FIFA || Malum

06

Things had been different since Matt had showed up, Calum was a lot quieter than usual. Michael wished that Calum would start telling him shitty pick up lines again, even though he hated them with every fibre of his being. There was some part of him, though, that secretly loved the attention he got from Calum.

Michael was so new to romance, he was that kid that everyone seemed to overlook in school. The kid that didn't have very many friends but everyone had heard of him. The kid that had a new hair colour every month. But the title made him want to sigh, to frown. Surely he was worth more than just his hair, everyone saw his crazy hair and thought he was a fun guy, someone who partied a lot. No one ever stuck around to find out if he actually liked to party, and he didn't, he liked late night movie marathons and early morning cups of coffee. He liked light dark clothes and comic books. Michael was Michael and no one knew who Michael was.

But Michael kind of wanted Calum to know.

Calum woke up quite early this morning, in fact the sun had yet to rise. He felt exhausted, he got to his hotel late just to find out he'd dropped the key to his room in Luke's office.

Try as he might, Calum couldn't chase what remained of his sleep. His dream, vivid at the time had blurred considerably since and he could only remember the opulent smile placed on the face of whomever was in his dream with him.

Calum, although he was a morning person, wasn't a stellar chef. He'd had thoughts about wooing some lad with his cooking skills but he'd never been able to achieve making decent food.

Despite his now growling stomach, Calum decided to go for a run to get his blood flowing and mull over what he'd do for breakfast.

He left his phone behind, being used to his coach telling him to stay off his phone during practice.

A breeze brought goosebumps to his flesh as he stepped out the front door to the hotel. The street was pretty much dead, a man strode quickly across the street and into an apartment before Calum could start his run. He remembered absentmindedly, that he needed to warm up, but something was compelling him to run right away.

He focused on keeping a steady pace first before letting his mind wander, he made a right without thinking and continued.

Michael was the first thing that came to mind. Michael, who had gone out of his way to comfort him. Who sat Calum down for a impromptu Star Wars marathon even though he had a job to do. Michael, who in a few weeks after FIFA was finished would probably forget about him.

The last thought made Calum's breathing harder, liked he'd tried running a mile but in truth he'd run a few blocks from the hotel. He didn't know if it was the pang in his chest or the burning of his lungs that made him come to a halt, but by the time he'd come to a complete stop he finally took in his surroundings.

A park lit by few street lamps. Calum stood in the middle of this park with his lungs burning and a minuscule cramp. He walked in circles until he was able to catch his breath. By the time he sat down on a bench, the early morning air had cooled his sweat until the temperature matched that of the morning dew.

With a frown stuck on his face, Calum realized he had no idea how to get back. He was too tired to panic though, so he let out a sigh and leaned further into the weathered park bench.

"Calum?" A quiet voice called from somewhere deeper in the park, off the path. He thought he was imagining it, barely above a whisper. He'd decided that he did need more sleep if he was hearing voices, with his head back Calum closed his eyes.

He thought of Michael again as he inhaled the damp morning air, it was nice. He could really smell the rain here.

With a deep breath, Calum tried to relax.

Michael, he thought. What was a good word to describe Michael?

With a microscopic smile on his face he thought back to a conversation he had with his mum.

"Mum?" He'd asked at the age of nine.

"Yes Cal-bear?" She'd replied, stopping what she was doing to give her son her attention. He was in the midst of making a batch of chocolate ship cookies, Calum's favourite, when the lanky boy walked into the kitchen. He sat down on one of the tall stools placed next to the counter that divided the kitchen and living room.

"What's a word that means you're more beautiful than beautiful?"

"My, Calum, that's hard. Why do you ask?" His mum smiled, assuming he'd become all bashful and tell her about a girl at school he fancied.

He gave her a scowl, his tone became suddenly heated at his mother's teasing. "Because Mali is the prettiest girl I know and if all girls are beautiful than I need a new word for Mali because she is the beautifulest."

Calum's mum was slightly taken aback but quickly fixed her composure with a loving smile.

"Let me think..." She began, tapping a finger against her chin to show Calum she was, in fact, thinking.

"Well Calum, exquisite is a good word." She said, waiting for her son to say the word a couple times.

"Mali is e-squeeze-it." Calum replied happily, nodding his head enthusiastically to show how pleased he was.

"But, there's another word you can use." Calum's mum said, smiling widening at her son's surprised eyes. "It's ineffable. It means something or someone is too good to express in words."

"Michael is ineffable." Calum mumbled to himself, a smile gracing his face.

"What?" Someone said, causing Calum to jump and open his eyes.

"Nothing," came his immediate spluttered reply as his eyes met Michael's pale green ones, his cheeks heated up considerably when realizing Michael was seated next to him on the bench and had been for god knows how long.

"I called your name a while back but you ended up falling asleep." Michael admitted with a small frown, he looked cuddly though, bundled up in a thick sweater with the wife hood up over his SnapBack. He was in grayscale and Calum liked the achromatic scheme Michael had going with his hair barely peeking out enough to give his appearance some colour.

"What are you doing here?" Calum asked hazily, sitting up so he was more comfortable while talking to the other boy.

"Um, I watch the sunset in the morning.... This is the best spot." Michael looked away from Calum then, he gestured to the sky with a cough.

The sky was lit up with all different shades of pink and orange with small flecks of blue and yellow.

"Wow, and I thought I wouldn't be able to see the sunrise when I moved here." Calum whispered as if talking any louder would upset the sky and bring unwanted rain.

"The weather here can be quite poor, can't it." Michael agreed, sipping his coffee as he watched the sun. He threw his arm around the back of the bench like he usually did when he watched the sunrise. Completely forgetting that Calum was sitting next to him, his arm brushed against the other boy's shoulder.

Rather than playing it off, Michael grinned at the boy in front of him and drew a spiral with his finger against Calum's t-shirt. He liked seeing Calum defined by dark oranges and light pinks, it looked like someone had done watercolour with only warm colours and then drew the outline of Calum in black pen. It was beautiful, he was beautiful.

"This was nice," Michael smiled, sometime later, looking at the boy who now had his original colouring displayed on his skin. He hesitated a moment while picking up his empty coffee cup. "Um, would you want to... Get some breakfast?"