"It's Not Love If It Hurts" //5sos

/89/

  Calum and Annie talked the most in the evening, in the time when the late afternoon shifted to the darkness of night, after work, after dinner, after the stress of the day was over and their only obligations were to themselves. That's what they did now, though instead of sitting together in the living room, they sat together in Calum's car. They ate the food of champions- In and Out- and sat in relative silence until Annie asked the question they were both waiting for.
 
  "Was that the only time you and Luke kissed, while we've been dating?" Her voice was calm, full of curiosity, but at the same time, Calum knew she was sad. She was right when she said that their situation wasn't ideal.

  He hesitated, sightly embarrassed. "No. In Colorado, when you had the.... attack.... Luke tried to convince me to stay back. And he kissed me."

  "And?"

  "And I kicked him the shin. That's why he was limping."

  A smile slowly grew on Annie's face. She tried to hide it, but Calum saw, starting to smile too.

  "What are you thinking about?"

  "Nothing," she mumbled, trying to look away to hide her smile.

  "No, it's definitely something," he grinned. "Don't make me tickle you."

  She squeezed her eyes closed, bracing herself. He reached out, about to tickle her when she relented. "Fine!" Calum pulled his hands back, smiling proudly. "Fine, fine, I'll tell you."

  Calum waited patiently as Annie turned to face him, but kept her eyes trained on her feet. "I'm waiting," Calum teased.

  Annie inhaled slowly, still smiling smally. "I just- I find it funny. We're both such violent people. Like, Luke kissed you, and you kicked him so hard he was limping. And do you remember a few months ago, right before the vacation at the resort? Michael said something stupid, I think, and I threw a plate at him." Calum waited for her to collect her thoughts. "Honestly, it's a horrible idea for us to be together. Completely idiotic."

  He raised his eyebrows, the smile faded. "Do you think we should break up?"

  Annie shook her head, looking at Calum straight on. "I think that the smart thing to do would be to never have dated in the first place." She was leaning forwards, and Calum caught on, moving so they were nose to nose.

  "Good," he said decidedly, looking at her lips. "Because I'm a complete idiot."

  Their lips crashed together. It probably was a dangerous game they were playing.

But they relished in it.

*******************************************************************************************************************

  "The purpose of this meeting is to discuss the upcoming trip to Iowa." Johanna announced. "Calum, Michael, and Ashton will all be going. Luke, your welcome."

  Luke gave her a thumbs up. The trip was for the three boys to go to homecoming with the contest winners- all girls. Luke wouldn't be into it, at all, him being completely and utterly gay. So, Johanna had pulled some strings and announced that Luke wasn't going because he was getting an extra, well deserved break.

  Annie was just glad that he and Calum wouldn't be going together. Of course, she had forgiven Calum, but she definitely didn't trust Luke with him. She was Calum's girlfriend- she had the right to be a little jealous.

  Everyone figured she'd be jealous, since Calum would be going on a date with a girl, a fan. But Annie knew that none of the boys would be doing anything questionable- the fans were all seniors in high school, probably only 18. That meant Calum and Michael would be two years older than them, and Ashton would be four. Kind of weird- not really weird, but regardless they were in high school. Annie doubted too much would be going on anyways.

  Annie shook her head, trying to focus. Johanna had called this meeting to tell them all the details of their trip, but Annie knew that wasn't it. She and Johanna had discussed it previously, since she was a handler now, but it still was a bit annoying.

  "-then we'll get the van and I'll drive you all home from the airport. Any questions so far?" Johanna was saying.

  Ashton raised his hand. "You'll drive us home?"

  "Ah, right." Johanna smiled in a slightly venomous way. "I'm going with you on the trip. You'll be in close contact with fans, so I need to be there to make sure you know what you're doing. We're also going to have some extra precautions- body guards, just for some of the time."

The boys groaned. Calum hadn't talked much about it to Annie, but it was easy to see that they had no particular fondness for bodyguards.

  "Wait, if you're going too, then where's Annie going to go?" Calum asked. They hadn't talked about that much either, but they had all been in silent agreement that Annie would stay with Johanna while Calum was away. She may have been doing a lot better, but with her mood swings, it was safer to make sure she stayed with someone.

  Annie pouted. She didn't like this idea.

  "She'll be staying with Luke," Johanna announced, having made the decision without Luke's input. "That way neither of you will be lonely," she joked.

  Luke was agape, of course. He and Annie were still at odds- Luke wasn't fond of her because she was dating Calum, and Annie wasn't fond of him because he kissed Calum.

  And now they got to stay in the same house together for a few days. What a cruel joke.