Sweet Neighbor; cth

38//Apple Juice.

((A/N- their outfits are up above and the song for this chapter is Japanese Denim by Daniel Caesar))

-Hayley

It's been three hours since we've heard anything from the guys.

Gracie and I have just finished getting dressed after decorating the house. Red and white streamers are hanging from the ceiling, there's green cups stacked up on the tables and counters in the kitchen, I've hung white string lights along the rims of the doors, Gracie and I blew up about 79 balloons- one of them popped- we've baked about 4 batches of cookies, 2 batches of brownies and in every door way there's one mistletoe hanging.

Now we're sitting on the couch, in the living room, eating the leftover cookies that crumbled a little bit.

"Your dress is cute, by the way."Gracie speaks. I smile and fiddle with the hem on the tight, gray, mid thigh dress I wear.

"Thanks, but yours is better."I admit. She rolls her eyes. "Only cause you designed it."she laughs out. My eyebrows furrow in confusion. "What?"

"When you left, you left this dress on the mannequin and it was almost finished and you left your design book beside it. I finished the dress for you and decided to wear it tonight."she smiles and shrugs. I nod and take her hand. "Thank you, Grace."I laugh. She nods and smiles down the cookie in her hands.

"Ya know, two weeks in when you were gone, Ashton and Mikey had to put a lock on your door so Calum wouldn't go in there at night. Then one night, I was falling asleep in my room with Luke and I heard thudding coming from the other room. So, of course I got up, being curious,"she stops and takes a bite of the cookie before swallowing it and staring up at me with sad eyes.

"Grace, I-"

"I went down the hall and went to your room and saw the lock was broke off... and then I opened the door a little bit and I saw Calum laying on your bed with your pillow in his arms and he had a picture of you laying beside him."she finishes with a small smile.

My heart feels heavy, yet again. "Really?"

My best friend nods.

"For days at a time, he would stay in your room and just...lay there. It was kinda weird actually."she laughs. I laugh and nod. "That's Calum, weirdest person I know."I say softly.

She laughs and nods. Our laughs quiet down again.

"He's really in love with you, Hayes. I know he's not you're favorite person right now but he's looking better than Jackson right now-"

"Grace."I roll my eyes.

"Really, Hayes, think about it. Has Calum ever hurt you?"

As soon as I'm about to answer she cuts me off-

"The break up doesn't count, he did that for your own good. If you guys stayed together while you were in school, you'd drop out. Trust me, I know you."she says smugly.

"Okay, sure, Calum's never hurt me but-"

"No buts, that's it. He's never hurt you, Jackson has. That's all that matters."she crosses her arms.

The doorbell goes off. "Oh! Guests!"she chirps and stands up, smoothing out the dress. I hum and continue stuffing my face with cookies.

Grace walks to the door and soon I hear an excited scream fall from her lips. "Hey guys! Come on in!"

Grace walks in and behind her are 13 other people. Yes, I counted.

I stand from the couch and smile shyly. "Hey, I'm-"

"So you're Hayley."a girl with black hair comes forth and smiles at me. "Uh, yeah. How'd you know?"I ask her. "Oh, right, where are my manners,"she holds out a hand and laughs. "I'm Nia."

My heart drops for the 17th time since I've been here.

"Oh! You're Nia? Uh, hi!"I laugh nervously and take the girl's hand. "Yeah, it's nice to finally meet the girl Calum's writing songs for."she laughs. "It's nice to meet you too."I smile.

"Okay, pass the introductions, everyone can get to know each other later, for now let's just party cause its Christmas eve!"Michael shouts, entering. I smile at the the guys as they enter. Calum's eyes are focused on Nia and I, confused.

"Everyone help yourself to the cookies and brownies! The pizza and wings should be here in about 10 minutes! There's wine and beer in the kitchen but if you don't want to drink there's apple juice in the fridge."Gracie announces.

Calum looks at me with a small smile and mouths the words, 'Apple Juice'. I shrug and smile back.

Well, he remembers everything. Of course he does.

"I'm gonna go get something to drink, want anything?"I ask Nia. She shakes her head and smiles. "No but thanks, and by the way, if you're worried about the whole situation with Calum, don't be."she clarifies. I smile of relief.

I find myself walking away from the girl and striding into the kitchen to make myself a cup of apple juice.

I walk in and see two guys, who are of course taller than me but not as tall as Calum. One looks almost identical to Luke- i'll assume it's his brother- and the other has long curly hair.

I ignore them and grab a cup from the counter and take the apple juice from the refrigerator before pouring myself a cup.

"You never liked to drink,"

I turn my head and my heart leaps to my throat.

A weak smile forms on my lips. "I don't think I ever will."I laugh in almost a whisper. I take a sip from the cup and look away awkwardly, the scenes from 3 hours ago reappearing.

~
"Don't,"another hard gut punch to Jackson.
"Fucking,"a hit to his jawline.
"Touch her,"a sharp scrape to his cheek.
"Again!"Calum finished him off with a knee to Jackson's stomach.

He fell down to his knees on the ground.
~

"So, you look...stunning. As always."he smiles at me. I roll my eyes. "Are you really flirting with me? Three hours after nearly hospitalizing my boyfriend?"I scoff, yet lightly smile. He shrugs and leans against the counter.

"I told you, I'll wait for you, Hayley. That doesn't mean I'm not gonna try right now."he shoots me a wink before walking past me and heading back to the living room.

Well this is going to be a long night...

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A/N- THIS IS A FILLER

IT SUCKS ASS

BUT THATS OK CAUSE THE GOOD STUFF IS IN THE NEXT CHAPTER :D

-Jenna💕