mistake || c.h au

|| chapter thirty-two ; pillowtalk [2] ||

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|| august 16, 2015 ||

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"Maybe you should park a block away?" Tegan suggested, lowering the volume of the radio slightly so that Calum could hear her.

"Michael probably lives on the ninth floor and has a south facing apartment, he isn't going to see you get out the car."

"Fourth floor, actually," Tegan corrected, picking at her thumbnail nervously. "It's just that Michael-"

"Can't see me," Calum finished with an eye roll. "I know how it works by now, Tegan, give me some credit."

"Sorry," she said quietly, sinking back into the seat.

"I know," Calum sighed, reaching over to rest his hand on her knee, giving it a reassuring squeeze as he pulled up outside Michael's apartment block. "Do you want me to come and pick you up after?"

"It's fine," Tegan shook her head. "I'll go back to the flat and pick up a few things first."

"Call me when you're ready, I'll come and get you?" Calum offered.

"I'd rather you didn't come to the flat, Calum," she said, looking at him briefly. "Luke lives there. Things are fùcked up as it is."

"Okay, sure," Calum nodded. He understood. "I'll see you later?"

"Yeah," Tegan agreed, allowing Calum to peck the side of her mouth while she recited her lies over once more in her head.

Tegan slammed the door of Calum's car shut once she had said goodbye to him, and turned towards the entrance of the building. She entered and made for the stairs - she had never been a fan of elevators - and ascended them to the fourth floor, her heart rate a little faster thanks to the exercise as she knocked on flat number 224 and waited for her friend to answer.

Michael answered promptly, his face breaking into a wide smile once he saw her. He welcomed her inside to where her son was on the floor playing with his toys.

"Hey, honey," Tegan smiled, lifting Kian up and spinning him around once, as he came to greet her. "Have you been good for Michael?"

The three year old nodded profusely, clutching on to his soft toy dinosaur and looking over to Michael for support and back-up that he had in fact been behaving.

"Do you want a drink?" Michael asked. "Water, a soda?"

"A soda would be good, thanks."

Michael brought over a can of soda and set it down on the wooden coffee table in front of where Tegan had chosen to sit. He then knelt down next to Kian on the carpet, interrupting him from his play again.

"Hey buddy, you know what I think your mom would love?" Michael asked, standing tall again and motioning for Kian to follow him to the kitchen. "Some of the cookies we baked earlier."

"You baked cookies?" Tegan asked with a laugh, surprised.

"Well, yeah, from a packet mix," Michael shrugged, while Kian presented his mother with an old biscuit tin filled with the freshly baked cookies.

"Thank you, baby," she said, picking out a biscuit from the top and planting a light kids on her son's forehead.

Tegan took the tin from Kian and set it down on the table next to her soda can, allowing him to happily return to his dinosaurs.

"Sucks how you didn't get to see Luke before he left this morning," Michael started.

"Yeah, I know. I went out for coffee with Steph from work," Tegan explained. "He said he'd only be a few days, though."