noted → calum hood | #Wattys2015

thirty eight

Yawning, Calum pulls off his crewneck. "I'm tired."

Melanie doesn't look up from the game she's playing on her phone. 'Then go to bed."

He pouts, walking over to her and dropping onto the bed. "But I don't want to."

She shakes her head "I'm not sure what you want me to do about that, Cal."

Calum plays with the hair that has fallen out of the (too) messy bun that is atop Melanie's head. "Why does your bun look like one of those croissant donuts?"

She swats his hand away. "I don't know."

He let's out a "hmph!", sitting up. "Why are you so cranky?"

"I'm not."

Poking her side repetitively, Calum snakes his arms around her waist and rests his head on her left shoulder. "Yes you are." A whisper travels not too far into Melanie's ear.

Irritated, Melanie groans. "It's because you're being annoying, Calum!"

He shakes his head. "Nope," he pops the 'p' and pecks Melanie's cheek. "I think you're being annoying."

She wiggles out of his grasp and stands. "I really don't know what's gotten into you tonight, but-" She stops, pointing to Calum's inner arm. "What's that?"

Calum looks at his arm and smiles. "Oh, you drew this on my arm when you were half-asleep the other day," he rubs it with his thumb, sighing. "Sadly, you decided to use Sharpie, so it hasn't entirely come off yet."

Melanie raises an eyebrow and examines the drawing closer; a heart with her nickname written in it really sloppily (the resemblance to Luke's handwriting was uncanny) as an arrow pierced through it. "Are you sure? It looks like Luke drew it." She laughs slightly.

Calum shakes his head. "You woke up as we were driving and kept playing 'Robbers' on repeat. Not long after, you grabbed a marker out of the glove compartment and," he shrugs, chuckling. "This happened. It's cute though." Melanie smiles, continuing the game on her phone. "There's an arcade downstairs, you know?" Standing up, Calum walks to his suitcase and grabs the same Green Day shirt Melanie had on when they first began the roadtrip. "I put thought into getting these hotels, Mel. If you don't spend at least five minutes at the arcade in the four days we're here, I'll be annoyed."

"Let's go, then." She offers.

He shakes his head. "It's probably closed, it's half past ten."

"One way to find out," Melanie smiles, grabbing onto Cal's wrist and practically pulling him out into the hallway, nearly forgetting to close the door. "Come on." Following a few signs that the hotel had against the walls, the pair eventually found the arcade. To their luck, it was still open and filled with other residents of the establishment. "Wow," Melanie grins. "This is actually really cool."

Calum smiles, "Only the best for the best."

She smirks jokingly. "It's a three-star hotel."

Cal rolls his eyes. "I'm not rich, babe;" Grabbing Melanie's hand, he pulls her over to the card despinser. "Only the best for the budget." He corrects himself. Cal swipes his room card and takes Melanie's from her hand. "It'll be an automatic charge on our room, but they should last us the four days."

Melanie nods, spinning around on her heel and beginning to walk, Calum on her side. "Michael would love this place."

Calum shrugs. "Yeah, I guess," he takes a quick step forward and swipes his card at one of the game machines. "Let's not talk about him, though. This roadtrip is about you, me, and making sure I win that-" He points to the giant, stuffed banana with an angry face hanging from the wall. "-by the end of the night."