Mirrors | Malum

35

Calum

I asked him to sleep over the next night, even though my parents wouldn't appreciate me having company. They still want to send me to a mental hospital and I'm not sure if or when I'm going to attend it. Because if I end up going, I'll have to leave Michael behind. And I've already grown attached.

If I lost the bond I spent months building with fear, I'll lose everything; especially my trust. And I'm so afraid that I'm going to hurt him. I'm afraid that this will all be a huge mistake when I'm gone and he's left alone to pry on the outdoor world with nothing but tear stained cheeks and red eyes that I want to see sparkle under the sunlight.

He was awake before I was, and I'd know because I could hear his soft humming peering beside me. He was humming to an song I didn't really know, though I recognized the artist. It was on the radio a lot.

"What are you singing?" I mumbled, it being the first thing he'd hear me say this morning. I was kind of hungry but I didn't want to ruin the moment. Though I did promise him I'd try to eat more to prove to my parents that sending me to a mental hospital isn't necessary. I just need all of the love and support I can get. And from what I can tell, my parents are giving me hardly any empathy for the journey ahead of me.

"Budapest."

"Thought so." And I giggled for some reason, just feeling his small fingers poking into my sides - and then he started tickling me; my spine forming goosebumps and those tiny dots traveling all over my body because he wouldn't stop making me laugh.

And I knew I really really liked him. More than I could ever like myself.

He stopped eventually, his tickling turning into soft and calming traces on my arms. I loved feeling his fingers drawing on my body. It was really nice.

"What do your tattoos mean?"

I bit down on my lip because I knew he would at one point, ask me about them. And some of the tattoos I have on me are reminders and I prefer not to tell people about them sometimes.

"Uh, well, some of them are personal."

"Tell me about the ones that are your favorite, then?"

"MMXII is the year my life changed. I'm not really going to get into full detail, here. But if you don't really understand Roman numerals, it's 2012. And my other favorite tattoo is the one on my arm. It's for my sister, Mali Koa."

Michael smiled softly, his fingers still tracing swirls into my arms. I loved his touch. I loved -

"Mali is your sister, right? The super nice one?"

I snorted, hearing the word nice fall out of his mouth. That wouldn't be the word for my sister. She's not nice. Well not to me, anyway. We have a brotherly-sisterly love bond that goes on, and we never leave each others sides but sometimes we can tend to be rude to one another. And that's okay as long as we never forget the real reason we're still in what we are together.

"Yeah, that's her."

"You know, Calum. I'm really thankful for you."

"Why?" I questioned, curiosity getting the absolute best of me. My heart was pounding so fast that it was like sitting in traffic, nothing is happening except you're staring at a bunch of red lights that won't change to green. And you're desperate to see the green light because you want to move; you want something to happen. And whenever the red light finally changes, you feel adrenaline passing through you; you feel the literal excitement. And it's like that with Michael. He's a red light, and when he smiles, it finally turns to green and I can see every dilation from his pupils and every little crease in his forehead and every single eye movement and small habit that he doesn't realize he does and I find it cute. I find him cute. And I want him to know that.

"I've been chasing after people for the past seven years of my life and I've never had any luck.  None. It was always that somebody else was better than me or more attractive than me. It was always that I was a punk and nobody wanted to date a guy who wore leather jackets and had colorful hair and an eyebrow piercing. It was always nobody likes that Michael kid, he's some freak with blonde fringe and weird heart eye sunglasses. Nobody liked me but I liked everyone. I'd have these little crushes from time to time and I'd get so upset that nobody wanted me. But you changed that."

"I- I did?"

"Yes, Calum. You did. You gave me something to hold onto, a photograph to capture but it's one that lasts a lifetime. Because I'm always going to have you engraved in the back and middle and front of my mind. In every compartment and the left side and the right side. It's always going to be filled with thoughts of you and how beautiful it is to look at you everyday. To hold your hand even when it's sweaty and you want to wipe it on your jeans but I like it. I like everything about you and I feel so blessed to just know that you're my boyfriend."

I nuzzled my face into the crook of his neck, a sad smile arching it's way into my cheeks. I'm happy, don't get me wrong. It's just that he's the most amazing thing that has ever happened to me and my parents want to take me away from him. They want to damage the beauty of our relationship; the colors we spent months splattering onto black and white canvas' and it's not going to be the same when he's one place and I'm in another.

I don't like it that way.

I want it to always be me laying in his arms while he strokes my arms or plays with my hair, where he whispers soft you're beautiful's even when I've heard them a thousand times, where he tells me that I'm precious and calls me a puppy and says that without me, life would be boring and useless. I want this Michael for the rest of my life.

But if were torn away, torn into two, we'll be disconnected. And I won't be able to go back.

"Something wrong?" Michael asked, wiping his thumb beneath my eyes. He must have noticed that a couple of tears slipped when overthinking about everything.

"I just don't want them to take you away from me."

"Don't worry angel, I told you I won't let that happen."

"Promise?"

Michael held out his pinky as he moved closer towards me; the heat in our bodies frolicking around the room.

"I promise."

-

A/N;

Uh, shorter chapter. Pretty much bc it's getting late and I have A LOT of stories to update before I can sleep..unless my eyes can't stay open for much longer but still. Hope you enjoyed this update!!

Let's get this story to 2k. Yeah? Yeah! 💕💕💕