twenty eight

"Where the fùck were you at the party?" Luke asked Calum, lying on his back on the younger boy's bed.

It was the morning of the graduation and the boys got up early. Luke even earlier to get to Calum's house.

Calum nor Ashton wanted the blonde there but they shrugged him off easily.

"How was it?" Ashton questioned, sounding quite uninterested as he pulled on his graduation hat.

"Fantastic, though we only had one graduating student there. Oh well."

Calum snorted as he adjusted his hat in the mirror for maybe the tenth time that morning.

"Oh and by the way, we decided not to go."

Luke whined, "Why not? It was great!"

Ashton cleared his throat. He subtly glared at Luke before leaving the room.

Calum was about to leave, until Luke pulled him back. They shared oxygen.

"Listen, I'm not trying to win your heart or seduce you but, I wanted to tell you how proud I am of you."

The younger boy was taken aback, not finding words to say back. Before he could say anything, he was pulled into a bone crushing hug.

"So proud of you." Luke's voice was muffled since his mouth was pressed to Calum's shoulder.

Calum wasn't expecting to see red eyes when they pulled back. "Sorry, I-"

"Stop apologising. Tell me why you're crying."

The blonde took a deep sigh, wiping at his waterline with the pad of his thumb.

"Just wish I never cheated on you."

Calum opened his mouth to speak, feeling his heart race. "I've never felt this empty before in my life," Luke continued, his voice weak.

"I'd give anything to just, watch the smile on your face when you receive your diploma. To -- just -- be there. Kiss you when you get off stage and-"

He felt a pair of lips being pressed to his and he was too shocked to react.

The lips were pulled back as fast as they were connected. Calum smiled softly at the blonde.

"There's the kiss," he whispered. "You can come to the graduation."

Luke's heart pounded as the younger boy walked out of the room. He scrambled to get his phone with a grin plastered on his face.

aussierapper: dude I got in! Now only to sneak you in, too :)

michael: I think I'm going to be sick luke

aussierapper: dont be a pussy Clifford

michael: fine fine I'll meet you at your house hamham

+

   Michael paced back and forth in the blonde's room, grabbing chunks of his red hair.

   "Luke."

   The blonde hummed, fixing his hair and pushing it to the side instead of his usual quiff.

   "I can't."

   Luke immediately turned around with a stern expression. His face softened at the sight of Michael.

   "I can't, I can't, I can't, Luke plea-"

    Luke couldn't think of anything so he just pressed his hand over Michael's mouth.

   "Michael, you need to calm down. Like, right now. You are going to do this in," Luke looked down at Michael's wristwatch. "About thirty minutes."

   Michael almost whimpered.

   "Okay?" Luke leant down and kissed his forehead. The older man nodded weakly, knowing Luke was hardheaded.

   Meanwhile, Calum and Ashton were already at school, feeling like their stomachs were going to fall out of their asses.

   They were actually graduating.

It was actually happening.

Before they knew it, the graduating class of 2015 were announced, making the audience roar with cheering and smiles.

Except Calum. He sat quietly in his seat next to Asthon, leaving a seat next to him for Luke. The blonde hasn't arrived yet.

   It didn't matter though.

   Nothing mattered to Calum at the moment.

   About twenty minutes of the crowd bickering amongst each other about their futures, names were starting to be called up.

   "Ashton Irwin."

   The crowd roared and whistled, the girls screaming especially louder. If only they knew he didn't swing that way.

   Calum tried to listen, he really did.

   "I'd firstly like to thank my rugby team-"

   His words were momentarily interrupted by loud grunts from the rugby team, making Ashton break out into a little giggle.

   The rugby team captain giggled, but he was accepted like that.

   By this time, Calum already zoned out, suddenly not being sure what he wanted to say, who he wanted to thank.

   He's of course going to thank Ashton. But he'd feel lame if it was only Ashton. There was bound to be a "Gay!" yelled out if he does that.

   Maybe he'll thank Luke.

   Luke made two years of his high school life absolute heaven. It was a shame it had to end but, Calum knew that Luke wasn't the best for him.

   "Last but definitely not least, I'd like to thank my best friend in the whole wide world."

   Calum's attention went back to Ashton after those words. His eyes connected with Ashton's, hearing some quiet cheers here and there.

   "He's made me feel like the luckiest and happiest person on earth."

   Calum smiled shyly and looked down to his lap before looking back up.

   "His smile can brighten up any bad situation. He's helped me through almost everything I struggled with in these past years."

   One could hear Ashton's voice start to quiver as his waterline saturated with tears.

   Calum smiled as his eyes watered too.

   "He's my everything."

    "Gay!"

    Calum turned his head, seeing Luke laughing slightly, the tip of his tongue running across his bottom lip.

   The brunette, along with the crowd, let out a few chuckles. He smacked Luke's shoulder and before the blonde could scowl, he linked their arms and rested his head on his shoulder.

   A few students who knew them as a couple aw'ed at the scene.

   "And his name is Calum Thomas Hood! Thank you for a great year everyone!"

    The cheers were loud and people's hands hurt as they clapped. Everyone loved Ashton.

    It took a while to get through every single twelfth grader, but no one minded. The longer, the better.

   Calum continued resting his head on Luke's shoulder, feeling the blonde's hand on his knee.

   He was beyond content with this.

   "Niall Horan!"

Once again, an abundance of whistles and cheers emerged from the crowd.

"Ye, I'd like to thank all me teachers for giving me the chance to-"

"What the fùck is a chonce?!" Luke suddenly shouted.

Calum's cheeks flushed red as everyone turned their heads to the pair. "Fúck you, Luke!" Niall shouted, immediately being pulled off of the stage by a teacher.

"Fúck you all!" He finished just as he got forced off. The crowd, nevertheless cheered loudly for the blonde. Except the unimpressed parents.

A few more students did their speeches before it was time.

"Calum Hood!"

It all felt like slow motion. He looked at all the grins and the claps as he struggled through the seats. All he could hear was his heartbeat.

   The football field felt endless, making his way to the stage.

His ears finally heard all the cheers as he made it behind the podium. Clearing his throat, he tried not to mess up.

"Graduation," he lowly chuckled, looking down to his hands.

"Can't believe it. I never actually thought I'd get this far. I have many people to thank. If it wasn't for them, I would've dropped out at eleventh grade already."

The crowd was absolutely silent.

Calum sniffed as he stood up straighter, finally looking up.

"Obviously I'm going to thank Ashton. You're my everything too. Don't even dare, Luke, you gay as hell."

Lots of people laughed at that and some aw'ed. The whole school adored Calum and Luke.

   When Calum's eyes flickered around for the certain blonde, his eyes caught a red head instead.

   The silence was long and full of tension.

   "Thank you everyone for making this year fantastic," Calum quickly finished before running off the stage.

   He ran and he ran, as fast as his legs could. The tears in his eyes were beyond noticeable to everyone on the rugby field.

   But he couldn't care less as he wiped them and continued running. He jumped and was caught by strong arms.

   His strong arms.

   Face dug into his neck, he sniffed and continued wailing quietly. Suddenly, he pulled back and connected their lips in a tender kiss.

   "I love you, I love you, I love you," Calum whispered in between small kisses.

   Michael smiled, wiping under Calum's eye to catch the stray tears.

   The older man held the younger boy tighter against him, afraid to let go as he left a kiss on his nose.

   "I love you too. Never stopped loving you, never will."

   Calum dug his face into Michael's neck again.

   "Promise?"

   The older man nodded, kissing the top of Calum's head.

   "Promise."

THE END

a/n: there will still be an epilogue so don't freak out and don't remove this story from your library either

make sure to check out my new malum story after class it's going to be great

xo,
pokemom