spotlight :: malum

: nineteen :

The silent treatment pursued as time passed, every single minute felt like an hour, every moment spent sitting in the car grew uncomfortable but no one took notice of that except for Calum. He was the only one lost on what to do, the others had their persistent jobs of keeping their mouths shut however the brunette had no clue what his part in this was. Is he the enemy, the prey, the victim? His role was unknown to the boy, but the other three surely had to know.

After six agonizingly long minutes of their almost finished car ride, he rose his voice. "Can someone tell me what the hell I did?" He stayed tense, the air cold as Michael stirred at the tone of his voice, for the first time throughout the entire trip he turned to face Calum, but alas his eyes stayed shut and lips parted in such a small way it'd take awhile to notice in one glance.

He looked serene when he slept, something about the disheveled fringe that wisps over his eyes and always ended up messier than when he shut his eyes. Or maybe it was his cheeks, the pale alabaster skin glowing against each streetlight they drove past that always casted rays of gold onto the surface to bring the dull color to life. Every abstract part of him amplified when he slept, his not so dainty nose that scrunched up when he's amidst his dreams, the constant light snore that comes out if he's not in a comfortable position, each little detail Calum took in had him thinking more and more about this blonde boy.

"You kissed her." Ashton said it like the words were poison on his tongue, disgust contorting his face while he kept each syllable at whisper tones to be sure not to wake the only sleeping boy. Without disclosing any facts on Michael's slowly developing crush he continued, "And you liked it, dammit."

Ashton can't help but get worked up when he sees how sad Michael gets over some things. Serious things, especially. And downgrading him for a no good gold digger, tossing him to the side so easily, it's at the top of the list. He can't help himself, he knows Michael's a very sensitive guy and he cares a lot about his friends so God knows how much he probably cares about a crush. It's too much for his big golden heart to handle if he sees Calum kiss someone else and when he walked to the car frowning his best friend senses kicked in and he needed to set things straight.

"It's not my fault she's a good kisser, doesn't mean shit if I kiss back anyways, not like you care." But Michael does, the dirty blonde almost piped in. Staying quiet for the sake of friendship and sending an unnoticeable and flash of a glance at the sleeping blonde that stirred once more. If Calum doesn't quiet down he'll ruin Michael's precious sleeping time. It's one in the morning, some people have work before noon.

Calum froze at the feeling of the blonde snuggling closer to him for any form of a pillow, the blonde's cheek squishing softly against the toned skin of his bicep as his heart tugged at the sight, mentally cooing. The blonde's hands that were once in his pockets came out and curled around Calum's arm before stilling and a soft whistle of a snore left his lips.

The raven haired boy lowered his voice, "That kiss meant nothing to me, I like someone else." In the least subtle way possible he trailed his gaze over to Michael. It felt weird to say out loud, almost like it shouldn't be said. A forbidden term, foreign to his tongue yet spoken anyways with little backup to say if what he's speaking is true.

"Holy shit, you like Michael." Ashton gawked from the front seat, Luke only eavesdropping from the driver's seat, eyes set on the road as the curly haired blonde beside him twisted around to get a better view of Calum from the passenger seat.

"Do not." The brunette snapped, lying to himself as a way to feel less scared, guilty even. This whole concept is new, Luke could tell Calum's still in the denial stage and he'll be stuck in that gutter for a long time. Months, maybe.