? If you're not, then-"

"Sorry for making you wait, Cal," Luke shouted, making it loud on purpose so Jessie would hear. She cleared her throat and stood up straight, sighing and clenching her eyes shut. "Michael stopped me to talk about rehearsals... let's go! Bye Jeshie!"

"IT'S JESSIE!" she hollered back as Luke grabbed Calum's wrist and pulled it as they ran. Luke ran a hand through his hair feeling exhilarated and letting the cold breeze blow through each strand. Calum watched from behind, his sunshine almost becoming too bright for him.

Once they were almost at Luke's house, they slowed down and took a few moments to catch their breaths. "What was that all about? Why did you call her Jeshie?"

Luke coughed and squinted. "Oh, we used to be friends back in primary school. Our dads used to be friends and colleagues so we spent some time together... She would hate it when I called her Jeshie. Don't worry about it though, we don't really talk anymore."

They arrived at Luke's front door and Luke got out his key which to Calum's surprise, didn't have any keyrings on it. It was just a key with nothing attached to it, and it probably got lost very easily. Before they went in, Calum took off the tally mark keyring from his backpack, and grabbed Luke's key. With a brisk swoop he attached the two and handed it back to him.

"You must lose your key quite often. This keyring will mean you don't."

Luke was genuinely touched and embraced the brown haired boy whose face felt rather cold from being outside for so long. "Thank you, Cal. Let's go inside where it's warm."

Liz wasn't home – she'd left a note saying she was out grocery shopping but would be back before dinner. Maybe that was a good thing? They headed upstairs and Luke slumped onto his bed tiredly, yawning and patting the space next to him for Calum. They lied down facing each other, fingers intertwined.

For once, he spoke up first. "Hey Luke... what do we count this relationship as?" They looked into each other's eyes, Luke gazing into the haven indulgently.

"What do you want it to be? Because I know for sure that I like you. A lot."

"Being in a relationship with me is difficult. You know what I'm like."

Luke scoffed, smiling at his cuteness. "I like a challenge. Besides, I would have given up weeks ago if I wasn't prepared to face the consequences. Listen – we don't have to call ourselves anything yet – but don't push me away. Let me be near you, let me help you, let me make you smile when you're sad. The moments I hate the most are those that are spent after you send me away, because you have a lotta pain right now, and that's understandable – so I want you to talk it out, I want to be here for you. That's why I'm still around, and that's why I'll ever be around."

For the first time in years, Calum felt the pain of tears pricking at his eyes, bursting to come out. He let it trickle down his cheek towards the bed, and Luke reached his hand to wipe it away, leaning closer to hug him.

"I mean it, Cal."

"Thank you... Man I haven't cried in ages."

"It feels good, doesn't it? Let it out."

Calum did as he was told and wept and wept, not stopping. All the pain from long ago had accumulated and was now letting itself out – but the door didn't seem to know when to close. Luke held him tighter, gently patting his back and whispering 'it's gonna be okay' into his ear. He might've reached his goal but his job didn't end there – now that he had arrived, he was going to stay and look after the boy who was strong on the outside but really just human on the inside.

"You good?"

"Almost..."

"Take your time. Mum won't be home for at least another hour."

"In that case..."

Calum released himself from Luke's grasp and walked over to the window, drawing the curtains. Luke was apprehensive, watching his every move without a clue as to what was going on. "In that case what?"

"In that case," he began, slowly approaching Luke with a curved smile, "let's do something."

Luke immediately understood and pulled his hand closer, dragging him back onto the bed. "Yeah. Let's."

***

Next chapter will be smutty ;)

Btw, top calum or top luke?

I've written the chapter already, but not sure if I agree with who I've put as top ;)

Kimmy xx