"Deleted things, I really meant, so now I'll say the things I never sent..."

___

Royce wakes up on Monday of the following week at 6:30 AM...as if she had school...and she doesn't.

She tosses and turns, trying to get back to sleep and can't. And because she can't sleep, she rises from bed to begin her day.

What the fuck is there to do?

That was the thing about break. School was like a drug, honestly. It made you work so hard for so long that when you finally stopped and came down, you crashed.

One thing Royce did miss about school, though, was seeing the people she actually cared about.

Like Calum.

And she realizes that this is what she'll do today. She'll go pay him a visit. She loves his cozy house and hadn't been over in a while.

Also, it had been nearly four days since the Thursday they'd taken their final together, and she hadn't seen him since then and that was just weird.

He also hadn't been his typically annoying self, blowing up her phone every few minutes, and that was weird, too. Royce didn't like that.

She didn't like that shit at all.

So, she showers and changes and takes Chris's car, first to Starbucks, and then to Calum's, all the way across the city.

She's got her slow r&b mix playing through the car speakers as she cruises through the rainy city. She's in her feelings a little bit, with the rain and grey skies and the weeknd's 'The Morning' playing. She hums softly to the beat, hating that everything everywhere seems to make her think about Calum.

Like.

She's being kind of extra, but the music has her deep in her feelings. She had so much fun with him and his friends and her friends, she was almost considering camping.

Kenn: New Years Camping trip????

Kennedy had texted her that shit just the day before. Royce honestly kept forgetting about that nonsense, because they didn't live in a city where it didn't fucking rain 24/7. They were in Seattle. It rained so much seasonal depression was real, and Royce was not about to be outside without running water and also wet.

Hell fucking no.

But, she'd yet to respond because if Calum went, that changed things. Sure, she'd be with her best girl friends, but something about him coming really actually changed things. Like, Calum knew she liked him, but how much, Royce wasn't so sure herself.

She gets to his house, her Starbucks in one hand, umbrella in the other and knocks on the door.

A girl answers.

She's tall and thin with long dark hair and almond eyes and she's got to be Calum's sister.

"Hello?"

"Hi," Royce says, smiling. "Is Calum home?"

"Yeah..." The girl frowns, "Who're you?"

"Oh yeah," Royce laughs to herself, "Sorry. I'm Royce. Royce Greene."

And all of a sudden, the girl's eyes light up. "Oh, you're Royce!?" And she nods, smiling knowingly. "Oh, yeah. C'mon, come in."

Royce follows her inside the little house she loves, waiting patiently as Mali closes the door behind her.

"You're like...like, really pretty."

"What?" Royce beams. "Oh my god, thanks."

"I just," she shakes her head, "I can't believe my brother actually got a girl like you."

She chuckles. "He's not too bad."

"Says the girl who likes him."

And Royce laughs, actually thinking that she might really grow to like this chick, when she nods.

"I'm Mali, by the way. Obviously, I'm his older sister."

"Nice to meet you, Mali," Royce replies, because she definitely remembered Calum mentioning his sister once, but she could not at all remember her name.

"Well," she grins, "I think he's in the shower," Mali laughs, "but y'know, you can just," she flicks her wrist, "wait in his room, or whatever."

"Thanks," she grins, walking down the hall to Calum's room.

And at his door, she knocks.

"Cal?"

No answer, but Royce can hear the faint running of water.

He's in the shower.

So, she does what Mali suggests, entering the room and after closing the door behind herself, she waits for him on his bed.

Inside, she can hear better. His voice is clear over the running water as he sings something she can't quite recognize.

She kicks off her shoes and gets comfortable, kind of like she always does, and she sets the cookie she'd bought on his bedside table and sips her coffee...

When she notices the papers.

Scattered at the bottom of his bed are lined sheets, all left beside an open notebook.

Royce knows she shouldn't pry, but damn. She catches sight of Calum's scribbled writing and notes that none of this is for homework.

What's he been writing?

And she's not trying to be nosey, but her eyes skim over the page closest to her, the one she can 'accidentally' read the best.

'Safety Pin' is scrawled at the top of the page.

And there's smudging and dark marks and doodles and words crossed out, but Royce reads the firs two paragraphs of this one, this one closest to her.

Runaways, we're the long lost children
Running to the edge of the world
Everybody wants to throw us away
Broken boy meets broken girl

You said you tried it all before
And it only makes it worse
Oh, but this time, maybe this time
Two wrongs make it right--

And Royce definitely hears the water shut off in the bathroom, but she also assumes that she has way more time before Calum threw open the door in only a towel and was like, "Holy fuck--!"

She watches him clench his towel, face pink with embarrassment.

"Jesus Christ, Royce! Holy shit, how long had you--?"

"Just a few minutes," she replies casually, sipping her coffee with obvious laughter in her eyes. "Mali let me in."

He runs a hand through his long damp hair. "Of course she did," he grunts. And that's when he sees all the papers.

"Sorry about this shit," he mutters, crossing the floor and grabbing for the sheets. "I'd have cleaned up if I knew you'd be over..."

"What are they?" She asks softly, adding, "If you don't mind me asking," she says, noticing how he's tensed, grimacing a bit at her question. "I mean, if you don't wanna talk about it, it's fine," she continues. "I was honestly just being nosey..."

"Did you read them?"

"I--" She falters, playing with the top of her latte. "Just one."

"Which one?"

She meets his gaze, searching his face as his eyes search hers. She can't tell if he's angry or not, and she'd really like him to not be angry, but in this moment she cannot at all read his wide-eyed expression or place his emotion.

"I mean--"

"They're songs," he says, seemingly reading her mind. He lifts the topmost sheet off the pile in his hands. "They're some songs, Royce."

And he shrugs, smiling a small, crooked smile. "I write songs, Royce."

She matches his nervous smile with one of her own. "And you play the bass."

He chuckles, nodding. "And I play the bass."

She motions towards the papers. "Safety Pin," she says. "I--It's the one I read. Well," she adds quickly, as his eyebrows furrow and he flips again through the papers. "I didn't read all of it, actually. Just some."

"Yeah?"

She hums, "Yeah," and to switch the subject and lighten the mood, she twists on the bed, grabbing her pastry, "I brought you a cookie," she grins. "I know it's early, but," she shrugs, handing him the little frosted snowman, "it was cute and I was thinking of you and," she shrugs again as he takes the brown bag from her fingers, "I thought you might want it."

"Ha--" He chuckles quietly, "Thanks."

"You're welcome."

"Did you like it?"

The question startles her. "What?" And she shakes her head. "I bought it for you--?"

"No," he replies, smiling, "I--Not the cookie. The song, Royce," he chuckles. "Did you like the song?"

"Oh," and she nods. "I mean, yeah. Yeah, a lot. But, I told you, I honestly only read like, eight lines. I didn't get the whole--"

"Here," he whips out the song, holding out the lyrics towards her.

"Calum, I--"

"Seriously, read it," he urges. "I don't mind."

And Royce takes the paper tentatively from his hands.

"Like, I was gonna have you hear it anyway," he admits rather bashfully, "but, I didn't think--I dunno, I just thought that, maybe you'd hear it for the first time when it was actually like, y'know, done and I could--"

"Sing it to me?"

"I--" And his voice falters, but he's turning red again as he actually nods. "Yeah, actually. I was gonna surprise you and sing it."

She clasps her hands to her chests, eyes wide with her gigantic smile. "Really?"

He rolls his eyes. "Jesus Christ," he chuckles. "Yes."

And Royce extends the sheet back to him.

He looks from it to her and shakes his head. "What's this--?"

"Will you?" And Royce employs her prettiest smile and biggest puppy-dog eyes. "Will you sing it to me?"

And Calum literally cannot tear his gaze from hers. He finds himself nodding. He finds himself unable to blink. He finds himself agreeing.

"Yes," is the word he finds himself saying. "Yeah, I will."

And despite himself and the nervousness that's been pumped through his stomach, he sets the things down in his hands and realizes that he's still in a fucking towel because this crazy chick surprised him after he'd very nearly stepped out of the shower.

He rises from the bed. "After," he begins, and her smile falters slightly, "I put on some fucking pants."

"Hey," she shrugs, grinning again, "It's nothing I haven't seen before."

And despite himself, he laughs. "You're so fucking weird," he replies, crossing the floor to his dresser.

"Pssh," she snorts, "says you?"

"Yeah," Calum calls, unwrapping his towel from his waist and throwing it at her.

It hits her in the face. 

"Says me."

By the time Calum is clothed in a simple black tee and his grey 'fuck me' sweats, as Royce calls them, he's pulled an acoustic guitar from beneath his bed and begun to tune it.

He's back to being nervous again, because he never thought he'd be doing this -- showing Royce his songs, and this one especially -- like this.

But, nothing was planned or predictable with Royce.

And as she sits adorably, tucked against his pillows with her legs folded and feet beneath her, he knows that there's no way in hell he can back out of this, now.

"You know this doesn't count, right?"

He looks up from the strings. "Huh?"

"This doesn't count," she says, eyeing the guitar. "You realize that, right?"

"I literally don't understand--"

"You said you'd play your bass for me, remember?"She huffs, blowing hair from her face. "Playing the guitar still doesn't count," she smiles smugly. "Just so you know."

"Royce?"

She grins, "Yeah?"

"Shut up."

And he chuckles as she punches him, strumming the guitar to check the pitch, before he begins to play some of the song he's written for real.

Royce falls silent, and Calum lets himself get lost in the music, relaxing a little as he plays the opening chords of the song.

And then he begins to sing.

"Runaways, we're the long lost children
Running to the edge of the world
Everybody wants to throw us away
Broken boy meets broken girl.

You said you tried it all before
And it only makes it worse
Oh, but this time, maybe this time
Two wrongs make it right--"

And he reaches the parts of the song that she hadn't read, but even still, Royce thinks that this -- this song with Calum's guitar and his voice -- is way better than anything she could have read.

"We'll safety-pin the pieces of our broken hearts back together
Patching up all the holes until we both feel much better
Deleted things, I really meant. So now I'll say the things I never sent
We'll safety-pin the pieces of our broken hearts back together..."

And these words -- these words remind her of herself -- they remind her of them, and she sits quietly, allowing him to sing the song he'd written and wanted her to hear.

And if she's right, she thinks she knows why.

"Throwing rocks at your broken window
Only you can cure my sickness
Raise ourselves and a middle finger
'Cause they all think we're twisted

Once I had a little taste
Now I'm addicted to your fix
Oh, yeah, this time, maybe this time
Two wrongs make it right

We'll safety-pin the pieces of our broken hearts back together
Patching up all the holes until we both feel much better
Deleted things, I really meant. So now I'll say the things I never sent
We'll safety-pin the pieces of our broken hearts back together

No more waiting. We can save us from falling,

This time, maybe this time

We'll safety-pin the pieces of our broken hearts back together
Patching up all the holes until we both feel much better
Deleted things, I really meant. So now I'll say the things I never sent
We'll safety-pin the pieces of our broken hearts back together

No more waiting. We can save us from falling..."

So Calum plays the final chords of the song and, without looking in her direction says, "So, yeah..." He runs his hand along the back of his neck, "Yeah, that's pretty much it."

And before he can will himself to look into her face and judge her reaction to his heart literally being poured into a song, he feels her lips against his cheek.

He looks up, "Hey--"

And that's when her lips meet his.

It's kind of awkward, kissing over his guitar, but Royce's hands on his thighs and his steadying of the instrument keep everything balanced on his bed.

If he knew she'd kiss him like this after the song, he'd have chosen to sing to her more often.

Maybe.

When she pulls away, she's beaming.

"You like it?"

Royce only giggles, kissing his nose, and he has to put his guitar down after that because the act is so cute and she's just so cute and he just wants to put his hands on her.

"Why this one?" She asks, as he slides the guitar back beneath his bed. "Why'd you want me to read this one?"

"Uh," and Calum actually can't stop blushing today. "Well, to be honest--"

"Yay!" Royce exclaims. "You're actually being honest!"

He groans, "Shut up," as she laughs. "God, you make me not want to tell you shit."

"Aww, c'mon," she grins. "You can't back out, now."

He snorts. "Watch me."

"C'mon," she implores. "You were saying?" She leans towards him, grinning, "You wanted me to read it because...?"

"Because I wrote it about you."

Royce blinks. "What?"

"Well," he's red again, "about us, I guess. You and me. But, you've been my inspiration for a lot of songs, honestly. Right after your mom showed up at school...I wrote it. I wrote this one, at least. I thought it fit."

"I--" She shakes her head. "Damn it, Calum."

He chuckles nervously. "Um...sorry?"

"No, it's," she shakes her head, "it does fit. It's so perfect. I love it, I...God, I," and her eyes are deep and dark as she stares at him, not breaking their gaze. "What are we?"

He blinks. "Like...?"

"Like, what are we?" She shrugs. "Are we friends who like each other? Study buddies who fuck? Classmates with mutuals? ...I don't know?"

"I mean," and he lays his guitar down, smiling broadly to himself. "I thought we were dating."

Royce laughs, "How? How, if we've never been on an actual date?"

"What? You don't remember that time we went ice skating?"

She rolls her eyes at the memory -- of him crashing her date with Liam. "Calum."

"Fine," he shrugs, crawling towards her. He looms over her little body, hovering over her. "How about breakfast tomorrow? You and me and the best fucking tortillas you'll ever eat."

She laughs harder. "I thought it was breakfast?"

He taps her nose. "It is."

"Okay, fine," she grins, throwing her arms around his shoulders. She hums happily as he presses his lips back to hers. "It's a date."

___

Did you possibly love this chapter as much as I did?

Secrets boutta get revealed y'all...friendships will be tested...hehe. Y'all thought Dina or Emma were done being wild? Think again.  That is all I'll say. lmao

Comment and vote! xx

safety pin || 5 seconds of summer