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

/173/

  "Annie's really pretty," Lauren was saying. "Especially for a beard."

  Calum snorted. "She's not a beard."

  "You don't think she's pretty?" Lauren batted her eyelashes at Calum, trying to get him to mess up.

  "She is," he said simply.

  "Some people think I look like her."

  Calum turned to Lauren, giving her a once over. "Nah, not really. Your hair is a different color, and she's taller. Your faces are different too."

  Lauren huffed, her advances getting her no where. "Some people tell me I look prettier than her. A few people, actually."

  "Who was that? Boys?"

  Lauren sucked on the inside of her cheek. "May-be," she sang, trying to make him jealous.

  "Well don't listen to them," he explained, adjusting the snap back on his head. "Some boys will say anything to get into your- never mind. You're only 15."

  Lauren was getting nowhere, but she kept trying. "I don't know a lot of things. I'd love it if you could teach me."

  "Like what? How to play the bass?"

  "...sure. And... a few, other things."

  "You should ask Ashton. He can play the guitar, and the bass isn't that different. I'd hate to take away bonding time from him."

  "I'm thinking of a... different kind of bonding."

  Calum shrugged. "He liked bowling. You should ask him if he wants to do that."

  Lauren blinked. "No, I don't think so." She hesitated, as if shy, when in reality she was trying to make it more believeable. "We could go bowling though."

  He scrunched up his nose. "I hate bowling."

  Calum walked away, and Lauren huffed. Luke noticed and walked over, taking Calum's spot and putting his arm over the top of the couch casually. "No luck?"

  She hesitated, licking her lips. Luke followed her eyes, and found them trained on Calum's behind as he walked away. "I don't know what you're talking about," she muttered through gritted teeth.

  "He's got a girlfriend, you know."

  She sat up straight. "So you're sure he's not gay?" Luke shrugged. "Because I was starting to think-"

  "Just because he's not into someone seven years younger than him, doesn't mean he's automatically gay," Luke corrected, trying not to sound offended.

  "But it could-'

  "But it doesn't."

  Michael noticed them talking and made a beeline to where they were. "Hey.... you... two."

  "Is Calum gay?" Lauren asked, not even trying to be cool.

  Mikey didn't even blink. "Yes. Very. Actually, he's pan. No wait... no, Calum's asexual. Sorry. Good luck with that."

  She huffed and walked away, to her room probably. Luke knew that every year, Ashton gave her 5sos posters as a gag gift, but he wondered now if she actually hung them up. Luke shuddered, imagining her closet door covered in cut out pictures of just Calum.

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

  "Um, Calum." Ashton asked, walking over to where Calum sat on the couch, Lauren curled up napping against him. "What are you doing."

  He looked at Lauren tiredly. "She fell asleep."

  "I'll wake her up then-"

  "No, don't worry about it," he cut Ashton off. "It kinda... well, it kinda reminds me of Annie."

  Ashton nodded and walked over, sitting in the chair next to him. "Have you talked to her today?"

  Calum hesitated. "Um... yeah. She's doing... yeah. Apparently, her sister was the only one who knew she was coming home. She wasn't exactly welcomed with open arms."

  Ashton peered around his house. It was pretty decently sized, with a few Christmas decorations here and there, and lots of family photos. He made it a point to come home every year for Christmas, at the bare minimum, and knew that if he ever showed up unannounced he'd be accepted with open arms.

  Annie didn't have that.

  He looked at the floor, feeling kind of bad. "Do you know if her family is... doing anything? Presents, dinner...?"

  Calum shook his head. "She didn't tell me. We tried to just... not talk about it."

  He nodded, looking at his friend. Calum looked... while, a little incomplete. Ashton had known him for so long, but only now he realized that without Annie by his side, Calum seemed a little off. He was still the same person, but... he seemed a lot happier, a lot more relaxed around Annie.

  "Colorado was fun?"

  Calum grinned. "So fun. The second day, mainly. That night-" he coughed, realizing that maybe he shouldn't tell Ashton about exactly what they did that night. "-was fun."

  If Ashton knew what Calum was alluding to, he didn't show it. "That's good. I-" he froze, noticing something new, "-where did you get that bracelet?"

  Without realizing it, Calum had been toying with his new bracelet, a thick strip of black leather held together by two buckles. His eyes widened, realizing what he was doing. "I- yeah, I got it in Colorado. Annie was looking at them, so I got us each one for Christmas. I hid hers in her backpack."

  "Was she wearing it when you called her?"

  Calum's smiled in a way that could only be described as 'naughtily'. "Yeah. Neither of us brought it up, but when I videomessaged her she was wearing it."

  Ashton itched his knee, and smiled. "You two work well together. I'm kinda surprised you agreed to leave her for so long."

  "Me too."

  Lauren snored, leaning away from Calum and drooling. "I'm going to take her to her room now," Ashton declared, getting up and scooping up his little sister. Calum didn't object as he carried her to her room.