the bucket list | lrh

22 - so much more than adelines sister

David hadn't expected his son to be awake so late on this particular night, but he was pleasantly surprised to see that Calum was hard at work strumming aimlessly on his guitar.

"Hey," he announced his presence so not to frighten the tanned boy.

"Hey, dad. How was work?"

"Good. Why are you still awake?"

"I have some things on my mind," Calum admitted, scooting to the side of the bench so to give David some room to join him. His father quickly complied with the imaginary offer, sitting down with his son and watching as he put his guitar to the side of him.

"Anything I can help with?" He asked, concerned about his son who hadn't really reached out for help since Adeline's death.

"Do you think she's in heaven?" Calum allowed himself to ask the question, despite how emotionally vulnerable it made him feel. The black haired girl was dancing around his brain that night, and he didn't know what to do with all the thoughts that seemed to overstimulate him.

"Of course. She was an amazing soul. I'm positive she made it up there," David assured his son, turning his body to face him.

"I just... I didn't get anything. Mr. Leonard has Valentine, and so does Luke... Everyone has something to hold on to her but... I don't, you know?"

"Do you want Valentine?" David asked, surprised by what his son was implying. Calum frowned heavily, scrunching his nose up in a playful mocking of disgust.

"No. Definitely no... not like that, at least. I think we are friends but... Why does Luke get a solid friendship with her, and not me? I know I sound crazy and jealous, I promise it's not like that... I just don't get it," the tanned boy shrugged, leaning back on the wall behind him.

"I'm sorry, son. I know these things are difficult. Grief can make you feel strange things. I'm sure everyone is just trying to cope in whatever way they can find right now. Have you thought about calling her and asking her to hang out?"

"I don't know... she's been busy lately. She's always either in hiding or out with Luke," Calum mumbled, not really meaning anything by the suggestive words he was saying. David noticed the inflection in his tone though, and he couldn't stop himself from asking about it. "Are the two of them... getting closer?" Though David was a little too polite to say it, Calum knew what his father really meant.

"I don't know... I think so. It's obvious they have something between them, but it seems like everybody knows except for them." David nodded along, unsure if he should speak up with his own opinion of the two kids.

"Why? Have you heard anything other than the concert?" Calum asked, narrowing his eyes on his father who seemed to carry himself with a guilty conscious.

"No. Not really, at least. I just... I may have seen him going to her house on my way home from work. It was just a little strange, it's late you know?"

"I guess. We are young though, it's not that weird." Calum didn't want David to think too much about it, because he felt a peculiar urge to protect Valentine from any unnecessary judgment. Call it a part of the grieving process, but Calum just really cared about Valentine's feelings. Maybe that's why the idea of her going out with Luke bothered him so much. Maybe that's why it was a growing debate in his mind, whether he should confront her about it or not.

At the end of the day though, it was neither his business nor his fathers. There was no need to put any pressure on Valentine's supposed fling with Luke, or whatever it was that the two are doing.

꧙꧙꧙꧙꧙꧙

Valentine didn't know how to react to the admission Luke had given her. With so little energy inside left inside her body, she weakly peaked her head up to the blonde who was now standing directly in front of her.