A Letter Before I Go ; malum

7

Calum wondered if Michael meant anything by it when he touched his face. It was weird, and Calum felt kind of awkward on the bus.

Seeing that they could have a longer night, the boys celebrated, but the Maori retired to bed as soon as he got on the bus. He pulled the curtain over his bunk and pulled his boxers off. He liked the free feeling.

He buried his head in his pillow and sighed in relief. Michael's jumper was wrapped in Calum's quilt. He hadn't meant to keep it, but he knew that Michael would notice if he put it back. He cuddled it, and blushed at how weird it actually was.

"Calum," Michael said softly, pulling the curtain back a bit, "are you okay?"

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"I don't know. You just . . . you always drink with us."

"I'm just tired, Mike." He mumbled, rubbing his eyes.

Despite the fact that Calum was naked, Michael crawled into the bed and cuddled him, rubbing the edge of his thumb just below the boy's chest. It drove shivers down Calum's spine.

"What is . . . What is that?" Michael asked, picking his head up out of the crook of the Maori's neck. He grabbed his jumper that wasn't exactly expertly hidden, raising an eyebrow.

Calum blushed, covering his cheeks, although the light peeking through the curtain told Michael the truth. The purple-haired boy smiled.

"It's – I . . . I missed you when you were, like, away and I – fuck, I – um . . ."

Michael giggled. "Don't worry about it. Keep it. It looks better on you."

Fuck.

Michael had called Calum attractive before, but now Calum was absolutely burning, rethinking every word his best friend was saying and he just didn't know why. Maybe it was the fact that he was naked and Michael was cuddling him. Yeah, he'd blame it on that.

They went back to the position they were in before and Calum pulled the curtain across a little bit more to get the light out of his eyes. He listened to Luke and Ashton giggle and yell in the living room area, probably making a video.

"Michael," The Maori started, "are you drunk?"

"No."

"Okay, good."

"Why?"

I just want to know if you mean what you say. "I just wanted a talk."

"Do you want to paint your nails too?"

"Yes."

Michael got out and came back with the nail polish. Calum went to sit up, but Michael stopped him.

"There's not enough room in this bunk." Michael explained, and the Maori got out, his quilt around his waist.

He sat on the floor and went to open the nail polish, but Michael took it. The pale boy smiled and used one hand to take Calum's and the other two paint his nails.

"You're weirdly good at painting my nails." Calum laughed.

Michael smiled, not commenting as he looked at Calum in all his glory. His hips peaked just out of the quilt that covered his naked body. His abs weren't defined, but they were good, just like his arms. And his hands? God, his hands were so soft, he should really –

No.

Michael licked his lips and continued to paint Calum's nails.

Ashton walked in, a phone in his hands, as he laughed. "Hey, boys, what are you doing?"