Mess is Mine // Calum Hood

Chapter 1

October 2017

"Sierra, what is going on? What's all this?" I questioned my roommate as she stumbled through the door with several bags of groceries that we definitely didn't need. We had just went grocery shopping two day ago, and we had bought enough to last a few weeks. She shot me a glare that told me she wanted me to stop asking questions and start helping her with the bags piled up on her arms. I took her warning and pulled myself from the couch. I took half of the bags filled with a variety of beer and various bags of chips and followed my dark-haired roommate to the kitchen. She set her load down with an exasperated sigh before turning to look at me.

"I may or may not have told Luke and the boys to come over tonight," she said, her eyes darting towards the floor. She had met Luke a few months ago, and they became fast friends. She constantly denied any feelings for him, but I knew her better than I knew myself - she liked the guy. According to Sierra, they were simply friends and nothing more.

"Oh my god, S, this place is a mess," I pointed out, running my hands through my hair and lightly tugging at the ends. I hadn't met the boys yet, and I kind of wanted to make a decent first impression considering how much time they could potentially be spending around here. "You get the groceries, and I'll start dusting."

"Cam, you don't need to dust, they don't care," she tried to assure me, but I was already headed towards the hall closet to grab the duster. It didn't matter if they cared or not - I wasn't about to let internationally famous people come into our place if it was a mess.

"You could've warned me, you know!" I shouted from the living room. I abandoned the dusting and went to readjusting our couch pillows, knowing fully well that they would be all out of sorts by the end of the night. Sierra had been my roommate for 2 years, and she was very big on last minute plans. I, on the other hand, was not. I liked structure and plans. Anything else gave me anxiety. "Can you at least tell me if I'm going to have time to vacuum the floors?"

"You are too much," I heard her giggle from the kitchen. I decided not to ask any more questions. She always refused to let me meet Luke, so I was thankful that she even invited him around without any prodding on my part.

About an hour later, the living room was up to my standards, and Sierra had organized all the food and drinks she brought home. She was perched on the kitchen counter, scrolling through her phone. I planned on watching Luke very carefully - I had to know if he saw her the same way she saw him. According to Sierra, he was working through some personal issues. She also warned me that Calum had been acting a little off lately and I shouldn't be offended if he came off as stand-offish. Ever since she mentioned that, my mind had been wandering. Why was he acting strange? How was he normally? Was he okay? For some reason, I couldn't shake the thoughts from my head. 'Why are you so worried about him? You've never met him,' I told myself. It didn't work - my brain was still thinking in circles about the boy.

I heard a knock come the front door. "Yo, Deats! Open up!" a muffled voice yelled from the other side of the door. "That would be Ash," she laughed as she hopped off the counter and walked towards the door. A wave of anxiety washed over me. What if they didn't like me? What if I somehow managed to screw things up with her and Luke? I stepped towards the refrigerator and grabbed the bottle of vodka. A good shot never failed to calm my nerves. I took a shot glass down from the cabinet.

"Grab one for me, too," a voice came from behind me. I jumped and turned to face him. Calum's face was emotionless, and there were bags under his eyes - it looked like he hadn't slept in weeks. I stood there motionless, and he cocked an eyebrow at me, urging me to grab a shot glass. My shock faded and I turned back to grab another one for him. Another boy entered the kitchen, and I grabbed a third glass.