The Drummer || a.i [completed]

68 - good things come

to those who wait

*Octavia's POV*

Life became a mission of just getting through the next day. I started to tackle a problem as it became necessary, instead of stopping it from becoming a problem in the first place.

The days became a gamble of whether I would run into Ashton or not. If I did, I'd lost.

My life had almost returned to the way it was before I heard who were the other members of Cal's band. Except for the fact that my list of exes was now two names longer. And my list of complicated exes now actually existed.

At lunch on the Friday after the party, Cal and I went out to buy some sandwiches from a local garage just a block or so away from school. We then returned so we could sit in our spot on the edge of the sports field, watching the girl's rugby team do their thing.

I loved the idea of sports, especially in the case of girls because it gives us a chance to show the misogynistic males what we're made of. Too bad I wasn't much good when it came to actually playing them.

I lay back on the grass, letting the summer sun wash over me. We had had to come into school this week to organise and plan post-exams activities for our year. Next week we wouldn't have to come into school as much, except for when we had to get on a bus to go on the trip to the theme park that we'd planned.

As I thought back on a year of mess, shouting and bruises, tears welled up in my eyes.

At the start of this year the biggest problem in my life was that I didn't know who Cal's other three closest friends were.

Now the biggest problem in my life was those people. Or, at least, just one of them.

Ashton Irwin had, in the span of a year, turned my life on it's head.

"Tavie, what's wrong?" Cal had sat up, and was shaking my shoulder gently to snap me back to reality.

I sniffed and sat up next to him, wiping my tears away with the back of my hand. "Nothing, Cal, it's nothing," I replied, but whimpered as the tears would not stop flowing.

He sighed and pulled me into a hug, his comforting hand rubbing my back gently. "What is it?"

"I'm just overwhelmed," I replied, sniffing again, "how is it possible for so much to happen in less than a year?"

"Tell me about it," he muttered, and I pulled back slightly so I could see his face.

His eyes were wandering the horizon, and I realised what he was thinking about. Although they were so tightly linked, our two past years had been so different. His year had been filled with 5sos, as it started to snowball into a career that I knew would soon take up his entire life. Mine, however, was so trivial in comparison. It was filled with boyfriend drama. Boyfriend drama. Since when did Octavia Taylor get involved with boyfriend drama?

"You know, I'm not sure I've actually said this to you seriously yet, but I'm really proud of you, Calum," I said.

His eyes darted down to meet my gaze and I smiled widely at him. Tears sprung to his eyes and he hugged me tightly. "Thank you," he whispered, "I'm not sure I could have gone without your support."

"You'll always have my support," I assured him, clinging to him. He had given me so much support already, this was the least I could do for him.

* * *

"So, Octavia, how are you doing without your oh-so-perfect boyfriend?" The child in a teenager's body asked me, an ignorant smile plastered on his face.