▹ 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐲 ═ 𝟝𝕤𝕠𝕤

°𝕡𝕣𝕠𝕝𝕠𝕘𝕦𝕖

"What?"

"Jesus. Hello to you too, Livvy," my longtime best friend, practically brother, says in mock offense.

My eyes widen, "Sorry, Cal. Hey, how are ya? Actually, wait—" I peel the phone back and glance at the time in the top left before bringing it back to my ear, "what are you doing awake?"

I hear his chuckle crackle through the line, "Dude, it's 9am in Sydney."

"Dude, you never wake up until, like, noon unless someone's holding a metaphorical gun to your head," I retort.

As he laughs at my deadpan response, I settle onto the couch and cross my legs.

"That's not always true and you know it," Calum defends, "and to answer the question, I'm good. The real question is 'how are you?' We kept missing each other for the last three catch-up calls. THEN Ash had the audacity to rub it in my face that you spoke to him for two hours on Sunday. Two HOURS, Livvy, and I don't even get a text," he exclaims.

I find his dramatically angsty teenage girl rant hilarious, but I let him continue for fun.

"Has anyone ever told you you're needy and dramatic?" I ask, jokingly.

"Shut up," he mutters.

I chuckle, "Again, sorry, Cal. I guess I'm more of an Ash girl," I joke.

"Yes, we all know this, yet you and Ash pikachu meme every time me, Mikey or Luke bring this up."

My cheeks heat up slightly, but I ignore it, "That's because you three are immature idiots."

"Whatever. I know everything," he says, sounding smug.

"Oh, are you saying you're psychic? Maybe you should ditch bass for a career as a psychic," I tease, trying my best not to laugh and ruin the joke delivery.

"You know what, boo you," he says.

"Whittle Cawum is upset," I tease in my best baby voice.

I can practically feel him rolling his eyes as he mumbles incoherently in response.

"I don't know why I put up with you."

"It's because you love me and I'm awesome," I respond.

"True," he snorts, seemingly triggered that he had to admit I'm right, "but I didn't call for you to bully me. I called to let you know that we're coming back in a few days."

I straighten up, dropping my feet off the couch and shifting to the edge of the seat.

Calum and the boys had been in Sydney for about six months now for some extended break. That means I hadn't seen them in person for six months. It was really rough for the first few months because they're four of my best friends in the entire world, especially Cal and Ash, and we went from us six hanging out almost every day to only catching each other over call or FaceTime every other week.

"Back? As in Angel City?" I ask, scared he may just be messing with me.

As his laugh floods through the phone speaker at the mention of my nickname for LA, I smile small. There's so many inside jokes that have been collecting dust in my memories since the boys have been gone.