Cigarette Daydreams {CTH}

PROLOGUE

Vienna Bradford loves late nights, middle brownies, phone calls that last late into the night, and hates the feeling of her teeth scraping against something cold. She has a stomach of steel and has a tendency to snap back when tired, yet nothing gets on her nerves more than when someone misses out on an important detail when sharing her favorite films.

Her love of nearly every kind of movie is what made her fall in love with all things film and inspired her incessant need to capture her life on video. One of her favorite gifts as a kid was a cheap little video camera for Christmas when at eight years old. She fell in love with the stupid thing and roped everyone around her into filming skits, childish music videos, and random adventures only kids can get into. No one was more supportive of the silly little videos, though, than her best friend who she's known since she was five.

Calum Hood is Vienna Bradford's best friend and she's been in love with him since she was old enough to know what that meant. She loves the way he scrunches his face when he's truly happy, the slight rasp when he sings, how he loves the edge brownies, his effortless energy when on stage, and the soft husk of his voice in the early hours of the morning. 

She loves him. 

But loving him didn't stop it all from falling to pieces in a haze of cigarette daydreams.

~

Vienna grew up in a big white house with blue trim, a big oak tree in the front yard with a tire swing. She was sitting on that cursed swing when she saw him for the first time. 

His parents were helping direct movers on where to go and unload their belongings as Calum trailed them stumbling over shoes that were definitely too big for him. Having tripped over said shoes for the umpteenth time, she watches as his mom sighs and leans down steadying him, brushes off his shirt, and points in Vienna's direction as she says something the small girl is too far away to hear. Vienna tilts her head, considering the strained interaction, as he takes in a big breath, his chest puffing out, and begins to make his way towards her.

Calum was a scrawny kid with limbs too long for his skinny frame that wouldn't add up until much later when he filled out to his impressive height and build. But watching this kid now, with his shy smile and too big shoes, something in Vienna knew they were going to be best friends.

"Hi, I'm Calum," he says, voice small and drenched in a shy smile.

"I'm Vienna," she replies. After a quiet pause where he rocks back on his feet she softly adds, "I like your shoes."

"Thanks!" he perks up, a slight lisp present and she finds herself smiling wider because of it. "My mom says they were supposed to be for my birthday, but I could have them early since we were moving." His smile is wide as he shows off his Captain America velcro sneakers. "Captain America is my favorite superhero!"

"I don't know him," Vienna admits with a slight shake of her head. The shocked look on his face is comical and she lets out a giggle at the expression.

"You don't know him? But he's the coolest superhero ever!"

"I thought Superman was the best." Calum's look of horror only grows and she finds herself quickly agreeing, at his insistence, to look through his comic book collection and learn all about Marvel superheroes once his room is unpacked.

(Turns out he was right, but it wouldn't be until they saw the midnight premiere of the first movie that she would agree.)

They end up killing time while Calum's parents and the movers work by taking turns pushing each other on the swing, giggling as one of them would fall over from the effort. They swap stories of what their favorite things are and chase each other back and forth in games of tag, slowly becoming each other's favorite person from day one.

The years following, they only get closer, becoming attached at the hip and creating themselves a little family when Michael, Luke, and Ashton each join the picture. 

Calum and Vienna share nearly everything with each other. She's there when his parents have their first big fight, she's there to pull him out of his first fight at school and cover for him later when his parents ask what caused the black eye and split lip. They talk each other through their first breakups and she attends his very first show with the band. With every milestone they hit, they do it together - side by side. In all the years of shared experiences, though, she never tells him about her first love or her first heartbreak - not for years, anyway.

After all, how was she supposed to tell him that it's always been him?

☆☆☆

are y'all ready for this?? i'm certainly not

this is my very first attempt at writing something with a plot so i'm sorry if it sucks lol

shoutout to hunter for helping me work out some of the details for this story on a pier in DC at 1 am while camping for 5sos <3

go follow my twitter for any previews, photos, inspiration, sneak peeks, etc @/lexwritesff

love you lots<3