Only You • c.h.

23.

"Lani," Michael hissed as he climbed into the bus. Lani's eyes didn't stray from the TV screen as she shot at zombies.

"What?" She asked.

"Look what I have," he said, wiggling his eybrows. Lani turned to look at him to see him waving a phone in the air.

"A phone?"

"Not just any phone." Michael plopped down beside her. "Calum's phone."

"Michael, I don't wanna look through Calum's phone," Lani said with a laugh.

"C'mon," Michael groaned. "What if there's embarassing shit on here?"

Lani stared at him for a moment, then paused her game and turned to him. "Okay, let's do it."

Michael practically bounced up and down on the couch as he put in the passcode. The phone unlocked and Michael gasped.

"First try?" Lani exclaimed incredulously.

"Probably should put something other than 1996," Michael said with a cackle.

Lani leaned over his shoulder while Michael sifted through Calum's phone. They looked through funny messages and ridiculous DM's from fans he responded to. They even posted on his private Snapchat.

"And now, the photos," Michael said.

"Are you sure we should be doing this?" Lani asked hesitantly. Her and a Cal weren't even on good terms in the first place. Looking through his photos wouldn't help either anything.

"Are you sure you wanna back out?" Michael shot back. Lani rolled her eyes, encouraging Michael to continue.

They opened his photos and looked at the list of albums.

"He has a 'good photos' album," Michael said with a laugh.

"Check if there's a nudes album," Lani said.

Michael chuckled and scrolled through the albums, then stopped at videos. "Oh my god, he probably has such old videos on here."

They watched a few videos, but one caught Lani's eye. "Click that one," Lani said.

Michael tapped the video she was pointing at and her face popped up. "Are you sure-"

"Just play it," Lani snapped.

"Woah, woah, I never agreed to filming this," video-Lani said.

"C'mon, baby, this way I can watch it when you leave again," Calum's voice said from behind the camera.

Lani sighed and glared at him. "It's a good thing I love you, Calum Thomas Hood."

"That it is."

Lani was silent for a moment before saying, "Aw, phooey! Mickey, we've lost Goofy!"

The video shook as calum squealed and raced towards video-Lani.

Lani's heart pounded. She knew what was next, but she couldn't tear her eyes away from the screen.

"Watch out, Calum, my laptop!" Lani yelled through her laughter. Eventually the camera stilled on Lani and Calum sharing a kiss, huge smiles on their faces.

Michael fumbled with the phone and turned off the video. Lani sat back on the couch, shocked.

"Lani, I'm-"

"Why did he keep it?" Lani mumbled.

"What?"

"Why did he keep it?" Lani asked louder, looking up at Michael.

His face softened. "Lani, he never stopped loving you.

~*~

The bouncing of the basketball echoed throughout the outdoor court. It was empty except for Calum. He dribbled, went up for a layup, missed, and repeated the process. He didn't mind, though. Calum was enjoying the sounds of honking cars on the highway next to the venue and the repetitive slapping of rubber on the pavement while he bounced the ball. Not to mention the privacy. He was around people all day everyday, performing 6 times a week, and dealing with his own relationship problems. Lani. Fucking Lani. This girl was more confusing than a five-way Rubix cube. One minute she was into him again, the next she was going on dates and bouncing Calum around like a ball. A basketball. Calum looked down at the ball in his hands. Positioning his hands, he shot the ball towards the net in a perfect arc. The only noise heard as it went through the net was a swish.

"Nothin' but net."

Calum whirled around to find Lani standing a few feet behind him, her hand shoved into the back pockets of denim shorts. Her expression was guarded, but her eyes were open. Ignoring her, Calum jogged to grab the ball, which had rolled into the shrubbery. He swiped it off the ground and began dribbling again, pounding the ball against the cement.

Lani stayed where she was, watching him slam the ball down on the net. She could tell he was angry, but they needed to talk at some point.

"We should talk," she called over the sound of his dribbles.

"Okay?" Calum continued to dribble, trying his best to drown out all noises.

"Can you just listen?" Lani asked.

Calum stopped dribbling and turned to face her, throwing the ball back and forth between his hands.

"By us talking I mean you're talking," Lani said. She was still a few feet away from him as they stood facing each other, the only sound being the cars and the wind blowing through the trees.

"About?"

"Why you've been acting weird."

"No reason," Calum mumbled.

"Calum, cut the crap," Lani said harshly. Frankly, she was tired of this 'I love you, but I'm an asshole and I hate you, wait I'm sorry I miss you' act he was pulling.

"If you think I'm talking crap then you know why I'm 'acting weird'," Calum retorted, making air quotes.

"Please tell me you don't still have feelings for me," Lani begged, an expression of desperation appearing on her face. Calum couldn't help but notice how it marred her features.

He snorted and turned away, looking everywhere but her. "Why do you need me to tell you that?"

"Because you said you were over it!" Lani's voice rose, matching her level of frustration.

"Well maybe I fucking lied," Calum replied, his sarcastic tone and angry eyes bringing a sick feeling to Lani's stomach.

"But why?"

He scuffed his shoe against the ground before looking up at her again. This time his eyes were soft. Sad. His façade had fallen. "Because I thought you were lying, too."

"Calum . . ." Lan said softly, stepping towards him.

All of a sudden his wall was rebuilt and his face was angry again. "Yeah, don't go all sympathetic on me," he scoffed, tucking the ball under his arm and brushing past her.

~*~