I'm Supposed To Hate You ||Malum AU||

Chapter 40

Calum thought nothing of helping Michael when he was in need, Michael had done the same thing, but when Ashton got off the phone after Michael called him, he seemed to have a lot to say.

"Michael wouldn't stop talking about you on the phone Calum. Every time I gave him advice, all I got was, Calum said that, or Calum knew you'd help. The first thing he said to me was "Calum told me to phone you for advice because he agrees with me and doesn't know what else to say"." Ashton smirked, pushing his hair out of his face as he leaned against the empty changing room wall.

"So what? Why are you smirking at me?" Calum asked, looking at his best friend in confusion.

"You helped him." Ashton replied. "And usually when someone talks about a person a lot, it means they like them."

"Ashton, be serious. It's Michael we are talking about. He is the least likely person to ever like me." Calum said, almost laughing at how ridiculous the idea was. "We hate each other."

"You used to hate each other." Ashton corrected, continuing to smirk.

"What are you getting at?" Calum asked suspiciously, raising his eyebrow at Ashton.

"I think Michael likes you." Ashton stated, standing up straight. Calum snorted then bit his lip to muffle his laughter. "I'm being serious Calum."

"Yeah and I'm the Prime Minister." Calum replied through laughter.

"Think about it." Ashton said, sitting down next to Calum on the bench. "He claimed to hate you, but went out of his way to be around you."

"Cause he's a dick and he knew it annoyed me."

"He told you you were hot on multiple occasions."

"That's just fact." Ashton glared at Calum, rolling his eyes frustratedly.

"You shared a bed."

"Because I had a nightmare!" Calum argued.

"He didn't refuse did he." Ashton retorted calmly, still smirking as he spoke.

"So we cuddled a few times, what's so wrong about that?" Calum snapped frustratedly. Ashton's eyes widened and Calum clasped his hand over his mouth in embarrassment as realised what he had just said.

"Cuddled?" Ashton repeated, his smirk growing even wider. Calum shook his head, refusing to make eye contact with Ashton. "Calum, you have to tell me now."

"I don't have to tell you anything." Calum replied stubbornly, wishing his cheeks would return to their usual colour instead of being tinged pink.

"Why?Are you embarrassed?" Ashton teased, poking Calum's side. Calum slapped his hand away, feeling more heat rush to his cheeks.

"I'm you're best friend Calum, I'm not going to tell anyone. The worst I'll do is hold it against you, for probably the rest of your life." Calum sighed and looked at Ashton, thinking very carefully about how he was going to word it.

"To start off with we weren't cuddling. He was just lying beside me to keep me company. That's all I needed to feel safe, but when I woke up the next morning, his head was on my chest and my hands were wrapped around his waist. " Calum explained quietly, talking to his knees.

"I'm not judging you Calum, you don't need to be ashamed of it. You can act as gay as you like with whoever you like. It's really none of my business." Ashton told him gently, finally getting rid of his smirk. "But this does also continue my theory. Michael obviously moved closer to you in his sleep, which is a subconscious sign that he likes you."

"But that could be argued both ways, we both would have had to move closer to one end up like that. Does that mean-?"

"Do you?" Ashton asked, without a hint of teasing in his voice. "Do you like Michael?"

"I don't know Ash. I really don't know."
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Calum shut himself in his room as soon as he got home, throwing his bag down in the corner and lying back in his bed, sighing loudly. Calum had had crushes on boys before, sure, but his feelings ever been as complicated as they were at that moment. He'd never not known whether he liked someone or not.

Michael was a dick but he was a really thoughtful and understanding dick. He was also incredibly good looking.

"Fuck you Ashton, making me think I've got a crush on Michael Clifford." Calum grumbled under his breath. "There is no way I have a crush on him."

He sounded like he was trying to convince himself that he didn't like Michael, as there was no one else in the room. Calum sighed and sat up.

"I don't have a crush on Michael Clifford." He said out loud to himself. His words were met by an eerie silence, one he still hasn't got used to after 4 days of not having someone else in the room. Calum looked around his bedroom, trying to find a distraction from his confusion. He spotted the battered guitar in the corner, balanced on top of a pile of books he'd never read.

Calum hadn't played the guitar in a while. Before Michael played it while he was staying there, it hadn't been touched for a couple of months, but when Calum picked it up, he felt his mood lift. As he strummed aimlessly to check if it was in tune, he felt something only that guitar could make him feel.

He missed his Dad.

Not his Dad that was currently locked in a jail cell in New Zealand for murdering 3 people. Not his Dad that haunted his dreams, terrifying him at night when his guard was down. His dad who had loved and cared for him and Mali, and been the biggest role model in Calum's life. The dad that had bought him the guitar, after months of him asking and asking, desperate to be like his idols.

Calum settled himself on his bed with his guitar and strummed, closing his eyes as the sound echoed around his room. His fingers melted into the strings, and he was at one with it, like it was part of him. The dying light of the sun outside made his room glow, as a wide smile appeared on his face.

In that moment, Calum was glad he never threw the guitar out.

I'm far too emotionally invested in Malum's relationship in this book.

Also, I double checked all of the spelling in this so you wouldn't complain HEMMATRONNN since you were so bothered about my dreadful mistakes in Saturday's update.