Arms||Cake AU||

Chapter 32

Calum woke from his nap, expecting to find his room empty. When his eyes focused, he noticed Luke and Michael sitting on beanbags on the floor, talking in whispers.

"What are you two doing here?" He asked faintly. "You'll get sick."

"We wanted to check on you," Michael said, smiling up at his best friend. "How are you feeling?"

"I've been better," Calum groaned, pushing himself up against a pile of pillows. "I haven't done much other than sleep and throw up."

"Lovely," Luke murmured sarcastically, screwing up his nose. Michael elbowed him, shooting him a sharp look. Calum laughed weakly.

"I can't disagree with you Luke. It's not fun. One good thing is Mali won't come anywhere near me right now, so I'm getting a bit of a break."

"Well, at least she's not completely heartless," Michael muttered grimly. Calum knew that if she had been giving him a hard time while he was sick, Michael would have had some strong words with her. He also liked to think Luke would chime in too. Calum would pay good money to see Mali on the receiving end of Luke's sass.

"How was school without me?" Calum asked Luke, noticing he had slumped back in his beanbag.

"It was alright, I guess," Luke replied, caught off guard by the question. He was expecting Calum of all people to ask about school. "You missed some important notes in Maths but I copied them out for you on the way here. Just so, you know - you weren't behind..."

He dug around in his bag and pulled out a page ripped from his notebook. A blush coated Calum's cheek as he took it, glaringly obvious on his colour drained face.

"T-thanks Luke," he mumbled, avoiding eye contact with him. He saw Michael smirking out of the corner of his eye and his blush deepened.

"No problem," Luke said with a small smile. "I knew you wouldn't get them on your own." Calum looked up and glared at Luke, but he couldn't keep a straight face. A grin spread across his face as they made eye contact. Calum didn't think it was possible, but Luke's eyes got even more beautiful when he smiled. He couldn't look away. Luke stared back, his cheeks growing warmer with every second.

Michael cleared his throat loudly, bringing them to look away from each other awkwardly. He looked between them, not putting in any effort to hide the obvious grin on his face. Luke fidgeted with the hem of his shirt, chewing on his lip ring. Calum wished Michael would wipe the smirk off of his face.

"I have to go," Luke mumbled, pushing himself up from his beanbag. "Dad won't be happy if I'm not home in time for dinner." He headed towards the door, unable to bring himself to look at Calum. He hesitated at the door before turning around and looking at Calum.

"I hope you get better soon Cal," he said softly and left the room, leaving a shocked silence in his wake. Calum stared at the spot where he'd just stood with a frown on his face.

"Did I do something wrong?" He asked, glancing at a still grinning Michael.

"No, I think you did everything just right."
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Michael stayed for dinner, sitting at the end of Calum's bed as he took tiny bites of his toast. Michael placed his knife and fork down on his plate and sighed.

"You need to eat Calum," he said seriously. "Your stomach is empty."

"If I eat this, I'll just throw it up again."

"Maybe you will, but it's better than throwing up on an empty stomach. I'd much rather throw up toast than stomach bile."

"Okay, okay I get the picture Mikey," Calum grumbled, taking a slightly bigger bite out of his toast. "Is that better?"

Michael rolled his eyes and nodded. For a while, the two of them sat in silence, the only sound coming from Michael's cutlery scraping against his plate.

"Do you think I was the reason Luke left?" Calum asked suddenly. Michael looked at him with his eyebrows raised. "Like, do you think that me..erm.. staring at him was what made him leave?"

"In a round about way," Michael
replied honestly. "I don't think it was the fact that you were staring. I think it was the way you staring at him made him feel that made him leave."

"What? Do you mean I made him feel uncomfortable?"

"No, I think you made him feel the exact opposite Calum," Michael said with a faint grin. "Luke was staring back at you. How did that make you feel?"

"I don't know how to describe it. I.. I
didn't want to look away, I couldn't and my heart started to pound. I started to feel kinda warm and - why are you laughing?"

Michael covered his mouth, biting the inside of his cheek in an attempt to stop.

"I'm laughing because I never thought I'd see the day that Calum Hood would have a crush."

"What? I don't- no, Luke's a friend. I- stop laughing Michael," Calum rambled, his cheeks burning red again.

"There is no point in denying it Calum," Michael told him. "You just said that your heart pounded when you looked at him."

"I-" Calum began but he couldn't argue with the truth. Luke Hemmings did make his heart race. His eyes could make him forget his surroundings and stare into them for hours. The way he bit his lip ring sent his mind into a frenzy. Calum Hood, the notorious tough guy at school, was well and truly infatuated with the sassy blond boy he'd saved from a bully.

"What do I do Mikey?" He asked quietly, glancing down at his knees.

"Well, you could try staring at him," Michael suggested sarcastically. He caught the pillow that Calum threw at his head, laughing at his scowling best friend.

"You're lucky I'm sick Michael," he grumbled, folding his arms across his chest.

"You wouldn't dare," Michael gasped, placing his hand on his heart. "I'm your best friend."

"Not if you keep taking the piss you're not."

I have a new book up. It's a Cashton story called Live a Little. Check it out if you like.