habits | cake

eighteen.

"are you nervous?" michael asked as he watched calum adjust his tie in the mirror.

"oh, you mean for the proposal?" calum asked sarcastically, stopping his movements as he stared at michael in the mirror. "of course i'm nervous, mikey, it's luke. i only get one shot at this, and i'm really worried i'll fuck it up somehow."

"oh, come on, even if you do, luke's still gonna say yes. god knows he loves you and the kids more than anything in the whole world. i bet you could completely blow it, and that boy would still say yes without even thinking twice about it. you guys belong together. it's like...basic facts, bro," michael said simply with a shrug of his shoulders.

"i know, i just really want it to be perfect, you know?" calum said, going back to adjusting his appearance, "he does so much for our little family, i want to be able to give back to him a little bit. i've been planning on proposing for three three years... ever since brooks and ayla were born, i just never found the right way to do it. i think i found the way after all this time, and i just really hope he'll like it."

"don't stress yourself out, cal, it'll be great. he'll probably cry, you'll cry a bit, i'll cry...it'll be beautiful -- nauseatingly beautiful -- but beautiful," michael said with a grin as he stood up and patted calum's should reassuringly.

"you're right," calum said as he took a deep breath, "alright, i'm gonna do this. i'm really gonna do this. am i ready? do i look okay? does my hair look bad?" the raven haired boy rambled.

"you look smashing," michael giggled as he tossed the black velvet box to calum, "now go propose to your dork."

calum laughed, "thanks, buddy, i'll see you later. make sure you follow the plan, okay? please don't fuck this up, i really want the twins to be there."

"come on, have a little faith, mate. i'm your best friend, do you really think me, michael gordon clifford, would fuck this up?"

"it's not totally out of the question, mike..."

"oh, fuck you, i'll be there, asshole, don't you worry your pretty little head," michael said as he pushed calum out the door.

"okay, i trust you, please don't kill my kids," calum called back at michael from the bottom of the steps.

"go pick up your boyfriend, dumbass, i'll be there in like an hour," michael called back, and with that, calum was out the door and on his way to pick up luke at their own house.

the blonde thought calum was coming straight from work, but calum actually took the day off so he could properly prepare for the proposal and make sure everything went smoothly. he was still incredibly nervous, but the small talk he had with michael surprisingly calmed him down a bit. he was excited more than anything else, but nerves still found a way to mess with his head.

- - - - -

"hey, babes, you almost ready?" calum asked as he walked into his and luke's bedroom.

"yeah, i think so. how do i look?" luke asked, turning around to give calum a better look.

"fucking gorgeous," calum said in awe, "but that's nothing out of the ordinary," he said as he kissed luke's lips.