Edicius {5SOS;CASHTON&CAKE&MALUM}✔️

Nineteen: "Demon of Mind-"

Calum had fallen into his roll of being the head of the once leaderless gang. He stepped up and that meant pushing Harry away. He loved his friend, of course, but every time he looked at Harry, he couldn't help but feel a swirl of anger in his stomach because Harry knew something about Luke and he kept it from him.

Harry had saw how broken Calum was over what did or didn't happen to Luke, watched him crumble into absolute nothing but a scorched angel falling fast to what he thought would be his demise. He turned to Harry in the dead of the night and he knew he wouldn't have if he knew what he did now.

Or maybe he would've. He probably still would've turned to Harry for comfort because though Harry was keeping his secret, Calum only knew so much, which was bordering onto nothing outside of Luke was alive and Harry knew something about it all. Calum didn't know and was torn over it all.

He hadn't spoken to Harry in the few weeks of taking over, not sure if it was the actual gang taking him away or him trying to avoid the younger fervently, so he didn't screw up and say something he couldn't take back or so he didn't fall weak again and cry in front of Harry. He didn't know how to approach the younger, thankful that Harry seemed to understand the distance he was purposefully putting between them, keeping back as well and waiting for Calum to make the first move in speaking with him.

Calum had been trying to force himself to build up the courage to talk to him. It wasn't like he didn't know what he wanted to talk about, he just didn't know how to bring it up or what it would lead to. He knew he had somewhat a grip on his emotions but in front of Harry and talking about Luke, he could lose his grip and fall back into his own pit of invasive thoughts and dark feelings.

He spun the ring around his finger as he sat back into the office chair, sighing softly as he stared at the jewelry. Maybe impulsively asking Harry to come to his office wasn't the best idea, hearing the clock ticking behind him and letting him know the seconds that had passed after the chime of twelve o'clock. He felt that right then was the only time he could talk because if he cried, at least it'd be at night time like he always did.

Brown eyes darted upwards when the door opened after a short round of knocks, Harry peaking his head in with a roll of his lips into a smile as he stepped into the office when Calum motioned for him to step inside fully. The door clicked shut behind him quietly, Harry walking forward to stand across from Calum when the olive skinned man stood himself and he knew what was coming but decided to stay quiet and wait it out for what Calum would actually say to him.

"I...I want to I know what you know about Luke." He started off, swearing to himself at the slight shake in his voice that started off his sentence but didn't focus on it as Harry puffed out a breath deeply and pinched at the bridge of his nose.

"Calum, I can't even tell you because I don't know anything and what I do know, I can't tell you. I told Luke-" He tried, Calum cutting him off as he spoke.

"Fuck whatever you told, Luke! He lost any say in what happens and what he wants to do when he died-didn't die? Whatever he did. You say you're here for me and that you want me to get away from my past but you're keeping the most important thing from me!"

Harry closed his eyes for a second, merely turning in his heels and walking out of the office. Calum stood dumbfounded, staring at where Harry once was with parted lips and furrowed eyebrows. Out of all the situations that could've came pass and all the ones Calum had thought about before talking to Harry, this had never gone past his mind at all.

He didn't even know if he should've gone after the other, looking down at the ring on his finger and standing in the silence he was left alone in as he sucked in a sharp breath. He squeezed his eyes shut tightly, clenching his fist up because he could feel tears building up in his eyes and the pressure echoing in the back of his mind that always came around.

He cleared his throat, looking up at the door when he heard Harry again, "Let's go. You're right. Luke's not here, so he doesn't get a say right now."

Harry walked away before Calum spoke up, the older brunet quickly following behind him and out of the estate into the chilly air. Harry got into the first car, Calum doing the same and sitting in silence as Harry tore away from the spot the vehicle was parked in. He glanced at the younger, Harry's attention completely focused on his destination as quietness hung in the air thickly, like a wet blanket laid over their faces, outside of the hum of the engine and the whistle of air through the cracked windows.

The drive crawled by slowly, Calum watching the town fly past from upper class to lower class as they drove further from the estate. Less people filled the streets, groups of people scarce as they stood on sidewalks or in front of shops, lights shining a dirty yellow onto certain spots lining the streets if they weren't flickering or cut out all the way. Harry pulled to a stop in front of a more rundown apartment, getting out with not a word or a glance at Calum.

He still followed out, going up the stairs and down the hall as he looked over the railings to the stretch of town he could see. Harry stood to the side, motioning to the door with a final look of guilt in his face. Calum stepped forward, staring at the rusted '24b' sign on the door before he looked back at Harry.

The moment his fist collided with the door and he looked away from Harry's guilty, light green eyes was when Calum could real sense the feeling of what he was doing and what he just might be confirming becoming solid, like cement clogging up his heart and slowing down his blood flow as it came to a stand still in his veins. His throat was closing up, mind becoming sharp focused as every sense he had seemed to become heightened and shoot through in rapid succession of anxiety, fear, and terror.

What if this was another trap?

A way for Ashton to finally drown Calum in the cold reality of what his life now was, that he'd never be able to escape because Ashton had ties to everyone;that this was just a sick, long run game to completey break him.

Secretly he knew that he was just letting all his fears and nightmares pile up on top of one another to tower over him until it crashed down on top of his head and buried him alive in his own dark thoughts from the back of his mind. Seconds had passed, Calum feeling they had been hours before the door swung open and he became as frozen still as the man he stared back at him with crystal blue eyes, lidded in the slightest with sleep.

"Angel..."

{~~~~}

Hello, humans.

That was quite a ride, was it not? I laughed, I cried, I wrote it. I'm being over dramatic but we got a little progress, 😂

Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed it. So, Take care of yourselves and drink some water or some tea, whatever you drink.

And, that's all. Au revoir....