Call Me Old-Fashioned (Callie)

[Lucah Ivaskov]

To think that he hadn't seen Callie since that night when he was so sure he'd never feel better. The funny thing was that he'd seen Ravyn since then. It wasn't the greatest of meetings, but it was a step in the right direction. They'd gotten when they needed to say out and now they could mend that crack in their friendship. Lucah wasn't sure he'd ever truly be able to give her another chance for a relationship though. Maybe that was why people never tried again after a relationship ended. Maybe he should have thought about that beforehand. But he hadn't expected the outcome, so he couldn't blame it all on himself.

That was beside the point.

Him and Ravyn would be fine soon enough, he would continue to steer clear of Noah just in case some reserved anger made him snap. Things would be good. But it was so different. So different because he'd been so caught up with the drama between him and Kiara then him and Ravyn and now his feelings were drifting to Callie. He hadn't thought of Belle much in a while. He still cared deeply for her, but they'd kept some distance still and he hadn't been able to ache for her lately. For now, it was probably best that he keep distracted.

And boy was he. His thoughts had been occupied with thoughts of Callie since he'd left her early the next morning. Of course his luck, he'd run into Cameron, but they hadn't said much to each other and Luc left in a fairly good mood. His problem had been figuring out what to do with his feelings. He was too afraid to really pursue them because he couldn't handle the idea of something happening and screwing his friendship with Callie over. Not to mention her brothers would have his ass. But she invaded his thoughts on a daily basis.

His plan of action, the excuse he had for visiting her. Lucah needed to apologize for how harsh he had started out with her that night. They'd made up, but still, it was reason enough. He'd went out earlier in the day, picked up some flowers and even got her a little white teddy bear. Luc tapped on the door to her dormroom and waited, hoping and praying that she'd be the one to answer.

[Calliope Gallo]

It was difficult not to remember how upset Lucah was that night. He always came off a little cold for people who didn't know him, but it had been the first time that she'd seen such a different side of him. After standing in the Courtyard for what probably seemed like an eternity, she had brought him back to her room and he had spent (most of) the night. Contrary to someone like Cam's beliefs, all they did was spend time together until she drifted off to sleep on her bed. She was sure he was lying right beside her, but when she woke up pretty early that morning and he was already awake and on his way ut. At least he looked like he was feeling better, but she missed his company.

Calliope was the only one in their dorm room when someone knocked. She turned the music down in her bedroom and promptly ran out to greet whoever had knocked. Given that she'd been working out with Dani just before, she was still in her dancing clothes; grey sweat pants and a grey tanktop.

She opened the door and didn't expect to find who she did. Her blue eyes widened a little as she was taken back. Flowers? Flowers were a ridiculous weakness for Callie. Her eyes went from them back up to his face. "Lucah!" She called out in surprise, immediately running a hand through her hair. She sort of felt like she wanted to impress him with the way she looked, but that was hard considering how she looked at that moment. "Hey! Come in." Callie turned on a heel and stepped out of the doorway, holding the door open for him.

[Lucah Ivaskov]

Her surprise made him smile and he gave a slight wave with the hand that held the flowers. She seemed happy to see him, maybe a little…nervous? He didn’t understand why she’d have any reason to be nervous, after all, it was just him. Then again, he had spent some extra time to look his best before coming to see her. But there was no way she’d be thinking the same way. Nope, no way.

Luc stepped through the doorway and once he was inside, he held out the flowers and teddy bear to her. “So I uh, I hope it was okay that I came without telling you. I just had some time and I wanted to bring you these. I wanted to apologize for how I acted the other day, you know when I was all upset about the…situation I was put in. I didn’t have any reason to snap at you, you were only trying to help.” He looked down at her and smiled sheepishly, “Will you forgive me?”

So maybe he was giving her his most adorable and irresistible puppy dog face, but still, she could say no. He’d been a total jerk that night, not only to Ravyn (who deserved it), but also to Callie. Of course she wasn’t one to really hold a grudge, but he still felt guilty for how he’d been. Unfortunately, the Romanian boy had a history of snapping at people that hadn’t even made him mad. Callie just got caught in the crossfire and he hadn’t even meant for it to happen.

[Calliope Gallo]

Callie followed him into the room, closing the door behind him and turning to look back at him again. He was extending the flowers and the teddy bear out to her. It was so hard not to look surprised, and as he started talking she felt herself start to blush. It was just... Flowers. They were something she loved to get but something she didn't exactly tell people about. Eric knew and surprised her all the time; he worked at the florist downtown so it was easy for him. But this was nothing like that. It felt like there was something... More.

"You didn't need to apologise. I knew you were sorry." Callie finally replied. She knew that night as soon as he calmed down that he was sorry, but she still appreciated that he'd come all this way to tell her in person. She waited for just a few moments on purpose before cracking a smile and reaching out to take hold of the gifts he'd given her.

She leaned over and pressed her lips neatly to his cheek. "I forgive you."

Callie then turned and started walking towards the small kitchen area to the sink. She retrieved a vase from one of the cupboards and started filling it up. "I uhh," How to word it properly, "Sorry I look like this. I had a dance lesson, so that's why I..." Her voice trailed away. She was glad her back was to him, because she was a little (surprisingly) embarrassed about the lack of coherent words she was sharing.

[Lucah Ivaskov]

Luc shrugged and smiled, "Well nevertheless, I figured it was best to apologize anyway. I didn't want the possibility of you being angry with me." Apologies were best to say in person and more than once. After all, she deserved much more for having put up with him when he was at his lowest. Looking for a boy just because his girlfriend had been unfaithful to him. If anything, he should have just let her go home on her own, but he was a gentleman and didn't want her going alone.

Her lips pressed against his cool cheek and he smiled wider, "I'm glad. I hope the flowers are alright. I had one of my friends help me pick them out. And the bear, well it was just a little addition that I saw." He was rambling. Luc ran his fingers through his hair and let his other arm hang limply at his side.

Her voice had him looking up again as she walked away and he had to smile at the incoherent phrases. Could it be possible that she was just as nervous as him? Funny how one was rambling and the other couldn't find the words. "It's alright, I'm quite used to it, my little sister is a dancer...err, she was but I'm not sure if she still is," His own words trailed off and he looked down.

[Calliope Gallo]

"Yeah, oh, the flowers are great!" Callie replied suddenly. She laughed her own words away as she realised how silly she must have sounded. "It's just, well... I'm not used to people giving me flowers. Apart from my brother, anyway. But these are just so amazing." Her tone of voice had boiled down into something a lot more thoughtful. Most people who came by were just looking for Cam usually, so it was a really nice change that someone had been looking for her.

"I didn't know you had a sister." Callie replied lightly. She was glad to hear it, especially considering she was a younger sister to two very protective brothers. It meant he knew what that was like. Maybe he wouldn't be deterred from spending time with her just because of Eric and Niko? That tended to happen often with other people... "Don't you guys talk much?"

She put the flowers in the vase and left it on the counter for the time being as she turned back to see him again. "How're you holding up after everything that happened? You look like you're feeling a lot better. It's nice to see you with a smile on your face." The thought alone of his smile brought a bright one to her lips.

[Lucah Ivaskov]

Luc smiled and tilted his head to the side as she laughed. Her laugh was just so great, and it brought a brighter smile to his lips. "Well, just call me old-fashioned. I was taught that when apologizing to a woman any woman that means something to you, you always bring flowers to make it up to her. Of course, unless they are allergic, in which case, you bring fake flowers." And again with the rambling. He bit his tongue to keep the flow of words that had bubbled up from spilling over.

He sighed, there was a reason very few people anymore knew about his sister. Jez hadn't been around long enough for very many people to meet her. He'd also been keeping it to himself because the nightmares were enough pain without the added discussions about her. It helped that he'd been skyping with her, but that was only once in a great while when his father was off on business. "Well, w-we used to. Not so much anymore.... She's not allowed to talk to me," Luc whispered.

She turned to him again and he gave a slight shrug. "I'm doing fairly well. Still haven't really talked to Noah or Ravyn for that matter, nor do I want to, but I'm good." At least he was trying to be. It helped when he had such an awesome (and beautiful) girl to cheer him up.

[Calliope Gallo]

Calliope watched him with interest when he was talking again. She wouldn't say it was rambling, but she was a serial rambler herself so maybe that's why she overlooked it. When he finished she laughed inwardly to herself. She just thought he was being so... Cute. "I must mean something to you, then." She concluded, because that part of his statement wasn't lost on her.

She turned her head slightly when he spoke about his sister, even though she missed the last part of his sentence. "That's gotta be difficult," Callie concluded, "I can't imagine. I talk to my parents and brothers everyday." And her parents. She struggled to go a full day without hearing their voices.

"I actually have to tell you something about that." Callie admitted. It took strength, but she forced herself away from where she was and walked back over towards him. He might be more forgiving if she were standing in front of him. She searched the floor for a second, trying to figure out what to say.

"The night that Ray and No went to the party. Well, they came back to Hammel with my brother Eric. They got separated I think. I mean, one of Noah's roommates is a friend of mine so he looked after him." Callie paused, her teeth sinking into her bottom lip while she searched his eyes. She was rambling too. Not on purpose, but she knew she was. "Ray. She came back here by accident. Cam and I ended up looking after her."

[Lucah Ivaskov]

Lucah tried to hide the redness of his face as she drew her own conclusion that just so happened to be incredibly accurate. He’d been hoping she would stay oblivious to the fact that she really did mean a lot to him. Things had changed over the past few weeks or so. Ever since he’d run into her that night, she’d made an impact on him. She’d shown him that trusting people wasn’t as difficult as he’d once thought. And to think it had actually helped him out. “Well, I mean you’re like one of the few people I can talk to about most things.” Due to the whole falling out he’d had with Ravyn and his sister, she was pretty much the only one he could talk to.

Giving her a nod, unable to really say anything else, he just kept quiet. It was difficult. More difficult than most people would ever understand. It nearly killed him when she got taken away, and the longer he went without her, the harder it seemed to get. “Yeah, I don’t talk to anyone in my family anymore. I’ve been sort of disowned I suppose.”

The way she began her next sentence had Luc tensing and he wasn’t sure, but he had a feeling it wasn’t something he wanted to know. She looked nervous, almost guilty in a way and his eyebrow rose as he watched her. If it was this difficult to say, he knew it wasn’t going to be anything good coming from it.

Once she continued, his eyes stayed on her, but just as she said those two names, he frowned. Those two names put together always caused him to get a little huffy, despite how he felt about Callie, he still wasn’t too happy about Ravyn cheating on him. “Well, isn’t that interesting. She probably found her way to the most familiar dorm room to her and that would of course be Cameron’s,” He said darkly. Now, Luc didn’t hate Cam, but he wasn’t a fan of the boy either. And again, Ravyn was at the University, why wouldn’t she try to find him? That question was one of the more infuriating ones. “I’m glad you took good care of her, God knows it would have been a disaster had anyone else found her.”

[Calliope Gallo]

"That's good," Calliope replied, unable to stop the smile that played its way to her face, "I'm glad you feel like you can talk to me. You know I'm here for you."

She instantly reached out to hold his hand when he mentioned being disowned by his family. She couldn't imagine the kind of pain and suffering that would cause, especially since she had nothing to compare it to. "I'm sorry, Lucah." She replied sincerely. Because he deserved to hear that from someone, even if she wasn't in the situation.

Yes, Callie knew about the relationship between Cam and Ravyn. The ups and downs and all that. They were only friends now, but she wasn't prepared to say that. Just in case it upset him. "It was fine, really. I mean, it was weird because she was really messed up. And she tried to kiss-" She stopped then, clasping her hand over her mouth. Then she realised how bad that sounded, given Cam was there too. "-Me. Not Cam, just so you know." Well, that couldn't be more awkward.

"But I just wanted to tell you. Because well, I didn't want to keep it from you. I don't want to keep anything from you." She admitted.

[Lucah Ivaskov]

Lucah smirked and nodded. He was happy to have Callie because thus far she hadn’t given him any reason not to be. She’d been there when he needed her and she was still here for him even when he didn’t. She was just so easy to talk to and get along with. When she took his hand, his eyes widened and he almost had to withdraw from her because of the lack of physical contact he’d had recently. Hugging was one thing, holding hands was more personal especially when discussing the topic they were on. “It happens. It’s my own fault for being such a rebel,” He laughed shortly and looked away.

Listening to Calliope explain the situation that had come up that night Ravyn had gotten drunk, he tried to keep an air of indifference about him. Unfortunately, his indifference was also filled with tension and strain. His muscles were all clenched in his body, but his face gave nothing away. Her sudden stop had his mask breaking and he gritted his teeth because he could have sworn she was about to say she had tried to kiss Cameron. Two guys in one night? New record.

But she hadn’t. She’d tried to kiss…Callie?

Luc released the breath he’d been holding and folded his hands behind his back as he contemplated what he wanted to say. At least Callie had been honest with him… Funny how that works out. His tension slipped away slowly and he relaxed before answering. “Thank you, for telling me. I mean, even if you hadn’t, I have no right to be angry. She’s none of my business anymore and what she does is her choice. And you don’t have to tell me anything either, but I’m glad you did. At least I can trust someone to tell me the truth,” He trialed off.

[Calliope Gallo]

Callie retracted her hand, placing it idly on her hip as she searched his expression for some kind of light and recognition. Should she not have told him or something like that? Those few moments of silence seemed to drag on for a life time in her books, and she wasn't sure what to do about it besides stand there and wait. But she watched as the tension seemed to melt away from his body, and thankfully managed to breath a sigh of relief.

"I'm glad you can trust me." Calliope replied, smiling brightly, "You know you can tell me anything, right?"

She just wanted to make that clear. Callie raised her hand up and waved it once, as if knocking back the negativity of the prior conversation with a physical hit of her hand. "Anyway! I'm really glad you stopped by. I like seeing you. Every time I go to the campus to see Eric, I always sort of hope I run into you." It hadn't happened yet, unfortunately. But Callie was glad he made the effort to come see her while she was trying to be nonchalant.

[Lucah Ivaskov]

Lucah hadn't meant to go into silent mode, it was merely a force of habit. Whenever he was tense or angry, he stilled and practically turned into ice. It was something that took getting used to, but eventually he'd thaw out and return to his more relaxed and talkative nature. It just took a little while.

Once he did relax, he noticed her sigh in relief and smile. Her words had him smiling again in no time and he nodded, "I know. And for that I really am thankful, Callie." Very few people were able to gain his trust and when they did it was hard for him to stop trusting you. But if that did happen, it took even longer for him to trust you again. He had a good heart, it was just tattered and beaten to the point that it took him some time to show it.

"It isn't as if I had anything better to do. The only fun in my life comes from spending time with you after all," He said with a laugh. Her confession was surprising to him, but at the same time, he didn't mind it. Luc always hoped he'd run into her as well, but when that failed he usually just found an excuse to go to Hammel. She had become his excuse lately. "I haven't really seen Eric around a lot, though I'm usually stuck in my room most of the time. How is he? And your other brother? Niko right?" He'd heard of them on a few occasions from Callie, but he couldn't always remember the other one's name because he didn't go to the uni.

[Calliope Gallo]

Lucah's statement made Callie smile in a way that was (if possible) more genuine than before. Sure, she smiled a lot. It was difficult to catch her without one, but what he had said stirred something in her. He couldn't possibly be interested in her though, right? "I love it when you drop by. Best surprises ever." She replied, laughing as well. Somehow that made it less awkward and more enjoyable.

"He's good. Very busy with studying and stuff at the moment." Callie replied. It always surprised her how invested he was in his studies. Most people didn't believe that when she told them, given how social he liked to be. "Yeah, Niko's my other brother. He came back from traveling not too long ago. He was living in Greece for a while, so it's nice to have him back." It was clear that she missed him a lot, given the tone of her voice.

She thought about asking him to spend time with her in a different way. A date, she guessed. But cold feet got the better of her once she opened her mouth and instead she asked; "I heard you're doing that MANifesto thing, is that right?"

[Lucah Ivaskov]

"Well I am glad you think of it that way. I have a feeling that if I happened to drop by on any of the other people I knew here they'd think me a nuisance of sorts," He laughed along with her and his smile stayed in place throughout the whole thing. Sure, he'd felt stuff like this before, but Callie was different from the others. It was like he couldn't help but fall for the girls that he found the most unique. Callie's uniqueness came from how happy-go-lucky she was. There wasn't a time that he ever really saw her without a smile on her face. And he loved it.

Luc nodded in total understanding. He had been pretty busy studying himself, though he wasn't nearly as social as Eric. Maybe in the future Eric could help him get back into his social self. It had been years since he really went out for the fun of it. "I'm glad he's back, I know how hard it is going a long time without seeing someone so close to you," He said softly with a faint smile. He knew a lot better than he'd like to know.

Lucah had debated on asking her out several times, more often than not though he got cold feet and just couldn't muster up the courage. His eyes wandered a bit before she asked her next question. His nose crinkled up and he couldn't help but smirk, "Oh yes. I wasn't originally planning on doing it, but a little blue-eyed Romanian girl suckered me into it. She's very hard to say 'no' to. I'm sure it'll be quite humiliating."