skin | c.h

two: she's fat.

The boys sat silently in the car ride back to their house, exhausted after around four hours of meeting fans. For the last two hours of the meet and greet, however, Calum's mind had been anywhere but the meet and greet. It had been on Diana and his management. 

"I don't get it," He spoke up, breaking the band's comfortable silence. They already knew what he was referring to. "Why would they set me up with her?" He didn't mean for the question to come across as rude, but that was just what it did. 

"What's wrong with her?" Ashton asked, sitting in the row of seat behind him with Michael asleep at his side. 

"Nothing, nothing," Calum rushed out his eyebrows furrowing as he tried to phrase his thoughts in a non-offensive manner. "She's just...not a girl I'd go for."

Ashton raised an eyebrow, not following Calum's thought process or why he was uncomfortable with the idea of Diana being the girl he was assigned.  Luke sat up in his seat next to Calum, turning down the volume of his music that was blaring through his head phones, intrigued by the conversation. "Why not?" Ashton asked, his confusion evident in his tone. 

"She's not my type," Calum answered while still seemingly avoiding the question.

"Elaborate Calum," Ashton sighed beginning to get frustrated with his vague responses. Calum bit his lip as he tried to choose his words wisely, not wanting the other boys to possibly get mad at him. "Is she not pretty or something?" He asked as Calum shook his head quickly.

"No, she's fine, she's kinda cute. It's not that—" He tried to explain but was cut off by Ashton suggesting another flaw Calum might see in the girl.

"Was she too shy? Because I don't think thats a reason to just not go for someone," he muttered as he looked out the window. Calum took a deep breath not knowing how to explain the way he felt without coming across as an asshole. "You seemed pretty pleased when you thought her friend, uh, Elizabeth, was Diana," Ashton pointed out. 

Calum leaned forward, his elbows on his knees as he covered his face, his voice muffled, "I know." It was true, almost immediately after thinking that the adorable redhead was Diana he had checked her out, admiring her figure and how beautiful she looked. A part of him felt extremely guilty for preferring Elizabeth to be his fake assigned girlfriend instead of Diana. Why? He knew the answer to that question, but felt like an asshole for the answer he did have to it.

"They were both cute so I don't see the problem," Ashton shrugged, beginning to lose interest in the conversation now that Calum was being so difficult with his explanations. 

Calum sighed, frustrated with himself as well, never having been put in this situation before. "She's just not my type.. She's too— she's too—"

"Fat?" Luke asked, raising an eyebrow as Calum lifted his head looking at him with an uncomfortable expression. His silence was all Luke and Ashton needed to answer the question.

"Are you serious?" Ashton asked, never taking Calum as the kind of person to turn down someone because of their weight. Sure, he usually only hooked up with skinny blondes with large breasts, but Ashton had always figured they were just the ones confident enough to approach the boy. Calum squirmed, Ashton's appall being of no surprise to him. Ashton always looked more for personality in the girls he had interest in, admiring their bodies no matter their imperfections or weight. His past girlfriends ranged from several body types, skin colors, hair colors, appearance never seemed to be a problem for him. "You think she's too fat for you?" His tone wasn't so much offended just more so condescending.

"Yeah," Calum said bluntly, defeated. "I do."

"She wasn't that fat," Luke said with a small shrug as the boys turned their attention to him. "She was just on the curvier side. She had an ass though. But Cal here is a boob guy," he snickered gently shoving Calum's leg with his foot. 

"Am I an asshole for thinking that?" Calum asked, disturbed. 

"Yes," Ashton answered as Luke said, "No." Calum looked between the both of them, now more confused. Luke rolled his eyes, looking to Ashton for permission to speak his side as Ashton complied with a small nod.

"Everyone has their preference man, you preferring a body type is just what you like. Don't let people give you shit for having a preference," He said plainly. Luke's words gave Calum the slightest bit of comfort. I just prefer..skinnier girls, he thought to himself.

"But, he's basically saying she isn't good enough for him because of her weight," Ashton argued as Luke simply shook his head. 

"No, he just doesn't like fat girls," he replied.

"She's not fat. There's nothing wrong with having extra skin," Ashton responded sourly.

"I never said there was," Luke countered, his eyebrows raising ever so slightly as Ashton simply stared at him blankly. "People criminalize the word fat. Fat is just something people have. Some more than others. Nothing wrong with that, their health is their own concern. Calum just likes girls with less fat, the way he likes blondes over brunettes." Calum nodded, agreeing with Luke's explanation, mostly because it made him feel and look less like a dick.

"That doesn't change the fact that people use it as an insult or in a derogatory sense, Luke," Ashton shook his head. 

"Is Calum using it in a derogatory sense? Did he say she was fat with disgust on his face?" Luke questioned, now seemingly defending Calum and his stance. Ashton pressed his lips into a thin line.

"No. He didn't," He said curtly as Luke smiled in triumph.

"Then get off his ass about it," He chuckled as Calum gave him a small thankful smile. "It's just what he likes. If this girl's personality appeals to him and maybe she's pretty good at sex then Cal will enjoy himself for the next few months, maybe even realize he likes girls with a little more skin. If he doesn't he just has to pretend to enjoy himself for the next few months." Luke shrugged as he finished, Ashton rolling his eyes and proceeding to go on his phone not in the mood to argue about how Calum felt about Diana. 

The car remained silent after that, as Calum unlocked his phone staring at Diana's number. He sighed, taking out his headphones and plugging them in, choosing to drown out his thoughts with music.  He leaned his head against the window, closing his eyes as Vinyl Theatre's 'Stay' began playing in his ears, knowing he'd have to strike up a conversation with his soon to be girlfriend, eventually.