10:53 [calum hood]

25

➸ r i l e y

As soon as we reached the car I broke down, not being able to hide my emotions any longer. Calum held me in a tight hug as I sobbed into his shoulder, letting out small whimpers every now and then.

Of course I knew that Luke would ask Mickey out--I mean, I was the one who set him up with her--but I wasn't fully grasping the fact on why he was in love with a maniac. That's just what I did, wasn't it? I set my best friend up with a maniac. I was to blame here, so I shouldn't be upset about this.

What upset me most was the harsh words that Luke had spat at me. I knew I deserved them, but it still pained me to hear them come out of his mouth.

"What did that asshole say to you?" Calum demanded, wiping the wet stream of tears under my eyes. "Did he hurt you? I swear to God--"

"No, no, he didn't do anything, really. I guess I just overreacted and..." I trailed off, whimpering. "He's asking Mickey to be his girlfriend soon."

He gave me a puzzled look. "Isn't that what we wanted? For them to get together so that they would be out of our hair?"

I shrugged. "Yes, but--"

"But what?" Calum interrupted, giving me a long stare. "This is what we wanted and we got it, and now you're second guessing it? Isn't that a bit hypocritical?"

"I just don't want my best friend to be in love with maniac," I blurted out.

Calum paused for a moment and the only sound audible was the pounding of the rain against the roof of the car. "You don't get to choose who you love in this world," he said quietly, "it kind of just happens. I fell in love with a maniac too, but I'm happy about it, because you're my maniac and I'm yours."

I gave him a faint smile but my heart was fluttering at his words. He thought I was insane as well, which was totally true, and I had never looked at life in the way he had. "Calum, I love you."

"I love you too," he said soothingly. "The main point is that you should let him be happy. If Mickey makes him happy, then let him have her. It's his decision and not yours."

I nodded. "Does this mean I have to go back in there and apologize?"

Calum shook his head, still holding me in his arms. "Not today. Give it a break, and you can go back tomorrow." He released me from his grasp and started the car, driving away from Ashton's house and back to our neighborhood.

"Now what?" I asked curiously, and my voice was still hoarse from all the crying I had just done.

"Now we enjoy the rest of our New Years Day at my house cuddling and eating pizza," he said simply, reaching across the center console to grab my hand and intertwine our fingers together.

I was actually really looking forward to taking the rest of the day off to relax after the drama of this afternoon. It was almost dinnertime, and I needed to get home soon because of school the next day.

School.

"Shit, we have school tomorrow," I exclaimed with a frown. "These past few weeks have been so amazing and now we have to go back to that--"

"Relax, you'll have me there with you," he soothed, tracing circles with his thumb on the back of my hand. "And we could always ditch."

I giggled softly as we pulled in to Calum's driveway. I noticed his mom's silver Prius parked off to the side, which was strange considering she always had appointments, even on holidays.

"What's your mom doing home?" I wondered out loud, causing Calum to crinkle his eyebrows in confusion.

He stepped out of the car slowly, letting the sound of rain fill my ears once more. Calum didn't reply, but instead he met me at the front of the car and grabbed my hand in his once more. He led me up the front steps and unlocked the door, slowly stepping inside.