a/n: friends to lovers au // roommates au
summary: calum has a date and he asks caleb to help him pick an outfit – too bad that caleb is helplessly in love with Calum
“And you’re sure this will work?” Calum looked at Myra sceptically.
“Just trust me, okay?” She rolled her eyes and pushed him closer to his dorm room.
“If I’ll make a fool of myself I’ll never forgive you.” He added and after a deep breath, he finally stepped into the room where Caleb was laying on his bed with a book in his hands.
When he saw Calum he smiled immediately and put the book away. It was almost sad how hard he was crushing on Calum. Also, it was terribly obvious – at least to everyone except Calum who was one hundred percent oblivious. And at this point, Caleb had no idea if that’s better or not.
“You seem nervous.” Caleb narrowed his eyes. “Something’s wrong?” He asked concern.
“I kinda have a date?” Calum scratched the back of his neck nervously. “Myra set me up with her friend again.” He tried to avoid Caleb’s gaze.
“Oh…” Caleb said and tried not to look hurt by that.
Myra knew Caleb had this gigantic crush on Calum. In fact, she was one of the first people who noticed it. And as long as he could remember she always wanted to help the two of them get together. But apparently, she got tired of Caleb’s whining and the fact that he refused to do anything about his crush and decided to help Calum instead.
“So who’s the lucky person?” Caleb asked hiding his disappointment as much as he could.
“Oh, um, I’m not sure, to be honest. She didn’t say much about them. I don’t even know if it’s a guy or a girl.” Calum shrugged.
“And you agreed to that? I’ve never thought I’d see this.” Caleb teased but he really was surprised. Not long ago Calum would never say yes to something like this.
“Ha ha.” Calum scoffed. “Anyways! I was hoping you could help me decide what to wear?” He changed the subject.
“Really? I mean, yeah! Of course, I’ll help you!” Caleb smiled awkwardly. “Show me your options.”
Caleb got up and approached Calum who was standing by his closet. They spent another half an hour looking through Calum’s clothes and trying to pick out something Calum could actually wear but eventually they concluded Calum should go shopping. And since he has a few hours to spare before his date, Caleb and he went to the nearest mall to find Calum the perfect outfit.
“Are you excited?” Caleb asked when Calum was trying on very first option.
“I guess?” Calum answered, unsure.
“You guess?”Caleb furrowed his brows. “Why are you going if you don’t want to?”
“I don’t want to be rude since Myra made an effort to make it happen. And who knows? Maybe I’ll find the love of my life?” Calum chuckled and Caleb could almost feel his heart breaking a little. But there was nothing he could do now. He had so many chances to tell Calum how he feels or to ask him out but he didn’t. So now the only thing he could do was making sure his best friend would be happy. “Okay, are you ready?” Calum asked, excited and a second later he came out. “What are we thinking?” He looked at Caleb expectedly.
“I’m not feeling this.” Caleb grimaced. “It’s not… you. Let’s try something else?”
“You’re my stylist today. I trust you.” Calum said grinning.
Caleb smiled back and rushed him to change back to his clothes and then they went to another store.
“And what about you? Any plans for today?” Calum asked trying to sound casual as Caleb was looking for a bottom-up.
“No date for me.” Caleb joked. “I’ll probably watch some movie or something.” He shrugged.
“I can cancel if you want me to stay.” Calum offered.
And at that moment Caleb felt like Calum really wanted him to cancel his date and instead stay in their room. But he quickly blamed it on his crush and without more doubts said that Calum should definitely go no matter how much he wanted him to cancel it.
“Okay. Hope this one will work.” Calum said stepping out of the changing room. “Thoughts?”
“Wait here!” Caleb said and almost run to the store only to come back a few minutes later holding a bottom-up with a different pattern. “Try this one instead.” He said and Calum did as he was told. “Better?”
“Wow. You look incredible.” Caleb smiled completely mesmerized.
“Thanks to you.” Calum cajoled. “So should I buy this?”
“Absolutely. Whoever is your date, believe me, the won’t be able to take their eyes off you.”
“I hope so,” Calum whispered to himself.
About ten minutes later they were on their way to the dorm. They tried to talk but there was tension between them and every few minutes awkward silence was falling making it even harder to come up with another thing to discuss. But after they were back in the room Caleb wished they were still on their way here just so he didn’t have to watch Calum leave. And when he did Caleb fall down on his bed suddenly feeling frustrated with himself.
And he knew he shouldn’t but it was almost like he lost control over his body and the next thing he knew he was waiting for Myra to pick up her phone.
“He’s in the restaurant next to the library.” Was the only thing she said before she hung up.
How she knew why he was calling? Caleb had no idea but he decided not to question it right now because there was no time to lose. He felt horrible running down the stairs but he just couldn’t hide his feelings anymore. And yes, today was probably not the best day to let them out, and crashing Calum’s date was probably even worse but if there was even a slight chance Calum could feel the same way he had to risk it. And if he didn’t at least Caleb finally said it.
Before he entered the restaurant he peeked through the window to see if there was a possibility he didn’t have to crash his date. And much to his happiness, Calum was still alone. So Caleb took a deep breath and before he could withdraw, he went inside and sat where Calum’s date was supposed to sit.
“Caleb-”
“Please don’t say anything.” Caleb interrupted. “I know I shouldn’t be here. And I’m sorry I am here but there’s something I really need to tell you and then you can kick me out I promise but just let me say what I have to say first.” He pleaded and Calum just nodded. “Okay, here goes nothing… When you came to me today and asked to help you pick something out for your date I could almost feel my heart breaking. And I know this wasn’t your fault. It was mine. Because since the senior year of high school I have this stupid crush on you. And I know I should do something about it sooner instead of crashing your date but I had to know if there’s a chance you might feel the same. Because if there is I want to be here with you I want to take you out on dates and I want to kiss you oh I want to kiss you so badly.” He groaned and paused for a moment.
“Caleb there was no date.” Calum took the opportunity to say something.
“What?”
“It was Myra’s idea.” Calum started. “Before I explain everything you should know I have a crush on you too.” He chuckled. “And Myra suggested I should tell you I have a date and ask you for help. She was sure this would make you confess. And I probably shouldn’t have done that but I was so sick of hiding my feelings and so unsure of yous at the same time I just went with it.”
“You like me too?” Caleb asked with wide eyes.
“Really? That’s what you heard?” Calum snickered. “But yes, I do like you.”
“Oh wow.” Caleb nodded his head slowly a few times, still shocked. “I’m gonna kiss you right now.” He announced.
“You better.” Calum laughed and before he could say anything more Calum was standing next to him leaning in for a kiss. A very very passionate almost desperate kiss filled with so many emotions it made him dizzy.
“I can’t believe this is truly happening.” Caleb chuckled.
“Yeah, I think I need you to do this again just to be sure it’s real.” Calum sighed and pulled him in for another kiss.