Push Me Away : Book 2 of the Teeth Series

17

There was a feeling of nostalgia that washed over Fallon as she woke up in Calum's house. While she had been hesitant to accept his hospitality, not that she had really had any other options, she was surprised to find that instead of feeling awkward and intrusive, she actually felt quite comfortable in the house she used to frequent so often.

It was calming, especially after a day where she had felt so alone and burdensome. Calum had always had a knight-in-shining-armor complex. An innate ability to know exactly when she needed saving and the willingness to step into that role. Even if he wasn't always prompt with his reactions. But then again, she often lacked the patience needed for the situations they found themselves in.

Once again, for what had to be the millionth time in the last few months, she found herself questioning her actions from that fateful day in February. When she had let her doubts cloud her judgment and when she had forgotten who she knew Calum to be and made a decision that they would both have to live with forever.

Would she do things differently if she knew what she did now? Maybe. In her head, she liked to think that she at least would have opened up a dialogue with him. That she would have voiced all of her concerns and the challenges they would have faced becoming parents in the midst of such a hectic time in their lives but maybe if they would have talked about it the end result would have been different. Or maybe it would have been the same but she wouldn't have had to walk that journey alone.

Hindsight is always twenty-twenty and though it still pained her to think about how things might have been she was doing her best to heed Calum's advice and begin to forgive herself. To show her own mind some grace and begin to pick up the pieces of her life with the hopes that one day she would find happiness again.

She would never be the same, but maybe that didn't have to be such an awful thing.

Her feet hit the carpet padded floor with a soft thud as she stood and made her way down the hallway into the kitchen determined to give herself a fresh start. She stopped short in the opening at the end of the hall, the warm smell of coffee filling her nose as she glanced around the open-concept space that housed the living room and kitchen area.

"Surprised to see you already up." She said, causing Calum to glance back over his left shoulder at her as she approached.

"Yeah, I wasn't sure what time you'd be up or what you might have going on today and I wanted to make sure there was coffee. I know you need it." He extended his arm, offering her a black mug with the old Five Seconds of Summer logo on the side.

Fallon snorted quietly. "A little shameless self-promotion?" She questioned, lifting the mug slightly in indication before raising it to her lips and taking a slow sip.

"Hush up." He shot black playfully as a quiet hum filled the air while Fallon savored the taste, he'd made it just the way she liked it and the corners of her mouth worked their way up into a smile.

"This is great. Thank you." She placed the mug on a coaster on the granite countertops and used her shirt sleeve to wipe at her mouth.

" 's not a problem. So, what are your plans for the day?"

"I uh, I'm not actually sure. I guess I should probably check the band group chat and see where everyone else is at as far as planning out the next few weeks. What about you?"

"Gotta wrap up prep for the album with the boys. We're only a few days out now so I'll probably be in the junk room on calls all day. Roy will be around. I think he was planning on spending some time outside. We've got a little meditation and workout area set up out there under a covering. You're welcome to use it."

"I'll keep that in mind and try to stay out of you guys' hair."

"You won't be in the way. Mi casa es su casa for as long as you need." His brown eyes shone as he looked at her with an affection so obvious that Fallon felt her throat growing dry and tears daring to prick at her eyes.

He cleared his throat and broke their gaze, the moment lost as quickly as it had come. "Let me know if I can help you with anything." Calum grabbed his own coffee mug off the counter and disappeared down the hall, closing the guest room door behind him as he stepped inside.

With a disgruntled sigh Fallon trod a similar path back to the bedroom she was occupying and opened her own laptop. As it booted up she checked her phone. Her band's group message was active, the other three members throwing out ideas as to what their next steps should be while the world was stuck in limbo for at least the following few weeks.

She typed out a message asking them to do a group video chat instead of fighting things out over text and less than a moment later the request to join the call came through her phone.

Immediately the room filled with the sound of her bandmate's voices all talking over one another and Fallon wondered if this had been her brightest idea. After only a few seconds she felt a headache forming.

"Guys!"

Fallon waited for a moment after speaking but the other members of her band didn't pause their conversation so she sighed and then practically screamed, "GUYS!"

Finally, she garnered their attention and her face flushed red. "It's only a few weeks, right? Is it such a terrible idea if we just, I don't know, take a few weeks off? When was the last time we actually had any stretch of time with no obligations? I think it might be good for all of us. There are certainly things outside of our careers that the four of us could work on." Her voice grew soft and shy as she neared the end of her spiel.

"Oh yeah, like what, Fal?"

Erin's sass was to be expected really so her sister's remark didn't surprise Fallon in the slightest.

"Like this for instance." The blue-haired girl exclaimed as she gestured between herself and her screen to indicate their still strained relationship. "You and I can't be at odds like this and still expect to make any kind of progress with the band. It's not fair to Chayse or Wes and it's time we settled this shit."

A long awkward pause occurred. Chayse and Wes looked on from their own screens in obvious discomfort until Erin spoke up.

"Chayse, Wes, we'll call you guys tomorrow. This is going to take a while."

An: so Falum officially moved in together!

Covid-19 is taking off

Erin and Fal are going to talk. What do you think happened between them? How will the conversation go?

Ily,
Sav 🖤

Ps: Sprinting_Ginger & gipsybengtzon will be here tomorrow!!! I can't wait for our girls weekend 🖤