Hoodwinked | Calum Hood AU

38.

I end up running about fifteen minutes late so Calum's already at the book store when I arrive. He doesn't see me at first. His brows are furrowed together, concentrating on the book held between his soft, dark hands.

He still hasn't looked up to see me loitering by another table. It would be easy to slip out of here now and disappear back to my bedroom, my safe space.

But I do owe him an explanation for everything, and maybe if I'm lucky, he won't think I'm entirely bat-shit crazy for pretending to date Luke, and then Calum and I can continue being friends.

"Hey," I touch his shoulder gently to catch his attention. A slight smile spreads across his face as our eyes meet.

"You cut your hair."

My fingers brush against the ends of my shorter locks, "It was time for a change."

"Yeah," he agrees, but there's a sadness to his voice. Pity, I realise. My ego cringes as I sit down opposite him. I wish he wouldn't feel sorry for me. It only makes it harder to pretend Luke didn't rip my heart out and feed it through an incinerator. "How have you been?" 

It's an awkward attempt at trying to bring some normality to this conversation, but let's face it, nothing about this is normal. And our combined laughs reiterate that. "I won't lie and say that I've been good. But I'm getting there. Sorry for falling off planet this week," I start explaining.

"You don't have to apologise," he interrupts kindly, but it's there again, in his voice; pity. Is that how it's going to be when we get back to school too? Will people will be staring at me with sad eyes and speaking with soft voices, because they feel so bad for the girl who's fake-boyfriend was in love with her cheating best friend? I kind of get why Michael's avoiding everyone now.

"Please don't feel sorry for me," I suddenly blurt out. "I'm okay, really. I didn't come here to be sad or cry on your shoulder, I just wanted to explain." Because who knows how obscene this all looks to Calum.

"I think I got a pretty good idea of it all at Joss's party," Calum answers uncomfortably. "Bottom line, Luke's a dick and Joss isn't much better. You deserve so much better than both of them."

"Yeah," a puff of defeated air escapes from my mouth. "It's not all Luke's fault," I say honestly. "I should have known better than to pretend to be dating him. It was a mistake from the start. It was only a matter of time before one of us developed feelings for the other," I'm starting to ramble now. "We never should have carried out the stupid plan."

"So," he says slowly, "Why did you?"

And here comes the crazy sounding part. I decide to just get the words out quickly, like ripping off a band aid. "Luke told me it would help get your attention."

Then, something even crazier happens. Calum's eyes don't widen in surprise. He doesn't gasp or raise an eyebrow or look even the slightest bit shocked. Instead, he shrugs, his eyes flitting down to the book he'd been reading before meeting my eyes again. "Well," he smiles, "that part worked"

My cheeks burn, undoubtedly turning more red than my hair. I remember the last time we were here, when Calum said things could have been different if we had have spoken before this year. I'm not sure what how to respond, so with the biggest smile on my face, I ask him about the book he was reading which, it turns out, was The Outsiders.

Apparently it's one of Calum's favourite book and he's mortified that I've only just seen the movie. "The book is way better than the movie," he says, promising to lend me his copy of the book. He tells me he's lost count of the number of times he's read the book. Quite frankly, I can't imagine liking a book so much that I'd reread it.

By the time we've finished talking about books and ordered a hot chocolate each, Luke and Joss are long forgotten in our conversation and we're now debating more important things, like whether Vegemite should be kept in the fridge or the cupboard.

"What about in Summer? Do you still keep it in the cupboard?" My nose scrunches up at the thought of warm vegemite.

"Of course!" Calum laughs, his face all squishy and adorable. "That's when it's the best, because it's so easy to spread. Plus, if you put it on toast it's going to warm up anyway."

I shake my head, "You'll never convince me. I'll always be firmly in Team Fridge."

"I'm just glad I found out now," he jokes. "Before things go any further."

Further? I take a mouthful of my hot chocolate to buy some time. This is it. This is exactly what I've wanted for so long, and now it's here. Calum is right here, and insinuating that something, a relationship-type something, could happen between us.

And yet, I'm still trying to put together my heart after my last relationship. Fake or not, I developed real feelings for Luke. Sweeping them under a rug to start something with Calum would be wrong, wouldn't it?

"I could say the same thing about you. To think, I was taking uni advice from someone who keeps their vegemite in the cupboard. Such horror." We both laugh, but I see something spike Calum's attention.

"You really thinking about going to USU?"

I nod. "There's not much here for me now, " But even as I say the words, I feel guilty, thinking about my Dad and Alfie. I don't know if I could really leave them behind. "My little brother, Alfie, I guess he's the reason I haven't made a decision yet. I don't want to leave him, the same way Mum left him."

"You're not his mother, though, Ruby." Calum speaks with a gentle tone, obviously trying to make me feel better.

"I know, it's just..." I sigh. "He's a really good kid. He's smart and caring and so... blunt," I laugh, thinking about how abrupt and honest Alfie can be sometimes. I realise just how much I'd miss him if I didn't get to see him everyday. "He'd probably be fine, maybe it's me that couldn't cope without him. Not the other way around."

"I'd love to meet him one day."

"I'd love that too." Not long after, I tell Calum that I have to get home to help plant the orange trees with Alfie and Dad. If he thinks it's lame, he doesn't say.

As I'm pulling into the driveway, Luke's walking down his. I purposely keep my focus on out front door. I don't want to look at him, and I don't want to know if he's looking at me either.

Alfie and Dad are already in the backyard with a wheelbarrow full of soil and a large crate containing three small green plants. "Ruby, finally!" Alfie says excitedly, dirt smeared over his left cheek. "We got a lime tree, a lemon one and an orange tree."

"There's a pair of gardening gloves for you over there," Dad, who's wearing his own pair of gloves and a green bucket hat, points to the black pair of gloves next to the wheelbarrow.

"Dad nearly bought the whole gardening section," Alfie explains with a huge grin. 

"Thanks for waiting for me. Sorry I took so long," I slide my own gloves on and kneel down next to Dad. Alfie hands dad one of the leafy plants and I'm ordered to start digging into the empty garden bed.

"What book did you buy?" Dad asks.

I'd forgotten that I'd originally planned on going to the bookstore to buy an actual book, and not just to talk to Calum. "I didn't get one, actually. A friend of mine is going lend me his copy of The Outsiders, though."

Dad wipes some sweat away from his brow, "The book is much better than the movie if you ask me."

I grin to myself, because that's exactly what Calum said. "Alright, less talking, more planting," Alfie says impatiently. "How long until they start growing fruit anyway?"