Chapter Text
Calum loves that his university allows him to pick one module a term that isn’t related to his course. It saves him from the tedious monotony of his economics degree, so it’s a welcome escape. He’s good at the business side of life, can come out with incredible ideas when he can be bothered but he’s doing it more because he can, less because he wants to. What he wants is be on stage in a band with Michael, and sell out huge amphitheatres doing a weird ass world tour with Green Day and Usher. But he still enjoys university, finds that he’s happy where he is despite his unfulfilled dreams.
So honestly, he really does look forward to having to be up at 9am every Tuesday and Thursday to make it to his Animal Behaviour class. And if he only listens when they talk about adorable pets learning their names and geese attaching to humans, no one has to know.
---
What Calum loves the most, maybe even more than the thought of being in a band, is that his Animal Behaviour tutor recommended him to possibly the most wonderful place in the world. Or more specifically the city’s main Dog Rescue. Every Tuesday afternoon after his lesson, he gets to take the bus 20 minutes into town and he plays with the dogs until they kick him out. It’s only volunteer work but it’s easily the highlight of his week. It both tears him apart and gives him hope when he sees the worn out dogs that are brought in, but the wonderful people who find them.
On most days Calum stays out back and makes sure all the pups are happy, clean and fed, but sometimes if it gets especially busy he’s called out front to help people fill out forms and take the shaking dogs from the hands of their founders.
Today is no exception, and for some reason all the dogs that are brought in are the sweetest Calum has encountered. There’s an adorable apricot labradoodle that’s clearly a few years old but so tiny. Calum probably isn’t helping speed up the process, instead spends more time cooing at the little animals. He thanks the girl who brought the dog in profusely after the forms are filled, waves with a smile as she leaves. And no, he does not pay special attention to the tiny pup in the softest blanket who quietly curls up in his arms with zero fight. He does not bring him out when no one is in the back with him and play for an hour until it’s time to leave.
He certainly isn’t smiling the whole bus ride home wondering if he should just buy the shelter and live a secluded dog appreciation life. Who needs Green Day and Usher?
Thoughts are still playing in his head as he turns the key to the modest student flat he shares with Michael Clifford. Calum is not surprised he’s home, shouting into the microphone on his Xbox headpiece.
The place is a mess; Calum rolls his eyes because how can it be so good but so bad to live with his best friend of more than 10 years? He picks up the empty pizza box on the floor, and all the shit lying about even though he hasn’t taken off his shoes or jacket or even his backpack. His happy puppy mood is out the window, and Michael hasn’t even acknowledged his presence. Calum kind of wants to kick the controller out of his hand.
When the room is more presentable, or Calum has made a pile of Michael’s shit and dumped it outside his bedroom door to sort when he’s ready, Calum strips his outdoor clothing and drops his things in his room. He sighs with relief as he realises he’s been out all day and hasn’t stopped to breathe since he left. His deadlines are fast approaching and any spare time he gets is spent planning essays and doing excessive, redundant reading.
He breathes out and rubs his eyes, walking aimlessly to the kitchen to find an untouched pizza box. It’s times like these that Calum sees the plus side of living with Michael, which is his lack of concern about spending money on take away and junk food for the both of them. Calum takes the whole box and goes to sit beside Michael on the couch that’s no longer covered in mess.
“Cal, you’re ruining my feng shui,” is all he gets in greeting, and Calum once again wonders why he’s friends with such a massive tool.
“Michael, you’re ruining my life.”
“Hey.” It’s the first time Michael’s looked at him since he stepped through the door. “I bought you that pizza. You have to love me.” Calum shrugs like he doesn’t have to do anything, and as he takes a bite is immediately reminded of all the wonderful things in life.
“I was at the dog rescue today,” and Calum already knows Michael is rolling his eyes and going back to his game. “It was great, all the little puppies were so sweet an-”
“You are going to turn into a fucking dog if you spend anymore time with them.”
“Fuck off!” Calum laughs, even though the conversation goes the same direction every time. Michael calls him a wet flannel for getting so emotional about dogs and Calum tells Michael he’s heartless and boring and no one will ever appreciate a guy who doesn’t love dogs.
“I’m not heartless, I’m punk rock and cool. Not like you Cal. You’re the opposite of cool.” Calum shakes his head fondly and laughs in victory as Michael dies for the 3rd time in the game. “I told you Cal, your presence is ruining my feng shui! I hadn’t died before you came home.”
Calum throws the empty pizza box at Michael’s head and goes to finish off some more pointless reading. It’s more likely he’s going to become a book if he reads another word.
---
“For fucks sake!” Calum harshly whispers. He cannot get his mind around what he’s trying to say. He’s tried to reword the same sentence 100 times but nothing is portraying what he’s trying to say, and he’s had enough. It’s nearly 9pm, and Michael got in not too long ago from a long shift at the comic shop. Calum knows Michael must be tired, knows he needs to keep quiet and not break down on a Monday evening but the essay is due tomorrow and he’s so close.
He can’t be bothered anymore.
The whole day had been a string of misfortunes, no more than usual but he couldn’t find the motivation in himself keep going. His coffee spilling all over his lecture notes was the final straw, and he didn’t even end up going to his last class of the day. He wanted to curl into bed and hibernate for a few weeks, maybe months, and pick back up where he stopped. He understands that’s not how life works but it’s all he needs right now.
Calum rubs at his eyes for the billionth time and wishes that eye strain wasn’t a thing. He’d been staring at his Mac screen for hours now, and he could take a break but he’s almost positive he wouldn’t come back and the essay would never get done. So he’s trying to stick it out, because he only needs to sum up his argument and write a solid conclusion, but he’s so fucking bored of it all. Calum thinks he hears Michael’s voice make a crude remark about his previous yell, but he’s not listening.
“You okay Cal?” He feels a hand on his shoulder, knows Michael can tell something’s wrong now, and immediately sinks into the touch as Michael sits down beside him. He’s got a bottle of chocolate milk in hand, takes a gulp and hands it to Calum who takes one as well, and sighs as he curls into Michael’s side.
“I’m just so done Mikey. I can’t finish this fucking little bit of argument and it’s like, in comparison to the whole essay it’s barely anything but I can’t get my mind around it. My head’s not in it.”
“Maybe you need to take a break.” Calum shakes his head continuously, like he’s trying to shake the thought away himself.
“Can’t. I’ll never get it done. I’m so close and it’s,” Calum doesn’t know what to say.
Michael debates his words. “You’ve been working yourself so hard lately though. You’ve always got a book in front of you. You’re going to wear yourself out.”
“Isn’t that the whole point of uni?”
“Well if it is I’m fucking glad I didn’t go.” They both laugh, but Calum kind of stops short when he thinks about how lucky Michael is that he only has to go to work and come home and eat pizza.
“Sometimes I think that maybe this isn’t what I’m supposed to do, you know? I don’t feel fulfilled when I finish a reading, or hand in an essay. I don’t know anymore. It feels so pointless.”
“Are you having another existential crisis?” Michael jokes, and then pulls Calum back to look at his face. Calum thinks Michael is trying to decipher the degree of serious this is, and when he looks at the exhausted, torn look that Calum knows is on his face, he pulls Calum back in tighter, like he’s trying to ground him. Calum feels like it’s working.
“I know I can do it. I’m not unsure about my ability I’m just unsure as to why I’m doing it in the first place.” Calum listens to himself and thinks he sounds ridiculous. “I’m being silly, ignore me.”
Michael digs his fingers in Calum’s side, and runs his other hand through his dark fluffy hair. Calum doesn’t think his hair has seen his straighteners in weeks. “You’re never being silly. Your emotions are not silly Cal. I know I can be a bit of a knob and lazy and whatever but you are always a priority okay? Whenever you need to talk I’m here.”
Calum nods, and buries his face into Michael’s chest. “I know, I feel like I sound a bit…”
“Like a wet flannel?” Michael laughs and Calum pulls back and punches him lightly in the arm, already feeling heads lighter.
“Here, let me take a look,” Michael grabs Calum’s laptop, and Calum explains to Michael what he’s trying to say, who manages to help him express himself exactly the way he wants in the space of 5 minutes. Calum kind of sometimes forgets how intelligent Michael is because his vocabulary is more on the side of vulgar than intellectual, but within an hour the whole thing is done. Calum flops on top of Michael who immediately pushes him to the floor, but it’s all very fond as they smile ‘til their eyes crinkle. Calum doesn’t know how he got so lucky to have his best friend stick around for so long, to even follow him to the city to start a new chapter of life and leave everything behind.
Calum goes to sleep knowing that he’ll get a good 9 hours before he has to wake up. He goes to sleep also knowing that the next day he has his Animal Behaviour class before he’ll be at the dog rescue for the afternoon. And yeah, things aren’t so bad after all.
---
By the time he reaches the dog rescue, Calum feels lighter than he has in weeks. Nearly all of his deadlines for the time being are over bar one, he’s handed in his essay and he has nothing really to do for the next few days. It’s the first time in a while he’s had time to sit down and think over everything, and he loves the freeness in his mind.
When he steps in, Calum is instantly summoned to the front, the manager racing through how they’ve had so much demand today and she has no idea why, no idea what’s going on and Calum smiles because he knows he’ll enjoy the next few hours.
Time races by; nothing really happens, and the rush that had met the rescue before Calum arrives has more than died down; no one has come in for the last two hours and he’s playing quietly with Riley, the apricot labradoodle who has been in for two weeks and where has time gone.
It’s almost time for Calum to leave when it happens. He hears the whimpering even before he hears the bell out front, like the dog knows what’s about to happen. Calum walks out hesitantly, crumbles almost immediately when he sees the soft, black dog trembling slightly in tan arms. The boy is whispering and cradling the dog and looks like he’s going to cry himself.
It’s not until Calum is right in front of him that the boy looks up, and Calum hopes his gulp of air is not obvious because what the fuck. This boy is everything he dreams of at night.
“I don’t know why she’s so scared,” the boy whispers, and looks down at what Calum thinks is a Belgian Shepherd. She’s clearly very young, still a pup, and Calum kind of wants to hug them both. “She was fine a little ago.”
“Dogs have incredible senses. Probably knows where she is.” The boy nods, his curls swaying and framing his face beautifully and fuck, Calum needs to find his chill. He goes behind the counter to find the paperwork. “I’ll take her while you fill in the forms?” The boy shakes his head, moves her to sit along his left arm while he takes the pen in his right. “It’s okay.” He whispers, and Calum doesn’t really understand why he’s whispering but he finds it sweet, nods anyway.
By the time the boy is finished the dog has calmed down, and is curled up silently on the brink of sleep. The boy smiles, kind of looks hesitant as he looks at Calum properly for the first time.
“She showed up outside my building a few weeks ago and I couldn’t help but take her in. She was tiny and shivering and,” Calum sees him shrug, “I can’t manage a dog right now. I don’t know if she’s okay. I think she might be ill because she doesn’t eat much and she only relaxes around me and my friend and I think you’ll take better care of her here.” Calum can hear in his voice how disappointed he is, like he feels he’s letting her down.
“You can always come back, adopt her when you’re ready,” Calum suggests, but the boy shrugs sadly again. “I would, but balancing university, looking after my siblings and work is so difficult already, a dog is,” He sighs, “she’s not even trained. She’s peed on everything I own.” Both boys laugh, and Calum is falling to pieces because this boy is so damn cute. He doesn’t even sound upset, more defeated than anything. He sulks over slowly, handing the settled pup to Calum who takes her eagerly. The pup whines but shuffles again, and settles against Calum like nothing happened.
The boy smiles, eyes crinkling beautifully. “She usually wakes up if I even blink.” He strokes behind her ears, managing to brush Calum’s chest along with his movements, and of course Calum is calm.
“Magic touch.” Calum jokes and the boy chuckles, his eyes meeting Calum’s. And Calum needs to look away from pretty hazel eyes because the boy is eyeing him like he wants to see if it’s true. He really, really doesn’t need this right now, so he tries to divert.
“Well, I can promise you, we will look after her here, no doubt about that.” The boy nods, gives the pup one last caress and backs off, smiles a sweet but promising smile at Calum.
“Can I drop by and see her?”
“Of course, we’ll get her healthy and moving again, and as long as she’s not adopted she’ll be here.” The boy nods again, and then turns to leave. Calum is left in silence and is so, so confused because what just happened?
Calum wishes he had another 1,000 essays, anything to take his mind off the racing in his heart.