R.I.P. (STORIES)

calum and phoebe (5sos/calum hood)

"I hate this job, I hate it so much," complained Calum for the tenth time since Ashton and him left their apartment. Complaining was Calum's specialty, in every single possible situation he could always quickly find something that bothered him and rant about it for long enough to make the people around him rip his head off. One time, he complained about ants for at least an hour, just because one had entered in their apartment building. "And it's so cold outside, like what the hell, what did I do to deserve this?"

"Maybe it's the price to pay for all the times you've complained about how hot it was outside in the summer," Ashton mumbled, kicking rocks on the sidewalk as they were walking to the Taco Bell they were working in. "And stop whining, it's like 35, we've survived much worse."

Ashton was probably the only living human to endure Calum's unceasing complaints without feeling the urge to put duct tape on his mouth when he opened it. He had been friends with him for almost eight years now, he was used to hear him vent whenever he felt like it (basically, every single second of the day) and was even starting to turn into a grumpy pessimist like his best friend since they passed so much time together. They lived together, they worked at the same place, they did literally everything together, since none of them had girlfriends to spend time with, and when one of them was away for a long period of time, they needed to call each other as many times as possible to make sure they were still alive. They were more than friends, they were brothers. Almost Siamese, even.

Ashton Irwin was also one of the few humans Calum actually loved, including his sister and his parents. The rest of the population was, on the contrary, deeply hated by the boy. Maybe if he tried to know them, he'd get more opened to meet new people, but as he was perceived as extremely cold and hated making conversations and open up to people, he stayed away from them. And he liked it that way.

They finally arrived to Taco Bell and Calum let out a loud sigh, before following his friend into the small fast-food restaurant. They were automatically greeted by Brendon, the annoying kid Ashton had to supervise as he was a new employee. Ashton greeted him by a fake smile and turned to Calum, mouthing 'help me' before smiling to the kid again. Since Ashton did the horrendous mistake to give him his number in case he was having trouble with anything while at work, his life had turned into a living hell. Long story short, if Ashton could knock him out with a frying pan without risking his job, he would do it in an instant.

Calum laughed at his friend's distress before going in the employees room to mentally prepare himself for the rest of the day.

As much as he hated his job and everyone working with him, he was extremely thankful. Other shops with less indulgent managers would have probably fired him already, since he kept complaining every time he got the chance, but also because of his disability; it was a lot harder to be effective when you had only one hand to work with, who couldn't even hold a spoon sometimes. The left-handed boy was still having trouble to adapt his life with his right hand; he still had the reflexes to use his left one, to come to the realization he didn't have one anymore. The manager, a fifty-year-old tall man with a bad eyesight and a big heart, took Calum in pity and kept him in the company, but since he could cook properly anymore, he was forced to be a cashier and interact with people, an activity he deeply, you'd have guessed, despised.

Most of the customers were usually polite when ordering and understanding Calum's condition, but at least once a day an angry customer would complain about Calum taking too much time or asking him why his manager engaged a disabled boy to do the service, but he didn't care anymore. It was much more funnier when the person had whiny or spoiled kids to take care of, they deserved it.

As time passed, Calum's mood got progressively worse and worse. It happened everyday, especially on sunny days, but it was especially horrible this morning. He was thinking about how school was starting again, and this particular subject had the power to make him grumpier than ever. He didn't hate school as much as when he was in high school, but it still wasn't something he truly enjoyed. At least now, he was learning what he wanted to know and wasn't forced to have science class and learn how the mitochondria was the powerhouse of the cell.