10:53 [calum hood]

12

➸ c a l u m

"I love you."

The words had tumbled out of my mouth before I could even process what I was saying. Riley probably thought I was some sort of creep or something.

Instead of slapping me or grabbing my face and kissing me, she just stared. "You love me," she repeated bluntly, and the expression on her face was unreadable.

"Yes. I know it might not seem like I do and you probably hate my guts, but let me talk. Let me explain everything, please," I pleaded as my anger evaporated into sadness. Riley shifted her weight from foot to foot as she eyed me skeptically.

"How do I know you're not lying?" she asked doubtfully, taking her bottom lip between her teeth. I found it increasingly harder to concentrate as she chewed her lip, making me want to slam her against a wall and kiss her roughly.

Instead I looked her right in the eyes and gave her my honest response. "I could and would never lie about something like this. Riley, you mean the world to me, honestly. I find myself thinking about you wherever I go and I constantly wonder about you and Luke. You know I could treat you better, right?"

I saw her face turn pale as she averted my gaze and stared down at her feet. "Luke asked the same exact thing," she whispered.

"But I mean it more," I insisted.

"Cal, you just went on a date with someone yesterday, and you blew me off. I don't think you do that to someone you think you love."

I let out a frustrated groan, running my fingers through my hair. After a long silence I finally spoke. "Let me prove it to you."

"What?"

"Let me prove it. Let me prove that I'm worth it and that I won't let you down. And that I really truly do love you."

She shuffled her feet. "I don't know if I should..."

"Just one date. It's going to be perfect, I promise."

The corner of Riley's mouth quirked down in a half frown and I had the urge to push back a piece of stray hair that was in front of her face. She didn't know how beautiful she was and how crazy she made me.

"I need time to think," she finally answered, looking back up to meet my gaze. "I need to process everything, I'm sorry. I have a lot going on..." she trailed off, trying to escape to her house.

"Wait." I grabbed her arm before she went inside, and she flinched. "Please say you'll think about it. I swear I didn't bail on you on purpose. When I imagined telling you how I truly felt I didn't think of saying it like this. Think about it." With those last words, I let her go.

Riley nodded and shut the door behind her, leaving me cold and alone on her porch.

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➸ r i l e y

I lied awake in bed for awhile, thinking about Calum's confession.

I was still utterly in shock that he would be interested in someone like me when there was truly nothing to be interested about. I was plain, and Mickey was gorgeous. How was I supposed to compete with that?

Luke said that he knew about Calum's date because he went over his house that day to talk to Calum about something, but he wouldn't tell me what. Calum's mom had told Luke that he was with a girl, more specifically Mickey, and Luke left shortly after.

But why wouldn't Calum tell me about this? This was huge news and if we really were "best friends" then I should've known about Mickey, right? Not to mention he was planning on telling me about his feelings right after he wenton a date with her.