when in rome ⇒c.h

one: "pick me up"

"i'm a man, feeling down, not much that i can do to keep anyone around. i'm so miserable, i'm so miserable." —pick me up by air traffic controller

•••••

calum yawned, stretching his legs. he'd fallen asleep almost as soon as the plane left tokyo, although he hadn't meant to. but here he was, half-awake and hungry in italy.

in the seat next to calum, ashton stretched as well. he groaned, spreading his arms out as wide as they would go. "where are we?"

"italy," calum said. he turned his phone off airplane mode and opened his messages. blue dots ran down the left side of his screen, indicating the numerous texts he'd received while on the flight. he scrolled through the conversations, not reading any new messages. his eyes, well trained, searched for the two-letter contact. it was at the bottom of the new messages, the text being sent about four minutes after the plane took off (by which time calum had already fallen into a stupor).

e.l.: don't bother, i'll be asleep.

calum's heart stuttered. he had been dating emily for almost six months, and over the past two months, they'd been fighting almost nonstop. the only time they weren't fighting was when they were together in person.

calum pulled his legs in, curling into a ball. he heard luke, across the aisle, talking quickly on the phone.

"yes, we just landed. i know i promised to call you when we landed, which is why i'm calling you now... yes... later, maybe in a few hours. i'll text you after... no, you were the first person i called or texted... yeah... yes. i love you too. bye." luke put his phone down and rubbed his temples.

calum looked away, out towards the window. it seemed that luke and his girlfriend only ever fought as well. however, calum knew that the distance was the problem with him and emily, and luke simply had trust issues in his relationship.

pity.

ashton stood up and opened the compartment overhead. he pulled out a guitar case and handed it to calum. "hold this, please."

calum tucked it at his feet and went back to staring out the window. from what he could see, italy was still beautiful. it had been a year since he'd last been here. that time, he'd only stayed for two days because they had the rest of the european tour to complete. this year, tour had been scheduled incorrectly so that they would finish the asian leg of the tour, perform their two shows in rome, and then go on a short break. calum planned on spending this break in italy: exploring, eating, drinking, overall relaxing. emily was flying out three days into the break.

or, she had planned to. they'd fought again at the beginning of the asian tour, and in a rage, calum had cancelled the ticket and taken the money. he often flip-flopped between feeling guilty for what he'd done and feeling justified. right now, he felt guilty.

"cal, man, you ready?" ashton stood expectantly in the aisle, his hand extended for the guitar case.

"yes," calum answered. he stood up but hunched over so as to not hit his head. he stepped out in the aisle behind ashton. luke and michael had already left the plane, and calum realized he'd been holding up the line. muttering apologies the whole way out of the plane, he braced himself for entering the airport. he could already hear the noise the fans created. it never surprised him that they'd found the flight information, but he never stopped wondering how they found it.

his fingers twitched, lightly aching for a cigarette. there was no way he could smoke now, though. he'd have to wait until they got to the hotel.

calum put his sunglasses on, and walked side-by-side with ashton out into the airport, his duffel bag slung over his shoulder. fans were crammed along the walls, shouting and waving. cameras on phones flashed. calum waved to no one in general, but continued walking quickly. he wished he had his headphones on to muffle the noise, but he'd lent them to michael on the flight.

still waving, calum walked along the hall, following security. finally, he and ashton reached the doors. this was calum's least favorite part, as some fans would sneak out past the barricade and surround the car. it hadn't happened for a while, but it still made him nervous.

security ushered calum and ashton out the door and into the car. no fans rushed out to see them or surround the car. calum let out a little breath that he'd taken to holding every time he was in a situation like this. that being said, he held his breath a lot.

luke and michael were already in the car. michael handed calum back his headphones with a quick "thank you."

calum shrugged and put them on himself. his ears were still ringing from the screaming of the fans. he opened spotify on his phone and started to play marianas trench. he kept the volume low, though, so as to look out the window and take in the scenery as the buildings flew past in a blur.

some time later, calum felt a tap on his thigh. ashton was gesturing at him to get up, they were at the hotel. a quick scope revealed that only a few fans had gathered at the hotel entrance, maybe about fifteen. calum fixed his hair, preparing for the selfies he would inevitably be asked to take.

luke opened the car door and the band stepped out, once again flanked by security. calum smiled and said hello and took pictures until finally, he reached the hotel door.

after being lead up to the room he'd be sharing with ashton, calum took the key handed to him and unlocked the door. he ran inside and flopped on a bed, taking it for himself. he kicked off his shoes and pulled out his phone. after a quick deliberation, he texted emily.

we landed in italy, made it to hotel. call me

"mooooove!" ashton catapulted from his bed onto calum's, knocking the phone from his hand.

"ash! what the hell?"

"we're in italy! we have a show tonight! get off your phone, let's go explore!"

calum scoffed lightly. "explore? we've got to go to lunch and then soundcheck and then play! we don't have time for that. in a couple days we will, yeah?"

"you're no fun," ashton whined, getting off the bed. "maybe luke will go exploring with me."

"if he's even allowed out of the hotel," calum muttered under his breath. he knew he shouldn't poke fun at luke's relationship when his was falling apart as well, but he couldn't help it.

realizing where he was, calum stood up and went to the double doors at the end of the room. he opened them, looking out onto a private balcony. "toss me my lighter," he said, digging in his pocket for a pack of cigarettes, one hand lying open in the air. the lighter bounced off his palm and hit the floor. he heard ashton groan and said, "close, but not quite." looking back, he saw ashton quickly flip him off.

rolling his eyes, calum stepped out onto the balcony and shut the door behind him. he took a cigarette from the pack and put it to his lips. he raised the lighter, clicking it until a flame appeared. he lit the cigarette and then stuffed both the lighter and the pack back in his pocket. removing the cigarette from his lips, he exhaled deeply. he tapped it against his fingers and watched the glowing ash fall to the ground.

•••••

i don't know what this is but you don't have to listen ti the song. none of the songs totally reflect the mood, just those few lyrics. the videos are there in case you're curious about the full song

-becca