Adelaide's Point of View

"I didn't actually make the cookies," Calum admitted with a giggle, picking one off of the tray and taking a bite. "My mum did. We were supposed to make some last night though, if I do remember correctly."

"Yes but I got distracted by some loser who kept telling me lame jokes," I teased, playfully rolling my eyes at the dark haired boy in front of me.

He chuckled loudly and the beautiful voice echoed throughout the nearly empty house and rang through my ears. It was a lovely sound and made happiness build inside the crevices of my stomach. His guard always seemed to be let down when he was laughing and the corners of his brown eyes were crinkling. "So Addy, to kick off this friendship I would like to offer you to have a movie marathon with me."

I grinned at his suggestion. "That sounds great, Calum. If you can go set up my television I'll go get my films out of the box."

He nodded his head, disappearing into the living room. I headed back inside my new room and changed into a half zip sweatshirt and a pair of black leggings, just to be more comfortable while viewing them. I had absolutely no clue what Calum would want to watch, so I just grasped as many of the plastic DVD's as my hands could carry and joined him back on the carpeted floor.

"Can we please watch a comedy?" I begged as he continued to flick a few buttons on the side.

"Sure thing princess," He mumbled sarcastically, making me laugh softly. Calum placed one of the movies into the player as he hit play, then snuggled up onto the microfiber couch.

I was conflicted on where I should position myself. It would be quite awkward if I sat super close to him, but it would also be quite weird if I had completely distanced myself like Michael told me to. Calum patted the seat next to him, making my decision for me. He extended the blanket so it would reach across both of our laps and Calum carefully slung his arm across my shoulder and resting it on the back of the sofa.

The warmth of his body radiated off of him. I was enjoying this nice cuddle session already, especially with his musky aroma filling my lungs each time I inhaled. "Is this okay?" Calum wondered politely, his irises staring down at me in concern.

"Yeah, you smell really yummy," I told him, shifting my body so my head was resting against his bony shoulder as a pillow.

The vibration of his chest indicated that he was indeed laughing again. I didn't want this cheerful mood of his to end, but I also felt the need to address the warnings I recieved about him today. I couldn't imagine why anyone would be scared of such an adorable cutie like Calum. He was an absolute sweetheart. But maybe I am missing something. "So, um, I was told to stay away from you today."

Calum's tan skin instantly paled. I could feel his tone muscles tense underneath me as well, which did not terminate my uneasy feeling. "Oh yeah? By who?"

"This guy named Michael and a girl named Lucy. I was looking for a job, you know, and I decided to work at the florist but then now I'm not too sure because I didn't like the way they were talking about you."

He smiled at me with admiration. "Don't worry about me, Addy. People talk about me a lot. It's not a big deal. You should still apply there, it's a nice place, my mum gets her flowers done there all the time. Michael has never liked me since primary school so I would just ignore him. Just please know that I would never hurt you or anything Addy, okay?"

"I know," I said without hesitation. Maybe it was those brown eyes filled with sadness that were just waiting to be replaced with lust. Maybe it was the way we connected on that first night. Maybe it was the way we were cuddled together right now. But I had a gut feeling that the two of us would be very close and that I was positive he would never do anything to harm me. "I guess I'll drop off my application tomorrow then."

"Look at you, my little working woman," Calum joked, poking the side of my stomach. We turned our attention back to the film and I could feel my eyes starting to droop. My eyelashes were fluttering, trying their best to pry open, but I couldn't help but drift off into slumber.

--

When I finally woke up due to the sunlight peeking through the sheer curtains, I had to admit that I was rather disappointed that Calum was no longer underneath me. I didn't blame him for leaving, I mean I had to have been sleeping for hours, and what fun would it have been for him to lay around by himself with only the sound of my snores?

But I knew I wanted to hangout with him again. There was something intriguing about Calum and I was excited for what was in store for our friendship.

I found the courage to roll off of the much too comfortable sofa and pick up my application, scribbling down all of my employment history and bullshit facts about my personality. My personal favorite was that "I had a passion for flowers." I wouldn't under any circumstances say I had a green thumb. I typically hated being outdoors, except for the sun rays swallowing my body out on these beautiful Australian beaches.

After a touch up of my make-up and a change into a decent outfit, I proceeded on my journey to Fabulous Florist. The alliteration in the title was adorable and I was quite certain that this would be a perfect part-time job for Adelaide Winters. The bell above the door jingled as I entered the delicious smelling shop, making the employee's heads turn.

I was thankful to see the familiar face of Michael behind the counter, this time being joined by a woman who looked like him. I assumed this was his mother. She was sporting a hunter green baseball cap on the top of her head in addition to the hunter green apron draped over her neck. "Hey Addy!" Michael cheered, waving slightly. "Couldn't wait to come back and see me, could you?"

I rolled my eyes at him while smiling. "Yeah that's it, Michael. Here is my application."

The woman removed the packet out of my grip and skimmed through it, right in front of me. When she flipped the last page she grinned brightly at me. "Welcome aboard, Adelaide. Can you start tomorrow at around nine in the morning for training?"

"I definitely can. Thank you very much," I said gratefully, trying to tone down my excitement. I was surprised by how simple that was. I didn't even have to partake in a nerve-wracking interview like usual. My father would be pleased to hear the news. Michael's mother nodded at me before leaving the two of us alone to go fix some flowers. "So Michael, where can I find some paint?"

"Some paint?" He repeated. I shook my head in reply. "Um, like if you want to paint your house I would go to the hardware store right down the road, it's before you turn the corner. If you want like paint to make art with I have no clue where you would get that unless you drove into Sydney."

This small town was just on the outskirts of Sydney, but I was in no interest of exploring that large city alone anyways. "No, I'm painting my bedroom. So I'll go to the hardware store then?"

"Yes you will," Michael confirmed with an amused smile. "Would you like me to accompany you? I could help you pick out paint colors or whatever."

I raised my eyebrows. "Aren't you working?"

He let out a hearty chuckle. "Right because this place is so busy at the moment," Michael stated sarcastically, making me giggle. He took off his apron and hung it around the metal hanger. "Mum, I'll be right back."

She didn't even glance up at her son as we headed out of the shop and down the street. I liked Michael's dry humor. He seemed exceptionally nice, despite his claims about my neighbor. The two of us strolled on the sidewalks in a comfortable silence, passing by a few other walkers as well, all of whom seemed to stare at me. "So how long have you lived here?"

"My whole life," Michael confessed. "Eighteen years is a long time in one small town. I would love to at least travel, but I have never even been on a vacation before. I mean I like it here because it's my home, but like why would you want to move here?"

I giggled. "I wanted to move to Australia, but as a college drop out I didn't really have enough money to go to a big city. I actually find it really charming here."

He shrugged, opening the door to the hardware store for me. The paint display caught my attention and I instantly rummaged through the stock of choices, debating on what I would want to see everytime I woke up. A yellow color seemed too peppy, a blue color seemed too sad, red was too bold for my liking, and green was my least favorite color.

"What about beige?" Michael suggested, handing me a slip of the taupe color. I shook my head. Beige was extremely safe and boring, and that just wasn't me. "What about black?"

My ears perked up at the word. Rarely was black even an option for someone, yet the more I glimpsed at it the more I knew I needed my room to be painted black. The enormous windows always let in an exceptional amount of light, so it wasn't going to resemble a cave, it was going to be cozy and sleek. "That's perfect."

"Would you like black chalkboard paint?" The sales associate asked. "So you can write whatever you'd like on your walls."

"I would love that," I admitted, feeling a huge smile appear on my lips as I pictured my new room. I ordered a galloon of it and paid for it, along with buying some brushes and a roller.

Michael and I left the store, enjoying some nonsense small talk to fill the air. I was feeling anxious to go home and redecorate. It was like this would be the next step in making myself settle into the home. This paint would make it so it didn't seem so temporary, that this truly was where I was living and that it was mine, not the previous owners. "Thank you for helping me. I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Bright and early," Michael responded with a grin. "See you later, Addy."

"Bye," I called as I continued back towards my home, feeling the metal strap of the galloon dig into my palm due to it's heavy weight. As my house came into view, I noticed Calum sitting out on the beach again, staring off as the waves crashed onto his tan feet. "Calum!"

He spun his head aroud, smiling at me brightly as he noticed my presence. "What are you carrying?"

"Paint," I explained, setting it down on my deck as I approached him. "I feel like I needed to make a change in there."

"Please do. I'm sick of the constant reminder that they used to live here," Calum told me.

I beamed at him with delight. "So would you like to help me paint? You don't seem too busy at the moment."

"God, you're annoying," He complained, although I could tell by his tone that he was only joking. "Sure thing, Addy. Let's paint the shit out of this house."

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Author's Note: So a boring little filler chapter. It was nessecary though, you'll see :)

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Dedicated to overluked bc she is fantastic ok