“Let’s do it then.”
I choked on the air I took in. The shade of pink plastered on my cheeks grew hotter and brighter the minute I had heard him. This is when I felt like running and jumping straight into the ocean—letting myself drown into oblivion and never be heard of again. “What?”
“Just close your eyes Ashton,” he said softly.
Naturally I’d question him and argue on what he had to say, but I was completely exhausted. So I closed them. I could hear the shifting of seats and the crinkling of plastic wrappers from the empty snack bags on the floor. Calum suddenly grabbed the hem of my shirt and tugged me towards his direction, until his lips captured mine. I felt my heart skip multiple beats, and there was that same feeling at the pit of my stomach again as we molded perfectly together.
Yep, there was definitely something there.
He suddenly pulled back moments later. I looked at him with an unread expression, and he only grinned at me with that smile of his I cave in to. I tried smiling back—but my smile resulted into some awkward thing that only made Calum laugh and leave the car. I hopped off as well in embarrassment, and we met up at a specific side as the two of us walked in the house, his arm wrapped around my side.
Not to sound like a teenage girl or anything, but what does this make us now? I couldn’t ask him. This would’ve been a lot easier if it was someone I had met someplace randomly, not my best friend. It’d be best if I just let this happen naturally. See where it goes from here.
Once we entered the house, I noticed that there was something different about it. It was clean. The mess that everyone made from the movie day to the blanket forts—they were all cleaned up nicely and gone. What’s even more obscure was the fact that it actually smelled nice. It didn’t smell like sweaty teenage boys anymore, but the ocean and freshly baked chocolate chip cookies.
“Mum?” I called out as we walked inside more. Calum and I exchanged glances because our parents didn’t warn us that they were going to pay a visit. We were just on the phone with them a few days ago, and they said they were busy with work and all to do so.
“Mum? Are you there?” Calum called out this time. There was no response for either of us.
We looked around for a few seconds until the two of us stumbled into the kitchen. The aroma of cookies was stronger than before in there, and we noticed a figure running back and forth wearing the apron that my mum wears whenever she’d cook something. But it didn’t look like my mum—nor did it look like Calum’s. The person turned their head to face us (probably heard us coming in) and immediately squealed. It was Jacey. I almost forgot that I gave her a copy of the house key for emergencies.
“Hey guys!” she greeted cheerily, removing the oven mitts she wore and gave Calum and I a hug. “You came at the right time, I made cookies!” She pointed at the tall stack of cookies on a large plate on top of the counter. Calum immediately sprinted towards the cookies and practically stuffed his face.
I chuckled at the sight, and looked back at Jacey with my arms folded. “You honestly didn’t have to clean the entire house for us and then bake cookies, short stuff.”
“Yeah, I know,” she looked up at me and shrugged. “Will’s at work, and I had nothing better to do. Plus, don’t your parents teach you that a clean house is a happy house? When I came in, it was like a pig sty! How are you able to live like that? Gross.”
I groaned and rolled my eyes. “You sound like my mum, Jacey.”
She only responded by pinching my cheek. “Only worse, right? Besides, you guys need a feminine figure in your life this summer… Or maybe I could hold a cleaning boot camp… But never mind that, I actually have a favor to ask. For both of you. It’s sort of urgent actually.”
Calum must’ve heard her, because he went back to where Jacey and I were standing and listened intently as he chewed on his cookie. I looked at him and snorted quietly. “Depends on what it is…” he raised an eyebrow and leaned against me.
“Well, you know that Will’s birthday is tomorrow right? And that he’s turning eighteen?”
The two of us nodded. “Yeah,” I said.
“Do you need for us to call in strippers?” Calum asked. “Because I know a bunch of good ones that give amazing lap dances like that one on my birthday, and she did this whole thing where she took the elastic band of my underwear and kind of gave it a little snap and then—“
“No! No, no, no, no strippers,” she pointed her index finger at Calum’s chest. “None of that stuff. I just want your guys’ help in planning his surprise birthday party. You idiots. Besides, I can give him a lap dance and he’d be totally fine with it.”
“Oh god,” Calum and I looked at each other as those words entered our ears. I began to fake regurgitate while he began to laugh hysterically. “That’s nasty! We didn’t need to know that!”
She slapped the both of us with an oven mitt in a playful manner and couldn’t help but laugh with us too. “I was just kidding, sheesh,” she rolled her eyes. “But are you guys free right now? I need help carrying a few things and buying the decorations and all.”
I felt a nudge from Calum, and that usually meant it was my decision. He’d just roll with whatever I agreed to. Since Jacey and Will Jay have been close friends of ours, I didn’t want to say no. Planning a party actually sounds pretty fun—a hell of a lot better than sitting around anyway.
“Yeah. Let’s go plan ourselves a fucking good party.”
- - - - - - - - - - - -
The first place we drove to was the /only/ party store in town. They do a really good job in meeting the needs of any possible party theme a person can think of. Because my birthday falls around this time, my parents and Calum’s would always buy their decorations here. And because of that, we've grown close with the owner and a few of their workers, and we consider them close friends of ours.
Walking inside, we were greeted by bright piñatas hanging from the ceiling. I accidentally hit my head on one of them because I forgot to duck my head, and the two behind me snickered at my clumsiness. I gave them both the middle finger, and the three of us chuckled together.
“Welcome to Party Palace!” a worker greeted from most likely hearing my loud thud. “How may I help you today?” They were standing behind a counter.
“Yeah, is Theo here today?” I questioned, rubbing the area that was hit. Getting a closer look at the employee, they turned out to be a young girl that didn't look over twenty.
“He’s in the storage room looking for something,” she replied with a smile. “Do you want me to give him a message that you’re all here to see him?”
“That would be fantastic, thanks,” Calum answered for me. Jacey nodded along, and I might as well nod because it would've been awkward if I just stood there like a potato. Not that I wasn't to begin with.
The worker left the counter and went through the door behind that must’ve led to the storage room. While she was gone, I glanced at both Calum and Jacey, who were casually looking around the store in different directions. “So did you have like, a certain theme in mind short stuff?” I asked Jacey.
“Mmm…” she tapped her bottom lip as her eyes continued to wander around. “Will’s a dork, so he likes anything that has to do with Pokémon. Maybe we can do that? But not too childish though.”
“So he’s basically like Michael,” Calum pointed out.
“To be honest, he’s exactly like Michael it’s terrifying! Like, Will only cares about the food at parties too. Maybe that’s why they get along so well.”
“They’re probably brothers separated at birth, then,” I said. We all broke out into a good laugh. The worker returned from the room after with Theo (the owner, around middle-aged, and close friend of ours) following straight behind with a large grin on his face seeing us.
“Ashton! Calum! Jacey!” he waved at the three of us. “What brings you guys here? Ashton’s birthday isn’t until July.” He scratched the back of his neck with crinkled eyes from excitement.
Calum quickly ran over to the counter to excitedly reveal the news. “It’s for Jacey’s boyfriend,” he sang the last word in a sing-song voice, and I could feel Jacey’s eyes shooting daggers at Calum. I cupped my mouth and stayed back—refraining myself from laughing harder.
Theo gasped dramatically. “Jacey Reynolds! You have a boyfriend? Since when? What’s his name? Do your parents know about this boy? You never told me!”
“Actually, they do,” she responded with a fake smile she puts on when she’s furious. She casually walked over beside Calum and tugged on his ear. Calum winced in pain, which only caused me to snort behind even more. “I was going to break the news, but someone here beat me to it.” She pulled on Calum’s ear one more time.
“Well, you can tell me the whole story as I help you plan this party,” Theo clasped his hands together and went out of the counter to meet with the three of us. “You have a lot of explaining to do, miss. Oh! And meet my niece, Camille. She’s working for me this summer.”
The three of us introduced ourselves politely to Theo’s niece, Camille, and proceeded to the party planning minutes after.
About an hour later, the process was close to being done. Theo was kind enough to recommend many different things that could incorporate well with Will Jay’s party. He even promised Jacey badass discounts. Calum and I just sort of let them do the talking, because Jacey probably only needed my car for all of this. Camille was trying to take mental notes as she stood next to me.
“Your boyfriend sounds a lot like Michael,” Theo chuckled. “Will Jay, right?”
She nodded her head. “Yep, Will Jay. And we were actually talking about it before! You should see them together, Theo. They’re like fraternal twins—it’s crazy.”
Theo and Jacey continued on with their party planning. My legs were beginning to tire out, so I walked away from them for a while and found myself a place to sit by the helium-filled balloons. I sat on the floor, twirling the ribbon tied onto a random balloon with my finger.
“Hey,” someone said, coming in towards my direction. I looked up, expecting it’d be Jacey, but it was Camille—Theo’s niece. She rested her body against the shelf in front of me. “Tired?”
“A bit,” I let out a soft laugh. “Party planning is exhausting.”
“That’s why girls do it instead of guys,” she chuckled.
Our conversation died down after our shared laughter faded away. We awkwardly glanced around with the occasional eye contact. It was like I forgot how to socialize with girls (not counting Jacey, because she’s not considered a female—I’m kidding, I’m kidding) ever since the day I started feeling weird for Calum. I flashed a small smile at her and she’d giggle, which made me feel warm a bit.
“You know, you’re actually pretty cute,” Camille bit her bottom lip shyly.
“You’re a cutie yourself,” I flirted straight back, unsure of what the fuck I’m doing. Sometimes I say things out of instinct, and it doesn’t necessarily catch up with my brain.
“We should exchange numbers, or something.”
As soon as I opened my mouth to say a simple ‘I’d like that’, Calum barged in and interrupted my conversation with her.
“Sorry, he’s seeing someone already,” he responded for me instead, not sensing any humor in the way he spoke. He sounded dead serious. He walked over towards me and pulled me up from the ground.
“Oh really?” she said in slight disbelief, eyeing the two of us. “Do you mind if I ask who?”
Calum was ready to answer her. “Me—“
“Meeee—phone!” I saved uneasily, forcing out a chuckle. “No one though! It’s really no one, Cal’s just messing with you.” I rubbed my nape in an awkward manner. But it was true. Whatever Calum and I were at the moment, it wasn’t exactly ‘an item.’ None of us popped the question.
This was the most awkward thing ever. I heard Calum cough a bit as he slung an arm around my shoulder. I really wanted to get out of here. Thank god Jacey had finished purchasing her things minutes later, and Calum and I zoomed out of the store and said our brief goodbyes to the people in them.
Never did I ever want that to happen again.
- - - - - - - - - - - -
Jacey wanted us to keep all of the party décor. We drove back to the house and hid the decorations in the house’s garage, so that Will Jay wouldn’t get suspicious with anything. Jacey also asked if Calum and I wanted to hang out with her and Will Jay once his shift was finished, and we agreed to it.
Soon after we were finished unloading the decorations and storing them in the garage, we went back on the road to watch a movie and grab a bite after. In the car, Jacey decided to turn up the radio when One Direction’s ‘What Makes You Beautiful’ came on, and sang her heart out along with Calum. I, on the other hand, just groaned and continued to drive because it was such an overrated and lame song.
Finally—after minutes of girly boy band songs on the radio and Jacey fangirling over how hot Harry Styles was, we reached the movie theatre. The sun was setting, and it was getting pretty dark and cold out. I parked at the closest space I could spot, and the three of us got out to meet Will Jay—who was out of his aquarium uniform and in casual clothing. Jacey ran and tackled her boyfriend into a hug.
“Hey guys,” Will Jay grinned at us and waved. He kept his arms around his girlfriend. “Thanks for dropping her off to me. What movie are you planning to see?”
I saw Jacey whisper something to Will Jay in which I could exactly read. Will Jay whispered back, and when she turned around to face us, I could tell that her expression soon changed. It looked like she fucked up with something—but I don’t know what.
“I think we’re planning to see The Amazing Spider Man 2,” Calum said. “I don’t know. I’m down for a good Marvel movie. Depends on what you guys want though.”
“Um actually…” Jacey trailed off.
Will Jay decided to just say it after the two looked at each other. “My family’s having a birthday dinner for me tonight because they won’t be here tomorrow. And they wanted to meet Jacey too, so… they’re waiting for me to get her.”
“And we kinda have to go right now because they’re parked here,” she added, with an apologetic look on her face. “Sorry guys… I totally forgot Will had a birthday dinner. Can we take a rain check?”
It wasn’t necessarily a bad thing to be ditched by them. In fact, it didn’t mind me at all. I rubbed my nose and glanced over at Calum who only chuckled. “You don’t even have to say sorry, we understand. Have fun, okay? Ashton and I can go on a date tonight.”
I coughed. Jacey only squeezed into Will Jay tighter the minute she had heard Calum’s words and shot me a playful wink. My cheeks were beginning to warm up again.
“Have fun on your date then!”
That was the last time we saw them for the evening. I took a deep breath with eyes on the floor, because I didn’t know what to do now. Calum and I have seen plenty of movies together before, but it was those feelings again that are so conflicting to me. These damn feelings.
“Looks like I’m taking you out today, bubby,” Calum brought up in the awkward silence between us.
“Are you paying for everything?” I tilted my head slightly, messing with him a bit.
“Of course I am! I’m a gentleman—my mum raised me the right way,” he smiled. “Let’s go?”
We bought tickets from the booth to see Spiderman. Calum was extremely excited, because he’d read the comic based on this one a few days ago, and he was anxious to see how the movie turned out. We also bought our usual movie snacks, and found seats inside the almost empty theatre. I was pretty surprised that there weren’t much people inside.
The beginning of the movie began to play as the lights turned off. Calum ate the bucket of popcorn on his lap excitedly, anticipating Spiderman’s appearance. I chewed on my gummy worms in silence, leaning back onto my seat more. Was it weird that I wanted to hold his hand? Was it weird that I wanted to do all those cheesy things couples do in the theatres? Was it weird that I didn’t give a damn if people were going to look and judge me for my actions?
Our hands touched from reaching into the popcorn at the same time. I retrieved my hand back instinctively, but he only grabbed it from my side and placed it on top of the armrest of the chair so that he could put his on top of mine. He laced our fingers together, and even though our hands were sticky and gross from the salt and butter, I held on until the end.
- - - - - - - - - - - -
As part of our ‘date’ (Calum still insists on calling it that), we drove to Cousin’s to have our dinner. Mau hasn’t seen Calum yet since the past year, and he’s been dying to see her again. Plus—they served stuff that was amazing for meals in any time of the day.
Because the sun was fully down and it was night time, Cousin’s only had a few people eating around. It wasn’t as crowded as it was in the morning. Entering inside, Calum opened the door for me, which only had him earn a small shove on the shoulder. I laughed and thanked him for the nice act, though.
“ASHTON! CALUM!”
I had a wide grin on my face once we were greeted with familiar faces again. We all gave each and every worker a hug and high-fives, and even though I’ve seen them already with Luke days back, I was still ecstatic to see them. It was like the old times—and it made me happy.
“Where’s Mau?” Calum asked one of the workers, Jeffrey, who was also Mau’s eldest son. We attended his wedding two years ago, and now his wife is pregnant with their first child.
“She’s out manning the counter, I believe. You, Calum, are in big trouble with my mum for getting drunk that one day,” he patted his back. “But go give her a hello! She missed you lots.”
“Oh no,” Calum groaned in despair. “Who told her I got drunk anyway?”
I cleared my throat loudly as soon as their eyes fell on me. I awkwardly fixed my shirt and looked away. “Well, let’s go see her!” I motioned for my best friend to follow me because I was far too mortified to think about what was going on in Calum’s mind. “We gotta order too, I’m incredibly hungry.”
It was a good sign that he didn’t mention anything about it after. The two of us reached the familiar counter, where we were greeted by Mau. She had a large grin on her face the minute she had seen Calum right beside me.
“Mau!” Calum exclaimed in pure joy the minute he’d seen her. “Have you been getting your beauty sleep lately? You’re looking younger every year!”
“Do your parents tell you to say that stuff to me?” she let out a hearty laugh. “Ashton said the same thing when he came by a few days ago. But I know you boys just miss my cooking.” Which was true.
“Your cooking, yeah, but we definitely missed you more,” I pulled a cheeky grin.
“Oh, you boys,” she reached out to pull our cheeks. “And Calum—what’s this about you getting drunk with Michael one day? Didn’t your mum tell you not to drink?”
“Yes... But it was the annual carnival and—“
“That doesn’t matter, young man! You need to make wise decisions. What would your parents say if they found out? I hope that hangover gave you a lesson—“
I snickered quietly as he was punished. I watched as Calum tried to explain to Mau that he was being completely stupid that night, and they went on to this whole conversation that I found hilarious.
After Mau had finished her nagging, we placed our orders and went to our seats. I showed Calum the turtles that swam in the tank and our old pictures from years back before sitting in our usual spot at the corner of the bakery.
"You were the one who told Mau, didn't you?" Calum squinted his eyes at me. He began to rip miniscule pieces of the napkin he hand on his hands, and I wasn't sure if he was serious about it.
"Sorry..." I mumbled, pretending to be looking at something interesting at my phone.
He clicked his tongue at me. "You're lucky that I can never not forgive you."
The dinner arrived within minutes after ordering—since the bakery didn't have many customers at this time of the hour. Calum had ordered for the two of us because he paid for it, and he successfully chose our favorite: cheese steak sandwiches, a large order of fries, and root beer floats. Memories came rushing through me of the past, and I have never felt more content. Mau went ahead and placed our order at the table before leaving.
"Bubby, look," Calum held up a permanent marker in his hand. "She left us a marker to write on the wall."
I was already stuffing my empty stomach away with beefy goodness. Junk food didn't do me justice at all; I needed proper food. Before answering him, I chewed and swallowed quickly before wiping my mouth with my arm. "What are we going to write though? There's hardly any room in the wall now."
The wall right beside our table had multiple writings and drawings from the work of Calum and I since we were kids. There were drawings of us in cool super hero costumes and explosions, to us leaving little notes for each other if we went to Cousin's at separate times. It was just a collage of nostalgic memories of the past. It was so filled up that it looked like someone had graffitied all over it.
Calum took a good glance at the written wall. He sipped onto his root beer float as he did so. "I got something," he said, uncapping the marker and beginning to write on a tiny opening.
I watched him write whatever it was he needed to while I bit onto my sandwich. As soon as he was finished, I squinted at the writing for a better look, only to see that he had written the date. Confused, I took a second or two to try to understand the meaning behind it. "Why'd you write today's date, Cal?" I wrinkled my nose.
"Because," he had a goofy grin on his face.
"Because...?"
"Today marks a special day for me," he finished. "And by the end of the evening, it'll mean something to you too. At least... I hope so. Otherwise that would suck."
I didn't know what he meant by that. I didn't want to question him further either. So, I just went with whatever and ate my meal with a grin. Calum may be hard to comprehend—but it's fun being with him. He makes my life such a surprise.
Calum began to eat his food as well. We got into this whole conversation about how the summer might pan out for us, planning and suggesting a few things here and there. It surprised us how we didn't even bother going surfing yet—usually that was the first activity we looked forward to. There was also still the Ultimate Frisbee competition, the Battle of the Bands thing, birthdays; a long list. It was a lot to do in a short period of time. But we can do it. We always do.
"So was this the best date ever, or what?" Calum used a spoon to eat the ice cream from his root beer float, retaining a smug grin. "Actually let me rephrase that—am I the best date ever, or what?"
“Or what,” I retorted teasingly.
“You’re a mean person, Ashton Irwin,” Calum huffed with a small frown. I couldn’t help but laugh, and shrugged to joke around with him a little longer. “You owe me your fries for saying such a mean thing.” He took my serving of fries and slid it over to his direction.
Seeing my fries being taken away from me, I finally gave in. “Fine, fine, fine!” I reached out in attempt to grab them back. “You’re the best date ever— now give me my food back, you thief!”
- - - - - - - - - - - -
Cousin’s actually closed on us. We got kicked out because Calum and I had stayed there eating and talking for so long, and we had to drive back to the house. It was getting pretty late anyway, and Calum had to wake up early tomorrow for work.
We went our separate ways after going up the staircase. I waved goodnight, and went back to my bedroom where it was comfortable and quiet.
Closing the door behind me, I let out a long yawn. Everything about this week threw me off guard in many different ways—and I’m pretty sure normal’s not even a word in my dictionary anymore. I have to get used to whatever was at my way, and handle it with ease. I removed my shirt and shorts, slipping into my cool bed, a place where I had been waiting to get back in since I left. I checked my phone once more before closing my eyes, and seen that Michael had sent me something.
(1) From: Magic MIKEY
Meet my new mate, he’s a ninja :)
There was a picture attached to it. It was a selfie of him and this ‘ninja guy’ (who was probably just Luke wearing the dumb mask because I could see this blond quiff sticking out in a few edges). I chuckled and shook my head at how idiotic they can be.
I was actually pretty glad that Michael had found someone to hang out with this summer besides Calum and I. And plus—by the looks of it, they mesh really well together. Michael hardly finds people who connect with him in such a way like that.
To: Magic MIKEY
Sick man ! You gotta have him over for breakfast or something lol
After texting him back, I locked my phone’s screen and tucked it safely under my pillow. I buried my entire face on the soft object, taking a deep breath and letting out a long exhale. As soon as I was about to close my eyes, I heard my door creak open, followed by footsteps leading to my bed.
“Hi,” the person said—and it turned out to be Calum. He was now fully nestled beside me in bed, tucking himself under the sheets and wrapping it over my body as well.
I turned my body to fully face him. “Um, hi,” I chuckled. “What’re you doing here?”
“Didn’t I text you last night saying that it’s stuffy in my room?” he replied, scooting a little closer towards me. “Besides, I don’t want this day to end yet. There’s still one more thing I have for our date.”
My heart’s pace began to quicken. I bit my bottom lip before speaking again. “But Cal…” I whined softly, attempting to sound as calm as possible. “It’s late at night. I have to wake up early to wake you up for work tomorrow…”
“It’ll be quick, promise. C’mon,” I suddenly heard him shuffling through the darkness. The light from his phone screen lit up to show his face as he searched for something in it, holding onto earphones with a free hand. When he found what he was looking for, he smiled and handed me one ear bud to listen to. “Listen to this.”
I put the ear bud in my ear while he did. He pressed something on the screen and music began to play. This song sounded familiar; I’ve heard Calum sing it quite a few times before, but I never really caught on to the name of the track. It was a smooth R&B tune—and the singer began the first verse.
About not too long ago, I woke up feeling kind of blue,
Picked up my phone and I decided that I hit up you
We talked for a little while, ask me if I could roll through,
Met up, got food, and we spent time till the night was through
“Cal, I’ve heard this song before. Why are you making me listen to this—“
When the chorus came, Calum began to sing along.
Can I call you my own, and can I call you my lover?
Call you my one and only
Can I call you my everything, call you my baby?
You're the only one who runs my world
I was hushed after that. Instead of wondering why in the world was he singing to me, I just stayed there, and looked at him as his voice eased my mind. He continued to sing, and we looked at each other with stupid grins, faces only a few centimeters apart from each other.
I remember this night we had, outside on the grass us two,
Gazin' at stars who smiled as my eyes only turned towards you
There was no one else I needed and my love's never felt this way
I wasn't to sure if you would mind I was nervous but I had to say
I felt his arm fall on top of my waist as he pulled me closer, until our chests were pressed against each other. I awkwardly tangled our legs together to make me feel more comfortable. The music suddenly stopped, and I blinked at him a few times, wondering what was going on. Suddenly, I heard Calum’s voice speaking through the ear bud. He recorded himself talking.
‘Call me now, call me later, or call me whenever
Call me friend, call me lover, or call me whatever
I'll call you mine, no ownership implied whatsoever
I'll call it what it is, a natural blend together….
Ah, I can’t rap for shit. I’m sorry—that was pretty lame. Um. Hi, bubby! This is kind of awkward, considering the fact that you’re listening to my dumb voice while I’m watching you. I’m recording this at the movie theatre’s bathroom right now (you’re waiting for me outside), and I’m kind of scared because someone can walk in on me talking to myself any moment. So I have to make this quick. Well—I obviously really like you. Way more that what friends feel, and you should be aware of that too. And every time we kiss, there’s that feeling I don’t get when I get with my past girlfriends or dates. Like, never. [he chuckles, sighing after] And… I want to give it a try. I’ve been thinking about what you’ve told me in the car, and that was brave of you to confess like that. Now, I have to be brave too. So. [he takes a deep breath] Ashton Fletcher Irwin, my best friend of eighteen fucking years, can I call you mine? ‘
Everything fell silent. I was speechless—and I knew this time he wasn’t playing around. Blood was pumping rapidly through my red ears as I swallowed a large lump in my throat. Calum had said it. He had officially said it, and I couldn’t do anything.
“Kiss me if it’s a yes,” Calum whispered, brushing a thumb over my heated cheeks. “Push me off the bed if it’s a no.”
The answer was completely obvious to me. It was just getting it out of my chest. I felt like I was breathing irregularly from having my heart beat so fast—like I’ve lost all my senses.
But I gave him an answer. I leaned in and planted a small kiss on his soft lips. “Let’s sleep now,” I mumbled quietly, resting my forehead on his and closing my eyes. “You have work tomorrow…”
I could hear Calum trying to bite back his laugh in front of me seconds later in the darkness. A smile soon formed on my lips when I could sense that he was happy. It was his happy laugh. “Goodnight,” he whispered, releasing silent giggles from time to time.
But what shocked me the most was that I heard him sniffle right after. He cried to sleep. Not from sadness, but from sheer happiness.
● ● ●
[ A/N: AHAHAHAH WOW THIS CHAPTER WAS A DOOZY so many stuff going on - sorry if i took so long in updating, my last one was pretty short and i wanted to make it up to my lovely readers by writing an insanely long one with an ending that made me cry
school ends for me in 3 days!! do you know what that means? constant updates!! i'm aiming for one every two days or so :-) so excited to finish this~
but yeah, thank you for reading! this is my first 5sos fanfic ever and it's nice to see that people are actually interested in it. your comments make my day, honestly ♡ anyway, thank you guys! don't forget to comment/vote and happy reading! ]