A/N: Day 13, teasing. Ahh, this college AU is super fun to write. Y'all will like this one.

Chapter Summary: It's just fooling around. That's all they've been doing. It looks like flirting. They're poking fun. But that's all it is. Just teasing. Even if their friends don't see it the same way.

Word Count: 3,177 (what stark contrast in words compared to the last one.)

Just Teasing

"So, whattya think?" Callum asked, holding up his sketch to the rest of the group sat at their table. An early afternoon, no classes for any of his friends, he suggested they sit down somewhere and have lunch together. He realized that in all his time spent hanging out with Rayla, he never actually hung out with her and his friends. Sure, Soren had spent time with her during practises, but Rayla had stated before how bare minimum their interactions really are. And Claudia only had seen the girl and spared a few greetings, nothing concrete. So he wanted to get some good interactions between the three.

Of course, Claudia and Soren jumped at the opportunity because there was one thing Callum had never done in the time they knew him: make plans. It was so random and such a spur of the moment kind of thing, Claudia was surprised at how nonchalant he was about it. Any other person wouldn't be surprised, because plans like these are meant to be spur of the moment, but Callum? He didn't work that way. Soren was impressed Callum was so relaxed about the details too, he texted them to show up whenever they can, as long as they just send a heads up in advance. It was so lax and cool, they were convinced something was amiss.

And then they realized why.

Somehow, Callum failed to mention that he also invited Rayla. And boy, was it obvious to the siblings why.

Claudia perked up first, smiling at the artist. "Wow Callum, that looks beautiful!" she said, praising his drawing like always.

Soren raised his brow as he thoughtfully looked upon the sketch. "Wow, nice detail. Another great to add to your collection!" he mused, raising his can of pop at the young man.

A snort erupted from the other side of the table. Soren and Claudia, sat on the one side, glanced over at the other football player in shock. She was sat beside Callum, very close to his person, and rested her back against the table, extending her legs the other way. Her arms propped up onto the table, she casually glanced at the drawing, making a face of disapproval. She shook her head. "Ya've done better." Claudia and Soren couldn't believe what they were hearing from the woman. Especially since it was a drawing of her!

It was a sketch of her mimicking the exact pose she was in right now, done to what they thought was a perfection! Like always. But Rayla had the audacity to say otherwise? Before either sibling could rise to object and defend their friend, Callum himself chuckled.

"Aww, c'mon," he whined.

Rayla rolled her eyes. "It's not bad," she amended, turning her body around and tucking her legs underneath the table, "but." She grabbed the book and placed it down on the table, pointing at the edges of his sketch. "Your lines are bolder around my arms. It's not in a stylistic way too, because I've seen your other sketches of me and of people. And your shading kinda lacked around my neck, it looks… off." She glanced up at the artist and quirked up a smirk. "Plus, ya gave me four fingers instead of five." She laughed, sliding the book back toward him.

Callum snorted. "Maybe I think you look better with four," he mused, "besides, less fingers might mean you'll throw better."

Rayla laughed, curling back her pinky finger, she held her hand up at him. "Shall we test that theory?" she glanced over at Soren. "Ya brought your football right? Toss it here, I wanna see if I can show Callum proper shading by colouring his cheeks black and blue," she quipped, gesturing her fingers in a frame around his face.

Callum laughed in response as he held up his hands. "How about I try again? And if I do it properly, you don't attack me?" he suggested.

Rayla smiled as she leaned in close, bumping her shoulder with his. "No promises."

He smirked as he pointed his pencil over to the football in Soren's hands. "I bet I'd have better luck sketching the ball itself then."

Rayla feigned a shocked gasp as she held a hand up to her chest, still curling back her fifth finger. "Why Callum, are ya sayin' that a football looks prettier than me?"

He shrugged and leaned over the table, taking Soren's ball out of his hands regardless of his wordless answer, and placing it on the table. "There's no real difference," he shot back, "both reek of leather and are hardheaded."

He earned a light smack to his arm. "Smartass," she muttered. "How do I 'reek of leather'?" she asked incredulously.

"Aside from the fact that you toss a football around nearly everyday?" Callum questioned, "Try looking in the mirror for once. Your boots are practically a tier a way from cowboy." He scoffed, shaking his head as he began dragging his pencil around his freshly turned page. As he eyeballed the ball, Rayla rolled her eyes and shook her head, chuckling.

Then suddenly, the young woman's eyes shot wide open as she desperately placed her hand on his shoulder, holding him in a fierce grip as if she had just come to a realization. "Cal, Cal, Cal," she repeatedly slapped his arm as she bounced in her seat.

"Ow, ow, ow, what Ray?" he whined, attempting to shy his arm away from her barrage.

"Cowboy jock," she whispered with a smile. The artist perked his head up from his sketch, ears wide open. "C'mon, ya know that'd be a fun one!"

Callum's lips slowly upturned as he looked her way. "I dunno, I think I'd do well with a reference."

Rayla scowled, obviously with no bite. "Ya just want an excuse to see me in a cowboy hat and boots."

He merely shrugged as he returned to his sketching. "Yee haw," he muttered. The two erupted into a bout of joyous laughter, clearly proud of the humour they just elicited in the past few minutes.

Speaking of the past few minutes, the two other friends invited to this hangout? Gobsmacked. Completely wordless. Just in awe. As Claudia exchanged a glance with her brother, she knew they were both thinking the same thing. Callum was acting different. Callum was more bolder, louder. Callum was laughing more. Heck, Callum was talking more. It only boiled down to one thing.

And Claudia couldn't help but be proud of the man.

She leaned over and propped her elbows on the table, resting her chin on her hands excitedly, she sighed at the two. "Sooo," she sweetly sung, "how long have you two been together?"

The blush that caught them frozen still spoke volumes. And stirred a flurry of denials and awkwardness they weren't ready for. Profused proclamations about being just friends and nothing going on between them. They're "just teasing" was all they said to defend whatever chemistry they had. This entire time, they thought Callum did this to introduce them to his girlfriend, in a formal, personal way.

Claudia turned to Soren, and found his expression was similar: dumbfounded.

There was no way…

::::

"I just, I don't see how you two aren't dating," Claudia began, pacing around Callum's room as she ranted, "Like-Like, the way you guys act? That's just so… so…" she released a mixture of a squeal and a frustrated sigh, all the while waving her hands around spontaneously. "Y'know?" she asked, staring at the boy sat at his desk.

Callum snorted as he kept his head focused on his sketchbook. "No, I do not," he laughed. "Despite all our years as friends, I still can't speak Claudia." She walked over and flicked his shoulder. "Hey! What?"

She sighed. "You're being dumb," she muttered. "It's just… you two are so obvious it's painful."

"I'm sorry, being a sadist was not on my agenda today," he sarcastically shot back.

Claudia groaned as she fisted her hair and returned to her pacing. "Oh my god Callum, you are—" she shook her head as she dropped her arms. "Like, how? What? You…" she stopped as she noticed what he was drawing. Or rather, what he was redoing. It was his sketch of Rayla from earlier in the quad. The one she made fun of, but actually constructively criticized. She actually commented on his work in a way Claudia and Soren never could. And by the way Callum was correcting his mistakes, Claudia could tell he was actually noting what Rayla said. She knew what she was talking about too. "Are sketching her… again…" she whispered.

Callum simply shrugged. "Yeah so? I always do. Besides, she was right about the four fingers, I've always sucked at hands," he sighed, "the struggle of every artist." He cocked his head as he smiled at the drawing. "Although, Ray doesn't look too bad with four fingers, eh?"

Claudia's eyes bulged. "Oh my lord—you even have pet names for each other!"

"They're nicknames!" Callum laughed, staring at Claudia with an amused face.

"You never let us call you nicknames," she pointed out with a pout.

"Because, The Artist and Sketchers, aren't good nicknames," Callum shot back, smug as ever.

Claudia made a note to make sure to mention those nicknames to Rayla later on.

She shook her head. "I just… I think—" her mind froze as she realized something Callum had just said. "Wait… did you say… you always sketch her?"

Callum shrugged as he made a small grunt of confirmation, still focused on buffing out his outline of Rayla.

Without hesitation, Claudia snatched the book out of his hand, and much to the complaints and dismay of the artist, began flipping through the pages. It was amazing. Nearly every single page had a sketch of Rayla inside it. Various pages of her just sitting, casually leaning back against a chair or wall. But most of the casuals had her laughing or smiling. Claudia might've not known much about art, but she definitely noticed Callum's facial expressions were improving, or at least, different than before. They looked happier.

But there was also a select few that were obscure and clearly not casual, like they were poses or done premeditatedly. He had not just sketched her. But he sketched her.

"Oh you've got it bad…" she muttered.

Callum frowned as he snatched the book back from Rayla. "Hardy har, so she's a fun reference to draw? So what? Tons of artists have consistent muses. Rayla's fun to draw. Her jacket's pretty cool and so are her outfits, it's a nice combination to practice mixed in with facial expressions and anatomy."

His response seemed so rehearsed and quick Claudia couldn't believe what she was hearing. Was that what he convinced himself? Was that just denial? Was he in denial of his feelings or hers? Or did he just like playing dumber than Soren? Claudia merely laughed to herself, earning more confusion from Callum.

Surely not.

::::

"So is he a fling?" Soren spontaneously asked.

The sudden question threw Rayla off so much she nearly missed the catch, and had to duck the oncoming airborne ball. As it bounced around the grass, she heard a whistle blow from behind.

"Rayla, c'mon, don't slack. Just 'cause you can throw 'em doesn't mean you shouldn't learn to catch them!"

Rayla sighed as she rushed over to pick up the football. "Aye, sorry Coach Harrow!" she shouted. Turning back, she shot Soren a stern glare. "The Hell's wrong with ya?" she shouted back at their captain. She arched her arm back and launched the ball right at him.

His eyes shot wide open as he quickly threw his hands up. His form was barely enough to defend his face, and resulted in the ball bouncing out of his hand. Of course, he also yelped like a little girl too. "Yikes," he muttered as he picked up the ball.

The whistle blew once again. "Soren, just 'cause you're captain doesn't mean you can slack. Pick it up or ten laps around the field, you choose!" Coach Harrow shouted.

Soren winced at the threat as he nodded. "Gotcha Coach!" he shouted, throwing the ball over to Rayla. She easily made the catch, smugly smiled. After receiving and annoyed glare, Rayla tossed it back. He caught the perfect spiral and sighed. "Sorry for asking," he unapologetically replied, his tone laced with spite. "I was just curious is all." He arched his arm and threw.

Rayla caught it and took five steps back. "In my sex life?" She arched and threw.

Soren rolled his eyes and caught the ball. Five steps back and he shook his head. "Just thought, how else could you two be so close and not dating?" He adjusted his grip and launched the ball.

Rayla shrugged after catching. She sarcastically replied, "Uhh, because we're friends?" She took five more steps back and shook her head, before throwing the football once again.

It spiraled through the air, perfectly arching over to Soren, who made the flawless catch in response. "Rayla, friends don't act the way you two did!"

"Yeah they do, it's called teasin'!" she shouted back.

Soren groaned and threw the ball, this time a little more aggressively. The ball's spin was less gracious than Rayla's but it made the distance. "No, that's with regular friends. With us? Callum doesn't let us get away with making fun of his art! Let alone being snarky!" he explained. "Like, what you guys were doing is way different from the way Clauds and I tease him!"

Rayla frowned as she tossed the ball up and down, clearly not believing him. "Ya're delusional!" she stated. Before he could react, she arched and threw.

Reflexively, he ran to catch it, barely managing to get it in his grasp. He rushed back to his spot and sighed. "And I think you're in denial!" He stepped back another five steps and threw it over.

She caught it. "That we're just friends? Sure." She took five steps. "Since when did ya become a love expert?" she asked as she threw.

Another spectacular spiral, another clean catch. "Aside from the fact that I'm good with the ladies?" despite the distance he could she snorted. "It's 'cause I know Callum!"

"Ya ditched him at a party he clearly didn't want to go to!"

He frowned as he took five steps back. "Fair point!" he arched back and released. "But I know that he has never acted that way around us!"

Rayla chuckled as she caught the ball. She took five steps and shrugged. "Maybe if ya didn't ditch him so much ya'd actually know?" she inquired before throwing the ball.

Soren caught it and laughed. "Rayla, I've known him longer than you! Way before Katolis too! His dad and my dad are friends! We've been hanging around each other since I was a freshman in highschool!" He took five steps back. "And for starters? Callum's never let any of us get away with nicknames!" He tossed it back.

Rayla smirked as she caught the ball. "Probably because yours are all terrible," she mused.

"You think Sketchers is lame?" he asked.

She laughed, clearly not ready for the name. "Okay, okay, nevermind, that's good," she accepted. "But so what? We just call each other our names, but shortened! Isn't that what a nickname's for?" he arched and threw it back.

Soren groaned in irritation after catching her flawless long armed throw. "The point is, he's different with you! And it's obvious you act different with him!"

"Ya don't know me!" she shot back.

"I know you don't talk much," he pointed out, "You're more laid back and chill about things! But with Callum? Clearly something's got you up in good spirits!" He threw the ball.

Rayla caught it and rolled her eyes. "So what? Friends make each other happy! Isn't that the whole point of friendship? We make each other laugh because we can! That's all it is! Just teasing!"

Soren couldn't believe it. There was no way she was that thick about it. She was right, friends do that for each other. But what they were doing? It didn't feel like a just friends vibe. That teasing was more comforted, personal. Soren would know, as he was the self-proclaimed king of teasing. And what those two had? It was much more than what they made it out to be.

He was so wrapped up in his thoughts he didn't noticed the ball heading toward him. "Heads!" he heard Rayla shout. With the warning in mind, he ducked and felt the whizz of the ball breeze over his back.

Another whistle. "Dammit, Soren, what're you doing! Head in the game, stop messing around and talking about my son! Gossip later!" Harrow shouted as he hurriedly walked toward the two. "Goes double for you too Rayla," he pointed at her as he walked over to Soren.

Rayla's face flushed as she watched her coach breeze by. Her thoughts ran circles around her as she realized what had just happened. They were really far from each other. Her body crawled with stares, no doubt from the rest of her teammates. They were loud too. And her coach… of course. She felt her flushed face only brightened as she heard her teammates break into murmurs. She glared at Soren, who simply shrugged as he ignored Harrow's berating.

Oh she was going to have words with a certain artist.

::::

"So…" Claudia began, lightly bumping her shoulder against her brother's. "What'd you pick up on your end?"

"Just…" Soren sighed as they walked across the quad. "Pointless loops. They're in denial right?"

"So in denial," his sister eagerly agreed. "But like, of their own feelings or of each other's?"

"I'd say it's both."

A silence stirred as they strolled. But Callum wasn't wrong about Rayla being a good muse. He probably just never had someone to draw. Claudia and Soren hadn't exactly offered themselves like Rayla did, so he was probably excited to have a consistent model to use. If Rayla seemed to understand art, then she probably enjoyed posing for him. And Rayla wasn't far off about friends just jesting around. She wasn't exactly one to shy away from snarking or dry wit, and it definitely match Callum's. Could the two just be good friends?

As if they had come to the same conclusion, the two exchanged a look, about to speak.

"Hey Sketchers!" Rayla shouted. Their attention, as well as other nearby students, shot over to the running football player. They stopped in their tracks and realized who she was talking about.

Down her path, sat Callum, resting on a blanket with his sketchbook in hand. "Yes? My daily muse?" he smirked.

"Ya've got some explaining to do!" she shouted as she arrived at his spot, berating him with a flurry of swears and smacks of her hands and bag.

Claudia and Soren frowned at the sight. "They're clueless," they said together.

A/N: ahhh, this was a nice refresh to write. So, obvious this occurs after Callum sketched. Again, that'll be done after the ship month because it doesn't fit any of the other prompts I can do. There'll be more College AUs, so assume they all happen after he's sketched her. Soren and Claudia were fun to write, lemme know how I did with them! i just loved making these two tease each other around. It's fun.

Review response:

Prophet21: And I delivered. There'll be more to come, so stick around and I hope you enjoy!

Tomorrow's prompt is sightseeing! This is gonna be cute I think. Hopefully. We'll see.

Until next time,

- Bleh