College [c. hood]

13

Calum knew something was off with Danielle. The way she was acting the past few days hasn't been normal, and he wasn't sure what to do about it.

He didn't know if she was going to dump him. He wasn't sure if he wanted to break up with her. But something was definitely off.

Really, Calum had no fucking clue what was going on with Danielle, and it was because they weren't the same as they used to be.

Calum didn't want to accept that though. He was grasping onto something that isn't there anymore. He was clinging onto the relationship that was hanging by a thread.

Even Danielle knew it. Danielle knew it even before Calum did, but her reasons and Calum's reasons were different.

Calum was currently driving down the highway, he wasn't sure if he was going to go have a heart to heart with Ashton or if he was going to go have a talk with Danielle.

Eventually he found himself pulling up to the building Ashton and Luke lived in. He couldn't talk to Danielle. He knew they'd be talking soon, but not right now.

Once he's seated on Ashton's couch, Luke and Ashton were with him, waiting for him to speak.

"Something going on with Danielle." Calum sighs, running a hand through his hair.

"Why? What's up?" Ashton asks.

"I don't know? God, I sound stupid but something isn't right." Calum replies.

Ashton gives him a worried look, and Calum was thankful that he was there for him.

"Dude, if something's off, you need to talk to her." Luke tells him nervously, not sure if Calum was okay with his input.

"Everybody keeps telling me to talk to her but I can't! I- I don't know why but I can't!" Calum exclaims, not meaning to lash out at his friends.

"We know. We get it, but there's nothing else you can do. Putting it off makes it worse." Luke replies, still not sure if he should be putting his opinion in.

Calum sighs, knowing that Luke was right. He can't keep putting it off.

"Cal, just text her. Let her know you wanna talk. It'll be fine. You love her, she loves you." Ashton says, grabbing Calum's phone off the table and handing it to him.

Once again Calum sighs, staring at his phone. He unlocked it, opening up his conversation with Danielle.

'Dani, I'm gonna come by and see you tomorrow'

'Yeah, we need to talk... I love you'

That text made Calum's heart stop. Her texts never seemed that serious, Danielle wasn't a serious person. He didn't know what to expect. Was she okay? Was she going to break up with him?

Grasping the fact that she could be breaking up with him was hard. He's been saying for a short while now that maybe he should break up with her, but now he wished he'd never said or thought it. He was scared. He was scared of being alone after so long.

"Cal? Calum?" Ashton calls, getting his attention.

"Yeah, what? Sorry?" Calum questions, snapping back into reality.

"What did she say?" Luke asks, concerned for Calum by the way he looks.

"Uh, she said we need to talk." Calum mumbles.

"What? Talk about what?" Ashton jumps in, seeming worried again.

"Well, I wouldn't be stressed if I knew." Calum sighs, turning his phone off and putting it down.

"Do you think you'll be staying together?" Luke quietly asks, still nervous to be in this conversation.

"I- I don't know. I'm so nervous. I'm stressed." Calum mumbles, dropping his head into his hands.

"I'm nervous for you." Ashton lightly chuckles.

"I think I need to go home and nap." Calum says, getting up.

"Yeah, of course. Take it easy, man." Ashton tells him, patting him on the back as they walk towards the door.

They say their goodbyes before Calum walks down the hall to the to the elevator. He just wanted to go the sleep to forget about this for a bit.

He knew the car ride home was going to be torture. Sitting in traffic always made Calum overthink, he didn't have anything better to do.

Danielle was going to leave him.

There was nothing he could do about it.

Those were the two sentences running through his mind during the thirty minute drive back to residence.

By the time he's entering his room, he's almost sobbing, though he wasn't even sure what emotion he was feeling in this moment.

"Calum, what's going on?" Michael asks, concerned that his roommate and closest friend just walked through the door with tears welled up in his eyes.

"I- uh, I think Dani's breaking up with me tomorrow." Calum chokes out, before collapsing on the chair across from Michael.

"What? What the fuck?" Michael questions, clearly confused as his roommate groans before putting his head down on the table.

"I don't know!" Calum whines, trying to hide his face because he is in fact crying now.

"Dude, I get you're upset right now, but you'll be happier without her. I've been telling you this." Michael replies, feeling somewhat bad for Calum.

"It still hurts." He chokes out, still trying to not show he's in tears.

"Cal, she hasn't even broken up with you yet. She might not even break up with you. Stop this." Michael replies reaching over and tapping him on the shoulder.

Calum sighs, wiping his eyes before looking back up at Michael. Michael had a sad look on his face, he couldn't help but feel sorry for him, seeing him like this.

"Cal, you don't even love her, why are you so upset?" Michael quietly asks, scared Calum was going to lash out at him.

"I- I don't know." Calum replies, since he has no answer for him.

"I don't like being emotional and deep, you should know this by now. But, you don't need her. You'll find somebody else, somebody you actually love. You've been dating her for what, two years? You met in high school, what are the chances you'll be with her forever? You're in college, man. Live a little. If she doesn't break up with you, I think it's time for you to break up with her."

Calum just sighs, "I know. I know now that she's probably not right for me anymore. But, God, I don't know. I don't want to lose her."

"You can still be friends, you know." Michael tells him, trying to help out his friend. 

He groans, "That scares me. If we stay friends, one of us was never in love, or one of us is still in love. I don't like either option."

"You're thinking way too much." Michael tells him, shaking his head.

"I'm just gonna go to sleep, I think. I need to stop thinking, hopefully I'll be able to fall asleep." Calum mutters, getting up from the table.

"Hey, Cal? If you need to talk about it, I'll be here."

"Thanks, Michael." Calum weakly smiles, nodding at him.

"Okay, enough emotions. Go to bed." Michael lightly chuckles.

Calum nods, heading to his room. He couldn't wait to sleep, and have his mind off of this for more than just a few minutes.

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