Thick and Thin [l. hemmings]

twenty-five

After crying for what felt like forever, I was able to pull myself together. I knew I needed to be around somebody, I couldn't be alone the rest of today or I'd lose it.

So, I decided to call Calum. I asked him to meet me for dinner. I was on my way there now, he texted me that he was already there. I'm glad that I have him because I really need to not think about this Michael situation right now.

It takes me a few more minutes to get there, since I was walking. When I get inside the restaurant I immediately spot Calum and head straight over to him.

"Hey, Kels." He smiles up at me as I take my seat across from him.

"Hey, Cal." I chuckle, smiling back at him.

"You sounded a bit stressed on the phone. I wanted to get right to this, are you okay?" He asks, seeming very worried.

"Oh, uh, yeah. I'm okay. Just being alone here is a bit tough." I tell him, forcing a smile.

He nods, "I understand. That's what I'm here for. You can talk with me about whatever."

"You know you can come to me too, right? I'm here." I tell him, thinking back to the conversation last night, what Harrison told us.

"I'm good. I'm great. Don't worry about me." He replies.

"Are you sure?"

He gives me a confused look, "Yeah... Do I seem not okay?"

I shrug, "I've just heard some things, that's all."

"Harrison fucking said something about the other night, didn't he?" He asks.

Before I can reply, our waiter is bringing us drinks even though I don't recall ordering.

"I ordered you just a water because I wasn't sure if you'd want something else." Calum tells me, though all I can do is stare at the beer placed in front of him.

I don't say anything, Calum just chuckles, "You want one? You can order one."

I quickly shake my head, snapping back into reality, "No, no I'm good."

"You sure? You can have a sip of mine if you want." He offers.

"No, really, I'm good. Uh, anyways, yeah. He did say something." I tell him, quickly changing the subject back so we didn't have to talk about alcohol much longer.

Calum groans, "I knew he would. Fuck." He pauses for a second, trying to collect his thoughts, "I'm fine. I was just drunk, you know?"

"People tend to say things they're too scared to say sober, you know?"

He rolls his eyes, taking a sip from his beer before continuing our conversation, "I'm perfectly fine. Yeah, I might've cried because no girl will ever love me but like, that's fine. I mean, I don't need validation like that, like, what the fuck. Yeah. I'm fine. Fuck that."

Once Calum is done his rant and begins chugging his beer, I quietly chuckle, "I really don't think you're fine."

He doesn't acknowledge me, he just watches as our waiter walks by, quickly asking for another.

"Cal, hey, it's okay-"

"I mean, Kiana and Harrison are getting married, you have Michael, the only person I'm close to who's as sad about love as me is Luke. But it's all his fault so like- fuck, sorry. I know I'm not supposed to talk about him."

I'm not too sure I still have Michael after this morning, but I don't want to think about that now.

"Were you drinking before I got here?"