bleach • lrh (ON HOLD)

nine - living and breathing

— then —

holding his box of cigarettes out to her, calum slowly smiled. the two had been standing outside the concert venue for what seemed like ages now, taking a much needed break from the ruckus inside. "want one?"

"nah, i'm good."

with a quick shake of her head, sloane closed the lid of the box before pushing his tattooed hand back towards him. she wasn't a smoker. she'd have a drink every now and again, depending on whether her fake id worked, but smoking was never something she was interested in.

shrugging his shoulders in his muscle shirt, calum relented, tucking the cigarettes back into the front pocket of his skinny jeans while simultaneously pulling out a lighter. "suit yourself. you'll just have to watch me smoke instead."

her and the guys, except for michael who was an absolute sweetheart, were still getting to know each other, so standing out here in the alleyway with just calum was a little bit awkward.

luke had wanted to join them outside but their manager, rob, had accosted him before they could make it to the door, saying that there were interviewers here that wanted to speak to him.

ah, the life of a rockstar.

sloane had to admit, while being extremely fucking proud of them, she was a bit jealous of how well they were doing in the industry. she felt the same way about her brothers band, who were still over in europe living up the tour life.

she loved music with all of her heart, could see herself on the same stages that 5sos and reverse the day we're playing, singing her own songs to her fans some day.

but, unfortunately for her, it was hard to get recognised as an artist these days, especially when you only had one day a week to work on your music.

"you look very pensive." calum muttered, smoke from his cigarette slipping from between his pursed lips. "what's on that mind of yours? is it that tall, lip ringed boyfriend of yours?"

laughing softly at calum's assumption, sloane pondered her thoughts for a moment. should she actually tell him what she was really thinking about, or should she keep the conversation light? they'd only know each other a few weeks, she didn't want to ruin any chance of a good relationship with her boyfriends friends.

sloane bit her lip thoughtful, her fingers playing with the rope bracelet on her left wrist. "i'm thinking about how lucky you all are to have this."

calum nodded his head in understanding. "yeah, we are. i'm still confused how we ended up here, really. you know, i had a really difficult time picking between music and soccer for a while?"

glancing over at calum with an intrigued look, sloane raised an eyebrow. "really? were you good at it? playing soccer, i mean."

"yeah, i was on a fast track to a spot on the australian team for a while." smiling at the memory, calum placed his cigarette back between his lips and took a lengthy pull. "before i really got into this music shit with the guys, that's where i thought my life was heading. play soccer professionally for a few years, then retire with a big lump of cash."

"what made you pick music over soccer, then? it sounds like you still really love it." she had to admit, she was curious now. calum talked about soccer like it was a part of him, something he could never give up.

how had he been able to leave it behind to pursue a music career?

noting the curiosity in her tone, calum smiled fondly. he knew she wasn't just asking because she was intrigued by his past, but he liked to talk about it anyway. "i do love it, still. always will. but music is the part of me i can't live without."

"it's something i live and breathe everyday and without it, i don't think i would still be here. it's like... a lifeline. the guys feel that way about it too, and from the looks of it, so do you."

feeling a blush heat up her cheeks, sloane avoided his gaze. "how did you guess?"

"i've seen videos of you singing, sloane." now this shocked her. her videos on youtube only had a few hundred views at best, so to think that someone as famous as calum hood could have seen them? that shit was crazy.

with another drag of his cigarette, calum looked at her, his warm brown eyes glowing in the light of the streetlamp above him. "it would be hard not to notice how talented you are, or how much you fucking love music, when watching them."

"it's just a hobby." brushing off his words, sloane shrugged. she was sure that it would never be much more than a hobby for her, even if she desperately wanted it to be.

"it doesn't have to be." stubbing out his cigarette on the wall beside him, calum crossed his arms over his chest. "when you love something as much as we love music, you'll never be happy until you're living and breathing it in your everyday life."

"that's just not an option for me." a small sigh left her lips as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "i work two jobs just to support myself now, there's no way i can find time to try and pursue a music career."

"you will, slo. i know you will. talent like yours won't go unnoticed for long." silently, he added the 'not if i have anything to do about it'.

he couldn't let her dreams go to waste, not now not ever. she was one of the nicest, most down to earth people he had ever met. he could see why luke was already head over heels for her. he was too.

in a platonic way, of course. she was luke's girl, after all.

swinging open the metal door to the alleyway, michael peeked his head out, a large grin fixated to his features. "there you two are! we're on stage in twenty so i said i'd come looking for you both. luke said you had come out this way."

sharing a look with calum, sloane mouthed a quick 'thank you' to him before turning around to face michael. after that talk, she felt a lot closer to calum than she originally had. "yeah, calum was just having a smoke and i needed a bit of air."

nodding at the two of them, michael gestured with his hand for them both to come inside, his red hair flopping over his eyes. "well, let's go. i know luke will want a good luck kiss before we head on stage, and i don't think he'll be too happy if he gets it from me."

"yeah, we're coming."

with one final chuckle the two of them followed michael back inside the venue, the conversation they had just had lingering in both of their minds.

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a/n

3k reads already? you guys are actually outdoing yourselves wtf?? i love you all so much

see you in the next one,
andi <3