Kill Me.

Callum let out a relieved sigh as soon as Lee shut the door to his office. The fact that the new kid had finished early and wanted more work was a good sign, and it also meant Callum could probably leave on time for once. Plus, he didn't have to deal with Callaghan. He was weird, Callum had decided, and liked to watch him way too much. It was only a desire to keep his job that kept him from retaliating. He didn't appreciate being leered at.

That meant Lee had probably faced the same problem, Callum figured. The boy was… pretty he decided, if that was the kind of guy you were into. He was feminine and entirely too bouncy, childish really. That was sure to catch Callaghan's interest and he almost felt bad sending the kid back into that wolf's den. He had asked though.

Extinguishing that minor flicker of guilt was fairly easy and he forced himself to continue the pile of work still on his desk. He just wanted to go home so he could get changed and go to his sister's place. It wasn't that much to ask, was it? One night of fun was something anyone could appreciate.

At 5:02 Callum shut down his laptop, smiling. Two minutes past time to leave wasn't bad as far as working late went. He hadn't made it out of the building on time in months, since that damn killer had started actually. People had suddenly decided to use the killer as a topic and were convinced they were the next big journalists. It always added a significantly larger workload when people wrote ten pages on useless facts about murderers with absolutely no ingenuity.

Callum sighed, wondering when people had become so much like clones. He used to adore his job, getting to read everyone's stories, even the ones with horrible grammar that took an hour to read a page. Back then, creativity had been so much more prevalent and he could always find the one diamond among the other stones. He couldn't remember the last time he had found a story he truly felt was amazing, inspiring. Most were just facts and real estate reports now.

Just as he reached his car, Callum saw Lee practically skipping to his own vehicle, grinning. He waved frantically before detouring to meet the older publisher. Callum bit back a sigh, deciding he could at least be nice. It was the kid's doing that had him out on time anyway.

"Hey Callum! I got it all done and everyone got those papers," he said proudly.

"Great… So how was your first day?"

"Good, it was pretty easy. I mean, obviously I have tons to learn still but I think I can handle it. I like doing this kind of thing, its nice. I have plenty of time to think too," he said, grinning. Callum noticed that his head was bobbing ever so slightly, as if he were listening to some kind of music and chuckled.

"Good, well I'm meeting my sister soon. I'll see you later," Callum said, reverting back to his brisk personality. Lee's smile faltered just slightly but he nodded all the same, waving again to go back to his car. "Hey, Lee, thanks for the extra help. You saved me a couple of hours." The boy nodded, smiling as he slid into his car and Callum did the same.

Twenty minutes later he found himself in his sister's apartment, her roommates giggling around him. It briefly made him wonder why he had even come. He should've taken her out to dinner or back to his own place. Rachel and Mia were always entirely too loud for him. Carrie loved the girls however, so Callum remained silent in his annoyance.

"So Callum, have you found a boyfriend yet?" Mina asked, grinning as she slid next to him on the couch. "Because I know this gorgeous waiter at Starbucks. I was telling him about you and he was totally into it," she gushed, flipping her bleached hair-which was a bit dried out, Callum noted-over her shoulder. "He's so your type. He's got hair the same color as mine with a red stripe in his bangs and is totally into all those bands you like, like you know, Devil Wears Prada and Suicide Silence and all. Want his number?"

Callum just blinked, unsure of what to respond to first. She'd barely taken a breath the whole time as she explained the Starbucks boy and leaned entirely too close on his shoulder. All three girls were touchy-feely people and it drove him nuts.

"Mina, really? Starbucks is nasty. Why do support that place? Secondly, why are you bringing me up to random waiters when you don't even know if I'm with someone? Third, I absolutely despise both of those bands you just mentioned. I don't like screamo or metal or whatever it is, ok? No, I do not want his number," Callum finished, glaring at her. She nodded silently, immediately pushing herself off the couch to walk into the kitchen. He smirked when the door shut behind her.

"Callum, really? She just wanted to be nice," Carrie told her brother with a chiding frown. "You aren't even seeing anyone and we all know it. You never see anyone. You haven't dated since high school." Callum frowned at his younger sister even as she leaned against his shoulder, getting more comfortable to watch the Gossip Girl marathon they had all been watching.

"How do you know?" he asked, challenging. He couldn't help it when she took on that all-knowing tone she got sometimes.

"Well you aren't, are you?"

"Yes, actually. The new guy at work, Lee." Callum bit his lip as soon as he spoke, about to correct his statement. Technically he wasn't lying though. He did see Lee, and from now on, he would every day.

"Seriously? Why haven't you mentioned it to us before?" Rachel exclaimed, jumping onto the couch so she could sit by his other shoulder.

"I don't know. I just haven't," he said, tensing up. Both of them huddled around him was making him anxious, twitchy and he tried to calm his breathing. "Can you back off, please?" he asked both girls and neither moved, instead rolling their eyes.

"That's what you get for keeping this a secret from your sister," Carrie told him. "I can't believe it. What's he like? What does he look like? Is he short?" Somewhere in all this Mina had returned, he realized, when she slid in next to Rachel, close enough that he could feel her breathing on him.

"All of you just back off," Callum exclaimed, jumping to his feet, shaking. "He's short, yeah. You'd like him," he told them even as he grabbed his keys from the table, storming out of the apartment. He ignored Carrie when she yelled to him, just wanting to get out of there. Why did they always have to lay all over him? He hated being that close, they knew that. Callum shivered. He could still feel their clinging hands over his arms, Mina's breath hot on his neck. He just wanted to be alone.