Calum Hood One Shots

Empty

Summary: Calum and Stella don't have anything left to fill up something so empty.

She'd forgotten what the gentle bumps and rhythmic sways of sleeping in a tour bus felt like. But Stella wasn't sleeping; she was wide awake, staring at the ceiling that was actually the bottom of the bunk above hers, Luke's quiet snores just barely audible over the soft hum of the bus engine. Stella was jealous of him, of all the boys for being in a deep slumber while she lay awake, reaching for her phone that was plugged into the wall, resting somewhere in her bunk. Once she found the device and held it over her face, Stella winced, eyes squinting against the bright screen, opening her eyes enough to check the time. 3:22 in the morning.

A huff of a breath escaped her. She needed to sleep but it was woefully eluding her, the weight on her chest making it difficult to even close her eyes. So quietly, Stella opened the drapes of the curtain, the dim light in the main area of the bus being the only source of light, and she put her legs over the bunk and sat up, hunched ever so slightly as to not hit her head on the top bunk. Her eyes looked at the bunk directly across from hers, rolling her lower lip into her mouth as she thought of the man sleeping behind the curtain. The man she was here for in the first place, yet sleeping in a completely different bunk from. Though it wasn't because of a lack of space.

Sighing, Stella got out of the bunk, a shiver creeping up her spine as her bare feet touched the sleek floor of the bus, walking towards the main area as her gaze went towards the tinted windows. They were probably on a highway somewhere between Pittsburgh and New York, and given that they left around midnight, they should probably be arriving within the next couple of hours. Stella settled sideways on the couch, arm resting on the top of it as she gazed out the window, the occasional lone car driving by not too often.

Maybe it was because she hadn't been on an actual tour bus in a while that kept her up. That's what Stella kept telling herself, because it was better than what the other, slightly more probable, reasoning was: that she didn't actually want to be there. That the narrow bunk was nothing compared to her memory foam mattress back home. Or that the occasionally clinking of bottles and dishes in the small kitchen because of the moving bus had Stella thinking, for a split second each time, that there was an earthquake.

But she reminded herself that she needed to be here. Even if she didn't entirely want to be.

"What're you doing up?"

Stella tensed, swallowing the dryness in her throat as she glanced over her shoulder to see Calum standing there, just a little feet ahead of the bunks, his voice hushed. She looked him over, dark eyes sunken in from sleep, hair too short to be messed up, and tattooed chest on display as he wore just his pajama bottoms. He looked adorable. Tired. Stella's eyes stung with tears.

"Couldn't sleep," she answered softly, hoping if she blinked normally then the tears wouldn't fall. "What about you?"

Selfishly, Stella hoped his reasoning was the same. Hoped he couldn't stay asleep because she wasn't in the same bunk as him. Hoped that he gave some kind of sign that this was just as hard, as tense, as it was for her.

Something flashed across his tired face. Something like guilt. Calum's throat worked, hand raising to scratch at his other bicep. "I got up to go to the bathroom and saw your bunk was empty."

Moments like these, Stella hated the truth. His words, honest and guilty, made the tears fight harder to fall. But Stella was nothing if not resilient, even if lately she felt like she was breaking.

Of course he hadn't gotten up because he missed her presence. He probably hadn't missed it for months. Why would tonight be any different?

"Oh." It was a short and breathless sound, fighting to keep the disappointment from slipping in, as she turned to look back out the window. Her brown eyes swept over to Tony, the dedicated driver, before looking out the window one more.