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Calum sighs as he sits and watches his friends argue, like they always do. They’re always arguing over the most ridiculous things. Calum just wishes they could hang out peacefully for once.
“Guys, I really don’t think-” Calum begins.
“For fucks sake, Calum. Unless you’re going to actually say something useful, keep your mouth shut,” Luke snaps, glaring at Calum.
“Hey, don’t talk to him like that,” Michael snaps, hitting Luke on the arm harshly.
“What? I’m right and you know it!” Luke shouts, glaring at Michael this time.
“That doesn’t mean you have to be such a jerk about it,” Michael snaps. “Come on. We have to think of a band name. I already have a huge list made up with names. We just have to pick one of the names.”
Calum keeps his mouth shut, just like Luke asked him to, after that. He doesn’t say a word for the rest of the night unless he’s spoken to. He doesn’t want to upset his two friends anymore than he already has.
When Calum finally gets to leave Michael’s house, barely muttering a goodbye to the two. He heads straight home to his bedroom. He tries not to think too hard about how today went. They were just supposed to try to come up with a band name, because Luke thought that it’d be a brilliant idea to start a band. Calum doesn’t think it’s going to end well. He barely knows how to play bass.
‘ You’re sad again. Is everything okay? ’
Calum closes his eyes as he lies in bed, when his soulmate’s voice pops up, and he instantly feels better. There’s just something about his soulmate that calms him. He supposes that’s what soulmates are for.
‘ Today sucked ass, and my friends hate me. ’
‘ I’m sure that’s not true. They wouldn’t be your friends if they hated you. ’
Calum scoffs at that. ‘ Oh yeah? Then why are they always telling me that I’m fucking annoying? And… They always tell me to shut up when I try to say something. They think I’m useless. ’
‘ Sounds like you need to get some better friends. ’
‘ That’s pretty impossible when no one else around me likes me. My own sister barely likes me. Actually… my whole family kind of just ignores me. They barely acknowledge my existence. ’
‘ I’m so sorry. I wish there was something I can do to help. Why can’t you just tell me your name? We could meet, and I’d take you away from all of your mean friends. ’
‘ Michael isn’t mean. He cares. He just… has a really big crush on Luke and is an idiot about it. ’
‘ That doesn’t mean he has a right to be mean to you. ’
Calum sighs as he turns on his back, staring at the ceiling. He doesn’t care anymore. He just wants to meet his soulmate. He knows he’ll be happy if he meets his soulmate. ‘ My name’s Calum. Calum Hood. ’
‘ Calum Hood. Holy shit, that name sounds familiar. Did you play sports or something?’
‘Football, for a little bit. But, I gave up on it when people kept telling me that I wasn’t going anywhere. ’ Calum frowns at the memory. He loved playing football so much, but there was no point in continuing.
‘ That’s horrible for people to say. I- I remember seeing you play one time. You're really good! ’
‘ Thanks, but it doesn’t matter now. ’
‘ Calum, I want to meet you. Please? Can we meet somewhere? ’
Calum blinks, and pushes himself close. ‘ Now? Are you crazy? It’s almost midnight! ’
‘ Yes, I don’t think I can wait any longer, knowing who you are now. ’
‘ Where should we meet? ’
Calum finds himself getting dressed, and heading downstairs, all while trying to be quiet.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
Calum freezes, his hand on the doorknob. He looks over and sees his sister standing behind him, arms crossed. “Mali, please don’t say anything. I won’t be gone long. I’m… I’m going to meet my soulmate.”
“Your soulmate?”
Calum slowly nods.
“How do you know who your soulmate is?” Mali asks, frowning.
“I don’t know who they are, but they know who I am… and I’m going to meet them,” Calum says.
“Cal, this sounds like a bad idea. What if they aren’t who they say they are?” Mali asks.
Calum scoffs. “This isn’t a fucking dating app, Mali. It’s my soulmate, and he wouldn’t lie to me. Besides, why do you care? I’m going to meet him, and you can’t stop me. Just don’t tell mum and dad.” He opens the door and walks out of the house without saying another word.
Calum starts walking towards the beach his soulmate told him to meet him at. Calum can’t believe that this is actually happening. He’s about to meet his soulmate for the first time.
When Calum gets to the beach, he makes his way towards the water. It’s cold, and he maybe should have brought a jacket with him because it’s past midnight now and it’s a little chilly outside.
An hour later, Calum is still sitting on the beach. He’s absolutely freezing, and he just wants to cry, because he should have known that his soulmate wasn’t going to show up. It was too good to be true.
“Fuck!” Calum shouts angrily before finally standing up from his spot in the sand. He closes his eyes when a gust of wind passes through him, and he wants to cry even more. “Don’t cry, Calum. You’re not a fucking baby like Michael and Luke say you are.” Calum starts walking away from the water.
“Calum, wait!”
Calum stops dead in his tracks as soon as he hears someone calling his name. His eyes instantly start tearing up, because it’s his soulmate. Calum hasn’t even seen him yet, but he knows it’s true.
Even though Calum is pissed that he’s been waiting an hour, he still wants to meet his soulmate. He slowly turns around and gasps when a boy crushes into him, wrapping his arms around him.
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
All the anger Calum has felt the past hour goes away, and Calum melts into the boys’ arms. They stand there for quite a few moments, the boy hugging Calum while Calum cries into his shoulder.
Until finally, the boy pulls away from the hug. “I’m sorry.”
Calum sniffs as he looks at the boy, and takes his soulmate in. Curly blonde hair, beautiful hazel eyes. Calum wants to kiss him right then and there. “You- You never told me your name…”
“Oh,” the boy blushes. “Ashton. My name’s Ashton Irwin.”
“Ashton,” Calum breathes out. “You’re late. You- I- I waited an hour, and you… I thought-”
“I’m sorry,” Ashton chokes, tears forming in his eyes. “I was going to sneak out, but my mum caught me, and we got into this huge screaming fight with each other, and she wasn’t going to let me go but I told her I had to meet you, and I was going whether she wanted me to go or not.”
“You- You couldn’t have said anything? I sat there for an hour waiting for you in the bloody cold!”
“I was too busy fighting with my mother, otherwise I would have said something,” Ashton says. “I’m sorry, and I promise I’ll make it up to you.” He goes to touch Calum’s arms, but quickly pulls away when he feels how cold Calum is. “God, you’re freezing. Fuck, I’m so sorry, Calum. I feel absolutely terrible. Come on, let’s go sit in my car and warm you up.”
“That- That sounds really nice,” Calum whispers as he shivers, nodding.
“Come on,” Ashton says, tugging Calum closer to him and wrapping his arms around Calum protectively.
It’s nearly four in the morning by the time Calum starts getting tired, and Ashton suggests they go home.
“You’re going to fall asleep, Cal-” Ashton chuckles softly. “Come on, let me give you a ride home.”
This seems to get Calum’s attention. He doesn’t want to go home, not where his family doesn’t care, where he’s ignored. He wants to stay with Ashton. Ashton makes him feel safe.
“No!” Calum gasps. “Please, don’t- don’t make me go home. Please. I’m not going back there.”
Ashton frowns, turning to look at Calum. “Cal, what’s going on?”
Calum takes a deep breath. “My family hates me. I can’t- I can’t even walk around my own house without feeling ashamed of myself. My parents ignore me, and my sister… Well, she doesn’t even care about me. You have no idea how fucking depressed I am at my own house. Don’t make me go home. I’ll- I’ll see if Michael will let me stay at his house or something.”
Ashton’s eyes darken at the mention of Michael’s name. “Absolutely not, you are not staying with him. You’ll just stay with me. You’ve already told me too much about how awful your family and friends are. But, at my house, you’ll be loved and cared for.”
“What will your mum say? She wasn’t even going to let you come meet me,” Calum argues weakly.
Ashton runs a hand through his hair, before looking over at Calum. “We’ll just have to tell her the truth, and I’m sure she’ll understand. As long as you’re okay with it.”
Calum bites his lip, before nodding. “I just don’t want to go home. I can’t stand being there anymore.”
“Come on, let’s go home,” Ashton says, and starts the car. He reaches over and grabs Calum’s hand, squeezing it tightly, before pulling out of the driveway.
Calum is nervous as he gets out of the car when they finally get to Ashton’s house. It’s a small house, but it already feels so much more homely than Calum’s own home. Calum looks over when he feels someone place a hand on his arm, and smiles shyly when he sees Ashton.
“Come on, Cal. Mum might be asleep right now because she has to get up in the morning for work, so we’ll have to explain everything to her tomorrow. Let’s just go to bed. We both need the rest,” Calum says.
Calum nods, and follows Ashton into the house, where they go to Ashton’s bedroom. Ashton checks on his siblings first. Calum already knows how much Ashton cares about his younger siblings.
“Sorry about the mess. I wasn’t expecting any visitors tonight,” Ashton says quietly as he shuts the door.
“It’s okay,” Calum says quietly. He turns to look at Ashton. “You don’t have t-”
“No,” Ashton warns. “You’re my soulmate, and I already care about you so much. You deserve so much better than what you’ve been given, and now that we’re finally together… I’m going to do my best to make your life what it should have been. Do you trust me?”
Calum’s lips start to wobble as tears begin to form in his eyes, and he slowly nods.
Ashton grabs Calum and pulls him in for a comforting hug, holding him close.
Calum passes out pretty easily after that. He stays asleep until Ashton wakes him up for breakfast, then he drags him down to the kitchen. Calum helps Ashton make breakfast, it’s the least he can do.
“Mum should be home before dinner. We’ll talk to her then, okay?” Ashton says to Calum.
It’s only a few hours of peacefulness with Ashton when Calum gets his first phone call. It’s Michael.
“It’s Michael. I have to take this,” Calum says, looking over at Ashton.
“Okay,” Ashton says, though he seems unsure.
Calum reluctantly pulls back from Ashton, and then he answers his phone. “Hello?”
“Why is Mali calling me and asking if you stayed over at my place last night?” Michael asks instantly, not even greeting Calum.
“Shit. Mali called you?” Calum asks, frowning, because he hadn't expected Mali to care where he went. His family never cares about where he is, or his well-being.
“Yeah, she called me earlier. She said you went out last night and wanted to know if you stayed at mine,”
“And what did you tell her?” Calum asks, biting his lip nervously.
“Of course I told her you weren’t here. I’m not going to lie to your sister when I don’t know what I’m exactly lying for. If you’re not home, where the hell are you? Surely you’re not at Luke’s?” Michael asks.
Calum scoffs. “Of course I’m not at Luke’s,” he snaps, because Luke’s place is the last place he would ever go. “I’m-” He looks over at Ashton, and lowers his phone. “Can I tell him? He’s my best friend.”
Ashton lets out a sigh before nodding. “Alright. You can tell him,”
“Thank you,” Calum whispers, before putting the phone back to his ear. “Michael, look, I- I met my soulmate last night. I’m at his house right now.”
“What?” Michael shrieks. “You met your soulmate ? And- And you didn’t think to tell me?”
“Well, to be fair, I didn’t think you’d care,” Calum mumbles.
“What?” Michael scoffs. “Of- Of course I would care, Calum. You’re my best friend.”
Calum scoffs. “If you were my best friend, Michael, then you wouldn’t let Luke treat me the way he does,” he snaps. “You care more about your stupid crush more than me even though you're fucking soulmates and you're both idiots about it. So yeah, I didn’t think you’d care, because you haven’t cared ever since Luke came into the picture.”
“Calum,”
“I’m done, Michael. I don’t wanna do the stupid band anymore,” Calum snaps, before hanging up the phone. He takes a deep breath as he looks up at the ceiling. He startles when he feels a hand on his arm. He looks over and sees Ashton looking at him with concern. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have-”
“No, don’t. I’m proud of you for standing up for yourself. I know we only just met, but I’ve also heard you complain about your friends for a very long time. You deserve better friends,” Ashton tells him. “I just… wasn’t expecting you to do something like that. Must have felt good to get it off your chest.”
“I don’t want to lose Michael as a friend, but it was finally time I said something,” Calum mumbles.
Eventually, Ashton’s mom comes home. She’s surprised when she finds Ashton in the kitchen with a boy she’s never met before. They’re at the stove, Ashton laughing as he’s trying to help the boy cook.
“Stop laughing at me!” The boy whines. “I don’t know how to do this!”
“No, no. I’m-” Ashton giggles. “I’m sorry. You’re doing a great job, Cal. I promise you are. You’re just cute.” He startles when he hears the sound of someone clearing their throat. He looks over and sighs when he sees that his mom is standing in the doorway. “Mum-”
“Who’s your friend?” His mom asks, glancing over at Calum.
“Mum, this- this is… uh, this is Calum. He’s my soulmate,” Ashton says. He quickly reaches over and turns the stove off. He glances over at Calum before looking back at his mom. “Mum, can we talk?”
“I think it would be best if we did talk,” she says. “It’s nice to meet you, Calum. I’m Anne-Marie.”
“Hi,” Calum greets, waving a shy hand at her.
“Mum, Calum needs a place to stay-
“Ashton-” Anne-Marie begins in a warning voice.
“Mum, please. Calum’s home life-” Ashton hesitates, looking over at Calum, who slowly nods his head. Ashton sighs, and he looks over at his mom. “His home life is awful. His parents don’t care about him. They leave him to fend for himself. Can he please stay here? We- We can work something out.”
“I- I promise to help around the house,” Calum speaks up. “I’ll help with chores, and stuff…”
Anne-Marie sighs and looks over at Ashton, who’s giving her his famous puppy dog eyes look. She rolls her eyes before looking back over at Calum. “I’m sure we can work something out.”
Ashton whoops, and throws an arm around Calum. “This is going to be amazing!”
“We’ll discuss school and other things later. I’ve had a long day of work,” she says.
“Thanks mum!” Ashton shouts as his mom walks over. He grins as he looks over at Calum. “You can stay! You don’t have to go back home. I can’t believe she actually said yes.”
“Thank you,” Calum breathes out. “But wait… I don’t have any clothes or anything. My school stuff…”
“We can make a stop at yours tomorrow morning before school, because mum’s definitely going to make you go to school tomorrow, and me as well. You can borrow some of my clothes until then,” Ashton says.
Calum frowns. “We- We just met, and you’re already doing so much for me already. This is… I can’t…”
“Calum,” Ashton turns to face Calum, gently grabbing his shoulders, looking him directly in the eyes. “You’re my soulmate, okay? I already told you this before. I’ll do anything for you, and I’m sure you would do the same thing for me if I was the one who needed help.”
“Of course I would,” Calum replies instantly. “I just wish we didn’t have to meet like this.”
Ashton shakes his head. “It wasn’t perfect, but I wouldn’t have it any other way,” he whispers, before gently kissing Calum’s cheek, smiling when Calum blushes a deep shade of red.
Going back to school on Monday isn’t something Calum’s thrilled about, because he knows he’ll have to see Michael and Luke, and he knows they’re going to have a bunch of questions about his soulmate and why he hasn’t been at home. Calum hopes he can avoid them.
“Thanks for the ride,” Calum says, looking over at Ashton.
“Of course,” Ashton replies, and leans over to kiss Calum’s cheek. “I really hope we got everything from your house. If not, we can go back later and grab what you need.”
“I’ll definitely need more clothes. But other than that, I think we got most of it,” Calum says, and he sighs. “Well, I should get going. See you after school?”
Ashton nods. “Text me if you need anything, and I mean anything. Even if you think it’s stupid,” he says.
“I will Ash,” Calum says, and gets out of the car. He looks back at Ashton once more before heading towards the school building. He doesn’t get very far before he hears someone calling his name. Michael . Calum starts walking faster, not ready to face Michael.
“Calum!” Calum gasps when Michael’s suddenly in front of him, stopping him from going any further.
“Go away,”
Michael huffs. “Come on, Cal. We need to talk,”
“No we don’t,” Calum grumbles. “There’s nothing I have to say to you.”
“Well, there’s something I have to say to you. I’ve been worried as fuck about you since our phone call. Look, I understand why you’re upset, and- and you’re right. I haven’t been a very good friend. My mind’s been occupied with other things but I should have noticed… I should have said something ,”
Calum huffs, and crosses his arms against his chest. “Why are you saying all of this now?”
“Because- I’ve had some time to think since our phone call. Well, you’re my best friend, Cal. So is Luke. Luke’s my soulmate. But, I don’t wanna lose either of you,” Michael says.
“Well I can’t be around you if you’re just going to continue to let Luke treat me like crap-”
“I won’t,”
Calum startles at the sudden voice, and he turns around, only to see Luke standing there with an apologetic look on his face.
“I’ve been a really bad friend, and I’m sorry. Michael had a stern talking to me after your last phone call, and he’s right. I’ve been mean for no good reason. Mostly because of jealousy,” Luke says.
Calum blinks. Because why would Luke be jealous of him ? “I-”
“It’s okay if you can’t forgive us right away. We understand,” Michael continues.
“But hopefully you do forgive us,” Luke says, and walks over towards Michael. “Mostly Michael, because he’s been really annoying the past few days. Like, super annoying.”
“He’s been sulking, hasn’t he?” Calum asks.
“I have not!” Michael squeaks out.
“You so have too, Michael. You won’t let me be alone for more than five minutes. If I do leave, you cry about how I’m going to leave you too because Calum left,” Luke argues.
Calum rolls his eyes. “I haven’t left-”
“Cal-”
“I’m still really pissed at both of you for being awful friends to me. But, you know I can’t stay mad at either of you for long,” Calum says, and he laughs when Michael runs over to him and throws his arms around Calum, squeezing him tightly.
“I love you, Cal. You have to know that. You’re my best friend,” Michael whispers before pulling away.
“I know, Mikey. I love you too,” Calum replies, giving Michael a small smile.
“Good. Now, we have a lot of shit to talk about, including what the hell is going on with your family and home life. But first, I wanna hear all about your soulmate,” Michael says, and throws an arm around Calum’s neck. “Who is he? What’s his name? What is he like?”
Calum laughs, and starts walking towards the building with Michael and Luke following him. “His name is Ashton, and he’s amazing . We met the night before we had that phone call. I was kind of having a breakdown and Ashton stepped in and declared he wanted to meet me. So, we met up. Ashton knows all about what’s going on at home. Which I freaked out about when he said he was going to take me home, so he took me back to his house. His mum said I could stay with them,” Calum says.
“Why didn’t you tell us what was going on at home?” Luke asks curiously. “I mean, Michael talked to Mali. She said that you’re depressed. That you don’t really talk to anyone at home.”
More like they don’t talk to me . “I-” Calum hesitates. “I didn’t think anyone would care.”
“Cal,” Michael frowns. “We do care. We do. We’re just… we’re just a bunch of fucking idiots. Anyways. Ashton seems great. When do we get to meet him?” Michael asks.
Calum bites his lip. “Uhm,” he begins, because he knows how Ashton feels about his friends.
“What? Cal, what did you do?” Michael asks, groaning.
Calum chuckles nervously. “Ashton… knows of you, and let’s just say that he’s not very happy,” he says. “It’s not my fault. He could hear my thoughts!”
Calum successfully makes it through the school day. He thinks it’s mostly because he finally talked to Michael and Luke and worked things out, so he didn’t have to spend the day hiding from them. He’s not sure how Ashton will feel, considering how Ashton knows everything that’s happened.
Calum is nervous as he waits outside in the parking lot with Michael and Luke.
Finally, he perks up when he sees Ashton pull into the parking lot.
“Is that him?” Michael asks, looking over at Calum, who instantly nods.
“Damn, he’s gorgeous,” Luke says as he watches Ashton.
“Hey,” Michael whines, looking over at his soulmate with a pout.
Luke snorts, reaching over to gently whack Michael on the arm. “Shut up, even you have to admit it. Like, you really got lucky Cal,” he says.
Calum rolls his eyes playfully, and starts leading the way across the street as Ashton gets out of his car. “Hi Ash,” he greets, walking up to Ashton and hugging him tightly. He missed Ashton today, especially after being able to spend so much time with him yesterday. He hates that Ashton is a year older than him and already out of school. Just a few more months and Calum will be out of school as well.
“Hi,” Ashton greets, and he holds onto Calum as he pulls away.
“Uh, Ash-” Calum turns to look at Michael and Luke. “These are my friends. Michael and Luke.”
Ashton stares at them, and Calum knows there’s a lot he wants to say. “Nice to meet you,”
“So, you know we were shitty friends to Cal then,” Michael says, which surprises Ashton. “Don’t worry, we’ve come to our senses and we’re planning on making things right.
Ashton scowls, because yes of course he knows all about the way Calum’s friends have treated him, because Ashton had to listen to Calum’s terrible thoughts. “You fucking better-”
“Ash,” Calum whispers as he looks up at Ashton shyly. “Please don’t. I don’t want any drama.”
“You’re not even going to let me yell at them?” Ashton asks, pouting.
“No. There’s no yelling allowed. Besides, I’ve already yelled at them,” Calum says.
Ashton smiles proudly. “Good,” he says, and kisses Calum’s cheek. “Ready to go home then?”
“Actually. I was thinking that maybe we could all get something for lunch? Maybe some Maccas?”
“That’s incredibly unhealthy for you cal,” Ashton says, and rolls his eyes when he sees Calum giving him the famous puppy dog eyes. “Fine. We’ll go to bloody Maccas.”
Calum whoops, and high fives Michael. “We’ll meet you there,” he says.
Calum kisses Ashton’s cheek once before walking around to get in the passenger's side. He looks over as Ashton gets in the car as well. Calum bites his lip, because Ashton clearly isn’t thrilled with his decision.
“Ash-”
“How could you forgive them so easily like that?” Ashton asks, looking over at Calum. “They treated you like shit for so long, and I had to listen to your thoughts about them every day for how many years? They didn’t even know what was going on in your home-”
“Because I never told them what was going on at home. That’s on me. Not them. I'm sure things would have been different if I just told them the truth,” Calum argues. “Ash, please don’t be mad at me for doing this. They’re my only friends, and if they’re willing to make things right, then I’m willing to forgive them.”
Ashton reaches over and kisses Calum passionately, surprising the younger boy. “I care about you, okay? And that’s why I’m being so protective. I don’t want you to get hurt again,”
“I can’t guarantee that I’ll get hurt again, whether it be by Luke or Michael. But, we’re making things right, even if it might take awhile to get things back to how they were. I just… I need you to support me,”
“Of course I support you,” Ashton whispers. “You’re my soulmate.” And that’s all Calum needs.