Calum had seen Willow had her worst and Calum had seen Willow at her best. He knew what she loved and what she hated and he knew when something was wrong and he knew how to comfort her. He was possibly one of the only people in willow's life who were capable of doing such wonderful things. He brought her joy, happiness, warmth. Everything she could've asked for and more.
Willow never had anything in her life. She didn't have friends or a loving family. She was thrown away by those who claimed they loved her and tossed to the side like she was worth nothing. She had no safety in her home, no place to feel loved at beside being with Calum. No mothers to love her or to say goodnight to. Nothing.
Calum's existence to Willow meant so much so that she could never begin to express in words just how grateful she was. How wonderful her time with him was, how proud she was of him. How when everything was going wrong she could just see his damn smile and feel pure happiness. You could never begin to explain the pure pleasure Calum gave to everyone around him. In a way, he was a definition of happiness.
He would give up his world to have her. He would go to great lengths to do anything for her. To see her laugh so her frown which began to feel as if it would be permanent would go away, to make her laugh in the times when all she wanted to do was give in and cry. He wanted to show her what love was. Because she never had a good role model to give her that. She felt hopeless and alone living in a broken home with nobody to care for her until the four boys came along.
Willow could never, ever begin to express the love she had for Calum but tonight as her and her four best friends, her favourite people to ever walk this earth are sat around a table, she tries.
"I never knew what the definition of home was. Because I've never felt I had one. If I did, it was awful and unsafe and full of arguing and abuse and people say home is the best place to be, and I never understood that because I was living with god awful people. But to me, that was never home. The walls didn't keep me warm when I was cold, it was your arms that did.
The roof didn't make me feel safe, it was your embraces that left me feeling like there'd be no harm done to me.
People say your family is meant to be the ones who love and care for you the most but I never believed it meant blood related, because to me, my family is right here. The only ones who always stayed. The only ones who ever held their hands out when I thought I couldn't get back up. The only ones to listen and care and nurture me in the toughest times.
Every day when I walked into school I'd be wearing shoes that I'd had for three years and a jacket I hadn't been able to wash for a long ass time because I am poor, I do not have money. I thought the kids would laugh at me with the holes in my jeans and maybe they did but I never paid attention because I'd walk in and I'd see you four and we'd talk about fucking meerkats or some shit and it was like nothing was wrong, like everything was happy. And in the toughest times when people would remind me that I have nothing, I could only smile to myself and remind them: I've got these four idiots. And that's all I need. You are my home. And I thank you for that."
And although she believed it wasn't that great a speech and that she might've been semi drunk, they've got tears in their eyes and a fuzzy feeling in their stomach they like to call love.