Definition [ot4]

two

Calum's fidgeting. Obviously. He fidgets when he's nervous, and right now, his leg won't stop bouncing and his fingernails seem permanently embedded in his teeth.

No one else seems nervous though. Not even Luke, who's usually the first to over think things. Michael's scrolling through his phone casually, while Luke is just sighing and waiting. Calum's the only one that feels awkward in the thick silence and cold, because he's pretty sure Michael and Luke are blatantly ignoring him.

Before he can read into the silence coming from either side, Ashton slides into the remaining chair at the kitchen table with a stack of papers. He makes a big commotion to announce his presence, smacking Michael's phone out of his hands and flailing his legs under the table. Calum gets kicked twice before he flinches away, while Luke just kicks right back. Ashton ignores the assault on his calves and straightens his stack of papers, sending Calum a huge, dimpled smile. Calum's lips drop open and his hand falls down to his lap, because Ashton's probably the only one that's tolerating him at this point.

And that really fucking sucks.

"Alright, well, I'm sure you're all wondering why I gathered you here today," Ashton says happily. Like this is his shining moment.

Michael mutters something degrading under his breath, while Luke rolls his eyes and lays his head on the table. Calum's curious though, he kind of wants to know why there's a piece of paper on the fridge with "Band meeting: 1 pm!!!!! Presence is mandatory!!!!!" written in Ashton's barely legible scribbles. His curiosity is probably the only reason he'd shown up, if he's honest.

He nods at Ashton, who's looking directly at him, considering the other two are already set to leave, apparently.

"Great!" Ashton says, making Luke jump and Michael sigh in exasperation. "Well, I made a little questionnaire, so we can all get to know each other better!"

Calum's stomach drops all the way to his toes. This is his fault. They think they don't know him anymore. Which, he supposes they probably don't. He's pretty sure his entire face goes pale, because Ashton suddenly looks frantic and horrified all at once.

"For example," he says quickly. "I'm asexual. Surprise!"

Calum figured that makes things worse. Ashton's avoiding the elephant in the room and unintentionally making it more obvious. He leans forward and places his elbows on the edge of the table, burying his face in his palms. The action probably brings more attention to him, because there's suddenly multiple sighs from all around him.

"Fine," Michael says. There's a rustling noise and a sharp flip of paper that Calum knows is him snatching the stupid questionnaire away from Ashton. Calum parts his fingers slightly in time to see a piece of paper being slid over to him.

There's a small pause and then Luke says, "Is this typed in comic sans?"

"Just fill it out, Luke," Ashton scowls and hands him a pencil. Calum takes one for himself and chews on the end, glancing down at the paper. His free hand is still pressed to his forehead in an attempt to hide his face from the others.

Of fucking course, the first question is one of the things Calum's been fretting about for the last nineteen years of his life. Well, maybe ten years.

Either way, the first thing on the page, right in front of a long lime, is "Sexuality".

Calum continues chewing on his eraser, staring at the paper in horror. The one word makes him incredibly uncomfortable. He cringes and ignores the sudden burning at the inside corner of his eyes. A short glance up confirms the other three already have something down and have moved on. He quickly looks back down in case he's caught sneaking a look at the other papers.