echo // hemmings [completed]

ten | tension

—September 8th—

Calum used to be a patient person. In fact, he loved waiting. He enjoyed humming in line as he got onto the bus, he enjoyed tapping his hand on the wheel when the street light was red, and he even liked reading tabloids in the grocery store line. It's not the standing around part he liked, it was the fact that in those little pauses of the day when he had to wait, he could think of anything in his head without having to worry about the next customer in his store or the timing of the new shipment of guitar picks. Those were the little moments that belonged only to him.

But ever since the incident, his little moments felt haunted by an overwhelming fear. A fear of what? He wasn't sure, but now whenever he had to wait in line, or when there was a delay on the highway, all he wanted to do was shut down and cry. And that's exactly how he felt waiting in Michael's nicely furnished apartment.

He was there with little notice and was told nothing except that there was a girl he needed to meet who had the same voice as Riley. He was somewhat interested, and that kept him from yelling at Michael for pulling him out of the shop on a business day, but at the same time, he had little expectations. And even if it was true; so what? She can't change anything, it's not like life had an undo switch.

Michael was on the phone with the girl Calum assumed was Riley's vocal doppelganger. He had been talking for a while, making Calum question if she was even going to come. But things seemed to end smoothly as Michael hung up the phone with a short, "See you soon." The dark-haired boy pondered what this mystery girl would be like, but his thinking was cut short when the doorbell rang. It was too early for it possibly to be her, so who else did Michael invite?

Calum let out a sigh as Ashton entered the room. After the incident, Ashton was the hardest for him to get along with, mostly because he was always either drunk or nowhere to be found. Michael had been forgiving of his friend's new drinking habit, but Calum couldn't tolerate it, especially when his drunken lifestyle reminded him of his father.

"Hey Calum," Ashton flashed a quick and short smile, sensing that Calum probably wasn't in the friendliest mood. Calum scoffed and looked away. Ashton gulped at his friend's behavior. Looking at Calum made him feel like a high schooler who just pissed off his teacher, and just like in high school, when he fucked up, he had to pay the price.

The sandy-haired boy tried to think of something to ease the tension between the two, but fortunately, Michael had just gotten off the phone and had news to tell. 

"It looks like she can't come since her car just got towed, but she said she'd be alright if we went to her place," Michael announced. Her car being towed was a small hurdle, but Michael had to make sure that Ashton and Calum met her. "So let's go, my car's in the parking garage. We can just take the elevator down." Michael tried to stay enthusiastic as to lift the mood between the two other boys.

 As the trio entered and exited the elevator they had nothing, but bare silence between them all. They haven't met in so long and after the way that each of them had changed, finding a safe topic was like finding a piece of straw in a pile of needles. And the car ride was no different, the atmosphere was cold between all of them, even as the radio played their favorite songs. 

When they stepped out of the car one of them finally spoke. 

"Are you sure this is the right place?" Calum asked. The building in front of them was run down with chipped paint and a large neon sign flashing dimly saying: Motel 91.

"Yeah, this is definitely the place," Michael observed, thinking to himself that this place looked like the type where people would stay only because they're too drunk to drive home.

"Hey... This place seems kind of familiar, but in a hazy kind of way you know?" Ashton blurted out.

"That means you were drunk when you were here, so no I wouldn't know," Calum snapped at him. Ashton looked like a puppy who had been kicked after hearing Calum's comment.

"Well Rowan did mention in the directions that it was near a bar called the Blue Shore," Michael informed them.

"Yeah! That's it! The Blue Shore," Ashton recalled proudly. "I live right across from there."

"So just because you didn't have to drive you thought it was okay to get wasted and wander around near a random motel?" Calum inquired. "You could've gotten run over when crossing the fucking street. Geez, have some fucking common sense, Ashton." His tone was sharp and piercing, and Ashton didn't have to take it.

"Get off my back Calum. You're not the only one hurting. We all are," Ashton said. He wanted to snap back, but he didn't want to start trouble. But then Calum said something that crossed the line.

"Yeah, but not all of us are drinking off our love for our best friend's girl."

"The fuck did you say?" Ashton seethed. Calum scoffed. 

"You must be in a difficult position," Calum said mockingly. Michael was too slow to stop him and Calum got hit square in the jaw.

"We're all in a difficult position Calum! Get over yourself will ya?!" Calum struck back without delay. And in no time the two were pushing each other and exchanging fists until they were brawling on the ground. That is until Michael eventually pulled them apart by the collars of their shirts.

"Stop it! We aren't here to fight we're here to meet someone! Can't you two stop being assholes for long enough so we can go up the fucking stairs?" Michael shouted, forcing them to unclench their fists. They both grumbled a response inaudible to Michael, which he knew was all he was going to get. But what worried Michael the most was that he had never imagined that he would have to break up a fight between Ashton and Calum. Them all getting along used to be a guarantee, but that guarantee had long expired.

"Now, let's go. She's probably waiting," Michael stated. 

And Rowan was waiting. She has been standing outside her apartment for the last five minutes watching the whole scene unveil before her. Inside of her was a mix of confusion, fear, and worry. She didn't know what was going to happen if she let them in her apartment, she didn't know what they would do or what they could do. Her heart was beating fast, she had seen plenty of street fights before, but she usually saw them as she walked by. But today she faced it full-on, and right then she was scared, scared of what she had gotten herself into.

-

a/n: don't get into fights kids