Hoodwinked | Calum Hood AU

50.

The night after the USU trip is Comet Catalina night.

Calum arrives at promptly 7pm, wearing a buttoned up black shirt and black jeans. My Dad introduces himself. Calum shakes his hand and calls him sir.

Alfie giggles from the table. It's hard for me not to as well. It's clear to everyone - my Dad included - that Calum is extremely nervous. Dad returns Calum's hand shake. "Nice to finally meet you, Book Boy."

"Likewise, Sir."

"Please, call me Sam."

"Yes, Sir. I mean Sam, I mean -"

Dad laughs. "Let's eat, hey? Nothing like an empty stomach to rattle those nerves."

We sit down at the table. Dad made a roast for dinner, with gravy and everything. As much as Calum's trying to impress Dad, I think Dad's trying to do the same. Alfie and I set out the cutlery while Calum helps Dad set all of the food out across the table.

I'm smothering my potatoes with gravy when Dad says, "So, Ruby tells me you want to be an Astrophysicist."

"That's right, S - Sam."

I smile at Calum, trying to calm his nerves. I'm also trying not to stare at him in that buttoned up shirt, and the way the sleeves hug his muscles.

Alfie looks up from his plate of food. "Do you believe in aliens?"

"Don't you?" Calum counters with a wink.

"I hope they have alien dogs," Alfie says thoughtfully.

"Oh, me too," Calum agrees genuinely. "Imagine how sad it would be to live in a world without dogs." I watch as Alfie starts to like Calum a little more.

"Your parents must be so proud of you," Dad interjects, keen to get off of the topic of dogs. Once Alfie starts he can be hard to stop. "Pursuing something so esteemed."

"Actually, they think it's a waste of a degree," Calum laughs. "They'd rather I become a doctor."

Dad waves his fork around as he speaks. "You know, before I became a detective, I used to see a lot of trouble kids. As a new cop, I used to break up parties and bust kids graffitiing public places. What I learned most from those kids is that they just needed someone to believe in them. And in my opinion, it doesn't matter whether your kid wants to be a doctor or a mechanic or an artist, what matters is that as parents, we believe in them and encourage them. That's my thoughts anyway."

"Well I never want to go to uni," Alfie says forcefully.

I look over at him. He's wearing his serious face. "Why's that?"

"They don't let dogs live on campus."

I can't help it, I fall into a fit of laughter. Dad and Calum do too, and eventually so does Alfie. Once we've finished eating - miraculously, all unscathed and without a single awkward moment - Calum helps Dad clean up while Alfie and I sit on the floor in the living room, playing with Pepper.

"Calum's okay, I guess," Alfie says suddenly.

I'm scratching Pepper behind the ears, just the way she likes. "Yeah?"

"Yeah," he nods, and then gives me a worried frown. "But I can still be friends with Luke, can't I?"

"Of course you can. I think Luke would be sad if you two weren't friends anymore."

"You made Luke sad."

"It's a little more complicated than that, Alfie."

"Last year, Matt Golding laughed at the dog drawing I did in art. It really hurt my feelings and we weren't friends for the longest time. But after a while, he said he was sorry. He said he teased me to make himself feel better about his drawing."