Punk & Metal

It Started On a Weekend in December

CALUM POV

I looked into the bathroom mirror and fixed my hair. My suit fit a little tighter than it fit when I first bought it about four months ago when I found out Julia was getting married. It made me feel good about myself, but made me a little sad that, well, I was growing up.

My alone time was cut short when Michael burst into my room and stole my comb. I tried to grab him by the arm and take back what's mine but he merely stuck out his tongue and slipped from my grip. I groaned and ran out of my bathroom to chase him down. After about three rounds of running around the living room and jumping over the coffee table Ashton got tired of us and screamed for us to cut it out. Michael laughed and licked my comb from top to bottom before tossing it back at me. Disgusted I gagged and let it fall to the floor.

"Calum, pick that up," Ashton ordered.

"Are you kidding me? Did you SEE what he did to it! I'll get like, the plague, if I touch that."

Ashton rolled his eyes at me and took a napkin from his pocket, picked up the comb with it, and wiped it down before sticking it in my hair. I let my jaw drop and he only punched me in the chest as a response. Defeated, I went to my room and set the comb back on my nightstand. But just as I was about to come out of my bedroom, I heard Michael scream something at Luke and then heard the front door slam. When I came out Michael was pacing back and forth and Ashton was trying to get his attention.

"What happened?" I asked.

"Luke just left to go pick up Blake," Ashton told me.

He was able to get a hand on Michael's shoulder, but Michael aggressively shook it off and sat down on the couch, burrowing his head into his hands, rocking back and forth like a crazy person.

In an attempt to console him, I took the seat next to him and began to rub his back. "It's okay Michael," I said.

He slowly picked his head up and narrowed his eyes at me, immediately making me regret my decision to come over here. He grabbed my arm with such force it made me wince and pushed it away, causing me to fall over to my side on the couch.

"Leave me the fuck alone Calum, you wouldn't understand anything about what I'm going through right now."

Oh, no. Yeah, no, I'm done with this.

"Really? You think I don't understand?" I challenged, getting up from the sofa.

Michael looked me in the eye, stood up to get level with me, and said, "I know you don't understand."

"Wow, I can't believe you. After all these years, you still see me as the stupid one. I've known you so long Michael, you're practically my brother. I know stuff about you that you probably don't know about yourself. And for you to tell me that I don't know shit is pissing me off. I'm finally done being your stupid little pet that you just push to the side when you think I can't handle it. Look, I know I'm sensitive and if anything, I'm the first one to cry. But that doesn't mean I don't see what's going on. I actually see everything since I'm always sitting on the sideline. You guys think I don't know anything because I'm not playing the game, but I've been watching since day-fucking-one. So you know what Michael? Fuck you. Fuck you an your fucking relationship problems. I don't even feel sorry for you that she chose him. Not sorry at all. I hope that she catches the damn bouquet tomorrow and they get married and move into an old farm house where they throw darts at a picture of your face." With that long, exasperating declare I stuck my middle finger at him, and left the apartment. I got in my car, and drove until I was out of city limits, and all I could see was rolling hills and a few cows here and there.

I'm done. So done of being the person in the back.

~~~~~

MICHAEL POV

My mouth stayed open as Calum flipped me off and stormed out, leaving me and Ashton stunned in the living room of the apartment. After I took a few moments to process what had just happened, I turned to face Ashton, who was eyeing me with that look. The look of "you done screwed up, and I'm not gonna save yo ass this time".

I nodded and he grabbed his keys and left me alone in the apartment. The rehearsal dinner was tonight and the original plan was that we would all drive together. But that all fell apart I think the moment that Luke said he was going to go pick up Blake.

The day that I beat him up at her house was the day she finally decided to give him a real chance. Not one that was behind my back and under cover. A real one, where she devoted actual time to talking to him, seeing him, and other things I really don't want to mention. It started out as him texting her almost eight hours a day, then it went to calls that lasted hours and hours into the night, and then to driving all the way to Phoenix to go see her on the weekends. Eventually, it escalated to a point were he would spend about three days over there then come back home for two, and head back out again. It was like that for a month, until this week.

Ashton was getting tired of the back and forth behavior and told Luke that he had to stay here until the wedding or he might as well move over there. Luke agreed, and it made me kinda happy that he wouldn't be with her. This meant that he wouldn't be talking about her non-stop 24/7. But today was a different story.

When he told me that he was going to drive all the way over there to take her to the rehearsal I was pissed. Was hanging out with her the entire night and making googly eyes at each other not enough for him? He got upset at my remark and ran out, screaming about how I was a jerk and that I was just jealous.

And yeah, I was pretty jealous.

I made sure all the windows were closed, everything was turned off, and I had my wallet and keys before leaving. When I got into my car and stuck the key I tried to wrap my head around everything. And something told me that the weekend was going to be stressful. A good ol' reminder of the past, and possibly a repeat of it if the universe was cruel enough.