[ 43 ] 2014

-

"Calum would flatten you out like a pancake."

-

Dinner with Harley's family and Calum had been awkward for the seventeen year old St. Genevieve's cheerleader. But even so, it hadn't been quite as horrible as she had imagined it would be. Her parents did interrogate Calum and bombarded him with the most awkward questions they could think of, as though they were purposefully seeking to embarrass their daughter, but he was very good at answering them like he was a perfectly respectful and responsible young man.

Afterwards, she and Calum excused themselves and she led him to the front door to see him off. 

With a sigh, she said to him apologetically, "Thank you for coming after I asked at the last minute like that, and I'm sorry my parents are weird like that. They're young parents and sometimes I think they don't quite know how to act like actual parents." Other than the fact that they were younger parents, they also didn't look their age, and in Harleen's case, didn't exactly act their age. At least Aaron was much more responsible when it came to parenting, whereas Harleen was more laid back.

Calum gave a shake of his head. "I didn't mind. Your parents aren't annoying."

"I thought you didn't like to talk to anyone." Harley pointed out, remembering her days from when she first arrived in Sydney with her family a few months back. When she had asked Cindy Hemmings what she knew about Calum, she replied that he didn't really like to talk to anyone--at least not anymore.

A small smile formed on his lips as he replied, "That was a common stereotype about me and my family because my grandfather was known to be a very hostile person, my uncle Cole and aunt Clarissa too. And the populars think that whoever doesn't want to talk to them doesn't want to talk to anyone. They have always thought they're the center of the fucking universe, Harley. Especially Luke Hemmings."

That was something Harley could agree on. If it was something that didn't directly connect with them in any way, then the populars were uninterested with it.

When she said nothing, he leaned in to kiss her on the lips. It was a quick peck, mostly because he didn't want her parents to see them. He thought he was just getting on their good side and that he shouldn't ruin it with PDA in front of them. Harley smiled and got on her tip toes, thinking the kiss hadn't been nearly enough, pressing her lips to his, which he didn't complain about. 

As she pulled away, he asked her, "So I'll pick you up tomorrow for school?"

Harley gave a shake of her head. "Nope. I'm not going tomorrow."

He eyed her curiously. "Why not?"

"My balcony's getting a makeover, and I want to be here to tell the workers the way I want it to look." She explained with a small shrug of her shoulders as though it were something she normally did. For the time being, she wasn't going to mention that she wanted to check for Ashton's remains under the floorboards of her balcony. It was something much too morbid to talk about with her boyfriend, discussing the possibility of finding the remains of her ex-boyfriend in her bedroom. The very same remains that had been hidden by Claum's grandfather. And she wanted to be certain first. Then she would have to organize a proper burial for Ashton so that he could finally move on and rest in peace.

Calum teased, imitating a girly voice, "Makeovers? Why don't you makeover your entire room while you're at it? Paint it pink and add fluffy pink carpet." He suggested, knowing that it was the one color she absolutely hated. 

Her favorite color was blue.

She shot him a playful glare and balled her hand into a fist, hitting him on the shoulder. 

"Shut up." She scoffed, rolling her eyes at him. "I'm punk rock."

"If you're punk rock, I'm more punk rock." He chuckled, but quickly changed the subject of the conversation, turning it serious once more. "Then I guess I'll skip school tomorrow too if you won't be there. I have some very important errands to run, and my uncle is helping me." By now, Harley already knew that when he only said uncle, he was more than likely talking about Arthur. Whenever he talked about Cole Hood, he called him uncle Cole.

"Say hi to Arthur for me." She told him, and he nodded. 

Harley opened the front door for him and hugged him goodbye before he returned to the house across the street, where he was living with Niall and Andrea.

-

When she returned to the dinner table, Billy volunteered her to be the one to clear all the plates. His reasoning was she who brings a boyfriend home to meet the parents, takes responsibility for clearing the table. Her father only supported the suggestion because he didn't want his wife Harleen making extra efforts when she was supposed to be well rested. 

On any other occasion, Harley Quinn would have protested, but she really needed her dad to get the balcony pried apart for her. It was the only way she could get it done without seeming suspicious.

She had just gotten done taking the dishes, and washing them as well, when she walked out of the kitchen with a sigh. It hadn't been many dishes, but she was hardly ever given the responsibility to wash them and she wasn't used to the chore. The only chore she was responsible for at home was cleaning up her bedroom, and she always made sure to keep it as neat as she could, especially when there was a ghost who was living there.

At the dinner table was Aaron, her father, a large sheet of graphing paper on the table in front of them and all sorts of colored pencils scattered along the table. He wore a pair of reading glasses and he looked up when he heard her walk out of the kitchen.

"We can talk about your balcony now, sweetheart." He told her with a warm smile.

Already on the paper were sketches that he had prepared for her while she was washing the dishes.

She walked over and sat next to him at the table. Taking a look at the different designs for railings, the double doors, and other details, she told him, "Well, dad, I kinda just want the rails replaced, and the floorboards. They seem like the wood is rotting." She lied. She needed any excuse to have the floorboards moved.

"You don't want to decide on every detail?" He asked her.

Harley made a face. "Not really. You know what I like, you chose for me."

Her father nodded his head. "Whatever you want, sweetheart."

"Thank you." She told him with a tired smile. She wrapped an arm around her dad and hugged him, placing her head on his shoulder,  "I'm gonna go up to my room now, I'm really sleepy." And she wasn't lying. With what her brother spilling the beans on her relationship with Calum, the actual dinner with him and her family, and doing the dishes, Harley was drained of energy.

She left the dining room and went up the stairs towards her bedroom. There, she grabbed a pair of shorts and a shirt with St. Genevieve's Cheerleading written on it. It was her preferred sleeping clothes because the training shirt was comfortable. Harley went into the bathroom and changed into her makeshift pajamas for the night. When she got out of her bathroom, she saw something red and black on her bed. 

The seventeen year old got closer to see it was a soccer jersey. She wasn't sure how it had gotten there, but she didn't remember seeing it when she returned home from school. Taking a few steps toward her bed, she picked the jersey up in her hands. It was a red Adidas jersey with the three classic lines on the shoulders in black. The school logo was on the front with the words St. Genevieve's Boys Football written underneath. She turned the shirt over in her arms to check for a number and a name, even though she already figured who it belonged to.

Number 17, Hood.

On the left sleeve was also a C  for captain, and underneath were the numbers 12/13 for the season in which he had used that jersey. 

Harley couldn't help but smile at the gesture. On her bed was also a folded index car with messy handwriting on it. 

Harley,

I thought you might like one of my 
jerseys from last season so you can wear 
it to sleep and think of me almost
as much as I think of you ;)

I wanted to give you one from this
season but I kinda need it...

I love you. Sweet dreams.

-C

She sighed happily, taking the jersey into her bathroom and putting it on. 

-

Harley was woken the next morning by her parents, who were informing her that she needed to get up so that the construction crew they hired could start working on her balcony. Harley groaned and looked at the clock on her night stand. It was only six in the morning. 

She climbed out of bed with the blanket wrapped around herself after informing her parents that she would be staying home that day. Aaron tried to scold her about the importance of attending school every day, but she heard none of it because she was out of the room and down the hall within moments of getting up.

Through sleep glazed eyes, she made her way down the hall to her brother's room. She needed a new place to sleep, and since Billy would be going to school, she planned on taking over his bed for the rest of the morning. 

Harley pushed the door to her brother's room open, assuming that he would be already downstairs for breakfast. When she walked in, he was still in the room, and had apparently just finished changing into his school uniform, as he was adjusting the red tie around the collar of his neatly pressed white uniform shirt. His blonde hair was damp from showering that morning and needed to be combed. When he saw her enter the room, he didn't even flinch as he asked her, "What do you want, booger?"

"A place to sleep." She replied monotonously, her blurry visioned eyes leading her to the messy unmade bed. "Dad called a construction crew to come in too early."

"Well you can't sleep here. Its my bed." He told her simply.

"I'm not asking you." She said, letting herself fall onto the bed face first. "I'm informing you. You can't sleep in it while you're at school."

The blanket around her body slipped off, exposing the soccer jersey she wore, which had Calum's name on the back. Her brother was about to leave the room when he noticed it.

"What is that?" He asked her.

"What is what?" She rolled over onto her back, her blue eyes looking at him in confusion.

"That jersey isn't yours." He told her, his older brother mode making an appearance. "Who gave it to you?"

"Santa Clause." Harley replied.

"Was Calum here last night?" He demanded to know. He was almost as bad as her parents now. "Mum and dad are gonna be pissed when I tell them. As your brother I'm forced to talk to him and intimidate him now."

She scoffed at that. "Calum would flatten you out like a pancake. Besides, he did give me this shirt, but that was it. And ultimately, it would be my decision if I wanted to do things with Calum. Not yours."

"Hm." He shot her a look, not quite convinced. 

He knew his sister well, but it was also true that she had changed a lot since they arrived in Sydney. For one, she had many more friends than she had back home, and even a boyfriend. Back in Perth, her only friend was Phoebe, and she had a crush on his best friend James, while the latter liked her too, but never did anything about it. That was all in the past now and Harley had loads of friends now, one of them was Billy's girlfriend Cindy Hemmings.

"Don't act like you've never let Cindy wear one of your jerseys. He's my boyfriend, its not a crime." Harley argued.

"Well that's exactly what I mean." He told her, "She wears my shirts after--"

"Too much info!" Harley shouted, covering her ears.

"I'm your brother, Harley." He tried to reason. "I'm just doing what any older brother would do."

"Ruin my life?" She asked him.

He shrugged. "Its my job."

"Don't you have to get to school?" She wondered, looking now at the clock on his night stand. It was just about the time that he was supposed to be heading out to pick up Cindy and he hadn't even gone downstairs for breakfast yet.

Her brother gasped and hurried out the room, but not before giving her a warning, "Fine. Sleep in here. But don't touch anything."

Harley sighed and slid under the covers, pulling them up to her chin. Her blue eyes closed and she felt herself drifting off to sleep within seconds. The next time she would wake up, it would be to the sounds of a commotion down the hall from the construction workers who had found something macabre underneath the floorboards of Harley Quinn's balcony.

-

i realize i haven't updated in a long time, and i also realize this chapter is pretty much filler. but im going to publicly admit that my interests have drastically shifted and i am now a hardcore exo fan. that doesn't mean i dont love 5sos anymore. i still love them. but...i just love exo a little more. im sorry gals, and guys if there are any. they are the reason why i have been focusing now more on exo fanfic projects.

i promise i will try very hard to finish this fic because i owe it to you all as my wonderful friends and readers. but i hadnt been updating because exo took over my life and i wasnt feeling this fic as much as i used to. and that makes me very sad.

this is not a goodbye, i am NOT abandoning this fandom that has given me so much. i promise. i just wont be as inspired as i used to be. but i'll try my best. thank you all for sticking with me for these three years, and being my friends. i truly consider you all my friends as well. 

if you like exo as well, hug me. and if not, hug me as well. if you are interested, i have posted a few exo fics on my account over the last few days. and it would mean the world to be if you could check them out. thank you again for all your support!

-clary xx