After the show, the other lads had already been rushed to the tour bus. Calum, however, was still searching the arena for Sienna.
He had a feeling she wouldn't have gone to the bus without seeing him first. This was one of the few chances they would have to be alone until everyone else went to sleep.
He had decided to backtrack to the dressing room to see if she had gone there looking for him while he'd been wandering around looking for her.
A hand suddenly wrapped itself around Calum's bicep and tugged him into an empty room.
The sound of Sienna's hushed laughter filled Calum's ears. He smiled at the sound and met his girlfriend's eyes as she closed the door behind her. He believed he was growing accustomed to their meetings like this.
Calum gladly let Sienna press him against the wall. He grinned widely down at her as she bounced on her toes to kiss him.
"Why do you pick the most random rooms to make out in?" Calum laughed against Sienna's lips as he wrapped his arms around her waist. "I mean, where are we?"
"I have no idea." Sienna admitted laughingly, kissing his lips quickly in between words. "It was empty. That was good enough for me."
They shared a laugh and their lips continued to move in sync. Calum's arms tightened around Sienna as the warm, soothing feeling of being at peace in her embrace washed over him. Being with her felt like coming home.
Sienna's arms found their way around Calum's neck, holding him as closely as she could. She longed to be near him, to touch him, to feel his warmth, to hear the laugh he always did when they were hiding from the world. By the time the show was over, she was aching to be with him. Now, she kissed him hard, the way she had longed to since they last parted.
She lost herself in the kiss, wrapping herself around Calum as she took him in. She memorized the way his touch felt, the way his scent filled the air around her, the way he pulled her closer to him desperately.
After a moment, Sienna pulled back slightly from their kiss, dazed and slightly light-headed. She smiled up at Calum.
"Dirty Little Secret?" Sienna questioned him with a laugh. "Very subtle."
A loud laugh rolled from Calum's lips. If Sienna hadn't been so caught up in the sound, she would've been afraid someone had heard them.
"Oh, come on." Calum giggled. "We killed that song and you loved it."
Sienna leaned forward to kiss him again, smiling against his lips.
"David is going to kill us." She told him. "Let's go."
"You're the one who pulled me in here." Calum laughed.
"Well, I wanted you all to myself for a moment." Sienna told him with a grin, beginning to step away from him to reach for the door.
"Like the sound of that." Calum hummed playfully, moving with Sienna to block her path to the door.
He quickly leaned down to press his lips to Sienna's again. Although they both smiled into the kiss, they didn't laugh or giggle like they had been during the previous embraces.
Instead, Calum placed his hands on either side of Sienna's face and kissed her slowly. It wasn't rough and full of heat, nor was it soft and gentle. It was deep enough to make their hearts race and slow enough to make the rest of the world fade away. The kind of kiss that leaves you breathless and lost for words.
When they parted, grins formed on both their faces.
"Alright." Calum said, sucking in a deep breath. "Ready to go?"
Sienna gave him a nod.
"By the way," Sienna said quickly, grabbing his forearm to stop him from exiting the room. "I know I said we shouldn't tell anyone about us yet, but I kinda' told Niall."
Calum chuckled. This was a relief to Sienna. She hadn't known how Calum would react. After all, they hadn't discussed if they were telling anyone about them yet.
"Of course you did." He shook his head laughingly.
"Is that okay?" She wondered.
"He's your best friend, Enna." Calum said calmly. "I'd be surprised if you didn't tell him." He admitted.
"Okay." Sienna nodded, letting out a relieved breath. "Let's go."
Calum pressed a kiss to Sienna's forehead before the pair of them carefully stepped out of the room they'd been hiding in.
When they saw the coast was clear, they rushed in the direction of the parking lot where the bus was parked, hushed laughter escaping their lips.
As they exited the arena, their eyes landed on a cross-armed, nostril-flared, red-faced David impatiently tapping his foot on the pavement where he stood by the entrance to the tour bus.
"Get your asses on this bus now!" David quickly scolded them as they rushed in the direction of the bus.
Sienna was able to hide her amusement in hopes of easing the anger David felt, hoping she at least appeared to be sorry for making them late, but Calum hadn't even tried. The open-mouthed, cheerful, unapologetic grin on Calum's lips never even faltered as David scolded them.
"Where's Michael?" David asked them as they began to climb the steps to the bus.
"He's not here?" Sienna responded, furrowing her brows.
She and Calum had believed they were the only ones missing; the only thing putting them behind schedule. Knowing otherwise eased some of the guilt Sienna felt for angering David. It was a relief to know they weren't the only ones making his job a little harder than usual.
"We thought he was with you two." David groaned, rubbing his frustrated features with one of his hands. "Where the hell-"
"Don't leave without me!" The three of them heard a voice shout from the exit of the arena. As they looked up, they found Michael sprinting in the direction of the bus, his arms cradling a pile of assorted junk foods.
Michael came to a sudden halt in front of David. As David glanced irritatedly at the dozens of snacks in Michael's arms, Niall peaked his head out the entrance of the bus to see what was going on.
"What's the hold up-" Niall began before his eyes landed on Michael. "Sweet, Oreos." He grinned.
Calum snatched a pack of Oreos from Michael's stash and tossed them up to Niall.
"Thanks, mate." Niall said cheerfully, easily catching the Oreos Calum had thrown him, before disappearing back onto the bus.
"Really?" David asked Michael, shaking his head disapprovingly.
"What?" Michael defended. "The dressing room was full of this stuff. I wasn't leaving perfectly good snacks behind."
A giggle escaped Sienna's lips, causing Calum's grin to immediately grow.
"Bus." David sighed, pointing to the door of the bus. "Now."
~~~~~~
Ashton had gone straight to bed and crashed once they had gotten on the road, exhausted from the show. Michael had been in his bunk on the phone with Crystal for hours, telling her about his day after listening to her talk about her own day.
As the lock clicked on the bathroom door, signaling Luke was gone to shower and Calum had some time to be off his guard, Calum stood from his seat. He crossed the room to sit next to Sienna who was working on her latest school assignment.
As he took his place next to her, he took her chin between his fingers and moved her lips to meet his. They lingered there for a moment in a sweet, sincere, innocent kiss.
Niall, who sat on the sofa across from them, raised his eyebrows in amusement.
That's gonna' take some getting used to, Niall thought as he watched his friends in surprise.
"Been waiting all night to do that." Calum told Sienna softly as he pulled away from their embrace.
"Didn't get it out of your system earlier, mate?" Niall said with a chuckle as he laid back in his seat. He could assume the reason Sienna and Calum had been so late getting to the bus.
For a moment Calum had forgotten Niall was sitting there. He'd been so caught up in the whereabouts of the other lads, he'd forgotten about the only person who knew about his relationship was sitting in front of him.
Calum met Niall's grin with one of his own. He saw no trace of the tense, hostile glares Niall had been giving him only a week ago. Now, he saw the typical amusement and gleeful light that used to shine in his friend's eyes. He was glad there was no more tension between them, even though he understood why it had been there in the first place.
He and Niall shared a laugh as he wrapped an arm around Sienna's shoulders. Sienna stretched up to press a soft kiss to Calum's cheek before continuing to work on her assignment.
"There's something I've been meaning to talk to you about." Niall spoke up after a moment, pulling Sienna's attention from her schoolwork and Calum's attention from Sienna.
"What's wrong?" Sienna worried.
"Nothing's wrong." Niall assured her. "But I've missed a lot. If I don't get back to the band, I might be out of a job." He gave them a chuckle to lighten the seriousness of his news, but they could see that he was under stress.
As much as Sienna never wanted to see him go, she knew she couldn't ask him to stay longer than he already had. She could tell he was in enough trouble with management for his absence. He had come when she'd needed him most. She couldn't ask anything more of him.
While Calum regretted being angry with Niall the entire time he'd been with them, there was nothing he could do to change it now. He wished he had more time to hang out with Niall like they used to, to make up for lost time.
"Yeah." Calum eventually said. "You have to get back to your own band." He continued. "We understand." He added with a nod. "Sorry I've been such an asshole since you got here."
Niall laughed at Calum's comment, but he could tell it was sincere.
"Don't worry about it." Niall told him. "You pulled your head out of your ass. We're good." He said, earning a chuckle from Calum. "We'll hang out next time I'm here, yeah?"
"Yeah." Calum nodded with a smile.
Niall's attention focused on Sienna, who now horribly dreaded the departure of her best friend. He had barely left her side in weeks. She feared she would be hopelessly lost without him.
"You gonna' be alright, babe?" Niall asked softly, worried his absence would hurt her.
"Yeah." Sienna told him with a soft sigh. "I'll just miss you." She admitted. "How long until you leave?"
"Two days." Niall told them.
"Well," Sienna began with a deep breath. "Tomorrow, you and I are going to have some fun. We'll make the best of our last days together."
"Sounds great, babe." Niall chuckled, feeling as if a weight had been lifted off his chest now that he'd finally broken the news to Sienna. He had dreaded telling her he had to leave.
Sienna resumed her schoolwork as Calum and Niall fell into a conversation about the stories behind some of the songs they'd each written.
During their conversation, Calum made his way over to a small cupboard by the refrigerator where he had stashed some peppermint patties for Sienna. He retrieved one of the silver-wrapped candies without missing a beat of the story he was telling Niall.
He reclaimed his spot next to Sienna and opened the candy quickly. He broke it in half and raised one half to Sienna's lips.
Sienna smiled softly before parting her lips, allowing Calum to place the candy in her mouth as she continued typing on her laptop.
Niall watched Calum's gesture with a small smile. It brought him great relief to see Calum treating Sienna the way he knew Calum would; the way Sienna deserved to be treated.
Sure, the gesture was small–he'd only gotten her a piece of candy–but Niall could see the significance behind it. Calum had done something to make Sienna happy without even needing to think about it. He'd been caught up in a full conversation, yet still thought to get her a piece of candy to make her smile. As if it was just in his nature to know how to make her happy.
Watching them, the way they existed so comfortably together, Niall knew Sienna and Calum were going to be alright.
Calum ate his half of the candy and placed his arm back around Sienna's shoulders, continuing with his story as if he'd never moved from his seat.
"You two," Niall spoke up, not wanting to interrupt Calum's story but needing to tell his friends what was on his mind. "really look great together."