5sos One Shots

Calum BGM - The Other Boys Bully You

~A/N~ It was my cousin's engagement today and because we're close relatives I kept having to get my photo taken and I was so anxious like on the edge of a panic attack and everyone was ignoring me and telling me to stop complaining. What a loving family. Also all my cousins kept jumping on me (while I was almost having a panic attack) and apparently don't understand what "GET OFF ME" and "don't spit on my jeans" means.
I might not manage four consecutive updates because I've been majorly procrastinating all my schoolwork, so just bear with me.
Enjoy the chapter!
Leila xx

Calum (18):
Your relationship with Calum was one you had always dreamed of having. It was almost like a fairy tale - he was funny and kind, and you loved each other more than anything.

But life is no fairy tale, and there was always one thing that had tarnished your perfect relationship; namely, Luke and Michael.

You weren't sure why they were so determined to hate you with every fibre of their souls, but for some reason they did, and made no attempt to hide it either. Each of your days was spent ignoring their harsh words while trying to draw Calum's attention away from it, which wasn't difficult.

Though you had originally prayed your boyfriend wouldn't notice the abuse, you now wished he would, and possibly do something about it. No matter what happened, Calum acted like he was completely oblivious to it all, and as a result Luke and Michael believed they could get away with it, so continued.

There was no escape. After a show, they would run into the room, sweaty and hyped, yelling that you didn't support Calum enough. When you were all chilling in a hotel room, they would make comments about your lazy appearance that hit home in a way you weren't used to. Sometimes the insults were subtle, concealed inside a supposedly harmless remark, and other times they would say exactly what they were thinking.

You weren't sure which hurt more, but you did know you were done with it. And so, you confided in the only remaining band member - Ashton.

He was the one that accepted you, that didn't hate you for taking Calum's attention and felt no jealousy at the fact that the bassist had found love before him. Most importantly of all, he was always there when you needed a shoulder to cry on.

And one day, you needed more than a shoulder but an actual force for good, something to stop the cause of your tears.

It was a bad day, the thunder booming so violently the sky shook while blinding lightening flashed every few seconds and rain tumbled down like bullets onto the roof, which you were sure would collapse under the force of the weather. The boys had a while until sound check, so were spending the morning trapped in the cramped tourbus.

You were curled up with Calum in his bunk, arms wrapped around each other and legs intertwined, sharing body heat in the bitter cold. Ashton sat on his laptop with his headphones in, while Luke and Michael were opposite you, chatting about various unimportant things that you weren't listening to.

And then it started.

"You two make me sick," Michael called over at you and Calum laughed, taking it as a joke though you knew it was something more. Supressing a sigh, you tried to ignore it, knowing the snide remarks would evolve into something worse.

And sure enough, they did until you were being purely insulted by the two boys while Calum lay next to you, turning a blind eye and letting you take it. Tears rolled down your cheeks but he pretended not to notice, and you were infinitely grateful when Ashton finally stepped in.

"Stop!"

Silence fell over the bus and Luke looked up in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Stop doing this to Y/N, can't you see how bad it's making her feel? You're nothing but horrible to her for no reason and she just has to take it!"

There was no reply, but you felt Calum tense his arms around you.

"And Calum, you've been a terrible boyfriend, not standing up to them!" Ashton continued. "You're supposed to protect her, but you're too much of a coward to choose between them and she's too loyal to you to give you up, so she's been dealing with it. Can't you see what she's been going through? And you've done nothing! You don't deserve her."

You didn't even dare to breathe, completely unable to predict what could happen. Calum slid out of bed and stormed out of the bus, while Luke and Michael tiptoed to the back where they could play video games, because no one knew quite what to say.

Ashton stayed with you, and you both waited. You were sat for hours like that, panicking and relaxing, crying and smiling, raging then calm, not understanding what you were supposed to feel so you felt it all.

Eventually, Calum came back, eyes red and puffy with the remains of tear tracks down his face and whisky on his breath.

"We should break up," he choked immediately, without even a greeting. "Ashton's right, I don't deserve you. I've been a dick, and you'd be better off without me."

"No," you whispered, tears welling up behind your eyes. "You don't want me."

"It's not that! I want you more than anything, but you deserve so much better. You deserve someone that will protect you, and stop you from getting hurt. You deserve someone who doesn't have friends that put you down every second of the day. You deserve someone like Ashton, not me."

"But I don't want someone like Ashton, I want you," you sobbed, "and I can put all this behind me if it means I can have you."

"You- really?" stuttered Calum. "You'd really forgive me?"

"As long as it doesn't happen again," you said, knowing that the things Luke and Michael did and said were not the fault of your boyfriend, and as long as he was aware of how you were feeling it could all be fixed. He could fix things, you trusted him.

And he did. It seemed Michael and Luke were genuinely sorry, after everything, and after a while you found it within yourself to forgive them. Your relationship with Calum became stronger than ever, and of course you remained good friends with Ashton.

You had successfully navigated the rocky waters and although there were still slip ups, you had survived the worst of it. Things so continued in this manner for a good amount of time, and a year later you found that you could sit with the four boys, look back on this time and laugh at your naivety without feeling even a twitch of pain.