College [c. hood]

23

Going home for the holidays was hard for Calum. He never really told his family what happened with Danielle. Or Ashton. Having to talk to them about it was going to be a struggle for hm.

The entire train ride home he tried to figure out how to say everything. He couldn't stop stressing about it.

His sister picked him up at the train station. All of Calum's stress left his mind for a moment as he hugged his sister. She was always on his side, he knew he could always count on her for anything.

"Hey, Cal. I know you literally just got home. But I think we need to talk." She tells him, giving him a weak smile as they walk towards the parking lot.

Calum nods, "I know. I need to talk some things through with you first. Mom and dad are going to lose their minds, Mali."

"You're stressing me out." She lightly chuckles, the two of them getting in the car.

"Oh, it's a fucking roller coaster." Calum says, putting on his seatbelt.

"What's up?" She asks, starting the car.

"So, you guys know I broke up with Dani, right?" He starts, looking down at his lap.

"Yeah. What's that about?"

He takes a deep breath, "Well, it's just, she cheated on me."

"Cal, she's still pregnant." She replies, worried that her brother is abandoning his child.

"It's not mine, Mali!" He exclaims, hating the fact he has to relive this.

Her jaw drops, "Oh my god. Did she tell you anything about the guy?"

"She just had to say his name and I knew everything about him."

"What?" Mali-Koa questions, confused by what he means.

"It's Ashton's." He whispers, still not wanting to accept it.

"What? No fucking way!"

"Yeah."

"What a bitch! Ashton is your best friend!"

"Was."

"Right."

He sighs, "I don't know how to go about this with mom. Even dad. I'm fucking embarrassed."

"Don't be. It's okay." She tells him, giving him a sad smile. Mali felt bad for him, she still can't even process all of this. It didn't feel real.

"What's worse is I'm still sort of talking to her, I guess?" Calum replies, still unsure what's going on.

"Why?"

"Ashton's always been kind of an asshole. He's not being there for her as much as he should be. I don't know, I just feel bad for her, even though she betrayed me, she broke my heart."

She sighs, "Oh, Cal... I told you college would be stressful, but I really didn't think it'd be this stressful."

"God, I haven't even told you about Alyssa yet. It's fucking crazy, I hate this."

"You can tell me later, I'm not gonna make you tell me anything. And don't feel pressured to tell our parents right away." She says as they pull into the driveway.

Calum just nods, taking a deep breath before getting out of the car. He grabs his bag and follows his sister into the house.

"Mom! Dad! Hey!" Calum cheers, greeting both his parents with a hug.

"We've missed you!" His mom replies, holding onto her son tightly.

"I've missed you too." Calum smiles.

There was so much on his mind, calm didn't even know how to act. All he wanted was to sleep for three years.

-

Calum and his sister sat in their basement, sharing a joint as Calum explained his situation to her.

"She wasn't wanting me to go to the appointments. She said she didn't want me to miss school. Now looking back, it just wasn't my kid, obviously she didn't want me there." Calum tells her, handing the joint over to his sister, "I basically called her out, after the appointment I went to. She admitted it was Ashton's."

"Fuck, dude."

"I went to see Ashton after that. Yelled at him a bit. Told him about the baby being his, he didn't even know Dani was pregnant. I didn't even care. All I could think was 'fuck them', you know?"

"Yeah, of course. I get it."

"It's so insane I still help her. Though I don't love her romantically, I haven't for a while. I still love her, does that make sense?"

She nods, "I mean, sort of? It makes sense you still care for her. It's hard to move on from something like this. I won't judge you."

"I just feel bad for her even though she ripped my fucking heart out. That's insane."

"Cal, you're overthinking it. It's fine. She needs help and that's the kind of person you are." She tells him, not wanting him to worry.

He sighs, "I don't even know where to start with Alyssa. I met her in my program, it wasn't a big deal. We started talking and it was all fine. But there's something about her. I don't know."

"Just, don't move too fast with somebody else, okay? But, maybe don't lose her." Mali says, not even sure what advice to give him.

Calum groans, "All of this is too fucking much."

"I'm sorry this is happening to you. I wish I could do something." She tells him, finishing off the joint.

"I mean, you could do me a huge favour."

"What?"

"You could tell mom and dad for me, after I leave, so I don't have to." Calum suggests, knowing she'd probably hate that.

She stays quiet for a moment, "You know, I would. But mom would probably be disappointed you didn't tell her."

"That's fine. She's already disappointed. Please, Mali." He begs, not knowing what else he could do. There was no way he could face his mother.

"You can't spend the next week lying to them."

"It's not like they'll ask. They're not particularly happy with the situation, so..."

She sighs, "I don't know, Calum... I guess I could-"

"Thank you!" He exclaims, going to hug her.

"But!" She interrupts, holding a finger up, "I'm not sure! I don't know how to approach this."

"It's a million times harder for me!" He groans, falling back into his seat.

"I get that. I'll think about it."

Calum smiles, "Thanks. I appreciate it. I just hope you can do it for me. Because I really can't."

______________

so this hasn't been updated in a few months. I'm so sorry. I'm still not sure if I wanna continue but I really really don't want to stop writing it

BUT HEY IN THE MEANTIME PLS CHECK OUT MY NEW 5SOS FIC I POSTED!!! I LOVE IT AND CANT WAIT TO SHARE IT W YALL :)