Polaroids || Muke au

f i v e

"all right, now that you're here, tell me what the hell is going on." calum flops face-first onto the couch, waiting for michael to speak.

"okaysobasicallyiwasburningpolaroidsearlier, youknowlikenormal, andidecidedthatihadtotakeashowerbecauseismelledlikesmokeandmyheadhurtandthisisallreallypointlessinformationbut-"

"jesus christ, michael, slow your roll." calum rubs at his eyes irritably, turning on his side to face his very nervous-looking blue-haired friend. "take a breath, and try again. make it understandable for a half-dead person, yeah?"

michael nods, rubbing his hands together and taking a few deep breathes before he restarts, "okay, so i was burning pictures earlier- because that's all i've been doing lately, but that's really not important- and i went to take a shower, right? because i smelled like burnt laminate and the smoke was starting to give me a killer headache.

"so after my shower, i was drying my hair off and my phone started ringing, but because my towel was covering my face- also because i'm hella lazy- i didn't look at the caller id before i answered the call and it turned out to be luke.

"so anyways, luke started talking, and i was pretty much having a panic attack while on the phone, so i wasn't really able to focus on what he was saying. but then he started apologising and i just- he was apologising, calum. lucas robert hemmings doesn't apologise. so obviously i was really confused. and then-"

"there's more?" calum groans, banging his head against the couch's armrest.

"yeah, now shut up." michael starts pacing the length of the living room, tugging at his hair anxiously, "so as i was saying, luke starts apologising, right? and i'm like, 'oh, don't worry about it, it's fine,'-"

"but it's not fine."

"yes, yes, i know that. and that's exactly what luke said, too. well, okay, not exactly but you get my point. and anyway, he starts apologising again, and then he's saying how he really misses me and how he wanted to see me again. well, wanted to see my face, but that's a minor detail.

"so he asks me out to coffee, yeah? and at first i'm like, 'um, how about no.' but then he starts begging. begging, calum, you know that-"

"lucas robert hemmings doesn't beg. yes, i know. he also doesn't apologise, and he really doesn't like country music. useless information that you've constantly told me and i've foolishly retained."

"you absolute walnut, let me finish."

calum waves his hand, vaguely telling michael to continue.

"so then he's begging. and holy shit, he just sounded so fucking broken, cal. so, so broken, and it really kind of hurt to hear him like that, y'know? because he just mirrored the way i felt so perfectly, and just- wow i wasn't ready for it, okay? so- like the mindless fuck that i am- i caved."

"you caved?"

"i caved," michael nods, even though calum isn't even looking at him, "and now he's going to pick me up at our apartment tomorrow at noon for coffee. i don't even like coffee anymore, cal, what am i going to do?"

"your." calum mumbles, completely ignoring michael's question.

"what?" michael stops pacing, left hand stuck halfway through his hair.

"he's going to pick you up tomorrow at your apartment." calum sits up, pointing roughly at michael.

"calum, that's what i said."

"no, you said our. as in- michaelandluke's apartment. it is no longer michaelandluke's apartment. it hasn't been michaelandluke's apartment in a long time. it is simply your apartment- michael's apartment. the fucker left you, mikey, remember that."

michael sighs, shoving calum's feet off the couch so he could sit down, "i- i know, cal. i do. it's just that i forget sometimes. you'd think that after ten fucking months apart, i'd remember. but it's still so weird going from always being one half of an equation to being the whole. but you know what, forget that. what am i supposed to do tomorrow? do i go to coffee with luke? do i ignore it when he knocks on the door? do i hide out here and pray that he forgot your address?"

"i don't know, mikey, but i'll tell you what you aren't going to do."

"and what's that?"

"you're not going to do anything you don't feel comfortable with. if you want to hide out here tomorrow and eat mac 'n' cheese while watching gilmore girls on netflix all day, be my fucking guest. if you want to face luke and drink that coffee you don't even like anymore, do it. if you want to go back to your apartment and burn every single photo album you've ever made that contains the bastard's face, have at it. hell, i'll even help you build a bonfire for them if that's what you want. but only if you want to, okay? i want you to be safe and happy; don't do something you don't want to do because you feel obligated or guilt tripped. don't."

michael nods, scrubbing at his face for a moment, "y'know, you turn oddly poetic when you're tired, cal. but thank you. is it cool if i crash here for a bit?"

"sure, i don't care," calum claps michael on the back before pushing himself off the couch, "now that that's taken care of, i'm going back to sleep."

michael chuckles, turning the tv on and lying back on the couch, "all right, you do that."

✿✿✿

michael ended up falling asleep on calum's couch until four in the afternoon, reruns of reba still playing on the tv.

rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he stumbles over to the kitchen where a still-slightly-pissy calum was burning waffles and singing along off-key to taylor swift songs.

"really, cally? taylor swift?" michael hops up on the counter, surpressing a laugh when calum wheels around, a terrified shriek stuck in his throat.

"jesus fuck, michael, can you not? at least make some kind of sound when you walk into a room." calum mutters angrily, his heart still racing. michael knows that calum gets scared easily; that's exactly why he makes sure to be as quiet as he can when walking into rooms. because it's funny to see cal freak out, even if michael does this all the time.

"aw, did i scare you, cally? i'm sorry."

"no you're not, you bastard. you do this every time."

michael shakes his head, grabbing a waffle from the plate beside him. "hey, thanks again for letting me stay here all day."

"not a problem, you're pretty low maintenance. i was sleeping for most of the day, anyway."

michael shrugs, stuffing half of a waffle into his mouth before speaking,"yeah, i know. but i still feel really bad for staying the whole day. i feel like i'm intruding."

"honestly, mikey, how many times do we have to go over this," calum turns the stove off and leans back against the counter, "you're not intruding. but you are eating all of my waffles. and get off of the counter, damn it. there's a reason i have chairs."

shaking his head again, michael hops down from the counter and steals another waffle from calum's plate. he laughs childishly when calum looks at him in disbelief and basically squawks in annoyance.

✿✿✿

really long filler chapter sorry???

man i wish i had a calum in my life.

also wow i swear a lot sorry.

stay golden.

-rebekka