All characters mentioned are created by the gorgeous minds of Holly Black and Cassandra Clare aka my moms. (✿ฺ◡ฺ‿ฺ◡ฺ)
7:36 pm - Rajavi's Residences
"Motherfucker," Callum heard Jasper yell out, followed by a group of familiar laughter echoing from down the hall when he entered Tamara's house.
Stebbins, one of the Rajavi's butlers, opened the huge set of double doors and escorted Call into the the house and instructed him to head to the Aracade Room. Where, Call was guessing, the noises were coming from. So that's where he was going- down the hall, and a left.
Today was Tamara's 16th birthday, it was the summer after their Silver Year, and they were celebrating it in her house. In usual teenager circumstances, spending your 16th birthday in your own home would be a massive let-down. But it wouldn't be so if you'd celebrate it where Tamara Rajavi lives.
Her house- or the Gables- as it's more commonly known, was probably the fanciest mansion Callum had the privilege to step in. With its high ceilings, expensive-looking chandeliers that probably cost more than his existence, large hallways that were responsible for reverberations like Jasper's profanity yell from just a while ago, and elegant marble floors.
He felt like he was engulfed in sophistication and might choke on it. Call had always thought the house resembled a mini-castle, and he'd feel underdressed in faded black jeans, a pain white shirt, and his black combat boots.
Not to mention the fact that he was on his way to an Arcade Room, which would only be usually found within malls.
He finally walked up to a set of wooden doors that were open, revealing a group of teenagers huddled around in a circle clearly enjoying themselves. Before he got to clearly see which of his friends were there, his view got cut off by Tamara running towards him with a grin plastered on her face.
"Call!" she practically screamed as she threw her arms around Callum once he stepped inside. A cheery chorus of "Hey"s and "Hi Call!"s shortly filled the room. While he was still being given Tamara's bone-crushing bear hug, he had a quick scan of the smiling faces present over Tamara's shoulder.
Gwenda was there, seated next to Celia on a black leather sofa, Rafe was sitting on a recliner, and even Jasper was smiling at him while he sat on a billiard's table. But that was probably because of the half empty beer bottle in his hand. It momentarily surprised him, forgetting they were older now, and not rowdy and obnoxious kids they once were a few years ago.
Well, atleast now they're rowdy and obnoxious teenagers.
Call wasn't bothered by Jasper drinking alcohol, mainly because he didn't give two shits about Jasper, but they were at the right age, he supposed. Also Call didn't have much preference for alcohol, anyway.
He turned his attention to the last person in the room, his back facing Call. Although he already knew who he was based from his fair, blonde head of hair. He was wearing a long sleeved dark green shirt that complimented his eyes so well it took him all the willpower to not stare at him. He matched it faded blue jeans that now looks gray, and black sneakers. He was sitting on a plush, red beanbag and turned around to give a quick smile at their direction. Callum's stomach did a flippy-over thing he was all too familiar with.
Tamara drew back and beamed at Call, a faint smell of mint and a little bit of alcohol coming from her. She had her hair done like she usually does in two braids, wore a yellow crop top and a black skater skirt, and black ankle-high boots.
In a different situation, Call would've given her a weird look with the alcohol thing, but he knew Tamara wouldn't go beyond her limits. And hey, it was her 16th birthday.
"A little late, aren't we?" She chimed, her smile still present.
"Better late than never, right?" Callum replied with a smile of his own. "Happy Birthday, Tam." Callum greeted in a lower voice, holding out a metallic silver paper bag with a dress carefully packed inside- a gift that he bought for her a few days ago.
It wasn't anything fancy, really. He had help from Celia picking it out because he had no clue how female fashion worked. He would ask her opinion via text message and send her photos of dresses he would consider buying, and ended up buying a simple, light blue summer dress that he thought would look nice on Tamara.
Along with some accessories like earrings and bracelets because that's what girls liked, Call assumed.
Tamara smiled at Call, mostly because of the special nickname that only he and Aaron could use on her, but also because she knew Callum wasn't the type of person to give gifts to anyone but to those that are special to him.
"Thanks, Call." Tamara said warmly, accepting the gift from Call and placing it on the billiard's table along with some other packages that looked like gifts as well. She turned around to face him and lightly punched his arm. "You gonna stand in the doorway all night or are you planning on sitting down?"
Callum scoffed and rolled his eyes at Tamara, which she responded by mockingly rolling her eyes at him, too. Callum walked around and acknowledged the people that he'd pass by, noticing that there were only 7 of them in total, which would be odd if you didn't know what kind of person Tamara was.
You'd expect her to have hundreds of guests considering her social status as a teenager, but she liked keeping to herself and minimizing the guest list to those she knew well. Celia, Gwenda and Rafe were just acquaintances, but she invited them anyway because it'd be awkward just having Aaron and Callum. Especially with the plans she has in store for those two.
The room was large, but the space was mostly taken up by arcade games, a snack bar, and a movie projector set. Only few chairs were there, just enough for the people already in them.
Starting from the left, clockwise, the arrangement was Tamara, Rafe, Aaron, the sofa that had Celia and Gwenda seated in, and the billiard's table in the middle where Jasper sat on the edge. Callum would've sat in between Celia and Gwenda if it weren't for the stack of food being there. And he definitely wasn't planning to sit on the billiard's table like a douchebag like Jasper. Callum sighed and turned towards Tamara.
"Yeah, Tamara, we have a bit of an issue with my seat." Callum said, right after Tamara stuffed her face with a handful of Cheetos once she sat back down to the fluffy, pink beanbag she was seated in awhile ago.
"And that is?" She slurred with her mouth still full.
"I don't have one?" Callum pointed out. Tamara swallowed her food and looked around, then grinned.
"What are you talking about? Your seat's right there." She nodded towards Aaron's direction, where Call was just a few steps away from. Call craned his neck to see if there was a small chair he missed beside where Aaron was sitting, but there wasn't anything, and he raised one eyebrow at her.
"Aaron's lap isn't occupied." Tamara said and she let out a loud, breathy laugh, clearly pleased with herself, not bothering to cover her mouth like she'd usually do.
Everyone else cracked up at Tamara's choice of humor, and even Aaron gave a genuinely amused smile at Callum, chuckling, then shook his head fondly at his friends. Callum turned red, both from annoyance but also because of Aaron's stupid, ridiculously-adorable demeanor.
Their friends already suspected something was going on between them, Callum and Aaron. All the subconscious flirting wasn't that hard to notice. Especially after they had an accidental heavy make out session in their dormitory during the last few days of the school year, Aaron leaving a bright and visible bruise at the base of Call's neck after intense neck kisses. Where Tamara, even through Callum's efforts of hiding it, eventually saw.
"What is that?" Tamara had asked him then, swatting Callum's hand away from his neck, not accusingly, but amusement was evident in the tone of her voice. Callum tried to cover it, even if Call already knew he was fighting a losing battle. Tamara would know a hickey if she saw one.
"I-I fell off the bed last night and hit a small, blunt stalagmite." Call blurted out. Sounding more like a question than a statement. Tamara didn't look convinced.
"And you landed on your neck?" Tamara asked him then, the corners of her mouth twitching upwards, trying to force down a smile. She clearly enjoyed placing Call in the hot seat.
Call dashed to his room, and Tamara laughed after him. Leaving Aaron and Tamara in the Common Room, Aaron scratching his head shyly, and Tamara grinning and waggling her eyebrows at him.
Now their friends took Call and Aaron's not-so-subtle crushes on one another as a running joke. Even Celia went along with it, not getting bothered by the fact that she, too, once admired Callum.
While the rest of them were still laughing, Call bent his head and was supposedly on his way to sit on the sofa's arm when suddenly Aaron made a small movement, flicking his wrist, barely noticeable, and Callum was dragged, his feet involuntarily shuffling backwards, and was pulled unto Aaron's lap.
Callum's face contorted into pure confusion, then flushed when he realized Aaron used metal magic on Call's belt buckle to drag him to sit there.
A unison of "Ooooh"s came teasingly from the group, and Jasper wolf-whistled. Aaron was smirking, happily playing along with the group's jokes instead of getting uncomfortable by it. He used it his advantage to show off, instead. His arm was around Callum's waist and his chin resting on Callum's shoulder, he was smiling at the group in a challenging way, a silent depiction of the famous line: "If you can't beat them, join them."
Callum wasn't sure if he should be enjoying this or be frightened by it.
He hid his face behind his hands, most likely because he turned an even brighter shade of red- if that was even possible, and flicked everyone off.
A few hours passed like that, constant jokes flung toward one another, stories passed around, the group messing around with the arcade games.
At some point Gwenda stood up and took a portable chair out of the Arcade Room's storage area and offered it to Call, thinking that Aaron's legs might be tired. But Aaron just lightly nudged Callum's waist with his forearm, giving off an unsaid message, making Call politely refuse her offer with a tint to his cheeks.
The lap-sitting started off as a joke, but Callum and Aaron were both obviously not planning to detach anytime soon. Call would be lying if he said he didn't enjoy Aaron's small act of possessiveness.
11:51 pm
"Alright, alright." Jasper suddenly announced, making the group's laughter tone down after they kept cheating and using air magic when they played air hockey. He gave a knowing glance at Tamara, which she returned with a smile. Jasper turned his attention back to the group. "Who's up for party games?" he asked with a smirk.
A/N : Hey guys! This is the start of my second fanfic, and I hope you like it so far ;^) I hope you guys like how Call isn't as sarcastic as he usually is in this chapter, because he isn't exactly familiar with being teased about a crush. His sassiest shall come in the next chapter (If you guys still want)
Aaron's a bit OOC with his possessiveness, too. But at the same time, we don't really know how he acts in relationships. Fan theories suggest he'd be careful and not too attached, since he's had a bit of a lonely childhood, which I totally agree.
I know I like it though, I just wanted to shine some light on the idea of Aaron being more showy and clingy because it's adorable, since I doubt he would actually be like that once he gets into a relationship someday.
Anyway, this was really fun to write for me, so I hope it was fun to read :D Leave reviews and the good stuff, let me know if you want me to continue this. ( Because I want to, there're some g00d shit on the way)
Later, little mages. (✿◕ ‿◕ฺ)ノ))｡₀: *ﾟ✲ฺ
P.S: HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TRUEKA! I decided to put this one up today when I found out as a lil gift. I hope you like it. (I read Colors by makarcallum on ao3 so I saw) I hope you enjoyed/will enjoy your day! I don't know our time zone differences! Take care ❤️