heartless ☯ hood au

0.1 ☯ firsts

10:20 pm

☯

THE FIRST TIME CALUM HOOD sees Hallie Walker, it's late at night.

His head is spinning and everything is slightly hazy, but he's dancing to the thumping music and he feels good. Really good. He knows that when he wakes up in the morning, his head will be throbbing and his stomach will be churning but as of now, he doesn't care. He wants to live. He wants to forget.

On any other day, Calum would pass on the idea of staying out late and destroying his health with chemicals and alcohol since his older sister, Mali, was in college abroad and he had a younger sister and a semi comatose mother to take care of. But this night is a little different - he doesn't want anything to do with family at the moment.

He briefly wonders where his friends, Luke and Michael are since they were the ones who suggested for him to go this party in the first place. Calum knows that Michael doesn't like to stay at parties too long, and he's sure that getting drunk would make him seem like a bad friend, but he doesn't feel like he should care. He needs this. He sways to the music, bringing a half-empty bottle of beer to his lips.

Hours pass.

When Calum fianlly walks away from the party, still very intoxicated, he feels extremely light on his feet, and he laughs loudly to himself. He can't help it though, everything just seems hilarious to him, and he has no idea why.

"Maybe it's the beer," he says aloud, waving his hands around and walking unsteadily on his feet. "Maybe it's the fact that I actually don't feel fucking stressed for once!"

He feels like he's drawing attention to him, but he couldn't care any less. For the first time in a long while, he feels great and happy and he doesn't feel like punching anybody, which for him, is progress. He feels his phone vibrate in his pocket, and he reaches down to pick it up.

11:39 pm - luke hemmings: cal we looked everywhere for you but mikey didn't feel well so we had to leave please stay safe and reply as soon as possible

11:47 pm - michael clifford: CALUM PLEASE CALL ME

He doesn't feel the need to reply. He shoves his phone back into his pockets and turns into a random street full of small homes with big gardens. This part of the neighborhood looks extremely different from his street - this area looks bright and peaceful and happy.

His head is slowly begins to clear, and all Calum wants to do is fall asleep - but he can't go back home. He doesn't think he can handle his family right now. He can't keep crashing at Luke's either since he knows he's being a burden. He closes his eyes and sighs, walking towards a random house with bright yellow fencing.

Calum jumps the fence and collapses on the grass. He looks up and sees a faint glow coming from one of the windows on the second floor, and he can faintly see the silhouette of a teenage girl carrying a number of boxes to and fro - he becomes transfixed with her smooth movements and watches her for a while before he passes out on the grass soon after.

He dreams of darkness.

☯

8:12 am

The first time Hallie Walker meets Calum Hood, it's early in the morning.

She's slipping outside the back door of her house to take a breath of fresh air, and she does not expect to see a dark-haired boy holding an empty bottle of beer passed out in the middle of her garden. She holds her breath and groans before slowly walking towards him.