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

/95/

  They had decided that over that long weekend, they would watch every single Marvel movie in existence.

  Unfortunately, that wasn't realistic, so they were just trying to make it through a few.

  They sat on the couch, watching one of the Captain America movies, when Luke decided he would try to win the bet right there, right now.

  He reached over, wrapping his arm around Annie's shoulder and pulling her close to his chest. But instead of being flustered, Annie just adjusted herself so she was more comfortable.

  Luke huffed. He was stubborn, but Annie was even worse. He just had to find something that'd make her uncomfortable.

  With his arm around her shoulder, Luke toyed with the neckline of Annies- actually Calum's- shirt.

  No reaction.

  He pulled it back a little, tapping on her shoulder lightly.

  She didn't even blink.

  Luke leaned down, kissing her shoulder.

  "You're such a spork. I'm not getting flustered," Annie defended, her eyes trained on the movie as her cheeks turned a light shade of pink.

  "You're red," Luke argued. "Just say the word-"

  "I'm red because Captain America is hot," Annie defended, though that wasn't entirely true. "Besides, you're gay. You're not supposed to be good at this."

  Luke scoffed, smiling smugly. "Tell that to the fandom. They think I might be gay, but just about any of them would be willing to drop their pants on the spot."

  Annie sighed, sitting up and pausing the movie. "You boys are all so immature."

  "And yet you're dating one of them."

  Annie smiled lightly, tilting her head as she thought of Calum. "That's just a plus."

  "Yeah, I don't think Ashton completely gets why you two date." Luke added.

  Annie knew what he really meant- I don't get why you two date. But she pretended not to. "Yeah, Ashton thinks that Calum is my sugar daddy."

  Luke made a face of disgust. "Ew."

  Annie's eyes lit up. "You don't think he's my sugar daddy?"

  "No, that's weird."

  "Finally, someone said it! When I told Johanna, she just agreed with him! Aww, thank God! Finally, someone!"

***********************************
  They were playing cards when Luke got the text, requesting he open up his laptop to Skype with Calum. He asked if it was going to be live, but it wasn't, so he just grabbed the laptop and set it up so both he and Annie could see it.

  Ashton's face appeared on the screen first. "Hey!" His smile slowly faded, and his eyes grew wide. "Why are you guys naked?"

  The computer was quickly swapped, Calum grabbing it from him. "Oh, good, you're not actually naked."

  Annie rolled her eyes at Ashton, but smiled anyways. Truthfually, she missed Calum. "Hey Cal," she said with a singsong voice.

  He smiled back. "Hey Annie. Why- just why-" he made a random gesture with his hand, and Annie looked down. She was wearing her bra and jeans, but Luke was down to just his underwear. Cards and poker chips were spread out between them.

  "Yeah," Luke said awkwardly. "We're playing strip poker."

  "And Luke's loosing," Annie added.

  On Calum's side, the laptop was fixed so both he and Ashton were in the shot. "Oh. That makes... some sense?" Ashton said, looking a little uncomfortable.

  They both looked at someone to the side, who was saying somethiny. They were in a hotel room, apparently, and Calum nodded. "Mikey just asked if you can play poker with only two people."

  Annie bit her lip, trying not to laugh. "I don't know. I don't know how to play poker. I've just been making up the rules so I win every hand."

  Luke looked at her in shock. "But... but..."

  "Then how'd you loose a round?" Calum asked, smiling at them. He seemed to find no problem with the two of them being so comfortable with each other- or at least, he wasn't showing it if he was uncomfortable.

  Annie smiled sadly at Luke. "I wanted him to think he had a chance."

  Luke stormed out of the room in a overdramatic outrage, and Annie picked up the laptop, moving it so she was closer. "How's Iowa?"

  Ashton giggled. "It's good. Good. Michael kissed his date."

  "Michael more than just kissed his date," Calum grumbled. He turned his attention back to Annie. "How are you and Luke doing?"

Annie grinned. "It's good. We made a bet to see if he could make me uncomfortable, and do far it's not working."

Calum laughed lightly. "How much did you bet?"

"20."

"Should've made it 40." He advised. "You're going to win."

Luke had walked back then, just hearing the end of the conversation. "No she's not, I'm going to win. I just haven't used my secret weapon yet."

Calum facepalmed, looking a little uncomfortable. "Luke, please don't use your secret weapon on my girlfriend."

He laughed, raising his eyebrows in a way that said 'just wait'.

Annie yawned, resting her head on Luke's shoulder. He wrapped an arm around her waist automatically.

Ashton and Luke talked about something for a little while after that, but Calum didn't pay much attention. His eyes were trained on Annie. Though her eyelids were feeling heavier and heavier, she watched him too. Though the conversation had been light, neither of them were used to being apart for so long. Calum wanted to reach through the screen and kiss her, or switch spots with Luke so it was him holding her, so Annie could fall asleep on his shoulder instead of Luke's.

Slowly, Annie's eyes closed and her breathing slowed down. Luke adjusted her so he could support her better. Calum felt slightly embarrassed. He was so completely infatuated with Annie- obsessed with her touched, with being around her, obsessed with loving her. He couldn't use words to describe how he felt.

They ended up needing to end the call. Annie was already basically asleep, and Calum and Ashton needed to go to sleep. Tomorrow was the dance, and the day after they'd get on a plane and be home in the evening.

"Is she asleep?" Ashton asked quietly, before they hung up.

Luke turned his head, careful not to bother her. Annie didn't respond, just inhaling deeply. "I think so. I'll carry her to bed."

Calum nodded tiredly. "And Luke?"

"Yeah?"

"Has she been... you know... okay?"

Luke nodded, and Calum was able to let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding in. "Good. That's good. Hey, thanks Luke. You're a good friend."

He smiled, turning to look at Annie. "Yeah, well... she's not all that bad. We'll see you again on Monday, yeah?"

They agreed and the call ended. Luke sighed, trying to get up without bothering Annie. "Luke?"

"Yeah?"

"Are they gone?"

It took Luke a second to realize what she was asking. "Oh, yeah, the call ended. Let's get you to bed, yeah?" He lent down,and Annie opened her arms, letting him pick her up, like a little kid. He began to carry her to his room.

"I wish they weren't in Iowa."

Luke agreed silently. He brought her into his room, plopping her on his bed. She moved around a little, then fell asleep quickly.

Luke pulled the covers up, then took a picture of her sleeping quietly. "I'm winning," he wrote, referencing their little twitter competition.