Chapter Text
"Ah, Y/N!" your boss chirped when you walked into her office.
"Hi, Stacy," you smiled, sitting down on the chair in front of her desk.
"I'm so sorry to call you in on such short notice."
"It's okay," you assured her, "Cal had to go into the studio today, so I wasn't really doing much. Do I have another shoot to do?"
"No..." she said slowly, making you tilt your head, "I just didn't want to discuss this with you over the phone."
"What is it?" you asked worriedly.
"Well... You and Calum have been together for a while now..."
"And thank you for setting us up," you smiled again, "I haven't been this happy with a guy in a long time."
"Yeah... That's why this is a little more difficult."
Your smile faded, "What are you talking about?"
"We want you to break up with Calum," she informed you, getting straight to the point. Your breathing hitched as you fell back in your chair.
"Break up with him?" you shook your head, "Why?"
"The agency is losing momentum, Y/N," she replied, "We need something that will put it back on the radar."
"And you think that breaking up with Calum is going to do that?!" you asked loudly, standing up.
"Y/N-"
"No, Stacy! I'm not going to break up with him just because you want a little publicity!"
"You can either end it with Calum or I can end it with you," she stated dryly. Your heart skipped a beat and you stared at her in shock.
"You're going to fire me?"
"If you don't break up with him, I'm afraid so."
You stood in silence for a moment despite the fact that there was no doubt in your mind what decision you were going to make. You looked at Stacy and shrugged slightly.
"Then I quit," you told her. She was clearly surprised by the answer, but you didn't stay long enough to allow her to tell you that you were making a 'bad decision'. You knew what you wanted – and you knew it was Calum.
~
Later that afternoon, you were lying on the couch watching TV when you heard a car door close outside. Calum opened the front door a few seconds later, closing it behind him with a sigh. You couldn't help but smile when he dropped his guitar case – carefully, of course – and stalked over to the couch, lying down on top of you.
"Rough day?" you giggled softly, kissing him before beginning to run your fingers through his hair.
"Long day," he corrected, breathing a sigh of content.
"That makes two of us."
"I thought you didn't have any plans?" he wondered, propping himself up on his elbows so he could look at you.
"I didn't," you replied, "But Stacy called me in after lunch."
"You have a new project?" he cocked an eyebrow, "Perhaps swimsuit season related?" You laughed loudly, lightly slapping his cheek.
"You can see me in a swimsuit any time you want, Cal," you reminded him.
"I'd like to see you in a lot less than a swimsuit, beautiful," he commented, kissing your neck.
"That wasn't what she wanted to talk about, Cal..." you shook your head, knowing that if you didn't say it now, you probably never would. "I quit," you blurted out.
His eyes widened and he got off of you, sitting beside your calves, "You quit? Why on earth would you quit?! You love being a model!"
"Yeah, well, I love you more," you murmured. Calum froze. You quit because of him?
"What do you mean?" he asked slowly.
"Stacy wanted me to break up with you to get even more publicity and she said if I didn't do it, she would fire me," you told him, "So I quit."
"Just like that?"
"Why are you acting like I made the wrong decision?" you stood up. Calum quickly jumped up as well, following you into the kitchen.
"That contract was all you've ever wanted, Y/N!" he said, his voice gradually getting louder, "I just don't get why you threw it all away!"
"You're all I've ever wanted!" you shouted, spinning around to face him, "I can find another job, Calum, but I will never find another you!" You let out a shaky, frustrated breath, angrily wiping the tears off of your cheeks. You put your phone on the counter and grabbed your keys, heading for the door.
"W-Where are you going?" You could barely hear Calum's voice, but you clearly heard how broken it was.
"I don't know," you spat, slamming the door shut behind you without even glancing at him.
~
After you had cooled off a couple hours later, you realized how irrational you were being. You completely understood why Calum reacted that way; You probably would have been ten times worse if he had said he quit the band for you. You knew you had to apologize, so you drove back home as quickly as you could without getting into an accident.
You sat in the driveway for a couple minutes before killing the engine and trudging back to the front door. You opened and closed it quietly, hearing Calum's panicked voice coming from the kitchen.
"No, I don't know where she is, Ashton!" he let out a frustrated sigh, "If I knew where she was, I wouldn't have called you! ... She left almost three hours ago. ... I can't, sh-she left her phone here. ... You don't... You don't think she's gonna leave me, do you? ... I know she does, but I just... I'm really scared, Ash..."
When you heard how hurt he sounded even after the two and a half hours you had been gone, your heart dropped. You always knew that Calum loved you and cared about you, but you never realized just how much until now.
"Cal," you whispered as you stepped into the room.
Calum spun around and you immediately noticed how red his eyes were. He let out a loud puff of air – one that you were sure startled Ashton.
"I'll call you back, Ashton," he choked out, ending the call. Calum tossed his phone onto the counter and ran to you.
You dropped your keys onto the granite as well before he got to you. He wrapped his arms tightly around your waist while one of your arms went around his neck and your other hand landed on the back of his head. Calum loved when you played with his hair, so you were hoping that running your fingers through it now would help him calm down. You pressed long kisses to his upper jaw and ear, both of you holding each other as closely as you could.
"I'm so sorry, baby," Calum mumbled into your neck, "I'm sorry I yelled and I'm sorry I got mad and I'm sorry I didn't listen to you. I love you so much and I want you to be happy and I want you to keep your job, but I don't want you to leave me because it'll hurt way too much."
"You don't have to apologize, Cal," you told him. You moved back so you could look at him. "I shouldn't have stormed out like that. You had every right to respond the way you did and I was wrong to yell at you for it when I would have done the same thing."
"But you love being a model," he sniffled, repeating his words from earlier.
"But I love you more," you reminded him, wiping his cheeks with your thumbs, "I've been wanting to quit for a while, Cal, you know that. Trying to force a breakup was just the last straw. There are other modeling agencies around here that I'm sure will hire me, but there's only one Calum Thomas Hood and I love him way too much to let him get away." Calum smiled shyly, a light red blush rising to his cheeks. He leaned forward, pressing his lips to yours.
"I love you too," he mumbled against your mouth.