Captive || 5sos AU

The Key

It was late and Calum couldn't sleep. He tossed, turned, fluffed pillows, adjusted blankets, but he just couldn't get himself to doze off no matter how hard he tried. This wasn't a one time thing, Calum had suffered from terrible nightmares for as long as any of the boys could remember, and he would often wake up in the middle of the night and walk around until he felt tired again.

That night was one of the more intense ones for Calum, as he hadn't had a nightmare in over a year and had almost forgotten what they were like. He stood up, wiping the sleep from his eyes, and stretched. He stepped out of his room and into the uncomfortably cool hallway, leaving the lights off out of consideration for his sleeping housemates.

He made his way downstairs and into the kitchen before turning any of the lights on. For a few minutes he just stood in the middle of the kitchen, hoping that the bright lights might strain his eyes and cause him to become tired so that he could sleep again, but it didn't work.

Calum sighed and began rummaging through the refrigerator for something good to eat. All that was there were vegetables, Ashton really enjoyed the healthy lifestyle, but when Calum located a peach in the crisper he became excited immediately, and adjusted his palate for its sweet taste.

He opened the crisper and took the peach out, then stood up to rinse the fruit off. From the corner of his eye, Calum saw the gleam of something silver and squinted at it, trying to figure out what it was. He bent back down into the fridge to examine it further, and picked it up.

A key. Calum's desire to sleep had completely disappeared, and he was filled with energy and excitement at the site of the key. Everyone in the house had identical keys, which unlocked the captive square, the monitor room where Luke had his camera feeds, and Laurie's bedroom. Everyone except for Calum.

Finding this key was like finding the Holy Grail, and Calum was definitely excited about it. He shoved the key in his pocket and did a little happy dance before stopping abruptly. This key was hidden. He thought to himself.

No one would just accidentally leave a key in the fridge, and especially not in the crisper under several vegetables and a piece of fruit. He realized that he would have to use it and put it back before anyone noticed, but if he played his cards right, he could do this many times.

A bright smile appeared on Calum's face as he placed the peach back into the fridge and closed it quietly. He turned the lights out and crept back upstairs, this time turning toward Laurie's bedroom rather than his own.

Things were finally going his way, but with one little slip he could be caught, and he reminded himself of this when he started to get a little too excited. He stopped at Laurie's door. He'd never unlocked it before, but he could have sworn it wasn't a very loud process. He was wrong.

He placed the key in its hole and the harsh sound of metal contacting metal couldn't be ignored. He froze where he was, praying silently that no one had woken up. When the coast remained clear for a good 30 seconds he turned the door knob and walked in. Laurie's lamp was on, but she was sound asleep.

He closed the door quietly behind him and approached her bed, where she was laying crookedly, grasping several sheets of paper in her hands. Calum recognized them as his letters to her and smiled. It made him happy that she read his letters, even if she was never able to write back to him.

He ran a hand through her hair before lifting the blankets which rested at her feet and slid them over her. Just getting to see Laurie's face for those few seconds was enough to keep Calum sane, and although he would have liked to talk to her, he didn't want to wake her up. Partially because he found it to be rude, and partially because he thought she was really cute when she was asleep.