Twins | Malum

21

"You -- you came here to paint?"

"Oh Calum, you did the exact same to me on our first date," Michael would sigh, claiming his canvas as he'd latch himself onto the grass that desperately needed to be mowed. "We painted when the sun was burning at our skin and our hearts felt like leather. Don't you remember?"

"I can't say that it's hard to forget," Calum smiled. He had this dark green beanie on his head, and it looked cute. He looked cute. It was a shame that Michael couldn't flirt without feeling like his heart was going to break into pieces. He's actually taking his brothers advice and going after this idiot. What a stupid, yet incredibly smart choice. "I don't really want to forget our first date. You were so happy, and you had this twinkle in your eye. I wanted to kiss you that day."

"Why didn't you?"

"I wanted to wait for the perfect moment."

Michael would grab his paintbrush. The black one is mine was his first instinct, and he'd yell it in a repetitive manner until it was his and he was using it to create a masterpiece on a small piece of paper. Fine, then I'll have the ugly brown one was Calum's response, and Michael would laugh until tears were in his eyes and his lips were staining with the green bucket of paint that somehow got all over him without realization. "Be honest with me. Are you still into Mitchell?"

"A little bit, yeah. But I can't have him. And there's no fucking point in chasing after somebody who is better off without me."

"Are you implying that you're no good?"

"That is what you told me," Calum stated bluntly, and Michael would just laugh and dip his brush into the can of paint like it was his hands in faucet water.

"What are you painting?"

"Something beautiful. What about you?"

"An extraordinary piece of the horizon," Michael reiterates, and Calum just furrows his eyebrows as he dips his brush into the black can of paint. "Biggest piece, actually. It isn't acknowledged enough. People always wear sunglasses because they're afraid it's going to blind them, but really it's beautiful. It's so beautiful if you open your eyes and actually look at it."

"Yeah? Well I'd like to think I'm painting the stars. The things that make the sky at night stand out. The thing that fascinates astronomers and random people who act like they don't care about anything, but break down the minute they're on top of the hill and realize that they can be anything that they want, but held back most of their lives."

"So your sky is black? But that those miniature lights stand out to you?"

"They get me through a lot," Calum mumbled with a lip bite, and Michael just nodded. He'd stop painting, would wipe his hands on that dumb old white apron of his, and he'd plug in his aux chord. Holiday would blast through the speakers of that radio, and Calum would break out into a smile. Michael remembered that it's his favorite song off the album. But he couldn't do this -- not when he was the one making the mistakes. So he grabbed Michael's phone, switched the song to American Idiots and watched Michaels face light up. He was the stars.

"You remembered?"

"So did you."

Both boys were smiling like crazy. Almost like they were feeding off of their contagious remedies. It was worth it.

Half an hour later, they finished what they were doing. They counted down from ten, ignored the fact that they were completely drenched in paint, and held their portraits to their chest before examination. "Turn it around in three . . . two. . . one."

"I thought you were drawing the stars," Michael commented with a spark in his eye, and Calum just giggled. "You are the stars, Michael."

Michael was blushing. He was an idiot for going back to this idiot, but maybe it was a good thing. They had something special, even though Calum made mistakes and took too long in the process of making up his damn mind. "And what about the biggest piece of the horizon, huh? I'm not blinded by this."

"Because you aren't wearing sunglasses. You're actually looking at it, because it's you.
I may be the stars in your world, but you're the sun in mine. You're what gets me up every morning. Seeing you shining in this dull blue universe with clouds that destroy my mind and happiness makes a huge difference. You are my sun and my favorite thing in the world and I want -- no, need you to understand this. Mitchell may be on your mind right now, but you're on mine. You are literally the only thing consuming my thoughts and I need you to know that. I need you to know that you're blinding me but I won't let you because I am into you, and I like looking at you even when the rest of the world turns you away."

"I -- I don't know what to say."

"I'm saying that I love you, and I'm sorry that I couldn't really say it before. I mean it now. I love you and I swear I fucking do."

"I-"

"You don't even have to say it back. It's too soon. Do it when the time is right. And if you don't feel it, that's completely fine. Just please don't lead me on."

"I swear I won't."

That was good enough.

-

A/N;

Thoughts?

Ok so I just updated chapter 3 of birthdays so pls go read that bc it's slacking and nobody seems to care for it yikes.

Also sorry for not updating. I literally slashed my elbow open and had to go to the hospital for 3 hours (bc they're slow af and had to clean all the dirt out of it and shit and numb me up) and so I haven't really been able to do shit bc it hurts so bad but I'm sure I'll be fine eventually. I also don't even know if I can update tomorrow cause I'm getting my wisdom teeth out so yeah.... we'll find out.

Anyways, enjoy this chapter. I love you all. Bye! 💕