Cadences [cake au] ✔

// six //

Quick reminder (bc I haven't updated in ages) that Calum doesn't know Luke is Liz's son :))

Chapter 6

Calum's POV

Both mum and dad had told me from a very young age that I wasn't allowed to date till I was at least 25.

They also made it very clear that I was only to like girls, and that they had a list of potential wives already written down for me before I was even born – girls who had influential and successful parents, girls who were undoubtedly 'beautiful' in a traditional sense and would raise children well.

Their reasoning was that dating would have a negative impact on my piano career. As soon as I'd shown signs of having any sort of musical talent, they created a path for me that I wasn't to stray from. Yes; I hated them for it, but deep inside I knew they were doing it for my own good, however extreme it may have sounded.

And now, Luke was trying to create a detour and I couldn't handle it in the slightest. The only way was to push him away and pretend I wasn't gay – truthfully, I was.

I'd had a crush on one guy and that was an incredibly long time ago, probably when I was nine. It was at one of Liz's concerts – my parents had, reluctantly, let me go by myself despite my age, and it was undeniably the best night of my life. Liz had been amazing, both on the piano and in voice, and at the end, there was a small boy who was a little bit chubby assigned as the flower giving boy and he ran up to Liz with a bouquet.

The most vivid part of the memory was his blue eyes; particularly how they glistened as Liz pecked his cheek. Yes, I'd been a little jealous of him for receiving a kiss from my idol, but he was so incredibly mesmerising that I completely forgot about everything else in the room and focused on him.

I had no idea who he was, and I never saw him again after that. I didn't have the nerve to ask Liz herself, especially since whenever I did get to talk to her, it was only for a short while – so I'd kind of given up all hopes of ever meeting him, instead deciding to do really well at the piano so maybe, just maybe, I'd get to meet him again as a flower giving boy.

It was the afternoon of the concert and Jason met up with me at the bus stop with his massive cello on his back, whilst I was just carrying my ticket, wallet and phone. I'd decided to wear my usual black jeans with a navy blue button up shirt – it wasn't quite cold enough for a jacket but at the same time not hot enough for short sleeves.

"Hi Jason," I greeted with a smile. He was a bit out of breath; unsurprisingly, with that huge instrument, but quickly went back to normal.

"I'm so unprepared Calum, my accompanist suddenly bailed on me!" he panicked, grabbing the straps of his cello case in such a way that his veins bulged out of his pale skin.

"Are you serious? How come?!"

He buried his face in his hands, squatting down. "She found out that we would be playing in front of a ton of people and got scared... she's never done this to me before!"

"That's so shitty."

"What am I going to do Calum?"

I tapped my foot on the floor for ideas. "I'll play for you."

"But the accompaniment sheet music is at home!"

"It's fine, let me see yours, I'll work something out."

He lowered his eyes, probably in embarrassment. "But... it's not an easy piece... and I'll probably mess up..."

I placed my hands firmly on his shoulders to snap him out of it. "We're musicians, Jason. Being nervous isn't an option, even if you are just an opening act."