5SOS Preferences

Cheating - Calum Hood

I rushed into the cafe, walking straight towards the counter. It ran the length of the back wall, with the exception of the door that lead upstairs.
The only person working was [Y/BF/N], which did not help my case, given that [Y/BF/N] and [Y/N] were practically sisters.
"Calum what the hell are you doing here?!" She hissed at me angrily as I approached the counter.
"Please let me see my girlfriend," I begged.
"I don't think she wants to see you, and after what you did, I wouldn't either." She spat. Her words stung, but I attempted to brush then aside.
"I didn't cheat on her, you have to believe me!"
"I don't have to do anything." She replied, staring me down.
"At least let me explain!" I whined.
"Fine. This place isn't exactly heaving with customers, and you're lucky, the boss is out." She agreed. It was a small gesture, but it gave me a little hope.
"Alright, I'm listening." She told me, so I began.
"Rosa is my ex girlfriend... She has literally always wanted fame. Ever since I can remember. We broke up forever ago, but obviously now people all around the world are starting to recognise us, so I guess she saw an opening. She still had my number, so when she text me asking if I wanted to meet up a few weeks ago I thought it was a bit weird and to be honest I didn't really want to, but we ended things on good terms, you know, so I thought I'd be polite. I made Mike go with me so it didn't look like a date or anything." I explained, "Anyway, we had coffee and we were just about to leave, but then all the paps came and it was a bit hectic. Before I had a chance to stop she grabbed me and kissed me and I swear pulled away but the paps obviously still managed to get pictures, and they know that I'm dating [Y/N] so obviously there was a great story to spin out of that." I continued, anger bubbling inside me. "The magazine and newspaper articles got printed the next day, and I tried and tried to call [Y/N] before they got printed to explain it all before she got hurt, but she wasn't answering my calls and then all of the articles came up about it everywhere and she saw one and she came storming to my hotel and oh god she looked so sad and so hurt and she was crying and I tried to explain and soothe her I really did but she wasn't listening she just kept shouting and crying and saying that she couldn't believe that i would do this to her and it was horrible..." I rambled, barely taking a breath between my words. "But Rosa means absolutely nothing to me. She only cared about the fame - she just wanted her face printed over thousands of magazines and newspapers. I got here as soon as I could though - four days ago when [Y/N] came to the hotel we were just leaving because we had a show across the country - and I had to go with them even though I wanted to sort this out. I've tried calling her but she won't answer the phone, I just want to explain everything to her." I breathed, finally finished. [Y/BF/N] looked slightly conflicted, as if she didn't know what decision to make.
"She's been crying in her bed for days now. I don't think you actually know how much she likes you, Cal," she whispered.
"I'm an idiot. I should have realised what Rosa was trying to do," I sighed.
"I'll let you go see her. Since there aren't any customers in here right now, I'll lock the front door while I take you upstairs. You're gonna have to let me talk a little before she agrees to talk to you. Then I'll leave you to talk while I open up down here again."
"Oh god, thank you so much, [Y/BF/N]," the relief in my voice was unreal - I was finally getting to see her.
[Y/N] was the first person I had ever felt a real connection to, and I didn't want to let that slip away. Even though I hadn't told her yet, I loved her. I knew I loved her from the first second I saw her, six months previously.
She had caught my eye at a party - she was talking to a mutual friend of ours, and her smile had knocked me dead. I knew I had to make me the reason for that smile.
My eyes had followed her around while I plucked up the courage to go and speak to her. After I finally managed to man up, we ended up talking all night, and I already knew I was in love with her. Due to the alcohol in my system, it made it a lot easier to ask for her number. It wasn't, however, easy to call her the next day and nervously ask her if I could take her out sometime. Being sober made things a lot more difficult. Luckily for me, she agreed. And now, six months later, I still feel nervously excited whenever I'm about to see her. I feel drunk when I'm around her - that feeling that everything has been tipped upside down and you can't really see straight. She tipped my whole world around, made me see things from entirely different angles and had managed to make me a better person, somehow. I couldn't let that go. I had to fight for her, because she was everything I wanted and everything I needed - I couldn't be with anyone else because she was the one for me.
[Y/BF/N] knocked on [Y/N]'s door lightly, and a muffled 'hello?' came from in the room. She opened the door slightly and told me to wait outside for a second.
I strained my ears to listen to what [Y/BF/N] was saying, and thankfully it sounded like she was trying to help my case.
A few moments later when she reopened the door she quietly told me that [Y/N] would listen to me, but she also told me to choose my words very carefully because she was extremely sensitive today.
"Hey, [Y/N]," I said delicately. Her eyes were swollen and red, causing guilt to stab at me. Her light hair was in a messy bun on top of her head and she was still wearing pyjamas, despite the fact that it was about 2PM.
"Just talk," she mumbled. She was practically buried in her quilt, and I just wanted to hug her to take the pain away.
So I talked. I told her exactly what I told [Y/BF/N], and explained to her how I would never dream of cheating on her, because the idea of her hurt made me want to fight and scream and pull my hair out.
She pulled the quilt off herself fully after I finished explaining, and sat and stared at me quizzically. She said nothing for a while, but then she finally spoke.
"You pinky swear?" She whispered. The vulnerability in her voice surprised me - normally she didn't allow her emotions to play through enough for anyone else to see them. It broke my heart.
I stuck my pinky out immediately.
"I pinky swear, [Y/N]," I said, linking our fingers. Every time she touched me I felt sparks fly through my body, which is probably the most cliché thing ever, but sometimes clichés show the truth the clearest.
Her bottom lip quivered, giving away that she was about to cry. Instinctively, I moved closer to wrap her in my arms, ready to wipe her tears and fight the pain away.
"[Y/N]?" I whispered into her hair.
"I'm sorry for not listening to you before," she sobbed.
"Don't be stupid. Please don't apologise for that, you had every right to be angry and upset," I soothed her.
I pulled back to look at her. She kept her head down, so I moved my hand to cup her chin in order to bring her eyes to mine.
"[Y/N], please don't be sad," I whispered. 
"You could do a lot better than me, Cal. So many girls want you... You could have any of them. Maybe they'd be better for you. Maybe we aren't working anymore."
I could barely believe what I was hearing. I didn't even think before I spoke, I knew what I had to say. I had to clear that idea out of her head immediately.
"No. [Y/N], you push me forward, you make me a better person - I'm better with you than with anyone else. There is absolutely no way I could do better than you. Please don't give up on us, [Y/N], you never give up on anything. We're meant for each other [Y/N] and I really-" I cut myself off, realising that I had never told her that I loved her before. I gulped.
"I really love you, [Y/N]." I finished quietly.
She blinked a few times, as if I had shocked her. And then our lips were together. Her cheeks were wet against my own so I moved my hands to cup her face, rubbing my thumbs over her tear stained cheeks in order to dry them. She broke apart from the kiss slightly, yet she kept her lips hovering over mine as she whispered the words that made my heart jump.
"I love you too, Cal."