for better or for worse // mitchel cave (completed)

part XXV

exhausted. one word that could relate my spirit right now. aching. oh look, that's another one. miserable. another word. i had a lot of words to describe a lot of tempers engulfing me right now.

i signed up for this. getting involved with a band member meant you took everything with it. you took the fans, and the music, and most importantly the tour.

i had been quite depressed since mitch and i said goodbye to each other a few weeks ago. commemorating our 2 month anniversary on facetime sucked. our three month anniversary fell right on the new york show, which was the sole bright side to this entire ordeal.

i would be flown out to see mitchel in a week and i couldn't wait. i had had no exuberance to do anything as the only thing i could look forward to were our nightly facetimes.

seeing his cute, little, sleepy face as he talked hoarsely to me from his bunk was the one thing keeping me going. i had no inspiration without mitchel around and los angeles merely seemed empty.

i felt guilty for jessie as i had been ghosting her, but she knew how much i missed mitch and she was really compassionate about it, for the most part. i had decided to make up for it by accepting her invitation to go to lunch with her.

i actually didn't feel like it but i knew mitch didn't like me hunkering down so this just seemed like the best bet. i surveyed myself in the vanity mirror positioned in my room.

i wore a long sleeve white shirt, unbuttoned enough to show a playful amount of cleavage and gray jeans. my mousy brown hair was waved faintly as it brushed a bit past my shoulders.

and then the door creaked as it shifted open. jessie sauntered into my room, platinum hair waving down her back, her slim body clad in a tight black dress that ended underneath her knees.

i rolled my eyes, envying her instantly. "why are you dressed like that? we're just going for lunch, we're not gonna go clubbing." i groaned.

she shrugged her shoulders, a small smirk playing on her face. "go big or go home."

i exhaled at her comment and nodded. "well, how about we go now so that's the sooner i can go home." i quipped, roaming past her to the door.

she groaned as we walked out of the apartment complex and called an uber. "ever since your boy toy left for tour, you've been acting miserable." she protested, tapping her foot on the hard concrete of the sidewalk.

i smiled sarcastically at her. "trust me, i am miserable." soon we were climbing in the uber. i could tell jessie was irritated with my attitude which made an intolerable silence fall between us.

we walked into the little mexican restaurant 20 minutes later, an undercover gem that no one truly was familiar with in los angeles. once we were seated, jessie was back to staging an intervention.

"look, i get it. he's hot." she began to say. i shot her a look and she stuttered, "um, he's attractive and he has the whole braided mystery artsy boy thing going on, and he probably gives amazing dick and-" i stopped her right there.

"can you please shut up and stop talking about my boyfriends dick?" i sighed. i wasn't angry with her words, just frustrated.

she nodded quickly. "well, my point is, i get that he's all cool and whatnot but you can't act like a lost puppy anytime he's not with you. he has a life too, and you should have a life outside of him. you aren't married to him and he's gone for a while."

i gasped at her last sentence. "are you suggesting i cheat on him?"

she rolled her eyes. "no, for fucks sake laralyn. i'm suggesting you act like you have a life and you're not just some parasite attached to mitchel's life. cause, uh newsflash, the deeper you get into this behavior, the harder it's gonna hit you when y'all most likely break up."

i widened my eyes. "when we most likely break up? how would we break up?" i inquired.

she shrugged. "he has an anger issue. i imagine that might come in between you guys one day." i was so exasperated with her and as i was thinking of how to react to her ignorant comments, we were interrupted.

"jessie? jessie black, is that you?" i heard a deep voice question. the voice had a minor cute lisp to it and i looked up to see a guy standing over us.

he had bronzed skin, with his hair pulled into a messy black quiff, a blonde streak going up the front of it. he wore a muscle tee that had a nirvana emblem on the front and tight black jeans with vans.

he looked about as old as us and as i was surveying who it was, jessie clapped her hands excitedly. "calum hood, how the hell did i find you here?"

he broke out into a dazzling smile, nodding his head along with her words. "i was going to ask the same thing for you. mind if i sit?"

without even glancing at me, she nodded and he pulled a chair to our table. "and who might this be?" he questioned, gesturing over to me. jessie giggled, and bit her lip. "oh i totally forgot, that's my friend laralyn."

i shot him a smile, feeling strange about the unplanned stranger, but jessie seemed thrilled. i had never even heard of a "calum hood" before and it made no sense how they were acting like besties.

he was attractive enough, but my eye was only caught by mitchel. calum stretched out a hand, giving me a firm handshake. "pleasure to meet you laralyn." he spoke, and i observed an australian accent peeking out from underneath his words.

i utterly couldn't escape australian boys, could i? i smiled and jessie explained it all. "when we were going through that rough patch lara, i went to a party and met calum. we hit it off and we usually hang out but we've been super busy so we haven't seen each other in a few weeks. seems like he's been avoiding me." she joked.

he rolled his eyes playfully. "if i was trying to avoid you, i would've left without saying a word. i have places to be ya know, i'm a very busy man."

jessie smirked and stayed silent for a second before muttering, "indeed you are. anyway, what have you been up to?"

he shrugged. "the usual. you know all about that. i feel bad for ghosting you, really jessie." jessie shrugged her shoulders. "suuuuure calum, i doubt you are."

i continued to just sit there, taking in their conversation. calum groaned. "you're so difficult. how about i make it up to you? you and your friend lindsay," he pointed at me, "are now officially invited to one of my world famous house parties. 2 weekends from now. does that make it up to you?"

i sighed. "it's laralyn." he glanced over at me again. "what?"

"my name is laralyn." i repeated. "that's what i said." he responded, giving me a weird look.

jessie smiled, wiggling her eyebrows. "oooo, i'll think about it." calum hit her shoulder jokingly. "alright, see you there 6 pm sharp."

he stood up and gave me a friendly wave. "i gotta go now. nice to meet you lindsay." and with that, he strode away.

i turned to jessie and gave her a look.

"no way."

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i love calum so much i had to have him in here okay. so is jessie and calum a ship orrrrr what y'all??👀 please leave me a vote if you enjoyed! and comments are always nice. much appreciation💕