We're Getting There // A.I

Chapter 17 // Kicking

It's so funny I have 37 draft stories in my works and I've made it so they all (including this one + my Michael story) slightly exist in the same universe I love it

dont forget to vote and comment! :)

~*~

July 1 : 133 days till due

~Charlie~

I didn't want to tell Calum I was pregnant.

I mean, I had to, obviously, this bump was getting hard to hide, but that didn't mean I wanted to. Work was incredibly slow, and Calum was just leaning against the inside of the bar on his phone.

I wring my hands and scrub the same spot on the bar until I can see my own reflection. I look horrible, panicked, and I tell myself I need to calm down. I just guess I feel like when everyone starts finding out it really becomes true that I'm gonna be a mom, and I'm gonna have two kids. It's really scary because honestly I can't remember when I made the transition from a kid myself.

I finally prep myself up enough that I'm ready to talk to Calum when he taps me on the shoulder and gives me a tiny smile.

"Hi" I say.

"Hi" he says back, scratching the back of his neck.

We stand in silence eyeing eachother off, not talking. It's never been awkward between Calum and I before, which concerns me because it feels like we both have something we need to say.

"What're you doing tomorrow night?" He blurts out, his eyes going impossibly wide.

My jaw drops.

"I was just thinking we could like, get dinner or something somewhere. We've never actually seen eachother outside of work before" he says, laughing timidly at the end and running a hand through his hair.

I remember a conversation I had with Jamie a thousand years ago; 'oh my god! Charlie, oh my god! This guy is hot!' 'No he's not' Calum's not hot.

"So like a date?" I ask, raising an eyebrow.

Calum laughs and for a second I think I totally misinterpreted what he was saying but then he nods his head and flashes his teeth.

"You don't have to say yes I just thought like we could get dinner see how it goes from there ya know-"

"I-I'd love to!" I say, my words tripping over themselves.

OH MY GOD, I scream at myself in my head, WHATS HAPPENING? WHAT ARE YOU DOING.

I smile at him, and he smiles back, not meeting my eyes.

"So I'll text you the place, yeah? Around 8?" He asks, sounding like he's trying to be delicate with the subject. One wrong step and everything could collapse.

"Yeah sounds great!"

~*~

"AND THEN I SAID, SOUNDS GREAT" I yell into my phone, collapsing into my couch with a big huff of breath.

"I don't see what the big deal is" Jamie sighs, and I can practically hear her eyes rolling on the other end of the phone. I think I need to get more friends.

"I don't wanna go out with Calum!" I say like it's obvious "I'm not attracted to Calum. He's not my type, he's not dating material, he's not that much fun, he's-"

"...not Ashton" Jamie finishes.

"You got his name right" I say incredulously.

"Don't go on a date with him if you don't want to Char, but don't stay stuck on Ashton if you're not willing to forgive him" she advises "you can either not forgive him and move on without him, or forgive him and be with him. It's your choice. One or the other."