i hate you | l.h

four

brandon and i both turned our heads to see who had butted in, for which i was grateful, even though i could have handled it on my own. standing behind me was calum.

he was wearing the same dark clothes; a tight black shirt with tighter jeans, as i normally saw him adorned in. he was looking right at me, the side of his mouth quirked in amusement.

brandon scoffed, shaking his head as he walked away. "whatever."

my lips parted in surprise. "um, thanks?"

calum licked his lips, tilting his head to the side, "yeah, that guy's a dick. are you okay?"

"yeah, whatever. i'm fine," i lied, wanting to do anything to get out of this conversation. my eyes slowly looked up from down at my feet to him. he was now leaned back against the wall, one elbow propping him up to balance against it.

he gave me a small smile and nodded, "alright, good." we stood there in silence for what felt like hours, both of us not knowing what to say or do.

before i could have made up an excuse to run out and go hide in the bathroom instead, somebody shouted from above the stairs.

"hood! what are you doing down there? the party is up here, man!"

calum's gaze quickly averted from me to the figure that was calling for his attention. "uh, yeah! i'll be up there, just give me a minute or so!" he yelled back. looking back at me, he shot me an apologetic glance.

"do you wanna head on upstairs? or we could just stay down here, whatever you're feeling." calum said as he scratched the back of his neck.

i opened my mouth to decline the offer but apparently my mind and mouth couldn't communicate together because i ended up agreeing.

his eyes brightened up and he smiled, causing the sides of his dark brown eyes to crinkle in joy. "alright!" he grabbed my hand once again, but this time, lead us up the stairs. i tripped once or twice, silently praying he didn't notice. if he did, he was nice enough not to say anything to me about it.

as soon as we got upstairs, i turned to him and pursed my lips. "so um, where's your friend?" hopefully he would of gotten too distracted with whoever had brought him up here in the first place and would let me be. calum's eyes scanned the room as he looked for him.

"over there, looks like they're doing body shots." he observed. i was mentally banging my head against the wall. body shots, dear god, why?

i nodded, flashing him a forced grin. "wow, sounds fun." we walked over to the group of people crowding around a girl and a boy making out on the counter. tequila was spilled, salt shakers were knocked over, and limes were scattered around.

calum had let go of my hand and i turned around to see what had caught his attention.

"luke! i haven't seen you all night. where have you been?" calum exclaimed in surprise, pulling away from a "man" hug. he moved to the side to wrap his arm around my waist to lightly guide me closer to who he had been talking to.

to say i felt mutual as calum did when we ran into luke was the biggest lie. i was debating the quickest ways to run out, once again.

luke's eyes landed on me, his gaze lingering on me for longer than normal. his eyes traveled down to my waist where calum's hand was placed. his jaw clenched for a second but he looked back up at me to shoot me a wink. "donahue, didn't know you liked to go to parties."

i scoffed, "i don't. my friend forced me to come." my eyes desperately tried to look anywhere but at luke's intense stare.

he slowly blinked and tilted his head. "well, why not have some fun while you're here?"

"i'm not sure your definition of fun and mine are quite the same, but thanks for the offer," i shot back with a sarcastic smile as i crossed my arms over my chest. suddenly remembering calum's arm was still on my waist, and that he was still there, i turned around to him.

"calum, actually i'm not feeling so well, i'm going to go drive home if that's okay."

"are you even sober?" asked luke at the same time that calum had given me a yes.

"well, i mean i had a little tequila but-" i started to say.

"i'll drive you home," calum and luke said at the same time, once again. calum shot luke a questioning glare, and wrapped his arm around my waist again.

"no i will. i'm completely sober since i just got here and she lives closer to me anyways," luke interjected. he ran his hands through his tousled hair, then proceeding to reach into his jean pocket to pull out his car keys.

i opened my mouth to argue back but he gave me a glare that basically told me to shut up.

calum seemed to agree because he bent down to my petite frame and give me a warm hug. he pulled back to look at me in the eye, and said, "see you monday at school. if you need anything feel free to text me." he had given me his number last week and i hadn't looked at it since. i guess i had a reason to now.

luke didn't say anything, just nudging at the ground with his black sneakers. he lifted his head up when he realized that calum had walked away and tilted his head towards the door. i followed behind him, struggling to push past the clustered groups of drunken teens everywhere.

once we stepped outside into the cool air, i took an enormous breath and exhaled slowly. "god, i never thought that i would get out of there," i sighed in relief.

his mouth formed into a small smile, "you aren't a people person, are you?"

"what's that supposed to mean?" i asked, my eyebrows furrowing together. i pulled my dress down even further to give my legs a little bit of warmth and began to rub the sides of my arms.

he chucked, shaking his head as we started walking towards his car. he unlocked the car and the front lights flashed on. "second time you've gotten into my car in the past two days," he pointed out as we both climbed into each side of the car.

i slammed the door shut and yanked the seatbelt over me, clicking it in. "okay, let's be real here, you don't give a shit about driving me home," i told him, "so why did you seem so desperate to get me out here?"

he revved up the engine, the car roaring to life and pulled out of the driveway onto the road. one hand was gripping the steering wheel and one is around the back of my seat, making it easier for him to twist around and see if anybody was behind him.

"here's the thing, donahue. calum is really-" luke stopped in the middle of his sentence, seemingly looking for the right words to say, "bad with girls, i'm just going to say it."

i nodded slowly, trying to see where he was going with this. "so, you care about me and you're warning me about how calum will break my heart?" i cut him off as i described the typical love scenario, sighing in content as i teased him.

he kept his eyes on the road as he shook his head. i stared at the side profile of his face, the only light illuminating the dark profile of his was the lonesome street lights we were passing by. i noticed his eyes flickering to the digital clock on the radio underneath his long blonde lashes.

"you wish i cared. i'm just not in the mood for calum to bring a new girl around, fucking around with her feelings just for his own pleasure and then i have to deal with it." he responded in a low voice with his face in an unreadable expression.

my lips parted but i didn't say anything. the car ride ended up
being silent for the rest of the time, with the exception of the quiet music playing in the background.

he pulled up into my driveway and stopped the car. "well, goodnight, donahue." he said shortly. the engine was humming quietly and the car lights illuminated my white garage door.

i nodded slowly, not exactly sure what had changed his mood as i undid my seatbelt. i opened the car door and stepped out, shutting the door. "and goodnight to you too, hemmings."

-

ehh IDK if i liked this but its up!! thanks to the like five people that are reading and voting ily

also thanks to mari aka torntee for helping me w everything too :D anyways idk when the next chapter will b up but i hope ya'll like this so far. vote nd comment if u'd like <3