We Lucky Few

On trying new things

*Song they listen to in this chapter on top. WARNING: Heavy spoilers for Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights. So if you plan on reading it, do not continue.*

"Good God, can you please turn that down?" Calliope exclaimed and looked at me with furrowed brows.

"Finally! I have to get your attention somehow!"

A red tinge crept over Callie's cheeks as she smiled at me apologetically and closed her book.

"I'm sorry, I can get really obsessed."

"No shit. I've been trying to talk to you for at least five minutes."

"I'm listening now. You can turn the music off," she said with a curl to her nose and a drooping mouth. "I just really don't get how anyone can listen to that stuff willingly."

I turned the volume of the dubstep music down and looked back at her with an arched brow.

"Oh yeah? Well, I can't understand how anyone can get so lost in- What is it you're reading, anyway?"

Callie's eyes lit up and she sat upright, lifting the cover of her book up for me to read.

"Wuthering Heights."

My mind seemed to recall an english lesson dimly, but I had no idea where to place it, so I shrugged.

"It's probably the most intense love story ever written."

I grimaced as I took in Callie's animated face. "Romance, really?"

"No, James, not just any romance. And, believe me, not a happy romance!"

"If it's not even happy, why read it at all?"

"Because it is real. Because it is raw. And because it is deeply psychological in a time where psychology wasn't even a thing yet!"

I chuckled at her enthusiasm and felt my insides warm. But then her eyes lit up with an idea I was almost sure I wouldn't like.

"You have to read it!"

I shook my head before she'd finished the sentence. "No, no, no. Don't get me involved in this. Nope."

Her lower lip pushed out in a pout as she looked up at me with begging eyes.

"Come on! Just try it. You might even like it!"

"Yeah, or not."

"Please."

"Nope."

"Come on. Please, please, please."

"Okay, would you try my music if I do this?"

Callie's nose crinkled again and the hard rejection that exploded in her eyes made me laugh.

"See? You don't want to try my passion either!"

She smiled slowly, and the rejection was replaced by a challenge. "Alright, fair enough. How about I read it to you while we listen to your... Music?"

I was proud, she could keep almost all the disgust out of her voice when she said it. I chuckled and thought about her offer for a moment.

"Okay. Seems fair. We'll try for half an hour. If anyone of us can't take it anymore, we stop. Deal?"

"Deal!" Callie's hand shot out to me to seal the deal officially. I took it, gave it a shake, then pulled her into me and dropped a kiss on her mouth. Warmth pooled in my gut and spread rapidly as Callie's lips moved against mine. My hands wound around her hips and I tilted my head, ready to deepen the kiss. But Calliope drew away with a giggle.