Calum never shows Michael a song, and both of them forget about it until it's the night of soccer practice. They've distanced themselves a little from each other, but they still hold hands, bracing themselves for the scholarship. Michael wishes he was in denial, but he knows the truth.
Calum's fidgeting with the strings of a guitar he found in Michael's house. He licks his lips, mumbling something to himself.
"Michael," he says, looking at his boyfriend who is lost in his phone. "I love you. Don't ever doubt that."
Michael raises a pierced eyebrow. "Okay. Love you too."
Calum leaves for soccer training and Michael calls Ashton and Luke to come over. They all squish into his bed and sigh, looking up at the ceiling. Luke smells of weed, but the other two say nothing.
"So," the blond says, his chin in his palm, "what's up?"
"I don't know. I was bored." Michael shrugs. "Brazil's not far away, and I'm stressing so much."
Ashton pulls his hand through his hair. "He's going to come back. Don't worry."
"Yeah, besides – something might suddenly come up." At this, the other two boys look at the blue-eyed boy, confused. He just smiles, and changes the subject. "So, how's Jamaica doing, Ashton?"
"Why don't you ask him?" Ashton says sharply. "I can't speak for him."
Michael snorts. "Don't be so defensive over it. He's a good dude that you have a crush on; it's fine."
Ashton relaxes a little, getting up from the bed. He starts to pick things up from Michael's floor, ordering it all subconsciously as he talks. "Do you think we'd be a good couple?"
"Yeah, you're both nice as fuck." Michael says, sitting up. "Why, you considering it?"
"I don't know . . . we – like – accidentally kissed last night."
Luke laughs. "Accidentally?"
"We both turned around at the same time, and our lips kind of – you know."
"We know." The other two say in unison, and Luke pulls his phone out, saying he's going to call for pizza, which means they'll have to move out to the living room because Karen hates whenever they order pizza, so they know they'll have to order an eat it quickly.
They all sit down on the lounge, happy that Karen works late and Daryl doesn't. Michael's father and half-brother are already sitting in front of the TV, talking when they get there.
"Pizza, boys?" Daryl asks, a laugh in his voice.
"Yeah," Michael says, "Mum'll kill us; but it's fine."
"If you pull the half-brother card, you'll be right." Todd jokes, trying to make the whole topic light so they don't actually think too hard about the fact that his mother cheated on Michael's father with his Dad.
"Yeah, guess so." Michael shrugs. "You know, I'm kind of glad that you're my half-brother instead of – like – some other wanker."
"I'll always be your wanker." Todd says, smiling sarcastically. "That sounds so much more wrong than it needs to."
Everybody – even Daryl – starts to laugh at the extremely immature joke. Soon enough, the doorbell rings, and Michael gets up, taking the money that they had all used to chip in for the pizza. He opens the door, and smiles uneasily.
His mother stands there, a pizza box in her hand and an unimpressed look on her face. "Pizza, huh?" she says in an 'I'm going to fucking punish you' tone.
