never be » lrh book one

Chapter 20

H O W   M A L U M   B E C A M E   R E A L

Michael's POV

The Day Before Halloween

Calum came over that day to plan out exactly how we'd look for the next day for Halloween. Of course we weren't matching with our costumes, but since Sam and Luke were hanging out and doing their costumes together, we figured we'd do ours together. We tried to invite Ashton, but he said he wanted his to be a surprise. He also had plans, so we just kind of ignored it without question. Who knew that this could possibly be the start of something everyone kind of knew would happen?

Calum and I were sitting in my room, the house was empty. We had music blaring through my bluetooth speakers. We weren't even talking, just singing along to Green Day and eating pizza we ordered from down the street.

"Hey um, Cal?" I turned the music down and sat on my bed.

"Yeah? Something wrong, mate?" He sat down next to me. Last year, before we were friends, I had always seen Calum as this quiet but pretty popular guy who made friends with everyone he spoke to, and knew he was too good for half the people in school. I thought I was one of those people he was too good for, but then, right before autumn holiday, Calum showed up in Mr. Day's room and from there on out we were the closest of friends.

"I need to tell you something. Before I tell you, I want you to know I understand if you don't want to be my friend after." I let out a sigh and looked at him, but then I couldn't keep the eye contact and looked away. "But Cal, I'm bi." I mumbled.

His answer was the best I could expect. "Thank God, me too." When I looked back up he had a wide smile on his face and I let out a sigh of relief. I think he saw the relief on my face and was also relieved, because now he was smiling even wider.

After awhile of working on our costumes and the planning, we decided to go to the store to buy the hair dye for my hair. On the way there, we were listening to pretty mellow music and just relaxing in the car with the windows down. My hand was resting in between us and suddenly Cal's hand was on top of mine.

"Cal?" I spoke softly, my cheeks turning pink from his actions.

"Yeah?" He asked, raising an eyebrow at me and then turning back to the road. He looked so calm and collected. I was a nervous wreck.

"Uh," I swallowed my nerves. "Do um, do you think this is a date?" I asked. A smile broke out on his face and he gave a slight nod.

"Sure, whatever you want, boy-o." He pushed on the gas and we zoomed into the parking lot. It didn't take long to find a parking space since it was a pretty ghetto store.

We both got out and Cal waiting for me by the car till we were closer so we could walk together. As we were walking, his hand bumped mine and then our hands slipped together. And just like that, I was walking into a store holding Calum's hand.

After finding a suitable dye, we went out for McDonald's. As we were parked in the shitty lot outside the fast food restaurant, I realized this is the first date I had ever been on with a guy.

"Cal, I've gotta admit, this whole date thing is making me nervous." I chuckled, taking a handful of fries and sipping my milkshake.

"Don't be nervous, it's just like we're hanging out but with a different title." Calum began to fiddle with the radio till he found a song he liked, then sat back in his seat and continued eating his burger.

"What are we gonna do about Sam, Luke, and Ash? They're gonna find out eventually." I asked, still worried. It was then that I realized my hands were shaking just a bit. This always happens when I get nervous.

"I don't think they'll have a problem with it." He shrugged, looking at me with an encouraging smile. "Besides, we're not even official. Just experimenting for now."

"I guess you're right." I nodded and got out of the car to throw my garbage away. When I got back in, Cal got out to throw his own away.

"Alright, it's getting pretty late. Time to head home." He said, starting up the car. I had fun today. We didn't do much of anything, but the fact that it was classified as a date made it so much better.

"Okay," I smiled to myself and looked out the window as he drove me home in a peaceful silence.

Not long after leaving the McDonald's parking lot, we reached my house. Before getting out of the car, I leaned over and kissed his cheek. As I got out and shut the door, I tried to contain my blush and smiled widely at him. He waved and pulled out of my driveway. Once his car was out of sight, I let out a happy inhuman noise and jumped in the air, then walked inside.