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

/105/

  "Hey Annie, what do you think about the boys coming over tonight?" Calum asked.

  Annie stopped in her tracks. "All of them?"

  "Well, yeah, but if you don't want Michael could stay home."

  Annie tapped on her chin. They continued walking. Johanna was expecting Annie in her office in less than five minutes, and Calum needed to get to practice.

  Annie decided it was about time she test her theory. She still felt a little uncomfortable around Michael, but it was about time she see if meeting him the other morning worked.

  "Sure. Yeah, Michael can come too. Like... a sleepover?"

  Calum nodded, beaming. It took Annie a moment to realize, but he wasn't just proud at the idea- he was proud of her. He didn't think she'd want to have Michael over, but here she was, embracing the challenge. Embracing her recovery.

  They got to Johanna's office, and Calum pulled her in for a kiss- a deep, rough kiss, without much movement but with a lot more passion than Annie could usually muster up this early in the morning.

  Calum was the first to pull away. He always was, to be honest. Annie may not initiate all the kisses, but she definetly never wanted to be the one to end them.

  "I love you," Calum muttered, his voice husky.

  Annie was lost for words. She found herself smiling- not grinning, just a little smile. She wasn't amused- she was amazed. Little police sirens went off in her head as she fully took Calum in.

  His back was straight, and he had a little smirk on his face as he looked at Annie- a mixture of teasingness and pride. One of his hands was in his pockets, with just the thumb on the outside. Annie looked up, making eye contact and, oh God.... his pupils were dilated.

  He was in love.

  Annie glanced over her shoulder, making sure Johanna didn't see them before stepping forwards and wrapping her arms around Calum's neck, pressing her lips against his once more. He was only surprised for the briefest second before pulling her closer, deepening the kiss. They finally pulled away, though neither of them wanted it to end, and stared at each other, barley an inch apart. "You have no idea how much I love you," Annie mumbled so quietly that if anyone were to pass by them, they wouldn't so much as know that she was speaking.

  When Annie finally came into her and Johanna's shared office, she was feeling a bit ditsy. Johanna barely had to look at her before raising her eyebrows. "He must be a good kisser if you can barely even walk straight. Are you drunk?"

  Annie bit her lip to try and keep from smiling too much. "I'm not drunk."

  Johanna gave her another once over before turning back to her desk. "Your pupils are dilated."

  Annie snorted, though in reality her heart was soaring. "Oh yeah," she coughed, trying to seek casual. "It was pretty dark in the hallway. You should call someone, see if they need replacement lightbulbs."

  Johanna snorted at Annie's excuse. "Right. Is that also why your lips are swollen?"

  "Don't you have some paperwork to do?" Annie retorted, though she was still in cloud nine.

  Johanna laughed, but pushed her chair back so she was at Annie's desk. "We need to reschedule this, this, and this. The sticky notes show when for. You remember how to get into the database?" And just like that, Johanna pulled Annie back into her work.

  But no matter how much paperwork or phone calls or emails Annie had to manage, the same face was at the back of her mind. No matter how hard she tried- not that she tried- she couldn't erase the mental picture from the back of her mind.

  Needless to say, Annie was smiling all morning long.

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

  "Is there something in your eye?" Luke asked when Calum entered the practice room. "You're pupils are really big."

  Calum licked his lips unconciously, shaking his head.

  Ashton walked over, carrying a bundle of cords, but stopped in his tracks when he saw Calum. "You sick? You look kind of..." he did an impersonation of Calum smiling dumbly on his feet. Calum laughed lightly, but shook his head again. "I've got no clue what you're talking about. I feel fine."

  Michael put his hands in his pants pockets, coming to see what they were talking about. When he saw Calum- who was smiling like a fool- his eyes widened. "You shouldn't drink this early in the morning."

  "I'm not drunk!" Calum retorted, though the giddy smile on his face didn't even falter. "Let's just sing the songs, play the music, all that jazz."

  "Oh, he's definitely drunk," Michael decided, walking back over to where his guitar lay. "Whatever. Let's 'sing the songs, play the music, all that jazz'" he mocked.

  And for the rest of the morning, Ashton, Luke, and Michael found themselves casting nervous glances at Calum. He kept on... smiling, it was so strange. And they always tried to do their best with the songs, but Calum was putting everything into them. They all had their theories, but nothing was confirmed until lunch time, when Calum sat down and didn't so much as glance at his food as he stared at the door.

  "You're food is going to get cold," Ashton suggested shyly.

  "Shut up mom," Calum responded without hesitation.

  The others snorted at Ashton's title, but Calum just stared at the door. All of a sudden, his smile grew, and he quickly looked at his tray, trying to hide the huge smile on his face.

  Michael was the first to notice his reaction, and to figure out why he was acting like that- but when he did, he just rolled his eyes. Of course. He should've known.

  Annie slid onto the bench besides Calum, right at the end of the table. She slid her plate of food in too.

  "Oh God," Ashton muttered, but he couldn't help smiling too. "The poor saps in love."

  "Wait, what?" Luke exclaimed, but at this point it was clear to see. Calum and Annie had made eye contact, and anyone who looked at them could easily see just how obsessed with each other they were.

  Michael declared loudly, "who votes them off the island!" And was met with a chorus of yeses. Then, in one swift move, he shoved the both of them off the bench.

  Annie landed in a way that she avoided getting hurt, and Calum landing partially on top of her, just an inch away from crushing her. And they had the audacity to continue staring into the others eyes- and giggling.

  "Michael Clifford, sleep with one eye open tonight." Annie threatened in a sing song voice, her eyes never leaving Calum's.

  Ashton and Luke looked at him with pity. He was a dead man.