#bc like callum tries to Leave right - to Sever to do to her what she did to him

[raayllum]

We haven’t seen each other in two years. Don’t you think that’s worth staying up a little past your bedtime? I’m tired. [A look of disappointment crosses Rayla’s face.] Fine. What do you want to talk about?

[eastendies]

Okay guys I've been thinking (and I've been reading medical papers and all abt this to educate myself but by no means am I a psychologist) but what if we had a Sociopath!Callum AU?

HEAR ME OUT OKAY

So let's classify sociopaths as Antisocial Personality Disorder (ppl who have a hard time/can't emphasize w ppl due to a mix of nature/nurture) and Callum already has the beginnings of it--he had an abusive dad who we can say has ASPD genetics and a childhood enforcing ASPD behavior (you know, crappy). In this AU Callum would have ASPD (be a sociopath) but start seeking treatment around the time he's with Chris in the military.

Due to the fact that Callum's AslSPD is not very severe and he's actively trying to gain more healthy relationships (maybe as a way to manipulate Chris into trusting him until he actually tries it), his relationship w Chris is the first real meaningful one he has before Chris dies, from a battle wound this time, and his death (the stress of it and how he missed the healthy relationship) prompts him to continue treatment in Walford while staying w Mick

Now Callum still keeps some of his old behaviors, such as being intentionally very nice in order to manipulate people into liking him and doing what he wants, and keeping the image of this clumsy guy who no one really suspects could have ASPD, but he still misses a real relationship. (Sociopaths get p bored apparently). So he gets involved w Whitney by being his normal manipulative self but then his therapist (VERY HEAVILY) suggests that he actually trust her w the fact that he has ASPD. Since Callum is, you know, gay, he isn't using her for sex but for a need to have an intimate relationship w someone, so he tells her, to which Whitney freaks and shuts down, but comes around in a few weeks once Callum is insistent that he is ACTIVELY SEEKING HELP and gives Whitney complete control of their relationship so that she can leave whenever she wants/force him to be open abt how he's feeling. Whitney reluctantly agrees, and they have an actual functioning relationship, which is all Callum really wanted from her.

Callum is feeling like a new man! During this time he makes great strides in emphasising and caring about other people and changes his behavior to be more assertive and more like a jerk (instead of his default nice, manipulative side) and things are going well! His job at the funeral parlor helps him by having him emphasize with people daily and use the practices his therapists teach him. No one outside of Stuart or Whitney knows about his APD, however. And that's when Ben shows up.

Ben comes back to Walford after staying in Portugal, walks into the funeral parlor where Callum is working with Jay, and after about a week of being exposed to Callum's behavior and watching a few times where he accidentally relapsed, immediately catches on that Callum's a sociopath. Bc of Ben's shady business and experience in prison/juvie, he can spot the manipulation tactics Callum uses and confronts him about in both passive aggressively and normal aggressively. Most of their interactions go like this:

"Stay away from Jay and Lola and the people I care about you manipulative--"

"Leave me ALONE, I don't even KNOW you"

Now Callum is a bit scared since Ben is so insistent that maybe someone will believe him (even if everyone thinks he's the nicest guy in Walford) and his therapist says to ignore him but Ben can be reallyyyyyy irritating in that flirty aggressive way that Callum really hates and so this one time where he and a group of friends (Whitney, Lola, Bex, Louise, Jay, etc) that happens to include Ben get kinda drunk and Ben needles him abt it again ("I'd start crying but I bet you wouldn't even feel bad about that, would you, lover boy?") Callum breaks and drags him outside where no one can see/hear (which Ben doesn't protest to, interestingly) and basically yells at him to leave him alone bc yeah, he DOES have a ASPD but he's trying to get BETTER. He is actively trying to make his life HEALTHIER and Ben has no right to judge him when he doesn't even KNOW him or what Callum has been through or how he's trying to manage his personality disorder so FUCK OFF.

Ben just stand there, gaping. Kinda shocked. Very shocked, really. Cause Callum broke his nice guy persona and told him to fuck off after confessing to being yeah being a sociopath but one who is trying to get better.

So when Callum leaves the bar immediately after this encounter (gotta get his keys), Ben feels a little bit shitty. Maybe a lot of a bit shitty. But also a part of him thinks he's still being manipulated, so he goes to talk to Stuart. After some prodding, Stuart tells him Callum was a weak kid and their father's abuse made him harden into someone who couldn't really feel and it's been a problem their whole lives. Stuart is a bit wary of Callum in this AU bc of the ways Callum has manipulated him before, but its not like Stuart is a prize either and he recognized the impact Callum's changes has had on his life (though he mostly attributed it to Whitney being a god among men when it came to changing people which we know isn't true but Stuart is an asshat so).

Ben is still a bit apprehensive abt it but the next time he sees Callum (who gives him the cold shoulder despite his instincts of nice manipulation) he tries to pass off a small apology which Callum dismisses at first before accepting on the pretense of Ben not telling anyone and leaving him alone. Ben kinda offers that they can hang out sometime maybe and Callum is like "fine fine" and at said pint outing Ben shares his experiences w sociopaths in prison and in his "line of work" and makes it clear why exactly he didn't trust Callum in the first place. Callum actually opens up a little abt his childhood, something he's barely even done with Whitney, and and the two get drunker and Ben flirts with Callum a little with less "you're a virus of Satan" vibes and Callum maybe likes it a little so doesn't protest too much and then the next thing he knows they're out in the back and Ben's kissing him and Callum kisses back and Ben realizes that Callum is DEFINITELY not straight and mumbles something to this effect and Callum freezes. Just freezes. His face goes blank, he realizes he miscalculated SEVERELY and oh my god he could lose Whitney who he needed and Ben is looking at him weird and it's easier to shut everything off, push Ben away and tell him to NEVER talk to him again before rushing off and wondering what the hell he's going to tell his therapist oh my god he could lose EVERYTHING

And that's what I have for the AU so far!! Would anyone read this in fic form?? What do y'all think??