#calum hood as a soulmate is fucking goals

[ashesonthefloor]

all that counts is here and now (my universe will never be the same) part two

summary: Michael bumps into the cute pet store worker named Calum and develops a crush. hijinks and lots of pining ensue. did I mention this was a soulmate au? title taken from Glad You Came by the Wanted, part one can be found here, ao3 link here

content rating: PG-13 (cursing, a couple sex jokes because it’s Michael, and some sweet fluff)

A/N: here’s part two to my pining Malum soulmate fanfic. this one actually has all the fluff so I’m sorry it’s shorter oops. part one can be found here

The pet shop really wasn’t that far from the cafe they’d stopped at. So it took him maybe ten minutes to walk there. The entire time, he was planning over what he’d say in his head. Would he be romantic? Would he sweep him off his feet? Dip him back and tell him he was all he was thinking of? Would he-

He pushed the door open with much more force than necessary, watching Calum jolt upward behind the counter. Calum gave him a relieved smile when he saw who it was. “Oh, Michael-“

“You asshole.” And, well, that wasn’t what he’d been planning on.

Calum looked startled. “What?”

“You knew this entire time and just let me be a fucking idiot-“

He could see the gears turning in Calum’s head before it clicked and he realized what he was talking about. “I thought you didn’t like me, you tried avoiding me all the time.”

“You’re an asshole.” He frowned at him, losing most of his annoyance in the face of Calum’s clear trepidation. He looked...nervous. Kind of like he was worried that Michael was seriously angry. Fuck. That wasn’t what he was going for.

“I’m sorry,” Calum said, starting to frown.

Michael shook his head. “No. It’s fine. Really. I guess I could’ve asked.” Calum looked relieved now that Michael didn’t seem like he was going to bite his head off. “However-“ Calum looked slightly nervous again, unsure where he was going. “-you’ll actually be an asshole if you don’t let me take you on a date. And let me meet Duke.”

Calum grinned. Another one of those absolutely gorgeous, ear-to-ear smiles that made his eyes light up. Michael was in love with him again. “You have a deal. I get off around six?” He fumbled around looking for something for a moment before passing Michael his phone. Michael went ahead and put in his number.

“Great. Where do you, uh, want to go?” He wanted to wine and dine him. Maybe 69 him, depending on how the evening went. He couldn’t resist the joke, even in his own head. He’d stay classy though. He wanted this to work out.

Another gorgeous smile from Calum. Sly this time. “What about Alfredo’s?”

Michael threw a hand over his heart dramatically. “A man after my own heart. Alfredo’s sounds perfect. I’ll meet you there around seven?” 

Calum gave him a smile. A sweet smile. A sweet I-like-you-even-though-you’re-a-dork smile. “That’s the goal. I’ll see you there.”

-----

Michael spent the rest of the evening nervously pacing his apartment. He took a shower, obviously, since he didn’t want to stink. And he put on deodorant no less than three times, just in case he’d somehow sweated it off. And he put on just a hint of cologne. He could practically hear Ashton’s stupid voice in his head telling him to relax. Which was extra annoying because imaginary-Ashton was right. This would go fine. Calum liked him or he would’ve said no. Right? Yes. Hopefully. Maybe. Probably. Possibly. 

Calum looked gorgeous when they finally did meet up. Absolutely gorgeous. He had never seen such a handsome fucking person in his entire life and he told Calum as much, which just made him laugh. And he was pretty sure he was in love with him already. 

The date went spectacularly. Michael has never been as happy as he was curled up in a back booth with his soon to be future husband while Calum teased him for ordering Hawaiian pizza even though it was literally the greatest pizza known to man. He was just...happy. For the first time in a long time. 

————————

“Fuck you, I don’t hog the covers too much,” Michael argued with his mouth full of food. Calum rolled his eyes where he was sitting next to him on the couch, Ashton and Luke’s laughter clear through the speaker on his phone. 

“You wish. And you do,” Calum said easily. “You’re the worst. You snuggle into me like a giant affectionate cat and then steal my fucking blankets. You’re cat Judas, that’s what you are.”

Michael makes an affronted noise, fork full of Chinese takeout paused in the air where it had been heading towards his mouth. “I am not a cat. You take that back. And I wouldn’t have to steal the covers if you’d put more on the bed. But nooooo, it's all ‘I’m too warm, Michael’ and ‘you sweat in your sleep’. Now you can be cold and suffer.” He ate his bite of food and actually swallowed first this time before sticking his tongue out at Calum. 

“It’s not my fault you’re evil in your sleep. You are so a cat.” He turned back to the phone. “How are you guys, though? Everything going okay?”

Partway into Luke’s answer about their perfect life, Michael zones out. It’s not his fault. He just has more important things to think about. Like Calum. And Calum’s ass. And how much he wants to marry Calum. It’s been about a year since the whole soulmate debacle and, since then, he’d learned what the stupid numbers meant. (“Those?” Calum had asked, clearly amused by Michael’s initial assumption. “My birthday is the 25th of January, 1996. 1-25-1996.” And just like that, Michael had felt stupid.) He wanted to marry Calum’s mean little ass. He wanted to marry him because, even if he was neater than Michael, and made him wash his whites separately, and insisted on eating less pizza, he was perfect. He wanted to spend the rest of his life with him and teasing him for being a neat freak and needing the duvet to match the sheets and for lighting incense anytime anything went wrong. 

So he got up, more abruptly than he’d meant it to be, and wandered off. “Michael?” Calum called out after him, cutting Ashton off mid sentence. “Where are you going, babe?” He didn’t bother answering, just came back a couple moments later with the important article in his hand. 

“Hang up,” he said, already feeling nerves settle in. 

“What?” Calum asked, confused. “Babe, Ashton was telling me about his coworker-“

“Please?” Michael gave him puppy dog eyes and that, combined with how serious he was being for once, seemed to sway Calum over. 

“Fine, fine. Yeah, I’m gonna have to go. I’ll call you guys back later?” Ashton and Luke have their affirmations, having heard some of their conversation, and hung up. “Mikey, what’s-“

“I love you,” Michael said, cutting him off before he lost his nerve. God. Calum better not say no. “More than anything in my life. I love you. I knew I loved you when I made you laugh so hard and a noodle shot out your nose and ended up on my plate the one time we tried to go somewhere fancy. And I think some part of me has loved you since we met. I told Ashton the first time we talked that you were the love of my life and I wanted to propose to you. He suggested three diamonds.” Michael shifted down onto one knee. “And I really only just...thought about doing this seriously, but I’ve been considering it for months. So I don’t have a proper ring, or diamonds, or anything you really deserve just yet. But Calum Thomas Hood, will you marry me?” Michael held up the red ring pop, expression still serious. 

Calum’s eyes, which were brimming with tears, zeroed in on the ring pop and he let out a (maybe watery) laugh. “I can’t believe you’re proposing to me with a fucking ring pop, Michael Gordon. But yes. Fuck yes.” He cupped Michael’s face and kissed him hard, wet eyelashes brushing against his cheek. And Michael really couldn’t wish for a better life, or a better man to spend the rest of it with. 

#malum #michael clifford #calum hood #calum hood fanfiction #michael clifford fanfiction #my writing