Sinking || Calum Hood

chapter 4

"im staying over ashtons this weekend" kayla calls out to calum and i, she is running around the house throwing random items into a suitcase. "please try not to kill eachother when im gone" she zips up her suitcase and half runs towards the door. 

"kayla" calum calls just as she is about to leave, making her turn around. he opens his mouth like he is about to say something then closes it. "have fun" he smiles as she leaves. 

calum had been living on our couch for about  6 months, and still we made no progression. it was summer break, about 2 weeks before christmas meaning that my uni classes had stopped and our boss was away, visiting family. calum and i did nothing all day besides eat and argue with eachother. 

"so" calum interrupted my thoughts, "i dont think ill be able to survive tonight sober" he left the couch and shuffled into the kitchen, he emerged a few seconds later with a bottle of vodka and two shot glasses. "drink?" he smiled and placed the alcohol on the coffee table. i hesitantly nooded as he pored a drink. "heres to hoping we dont rip eachothers throats out" he held up the shot glass as a toast, i mimicked his movements. 

after a few shots we where both a little tipsy, well, really tipsy. 

"i know what we should do" i jolted up and slapped his arm in excitment "lets play a drinking game"

"okay princess," he smirked  "what's the game"

"we each ask eachother any question we want, if you cant answer the question, you take a shot" 

"sounds interesting" he ran his hand over his knees before smiling "you first" 

"why did you decide to work with me" 

"easy" he layed back against the couch "i needed a job, my turn, how many relationships have you had?" 

i was a little shocked by his question but i didnt mind, it must have been the alcohol. "four major ones" i pushed against his knee and crossed my legs under themselves. "are you currently in a relationship" i asked. he didnt answer, instead he pored himself a shot and downed it. 

"cant answer that" he giggled. "why arent you spending christmas with your family" 

"well" i sighed "they live in england and i couldnt afford the plane ticket over there." 

"im sorry to hear that" 

it was a strange feeling, to have calum care about me like that. i dont know if it was the alcohol or that he was just getting more comfortable around me. i certainly wanted to feel more comfortable around him, for six months we had barley had a conversation, it was nice to talk. 

"its alright, i dont really want to go home anyway." calum jerked his head to the side like he was puzzled. "my parents aren't together anymore and i dont get along with my mother that much and my dad is somewhere in america, the only reason i contemplated going back is for my little sister"

"ohh" calum nodded his head like he was trying to figure out what to say next. 

"why aren't you going ho me for the holidays?" i tried to break the silence. 

"parents" he replied quickly, he was obviously uncomfortable with the question. 

i reached towards the vodka and filled both shot glasses. "here" i said handing him one. 

"okay so where were we?" calum laughed as i downed another shot. 

"you ask me" my speech slurred as i spoke. 

"what where your first impressions of me" he straightened his back and looked at me. 

"uhhh, i thought you where tall, and interesting"

"is that all"

"i thought you where asian" i giggled, watching his face turn bright red. 

"i am not asian" he said through gritted teeth. 

"what is so bad about your parents?" i ignored him. 

"i dropped out of uni and they got pissed, that's why i asked kayla if i could stay here, i couldn't deal with them." he ran his fingers through his hair. 

"sorry" i said as i placed my hand on his knee. he brought his much larger hand ontop of mine, lacing our fingers together, he took a deep breath before speaking, 

"can i confess something?" i nooded "i asked kayla to go to ashtons, i just really wanted to spend some time with you" he turned his body so we where facing each other, he kept my hand in his.

i didnt know what came over me but i felt myself moving closer to calum, the distance between our bodies slowly decreasing. we now sat with our foreheads pressed against eachother. 

"can i ask you another question" i felt his warm breath brush against my face. "what would you do if i kissed you right now?" 

"i dont know, do you want to kiss me?" 

"i cant answer that" he pulled his face away from mine and took another shot. 

we sat in silence for half an hour, our fingers still laced together. 

"im going to bed" i released my grip on calums hand and walked towards the bathroom. i got changed into sweatpants and one of calums shirts that was laying on the bathroom floor and got ready for bed. when i left the bathroom i found calum layinf on the couch with his eye closed. i cleared my throat in an attempt to get his attention, he opened his eyes and looked at me. 

"is that my.." 

"you can sleep in my bed if you want" i interrupted "you might want to after sleeping on a couch for 6 months" i did my best to smile at him. 

"its fine princess, im happy here" he snapped. back to his old self, and i just thought we where going to start to talk to eachother again. 

i walked into bed, a little disappointed, i held my head as i walked. i flopped onto my bed, not bothering to pick my fallen blankets off the floor. i felt myself begin to cry, i had no idea why, but i couldn't stop, i bit on my bottom lip in an attempt to stop myself from sobbing to loudly. my body was becoming heavy as i was drifting off to sleep, i heard the gentle creek of my door opening as calum entered my room. he picked a blanket off the floor and layed it on top of me, he climbed into the bed, wrapped his arms around my waist and nuzzled his head into the crook of my neck. 

"sorry princess" he mumbled.