WRONG NUMBER / CH

chptr 49

It was like any normal date they've ever had. But for Calum, it was the most precious. And because it was, the time flew by like the seconds were sand slipping through his fingertips. He wanted to stay longer, to be with her longer. He didn't want the day to end just yet.

They were walking around now; the sun had set and the night air had grown slightly chilly, perfect for a walk. Ever since brunch they'd been talking about Leia's encounter with her sister. They never seemed to lose words.

She told him about how his sister moved here to Sydney when she left, got a waitressing job and lived in a crappy apartment for the first few months. Now she was living in a nicer flat on a nice side of the neighborhood, still waitressing but balancing other jobs in between. She didn't know Leia and her family had moved here, too. But she did miss them terribly. And that fact was enough for Leia.

"I think you two will get along great," she said, swinging their entwined hands back and forth. "And she wants to meet you."

He cocked an eyebrow. "You told her about me?"

Leia laughed like he had just said the most foolish thing. "Of course." When Calum stared at her expectantly she continued. "She asked about my love life and I-" She stopped talking, suddenly blushing. When she turned to him he had the biggest, most satisfied smirk on his face, which made her giggle nervously. "Calum! Stop being a dick."

"I'm not. I'm just enjoying this story very, very much," he said sweetly, and they burst into nervous fits of laughter again. "Please, by all means, continue."

"She asked if I was seeing anyone lately, and I told her, 'There's this guy, his name's Calum, he's an asshole but he's pretty okay.'" She finished with a devilish grin, not telling him about the part where she told her sister how happy she is with him, and how her name sounds so beautiful when he says it.

Calum hummed his approval. "This Calum guy sounds cool. You should date him."

Because yes, they were together most of their time, and yes, they have kissed and gone on dates, but they never made it official they were dating. They were still just friends, sans the boy and girl prefix.

Leia raised both her eyebrows and stopped swinging their hands together. "Maybe I should. You know, if he actually makes a move."

Calum tripped on the sidewalk. Leia laughed evilly.

No matter how innocent and perfect their date may have seemed to Leia, it was distorted in Calum's perspective. He savored every little banter, every little detail. Every time she did something, he'd worry if this was the last time he'd see it. And now he tripped and she laughed and it made him think of the first time he heard her laughter, back when she hadn't even met him. He thought of the suggestion of him officially asking her to be his girlfriend, and for some reason that hurt.

He wanted to. He desperately wanted to ask her and be officially hers. He wanted to be just another normal couple, laughing under the stars, as in love as any could be.

But there was guilt forming a lump in his throat, and he grew silent.

"Calum? You okay?" Leia's tone was worried.

This was it: now or never. "You know how you told me about getting your sister's number wrong?"

Leia had asked his sister if she was getting any of her texts. And of course, she wasn't. Anna insisted she never changed her number so Leia had checked her sister's phone to find out that she wasn't even texting her-she got one number wrong. So she had been texting the wrong damn person for five months, and that fact made her laugh in a state of shock.

"Ugh, don't remind me." She squeezed her eyes shut. "Every time I think about if I feel like a total moron."

Unconsciously, Calum squeezed her hand, more for his comfort than hers. "Are you mad?"

"At me? Yes. At whoever it was I was texting..." She stopped and sighed. "I don't know. Like, couldn't he/she have replied and tell me I was making an ass of myself?" She shook her head like she didn't want to talk about it anymore. "I don't know. I guess I should've expected it. My life sucks." They continued to walk while Calum busied himself with coming up with the most subtle way to tell her the truth. But she spoke up again. "Or maybe I wasn't texting anyone at all. Which still makes me mad."

Calum's heart was racing in his chest. He gulped. "What if you were texting someone, and that someone did nothing about it?"

"What do you mean?"

"Like, hypothetically, that someone just sort of...read all your texts. But never replied." Holy shit, he thought. This is really happening, it's fucking happening.

Is this it?

"Then that someone's a dick," she replied, laughing. "But I'd probably apologize for my whole existence."

Calum pressed on. "You wouldn't be mad at hi-that someone?"

She raised her eyebrow at his almost use of pronouns. "Well, it's not really that someone's fault for getting dragged into my mess. But they could've at least texted back. You know. Chivalry really is dead." She laughed a little. But she noticed Calum didn't even crack a smile, and that he was looking down as they walked. "Cal? Why are you being weird about this?"

"You wouldn't be mad at that someone," he said quietly. Then he stopped abruptly and turned to face her, searching her eyes. "Even if that someone...was me?"

There. It was out-like a bomb finally going off after months of threatening to explode. Calum half-expected fire to start raining from the sky or maybe the earth to crumble and crack and swallow him up.

Something shattered in the distance. It might've been Calum's heart, from the way she looked at him. Her face morphed from cheerfulness to confusion to panic and back to a nervous unease. "Calum...what are you saying?"

"Leia, I...I need to show you something, back in the apartment." He didn't know how he could be forming sentences right now when his mind was just repeating the same line over and over again. I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry-

He brought her hands closer to his heart, hoping he could feel it beating for her forgiveness. "Remember what I told you this morning?" He exhaled a nervous, shaky sigh. "I never, ever meant to hurt you."

"You're starting to scare me, Calum," she told him. She did look scared. But only because she was beginning to understand what he was trying to say. But that didn't mean she believed it.

He started their walk back to his apartment, counting down the seconds before the end of his world. Halfway through, Leia lost her grip on his hand, and something cracked in his chest at the empty sensation that went through him.

He felt like he had already lost her.

a/n: i kept whispering "oh shit" while writing this chapter bc!!! we're!!! almost!!! there!!!