red band society // 5sos au

five - dating and gift-giving

"Go on a date with me," Calum says out of nowhere and I laugh, shaking my head.

"Calum, you're delusional," I sigh and sit on my bed. "I already told you that there's no chance in us dating or us being in a relationship. If the circumstances were different then I would say yes but you know it won't be possible."

"Oh yes, this date will be entirely possible. Kelly promised me that she would make it work. All you gotta do is say yes," he smiles and sits next to me on the bed. "Right, Kelly?"

"Jabie, honey, just say yes. The poor boy is desperate," Kelly shakes her head and laughs. She hands me two packages and two envelopes. "Your family dropped them off this morning."

"You heard her, just say yes. I could die any day now and all I want is for you to go on a date with me," Calum put his head on my shoulder.

"Fine but this better be one hell of a date, you got that?" I smile and tilt my head so it rests lightly on his.

"Ah the love birds. Are you two finally accepting your undeniable love for each other?" Michael walks in with Luke behind him.

"Hey, not yet, I have to take her out on an amazing date first," Calum smiles and picks his head up. "So where's Cassie and Ashton?"

"Probably going out on a date," Luke says and you can see Michael facial expression get tenser. "Those two are almost as cute as you two."

"Yeah, almost," Calum puts his arm around my shoulder and I glare at him.

"Lets not get ahead of ourselves, I only agreed to go on a date with you, not a relationship," I shake my head and take his arm off of me.

"Calum, your sister dropped this off for each of you guys while you were sleeping. I should really stop letting you sleep in," Kelly walks back in with a cart full of packages. We all stand up and walk over to her, looking for the package that belonged to us.

"Cal, did I ever mention how much I love your sister?" Luke smiles when he finds his box.

"Yeah, totally. She's the best," Michael nods, grabbing his as well.

"Kelly, have you seen Cassie and Ashton?" I ask her and Kelly shakes her head.

"Wait, I think they might be hooking up in my room," Luke jokes and Michael throws a pillow at him, laughing.

"I'll tell them you were looking for them if I just so happen to bump into them," Kelly smiles and we thank her as she walks out of the room.

"I don't want to open it without them," Calum says and is interrupted by Michael tearing his package open.

"Screw them, I never get presents, I'm opening this," Michael laughs and his sentence is followed by me and Luke saying "same." Calum shrugs and opens his too.

"Holy shit, your sister is amazing," I say when I see what's inside.

"She's never gotten me anything that nice," Calum lets out a "hmph" and I laugh. I take the polaroid out of the box and see there's a post-it on it.

"Jabie, you're a little cutie pie and very artsy so here's something to enhance that artsiness. P.S. I always liked you better than Calum. Don't tell him that."

"Hey, that was very rude," Calum puts his hand on his chest, pretending that he was hurt. "She got me a pack of gummy worms. Wow, there's nothing that screams 'you're dying so here's my I love you gift' like a pack of fucking gummy worms."

"Woah there, Calum, I came here to give you your actual present," Mali walks in, scaring all of us.

"Wow, you finally decided to visit me after what? 84 years?" Calum stands up and gives her a hug.

"Be grateful I'm here. It took me forever to get a day off of work and to come up with what to get all of you," she takes an iPhone 5 out her bag and hands it to Calum.

"Wait is this for me?" his eyes widen and she nods. He engulfs her in a hug and she hugs him, laughing.

"The family decided that you deserve something better than your phone now and to give you an upgrade," she smiles and sits down on the chair next to Michael.

"I deserve something better because I'm dying, right?" Calum smiles and sits back next to me.

"Shut up and enjoy your present," she rolls her eyes and looks around. "Jabie, I like what you and Cassie did to this place, it looks a lot better than Calum's and Michael's room."

"Thank you, I think it might just be the fact that they're boys," I laugh and Calum lays down on his bed, putting his legs over my lap.

"Where's Cassie and that new kid.. Ashton?" she asks while Luke and Michael are gawking over the 3DS's that she got them.

"We don't know. I haven't seen them all day," Calum answers, shrugging. "So how long are you staying?"

"As long as I can without me getting bored. I actually have no idea how you guys manage to stay here all day without dying of boredom," she answers.

"Or just dying," I joke and shrug, thinking about her sentence. "We usually have classes and homework but that's on the weekdays. On the weekends, we usually just walk around or stay in each other's rooms and sit around doing nothing." Sitting around doing nothing, which is basically what we're doing at the moment.

"You never opened up the presents from your family," Calum says, his eyes looking at them as they sit on my bedside table.

"I don't need to," I sigh and lay down next to him. He grabs them and puts them on my lap.

"You should open them," he turns to lay down on his side, facing me. I do the same and place the boxes and envelopes in between us, then propping my head up with my hand. With my other hand, I open up the first box and look at the inside. Inside was a book and a flower. Calum and I decide to sit up, amazed at what was inside. The book was On Writing by Stephen King. My parents really wanted me to be an author and think that this book will spark up my passion for writing again.

Then I open up the second box and sitting on the top is a ukulele. The post it on the top says, "I miss hearing you play in the house. But that doesn't mean you don't have to stop playing. Play something for everyone there." I bite my lip, holding back tears. I put the ukulele to the side and see a teddy bear and a notebook with a floral print on the cover. I pick up the teddy bear and the post-it on it says, "He misses you as much as we do. He wanted to come and stay permanently with you. I take a deep breath in and open the notebook and it's empty except on the first page is a post-it that says, "Write your story."

A tear rolls down my cheek and I put my head on Calum's shoulder and the tears continue to pour out of my eyes. "They know I'm going to die soon. That's why they sent me all of this," I say and Calum looks down at me.

"Hey, don't think like that. They sent this to you because they love you and they want you to be happy," he answers, closing his eyes.

"If they really want me to be happy, then they would come here and visit me, not send me a bunch of gifts. They're aware that I'm going to die soon and they don't know when I'm going to die and are afraid that whenever they come visit, I might die. They don't want to be here when I die, which is why they avoid me and they don't realize how much that hurts me," I close my eyes and sigh. "Don't leave me, okay? Promise me that you won't leave me."

"I won't leave you," he says and I pick my head up, looking at him.

"You have to promise me that you won't leave me like they did. I need something to stay put in my life and I want that to be you," I sigh and hold my pinky out. He puts his pinky out too and links it with mine.

"I promise that I won't leave you ever. I don't think I'd be capable of doing that, I love you too much," he smiles and I smile back. I think for a bit and just decide to do it. I close my eyes and lean in and his lips touch mine and it's amazing. We stay like that for a few more seconds and then break away, smiling at each other.

"Calum, I love you too."