Torn In Three | Malum, Muke, Mashton

Chapter Twenty

-Michael's point of view-
"Oh, and try not to kiss Ashton again on the way."

I stood, frozen in place. I gripped onto my half-eaten apple, not really knowing what to do with it.
Calum knew about the kiss.

"W-what?"

"Don't act stupid, Michael. I know what happened."

"How, exactly?" I tried to remain calm, but failed as I gripped onto my apple too tight, causing apple juice to drip down my fingers.

"He told me." Calum said, nonchalantly.

Furious, I sighed. Of course I couldn't trust Ashton. Not after everything we went through. "Why? And how?"

"I don't think you should be the one questioning me, Michael. You're the one who cheated again." Calum said. He was now stood in the doorway to the hotel, looking impatient.

"It was just a kiss, ba-"

"Don't say the next word," Calum interrupted. "I'm not your babe. You see me as a little pawn in your game. Well I'm not falling for you this time, Michael; you've taken it too far."

"I thought I took it too far when I cheated the first time," I muttered under my breath, not exactly aiming it towards Calum.

"Oh, shut up." Calum snapped. "Forcefully kissing someone is awful - I never thought you would do something like that. Especially to our best friend."

"Forcefully what?" I lowered my voice, now as annoyed as Calum. Ashton had not only told Calum we kissed, he lied about how it happened. "Ashton wanted that kiss as much as I did."

"As much as I want to believe that," Calum snarled sarcastically, "you've been lying to me for the past couple of weeks. How do I know you're not lying to me now?"

I stumbled towards Calum by the door and dropped to my knees, still holding my precious apple, and looked up towards him. "I promise I'm not lying."

Calum paused, but then kicked his leg to get me off. "I'd rather believe Ashton. And anyway, that doesn't stop you from kissing him."

"Look, I may have kissed him, but in no way did I force him to do anything. He just wants you to hate me."

"He didn't need to lie to me in order for me to hate you-" Calum spoke.

Nodding, I looked down towards his shoe. I sat helplessly on the ground: the way Calum stood over me proved his new dominance. I weakly took another bite of my apple, since I was still hungry. I was powerless over how Calum felt about me - no matter how much I felt towards him, I had dug my hole too deep to be fully forgiven. "It was just a little kiss. Nothing else happened."

"You know what I haven't heard yet? An apology."

"I'm sorry." I said, looking up towards Calum's eyes.

"Apology not accepted."

**

The band's performance as a whole was awkward: we put all our effort into the show as usual, but this time I had three pairs of eyes, and probably many more in the audience due to last time, glaring at me. I hardly spoke. Only concentrating on playing guitar and singing when I was supposed to. It went by slower than most shows, which by the end made my role as a band member feel almost as exciting as a regular job in an office. Almost.

The four of us sat awkwardly backstage, all preoccupied on our phones. Mine was no use: there was no one to text, and since going to prison, I was avoiding all social media. By the time seconds felt like hours, I started considering running out and going back to the bar I went to a couple of weeks ago; at least the guys there were more entertaining. And less awkward.

I stood up, ready to make my escape, when I was interrupted by Calum. "Where are you going?"

"Sorry, mum, I thought I was old enough to leave a room by myself."

"Not when you still have explaining to do."

"Why was I not informed before sitting here awkwardly for what felt like an eternity then?"

"Everyone's lives don't revolve around you, Michael." Ashton spoke, failing to look up from his phone.

I sat back down, sighing, as my plan to get wasted tonight went out of the window. "Can we just get this over with?"

Calum sat up straight in his seat, and then poked Ashton, getting his attention. "You two kissed."

"It was terrible," Ashton put a hand to his forehead in mock distress, earning a glare from me.

"It's okay, Ash. I'll make sure Michael gets what he deserves." Calum said, looking at me.

I sighed, closing my eyes. I only opened them again once I heard faint laughter from beside me. "What's so funny Luke?"

"After all you and Ashton have been through, you kiss. A kiss will make it all better, right?" Luke teased, laughing even harder. The remainder of the bad watched silently and awkwardly as Luke hiccupped from laughter.

"That's not the best joke I've ever heard." Ashton said.

"Do you realise how stupid all of this is?" Luke said, his chuckling finally dying down.

"You mean how stupid Michael is," Calum corrected.

"No. This. Michael keeps cheating on us, and we still fail to stay away from him. No matter how many times we kiss, fuck, have a threesome, and fight again, Michael is going to get his way and repeat it all over again. Do you realise all three of us: you, Ash, and me, are all so head over heels for Michael we're practically blind to how bad his actions actually are? And the worst part is, after saying this, we still want to get back into his pants."

Everyone sat lost for words, and waited as about thirty seconds went by in silence. Luke was right; no one could stay away from me for too long.

"Luke's right. We're all stupid, especially Michael, for leading us on to be this way." Calum said.

"What's going to happen now?" Ashton asked, nearly at a whisper. "This can't go on forever."

"Michael needs to choose." Luke said, staring at me. Calum and Ashton followed, all looking at me expectantly.

"How am I supposed to choose? Decide on who's better in bed?"

"That could be arranged," Luke said.