Stories I Never Finished

Breach

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p r e v i e w

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"Dude!" Calum pushed open Michael's bedroom door, the twenty year old's music blasting all throughout the large house four chaotic males lived in. "If I have to hear that same godforsaken song for the zillionth time I will literally commit toaster bath!"

Michael snorted, sitting up from where he had been lazing back on his bed in the corner.

"It's a great bop." Michael turned his stereo down with a click of his remote sitting beside him.

"It's trash, dude. C'mon." Calum exasperated from the doorway, tugging on his black beanie with a lopsided smile; amused but irritated at the same time.

"I don't hear the others complaining." Michael smartly shot back.

"That's just 'cause Ashton's hitting the drums again." Calum entered his best friend's room—light oak and soft surfer vibes flooding his senses the moment he stepped into the sun-illuminated space.
He took a seat on the edge of Michael's bed. "And Luke's in there with him tryna learn bass."

"Shouldn't you be teaching him then?" Michael commented, light hearted as he leaned back on his elbow; body laying slightly on its side.

"Nah." Calum shrugged, scratching the side of his jaw. "Ash knows how to play everything, you guys don't need me to teach."

"I'd be willing to learn." Michael offered.

"You already learnt shit though." Calum pointed out before dismissing it. "Anyway, I found your old guitar in the bin by the way. Any reason it got smashed?"

"Last night." Michael admitted with a careless shrug, acting as though it meant nothing as he continued to scroll through his phone. "I got drunk again and ended up stumbling over it, stomped right on its nut."

He then snorted a laugh, looking into brown eyes as he said "would hurt any man. He was down for the count after that."

"That... sucks." Calum concluded with a furrow of his brows. "Your back okay?"

"Yeah I'm alright, and hey, life happens." Michael shrugged it off again, this time with a calm smile; showing he didn't care about some object.
"So other than my dope-ass music, what brings you in 'ere?"

"Just wanted to say hey." Calum trailed off, waiting for the perfect moment to bring up the truth.

"Oh, now I know something's up. Calum Hood? Not coming in here to secretly smoke weed before Ashton finds him and whoops his ass?"

Calum managed a crack of a smile, chuckling, yet his laugh wasn't truly within their conversation; light and airy, causing Michael to frown with a crease of confused worry.

"You good, Cal?"

"Well actually, since you asked." Calum jumped on his chance. "Say I did something real bad—"

"Like what?" Michael sat up straighter, concerned.

"Like, I dunno, murder or drugs or something like that." Calum pestered. "Would you cover for me?"

"Cal, if you killed someone I'm not taking the wrap for it." Michael furrowed his eyebrows, perplexed.

Calum was quiet for a moment before he let their gaze meet once more, this time a deeper seriousness in his gaze as he caught Michael's green eyes with a look that demanded acceptance.