Who do you love?

Epilogue i

Two weeks after finale

The most dramatic finale in Bachelor franchise history?

While that line seems to be used to lure in viewers every season apparently this year it may not be an overstatement. The ABC hit show's spinoff "Who Do You Love?" featuring Five Seconds of Summer bassist Calum Hood apparently ends with a finale that will shock even long time franchise fans. Sources say that Calum did claim a girlfriend at the end of his season, but it isn't either of his two remaining contestants. So who the hell did he pick? My bets on an ex but I guess only time will tell. The finale airs in two weeks followed by the reunion special on ABC at 8 p.m. EST. We'll be watching, will you?

Teal groaned as she reread the article Navy had sent her this morning while laid across her bed, her head hanging off the edge. Things were already terrible, when the episode finally aired and the world saw that she was the one who had ruined the season she knew it would get worse though she wasn't completely sure how that was even possible.

She was the laughing stock of the television world.

While she understood that Calum had been going for a grand gesture, she had been the one that told him to prove his love for her after all, he'd done so blindly, acting on instinct without thought and by doing so he had put her entire career in jeopardy.

It wasn't on purpose and she tried to remember that as she closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose with a defeated sigh.

Things were...rocky, to say the least, between she and Calum. It was mind blowing the way things had changed between them in the past few weeks. She wanted to believe that they were still meant to be, wanted to believe that even after everything that had occurred they could make it through the absolute hell she knew was coming but with every passing day she began to doubt them a little more.

The sound of the door wiggling open caused her to jack knife into a seated position on her bed. Calum hung in the doorway, half in and half out, as their eyes met. In his hand he clutched a brown bag emblazoned with her favorite cafe's logo, breakfast he'd surely postmated for her and a cup of coffee she knew would be made exactly as she liked it. Their eyes locked and all she wanted to do was cry.

"Did you mean to leave the front door open?" He asked her as he took a careful step forward, like he was walking through a minefield, scared to trip any explosions, and she guessed that in a way he was.

"Yeah, I knew you'd be by, didn't know if I would have the energy to get up again." She answered honestly. With the shit storm that was her life brewing she'd allowed herself to sink into a dark place where her energy levels were pathetic and couldn't feel much of anything besides numb. She hated herself a little bit for it but it was all she could manage.

"Don't know if that's the safest thing to be doing, babe." He told her, sitting gingerly on the edge of her bed and placing the food beside her. His dark eyes watched her reaction closely as he used the term of endearment for her.

It shouldn't be like this. It wasn't supposed to be like this, careful and frightened, like they were walking on eggshells. She loved him and he loved her and that meant it was supposed to be effortless, easy. Right?

So then why did it feel like cutting teeth to have even a simple conversation with him. Loving someone wasn't supposed to be painful.

She didn't know what to do, what to think about the things swirling in her mind but then her phone pinged with her email notification sound and her stomach dropped as she reached for it. She felt the tears well up in her eyes as she saw the name of yet another production crew she had applied to, one shooting a documentary focusing on a charity that worked to help reunite families separated at the Mexico-US border. She could tell from the viewable portion alone that it was another rejection and deep in her heart what she needed to do, even if she wasn't completely sure it was something she wanted to.

"Cal..." She started, losing her gusto when his head quickly snapped up and their eyes locked. Calum's face fell quickly as he seemed to see everything she was about to say to him in her eyes.

"T...T please don't."

"I have to." She said, her voice already thick with emotion and her eyes watery.

"No, you don't." He said, his hurt sparking a bit of anger in his words.

"I do, though. For me. This isn't just about you and I and our relationship anymore it's bigger than that already and the episode hasn't even fucking aired. This is my career, Cal. This is everything I've ever worked and dreamed for and I can't just let it go down the toilet because I fell in love with someone I wasn't meant to have." She said, the words cutting like knives in her throat as she spoke them.

"Look me in the eyes and tell me you don't love me." Calum said to her, his jaw rigid and all traces of happiness wiped from the face she loved so much.

"Please don't make me do this." She said to him. She could hear the sound of his teeth grinding in his mouth but he didn't press her.

"We need to separate ourselves from what happened. I need to separate myself from what happened. I need to find a way to figure out the business side of this for me and I can't do that when everyone just sees me as the bitch who wrecked an entire season of reality TV buildup."

"So are we breaking up or taking a break?" He asked her.

"Is there a difference?" She shot back.

"Fuck yes there's a difference, Teal. If we're taking a break we'll figure this out in the end if you're breaking up with me this is over, which is it?" Tears shone in Calum's eyes and she hated the fact that she knew herself enough to know that the sight of him in such disarray would haunt her for quite a while.

AN: Fuck. So everything isn't peachy in Tealum land.

Where do they go from here?

What's next in part two of their epilogue?

Let me know your guesses!

ILY
Sav🖤