The next morning I wake up feeling more content than I have in a very long time. For the first time in what seemed like forever everything was going well. Calum and I were in a really good place, I mean within a few months we would be married and that in itself was like a dream come true for not only me, but Calum as well.
Our families were both doing great and our friends were....well there may of been a few issues going on with them but that was okay. I had learned a very long time ago that nothing in life was ever going to be one hundred percent perfect, after all you had to experience the bad to really appreciate the good.
My eyes drift over to Calum who was sleeping peacefully beside me, Walker was cuddled up right next to him which makes me smile. I really couldn't imagine waking up to a better sight, except maybe Calum cuddled with our kids.
I carefully hop out of bed, not wanting to wake either of my boys and make my way to the bathroom. Once I had been toilet and brushed my teeth I made my downstairs in to the kitchen and start getting breakfast ready.
I already knew that Calum was going to have the hangover from hell and I also knew that a good fry up would be exactly what he would need.
About fifteen minutes later I was almost finished with breakfast but my attention is soon directed to the sound of a knock on the front door.
I make sure to turn off the elements for everything before making my way to the front door. I open it to find a very tired but happy looking Luke on the other side.
"Hey Luke." I greet giving him a smile. I never expected to see one of those boys this early considering the night they had last night.
"Morning G." Luke says then lets out a big yawn as he steps inside.
"Why didn't you use the key?" I ask him. All of our friends knew where our spare key was and they usually always used it.
"I forgot about it." Luke shrugs. "Do you have fruit loops?" Luke asks raising his eyebrows at me as we enter the kitchen.
"Is the sky blue?" I reply and Luke snorts at me before pointing at one of the cupboards. I smile and nod at him letting him know that that was in fact where my beloved cereal was kept.
"So you don't seem very hungover today.." I note and Luke gives me a lopsided grin as he grabs the fruit loops from the cupboard.
"Well I wasn't nearly as drunk as your husband to be was."
"Really?" I question him. I knew exactly what the boys were like when they drunk together and they usually all ended up on the same level of intoxication.
"Really." Luke nods as he pours himself a bowl of fruit loops. "I don't know....I just wasn't really feeling it and so I switched to water while the others didn't." Luke chuckles and I have to smile. I'm sure Ashton and Michael were feeling just as bad as Calum was today and honestly, the thought of that was so amusing to me.
"Cal wasn't too much of a hassle when he got home was he? I always kind of forget how wifed up my best friends are and that they all have someone waiting at home for them." Luke admits as I grab two plates from the cupboard. The food that I made for breakfast was all ready and jus waiting to be served up.
"Uh he was..." I struggle to find the right words as images of last night run through my mind. "He wasn't a hassle at all." I tell Luke doing my best to seem neutral. The last thing I wanted to speak about with Luke was Calum and I's sex life, no matter how great it was.
"Oh good." Luke says looking genuinely relieved. It was sweet that he always tried to think about us girls but it wasn't like we couldn't handle our significant others drunk.
"Do you want any?" I ask Luke as I start serving the food, I had opted to make bacon and eggs, the ultimate hangover breakfast meal. He shakes his head in response, I'm guessing he was more than happy with his bowl of fruit loops.
So what's up with you blondie?" I question and Luke shrugs in response. Well that told me a whole lot. "Have you um...talked to Claudia recently?" I dear to ask. I was still yet to speak to Claudia since her wonderful homecoming and I hadn't gotten a chance to speak to Luke but from what I had heard from the others, he was not open to talking about it. I hoped that I might have some more luck.
"No and I don't plan to." Luke answers sharply and I almost regret bringing it up...almost.
"Don't you think you two should talk?"
"She killed my baby Genie, I really don't have anything to say to her." Luke answers bitterly. "Why are you even trying to defend her?" Luke questions me and I frown at his question. I didn't think that I was trying to defend Claudia, I just thought that after everything that Luke and her had been through that she at least deserved the chance to explain everything to him.
Luke and Claudia both needed to talk things over, not matter how much the two of them thought that they didn't. It was so frustrating for myself and the others. How could we be friends with two people who practically refused to be around each other?
"I'm not-" I start but Luke cuts me off.
"Doesn't it piss you off that you and Calum's baby was just taken away from you? The two of you had no choice in the matter but she did." Luke says and I'm taken back at his words. How could he even bring up the miscarriage. What Claudia and I went through was completely different. We were different.
"If Claudia did choose to get an abortion then that's her choice and I will probably never understand why she did but neither will you Luke and you know why that is? Because you weren't there. You weren't there when she needed you the most so what did you think she was going to do?" I yell and Luke blinks at me in surprise. "You completely shut her out because she made a mistake and then you got drunk and sleep with her and then shut her out again."
"You don't-" Luke goes to explain but this time it's my turn to cut him off.
"No. Don't try and make any excuses Luke, I know that Claudia broke your heart but you broke hers too and I think you forget that." I point out to him. "Have you even thought about what it was like for her to make the decision and then go through with it all by herself? I understand that you are pissed off at the world Luke but that isn't Claudia's fault."
"I'm never not going to be angry about what she did Genie and I'm not going to apologize for that." Luke says after a few seconds of silence.
"Well maybe you should look past your anger and just talk to her. You both need the closure Luke...I mean how do you think you are going to move on otherwise?"
"I have moved on." Luke snaps and I have to roll my eyes at him.
"Sure and that's why we're having this conversation right now right? because you've moved on?" I shake my head at him in disappointment. I knew it was hard for him and I knew that nobody would ever understand just how hard but I also knew that once Claudia and him had really talked things through then life would be a lot easier for the both of them.
It isn't good for anyone to bottle up that many emotions.
"Whatever Genie." Luke dismisses and a small sigh escapes my lips. There really was nothing else that any of us could do. It was Luke's life and if he wanted to talk to Claudia then he would but none of us could talk him in to it, no matter how hard we tried.
"And lets not ever bring up my miscarriage again." I tell Luke and his face drops. "I don't care if in your eyes it some sort of justification for you to hate Claudia."
"Genie, I'm sorry." Luke says softly. "I didn't mean for it to come out like that."
"Okay."
Luke's about to say something but he's cut off by the sound of Calum's voice.
"Genie." I hear Calum before I see him and when I do, I can't help but smile as he tiredly makes his way in to the kitchen. He looked absolutely exhausted but also very adorable. Sleepy Calum had always been and would always be cute. "Luke." Calum mutters looking confused at the sight of his friend.
"What is going on?" Calum asks looking between Luke and I.
"Nothing." Luke answers for the both of us. "Talk to you later." Luke says before storming out of the kitchen. The sound of the front door slamming letting us know that he had left.
"Uh what was that?" Calum frowns as he takes a seat at the table.
"Claudia." I answer simply and Calum's face instantly changes. He looks annoyed and I knew why, he had told me a couple of days ago to not talk to Luke about the whole Claudia thing but I really had to. This whole situation needed to be resolved and I wasn't afraid to give Luke or Claudia a push in that direction.
"Genie I told you not to talk to him about it."
"It needed to happen Calum." I point out before placing a plate in front of Calum. "I figured you would need this."
"Thanks." Calum smiles appreciatively. "So what was said?" Calum asks me and I shake my head at him.
"I basically just told him that he needs to bite the bullet and talk to Claudia and before you try and lecture me, he needed to hear it."
"Okay." Calum shrugs shooting me a small grin.
"Okay.." I frown at him in confusion.
"You're right when you say he needs to hear it, I guess the boys and I are bit soft on him but you aren't and I think he needs that." Calm replies taking me by surprise.
"You literally told me a few days ago to not bring Claudia up with him."
"I know but I also knew you wouldn't listen."
"Well aren't you cunning." I snort. "I literally did the dirty work so you boys wouldn't have to."
"To be fair, the guys and I all gave you girls the same speech and we knew it would only be a matter of time before one of you said something to him."
"Cheeky." I tell him before joining him at the table. "So how are you feeling?" I ask in fake concern.
"Honestly Genie, I've been better." Calum mutters giving me a pained smile as he starts on his egg.
"You boys really never learn." I tease and Calum shoots me a small glare. I smile in amusement at his hungover state, the boys really did not know their limits when it came to drinking and they were the ones who suffered.
"What time did I get home?" Calum mutters.
"Very late."
"God you have no idea how much I wanna kill Luke right now." Calum grumbles and I have to hold back a laugh.
"Was it his brilliant idea to go clubbing?" I ask though I'm sure I already know the answer.
"Yeah, he basically guilt tripped the guys and I in to going." Calum says. "He really doesn't need our help to get laid and I don't know why he thinks he does."
"I don't think he needs help with that Cal, I think he just misses you all." I knew it was hard for Luke, all of his friends were in such serious relationships and he didn't have anyone. Things had changed for them all so much and in such a short time too, I'm sure Luke just missed the guys hanging out.
"That and he wants a distraction from Claudia."
"Yeah most likely." I say in agreement. "Do you think he'll be okay?"
"He'll be fine Genie." Calum reassures and I sincerely hope he is right.
<~>
-Two Hours Later
"Hey babe?" I hear Calum call out. I was currently situated in the living room, catching up on the latest season of The vampire Diaries and I had been for the last hour or so while Calum had been taking a nap. I was sure that he wasn't feeling too hungover anymore, just tired.
"In here." I answer before pausing the current episode that I was on. Calum comes bouncing happily in to the room with Walker close on his heels. I swear sometimes that dog was more in love with Calum than I was. "Good nap?" I ask Calum in amusement as he plops himself down next to me on the couch, with his laptop in his hands.
"Definitely." Calum smiles looking a lot better than he did this morning. "Remind me to not go out drinking with the boys next time."
"I'll try."
"So anyway I have something that I want you to look at." Calum says, a very excited look on his face.
"Okay and what may that be?" I ask him in pure curiosity. Whatever it was, he was clearly excited about it, which was absolutely adorable.
"I found the perfect wedding venue." Calum announces proudly. "Well it will be the perfect venue if you love it as much as I do." He adds before pushing his laptop in to my lap.
My eyes focus on the screen which was on some website for a resort. I raise my eyebrows in curiosity as I read over the page. The venue Calum had found was a gorgeous resort about three hours from where we lived, and it offered to two different areas as wedding venues. The resort has a really extravagant but beautiful looking garden area and it was also located right on a beach so that was the other area it offered. Calum and I had already decided that we wanted an outdoor wedding, so a garden wedding or a beach wedding was actually quite perfect.
"And considering it's so close to our batch, I figured we could all rent a whole bunch of them since it's not very busy around this time of the year." Calum adds and my heart feels like it's going to burst. It was honestly the perfect idea, it was very us.
"You know I really love and hate you right now." I tell him and he snorts at me.
"Why?"
"Because I have been looking for the perfect venue for what feels like forever and you just found it like that." I explain to him and watch as a beaming smile lights up his face.
"You think it's the perfect venue?" Calum asks and I nod in response. My heart feels so unbelievably full in those moment. Calum and I had basically just decided on a wedding venue and that meant we were one step closer to getting married, we were step closer to him becoming my husband and it just made me so ridiculously happy.
"Well Genie I did tell you that I wasn't just booty, I have brains too." Calum jokes and I shake my head at him in amusement. It was so refreshing for me that even after all this time, Calum and I's relationship hadn't changed much. I mean we had grown together and our relationship was different in some ways but I was glad that we could still joke around, the playful side of our relationship was till very much there and he was still very much best friend, In previous relationships of mine, after time things would always change and that change always resulted in a break up but that wasn't the case with Calum.
"I really love you Hood."
"And I really love you." Calum smiles cutely. "I was going to say Scott but you're going to be a hood very soon so it just didn't feel right."
"Right." I smile at him before looking back at the laptop screen. I knew that both of our mothers were going to be more than pleased with our choice and that made me quite proud. I knew that they were both worried that we wouldn't be able to get everything together in time but so far Calum and I had been doing pretty well.
"So babe about last night." Calum brings up after a few seconds of silence.
"What about it?"
"I wasn't too aggressive or anything right?" Calum asks taking me by surprise. He may of been a little more assertive than usual but he wasn't in any way aggressive.
"No of course not." I tell him before placing his laptop on the coffee table.
"Okay good." Calum looks almost relieved and I can't but wonder why he would think he may of been aggressive.
"You know I'm not a fragile doll or anything right?"
"Uh yeah?" Calum looks at me in confusion.
"I just mean that if you want to be a little more rough then I can handle it." I casually tell him and his eyes widen for a second before a smirk crosses his lips.
"Good to know."
"Okay." I lightly laugh. "Shall we move on?"
"Or we could talk about how you took complete advantage of me last night." Calum says dramatically and I push his shoulder.
"Oh shut up, I did not."
"I know you didn't." Calum chuckles.
"How drunk were you really?" I question him. "You seem to remember a whole lot."
"Oh come on Genie, I remember everything when it comes to you." Calum admits. "No matter how drunk I may or may not be."
"Really?" I ask him sounding a lot more surprised than I intended.
"Yes." Calum answers simply. "I remember everything."
A/N: Apologies for the stupid ending but I just needed to end it somewhere! Also I'm very sorry for the lack of updates! I have been very busy with life and at times I've had really bad writers block but I've finally finished the chapter and I already know what's happening in the next one so it won't take nearly as long to get out.
Just in case any of you didn't see it on my wall, after going back on forth for what seems like forever I have decided to bring back Hello Heartache at some point. I know there are plenty of questions about the whole Luke and Claudia situation and I plan on answering all of those in their story! Also I am going to need some extra characters for it so if you want to be involved then just send me a private message!
Random little note but I over the last few chapters I have begun to drop a few hints about things that are going to be happening in the near future of The Baby Project and so far only one of those things has kind of been picked up on! It's actually really fun as an author to drop little hints because I know in time that when people re-read previous chapters after the future events then it'll make sense ;)
Last but no least a very huge thank you to all of you readers. The Baby Project got ranked in fan fiction the other day and (As far as I know) it's the first time I've ever gotten a ranking so thank you so very much!! You are all so wonderful and really mean the world to me. I promise to make updates a lot more regular and again I'm sorry for the huge gap in between xxxx