Past The Lens

Chapter 15

"So..." I said as I pushed around the spaghetti on my plate. The majority of this date was spent in silence, and it was largely on Cal's part. "What's the real reason you asked me out?"

Cal looked at me for a second and gave a defeated laugh.

"Was it really that obvious?" He said scratching the back of his neck.

"Well, we've been friends for a good couple of months now and you've never showed any interest besides being good friends, and by the way you reacted when I said yes," I smiled before taking a bite. "What changed Calum Hood?"

"You caught me," Calum laughed.

"You weren't very subtle, Cal."

"Then you already know why I asked you out!"

"Yeah I know, I just wanna hear you admit it," I said as we finished our food.

"Well..." He said before calling for the check. "C'mon Jae! What's going on between you and Luke?"

"I knew it!" I laughed.

"Okay, okay, let me put the evidence on the table," he said.

"Alright Detective Hood, I'd like your evidence of anything going on between Luke and I," I said leaning on the table attempting to look engaged.

"Okay number one: I mean you two have history. The way you met was pretty romantic and movie like."

"TV Show," I interrupted.

"Huh?"

"How I Met Your Mother, Victoria and Ted," I smiled. Calum looked at me confused for a second and then it seemed like something clicked in the bass player head of his.

"Woah..." he said. "So you're admitting that you guys had a pretty romantic first meeting... LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT!"

"How many times do I have to say that the guy I met at the club was someone I did admittedly like?" I said as we started to leave the nearly empty cafe. "But he's not the same guy I met at the interview. Anyway, next evidence."

"Okay, number two, Christmas dinner, I caught you two in the hallway," Calum said pointing at me like he'd just cracked the whole case open. "You were getting down from your tiptoes and I don't know, the whole thing looked suspicious."

"I was fixing his collar!" I laughed, since that was exactly the truth.

"No but--" he started before clamping his mouth shut. "Okay, yeah that makes sense."

"Yeah, because all of your "evidence" has a logical reasoning behind it," I laughed as we got our coats and made our way through the back exit.

"Okay, but I saw that The 1975 record you guys were looking at at the record store in your case when I was looking for your filter thingy," he said as we started taking the back alleyway to the venue.

"Yeah I went and bought it before we left," I lied.

"Okay, well when I was looking for your filter thingy, I couldn't find it but Luke knew exactly where it was!"

"Luke was there when I was packing! I mean I was staying in his house."

"Um, okay, well that's reasonable. That's all I've got," he said sounding a little disappointed.

"Cal?" I said after a bit of silence.

"Yeah?"

"Why are you so eager and set on this?" I said.

"I don't know, he's just gets so bored so easily with other girls, and it makes him kind of sleazy sometimes, I just thought maybe if he found someone that could keep him on his toes and not swoon over him all the time he'd be better," he said. "I just want him to be happy. He's my best friend."