Both Sides of the Story [cake au.]

fifteen

a/n: hi so earlier, I pressed publish by mistake and published this chapter before it was done. Whoops.

This past week, Calum had had barely any time to even think, let alone breathe. He had back to back meetings with parents every evening so far, and he hadn't even gotten through half of his students. Luckily, for the most part the parents were quite agreeable and friendly, but as always, there were a few who insisted their child was better behaved at home and that 'he's just penalising them to make the other students feel better about themselves'.

Calum's just about had it, but his last meeting this evening would be the one with Luke, so he can't quite lose it just yet.

He was a little apprehensive about meeting Luke. It would be their first time talking in about two weeks, and he was scared things might be beyond awkward. He didn't want it to be awkward, though. He wanted to tell Luke just how much he liked him, and that's exactly what he was planning on doing.

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Calum had been readjusting his bow tie when there was a knock on the door. Looking over, through the small window in the wood, he saw Luke looking shy and awkward.

The brunet gestured for him to entered the classroom, and turned to where he had pulled up a chair in front of his desk.

Calum cleared his throat, putting on his professional voice he reserved for parents and his boss. "Hello, Mr. Hemmings," Calum greeted him, more formally than he would have liked. He couldn't slip up, though. He knew what he was doing, and had to play the part.

"Hi, uh, Mr. Hood... How are you?" Luke asked as he took off his leather jacket, revealing a nice white dress shirt underneath, and draped it over the back of the chair in front of Calum's desk. He sat down, squeezing his legs together with his hands on his lap, looking like he was trying to shrink.

"I'm good," Calum answered, sitting down across the desk from Luke before pulling out a light blue file from his drawer and placing it between the two of them. "And you?"

"Good." Luke nodded, and Calum hummed in response.

Calum opened up the file, giving Luke the first paper on the top, and began to talk. "Well, Charlotte's a really lovely girl. I don't actually have much to say about her, but these meetings are mandatory." He shrugged before continuing. "She's been getting very good scores on her math and her science. Spelling is her only weak point, but she's always very eager to learn, so I'm not too worried about that."

Luke nodded, clearly unsure of how to go about the conversation. "What is she like in class?"

"She participates a lot in class, perhaps too much sometimes," he chuckled quietly, politely. "But all around, she's very friendly. She hasn't had any issues with the other kids. Well, granted not everyone gets along with everyone else, but that's normal."

He picked up the file, eyes not meeting Luke's as he read out some of her scores, before saying, "But I do have some concerns."

Luke tilted his head to the side, gingerly holding Calum's newfound gaze. "And what- what are they?"

Calum took a breath, keeping his professional voice on as he put his plan into action. "So, I heard that Charlotte's – well, Shael and Charlotte's – dad is a really great, caring guy. And uh, my concern is that I feel like I may have, in one way or another, pushed him away." Luke's eyebrows were furrowed, clearly confused, but Calum kept talking. "You see, it has come to my attention that I like their father way too much to let him go without even trying to take it further. Now, I was wondering if it would be possible for us to give us one more shot?"

"Uh," was Luke's only response for a few seconds, before he shook his head and snapped out of his daze. "Yeah. I, uh, I think I could, um... Do you really want to give us another shot?"

Calum breathed out, his professional voice melting away to give way to the emotions he was feeling. "Yeah, I really do. I guess after you told me about the asexuality thing, I just kinda- I dunno, freaked out? I just didn't know much about it." Calum shrugged, reaching across the table to gently take Luke's hand into his. "And I realised a couple days ago that I was being a dick by letting things get awkward between us. Because, um, I really like you, Luke. I think we're good together."

Luke smiled, a shy thing that soon grew into a full-on grin. "Yeah, I think we're good together, too," he answered, squeezing Calum's hand.

"Where are the girls right now?" Calum asked curiously as his thumb began brushing over Luke's hand.

"Mikey's watching over them." Luke rolled his eyes a little. "Probably teaching them how to play video games or something."

"Can he watch over them long enough for the two of us to get dinner?"

Luke smiled, tilting his head a little. "I think he'll be able to manage."

"Good, cause you're the last parent I'm seeing tonight, and I've missed you."

"I've missed you, too."

They smiled at each other, before Calum pulled his hand away and stood up, clearing off his desk. "Let me just put my stuff away, and we can go."

Luke nodded, standing up as well. He shrugged on his leather jacket while Calum put the papers away and grabbed his messenger bag and tweed jacket.

The two of them walked to the door, but before Luke could open it, Calum slid an arm around Luke's waist and turned him to face him. He pressed a quick, almost shy kiss to Luke's lips before kissing his forehead, watching Luke's cheeks tint pink.

"Shall we?" Calum murmured, holding the door open for Luke, who just chuckled, cheeks still pink, and stepped out of the classroom.

Calum flicked the lights off and followed Luke out, saying goodbye to the lady in the lobby and exiting the school into the chilly evening breeze. As soon as they began walking down the sidewalk, Calum took Luke's hand into his, shooting the blond a smile and getting a wide one in return. Yeah, he could definitely get used to this.

a/n: this might be ending soonish or it might not, haven't figured that out yet :-) hope you're enjoying this fic, though. It's actually quite personal and dear to me, so... Yeah! Hope you like it. xx