Adelaide's Point of View

The smile stretched across his face was so wide that it could reach for miles. Calum was unbelievably joyful and he had every reason to be. He was finally proven innocent after three years. His life had partaken in a complete 360 and his happiness was radiating off his toned body.

The boys had ditched their jackets, leaving them in only dress shirts and ties where the itty bitty sweat stains under their armpits were almost visible. We slid into a booth at a restaurant adjacent to the court house since Ashton insisted that we went out to eat to celebrate the tremendous victory.

It was the first time Calum and I would be on an actual date like a normal, young-adult couple. We might have his two best friends sitting across from us, gawking at the way my boyfriend's arm was wrapped around our shoulder, but I loved having the opportunity to be seen in public with him without having to worry about his emotions. He was clearly happy.

My butt squished against the deep red colored cushion as I scooched closer towards Calum's body. Luke's eyes were scanning over the entire place, a sense of nostalgia seeming to sweep over him. "We used to come here like every Friday night," He stated, smiling to himself.

"Those were the days, man," Ashton agreed, his large hands grasping the laminated menus placed on the wooden table in front of us. "Calum I think you'll have to get a cheeseburger again just for old time's sake."

A bubble of laughter escaped his mouth. "No way! I cant even look at a cheeseburger after what happened with Anna. I will never get that cheeseburger puke image out of my brain. It was literally explosive!"

The three boys each burst into hysterics and I bit my tongue to suppress the giggles. I wasn't there and I had absolutely no idea what they were talking about, but their laughter was so contagious I couldn't help myself. "Should I not get a cheeseburger then? I was kind of craving one," I admitted shyly.

"Why don't you get the mozzarella sticks instead? We can split them," Luke suggested, reaching his finger across the table to point to a glossy picture of a large basket of them.

"Split them?" I scoffed, arching my eyebrows up in confusion. "Lucas, you're insane if you don't think I can eat all of that by myself and have room for dessert."

Calum chuckled, his hand that was around my shoulder rubbed back and forth in a lovey-dovey motion. I was still sporting my formal dress and I was eager to take it off and change into a pair of leggings and one of Calum's baggy sweatshirts. I placed my hand down on Calum's thigh and cheekily slid it up his leg, which only resulted in him slapping it away from his crotch immediately. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes at his lack of self-control.

"Don't tease me," He whispered into my ear, and although the chills from our proximity were running down my spine, I did my best to keep a straight face so Ashton and Luke would fall for my facade.

"Im getting a cheese pizza," Ashton decided, flipping the menu closed and folding his hands together on top of it. His protruding jaw was jutted out as his eyes searched our faces to find out if anyone else was as ready as he was. "And Addy you better have enough room for dessert because I'm ordering a giant cake to congratulate our buddy here on his victory in court today."

"What should we write on it? Congrats on not being a murderer?" Calum joked, making the group of us giggle again.

"No it should say, 'You can't handle the truth!' It's a perfect opportunity," I declared, referring to the Tom Cruise movie that came out in the nineties. The volume of laughter increased dramatically and Luke smacked his hands against the table. Several heads turned to glare at our obnoxious behavior, but none of us seemed to mind. We were all absolutely buzzing and I'm not sure if anything could ruin my mood.

Speaking of buzzing, my cell phone that was resting inside of my pocket had vibrated against my leg. I typically would ignore it, but since the caller-ID displayed that it was my mother calling, I felt obligated to answer the woman who gave birth to me. "Hang on, my mom is calling. I'll be right back. If I'm not back in time will you just order some mozzarella sticks and a chocolate milkshake for me?"

Calum nodded, untangling his arm from around my body as I shuffled towards the bathroom. I lifted the phone up to my ear. "Hello?"

"Hi sweetie," My mother cooed from the other line, and I could practically see that close-lipped smile she always had plastered over her soon-to-be-wrinkly-face-if-she-doesn't-start-using-her-moisturizer. "How are you doing?"

"Really well. I'm actually out to dinner with my friends right now so is there anyway I could call you back?" I asked politely. I missed my parents, I truly did, but the echo of my voice in this multiple-stall bathroom made it not the most appropriate place to have a conversation.

"Oh of course, honey! That sounds like fun. I just wanted to talk to you about your plane tickets, s'all. But it's no biggie. Just call me when you're not around that boyfriend of yours," She said with a light laugh.

"Plane tickets?" I repeated in confusion.

The sound of her clicking her tongue to the roof of her mouth pierced right into my eardrum. "Yeah, your tickets to come home? You're supposed to be leaving in a week and I just wanted to discuss the plans for picking you up from the airport."

My face instantly paled. The idea of going home had not even occurred to me, I had been so busy just enjoying my life that I hadn't even be remembered that our original plan was for me to stay in Australia for only the summer. And the end of summer was rapidly approaching. "No. No. No. Mom, I don't want to leave. I can't leave. I absolutely love it here."

"Well have you figured out what you want to do as a career yet, young lady?" I didn't respond. I just focused on keeping my breathing in control. "I'll take that as a no. You're coming home."

"Mom!" I yelled in frustration. "I can't-"

One of the stalls flushed from behind me, making me jump due to the startling noise. I wasn't aware that the bathroom was occupied. I sighed, lowering my voice. "Look, can we talk about this later please? I really can't speak right now."

"Fine," Mom agreed. I could tell she sounded just as ticked off as I was. "Goodbye, Adelaide. I love you."

"Love you too," I muttered before ending the call swiftly and stuffing my phone back into my pocket. The other woman had appeared out from behind the stall and we both washed our hands in sync. I didn't even need to wash them, but I desperately needed to rid myself of my overwhelming thoughts.

I couldn't leave Calum. There is no way in hell I could ever be without him. He was more than just my boyfriend, he was my best friend. I needed to be there for him every second of the day. I can't do that when I'm on the opposite side of the world.

With a heavy exhale, I made my way back to the table, noticing that our beverages had recently been placed down. I forced a smile, which almost physically pained my chubby cheeks, as I collapsed into the deep red booth.

"Is everything okay?" Luke asked immediately, obviously overlooking my attempt to cover-up my shaky plams.

"Yeah, everything's fine. I'm fine," I assured him, curling my lips up into a grin again before slurping up some of my milkshake through the striped straw, feeling the cold dairy product glide down my dry throat.

"Are you sure?" Calum pressed, his big brown eyes staring down at me with concern. His eyebrows were knitted together as he tried to read my face for some kind of emotion. "What's wrong, Ad?"

"I'll tell you when we get home," I explained quietly. I quickly returned my attention back to the group, clapping my hands together. "Okay, so where were we? Is anyone going to explain the cheeseburger story to me?"

--

I placed some extra blankets that had been folded up in a pile on the top of my closet into my guest bedroom. I swear I had blanket hoarding tendencies. Luke and Ashton were staying at my house tonight since I offered to let my extra rooms finally get some use for a change. I wanted the boys to not have to worry about keeping quiet with the Hood's being home, so I figured they could all stay at my place and be as loud as they wanted.

Calum flopped one of their duffel bags on top of the bed with a heavy sigh. His friends were still unloading the car, leaving the the two of us alone for a brief moment. His calloused palms found my wide hips and he tugged me closer to him. "So, are you going to tell me about what made you so flustered earlier?"

The knot in my stomach tightened. "Not yet. I still have to call my mom again. Once I figure everything out I will tell you. But I don't want to ruin your night. We need to celebrate."

He placed a soft kiss against my forehead, initiating the swarm of butterflies like always. I could never get enough of his simple gestures. "Okay. Should I be worried?"

"No, Cal, don't even think about it. I've got it all under control," I promised him. However, I wasn't even sure what I was going to do. My mother was extremely manipulating and demanding. Getting her to actually let me do what I wanted to do would be a national holiday.

"I love you, Addy," Calum cooed, his eyes glistening with lust as he leaned forward to kiss me.

When our lips were only centimeters apart, the door slammed opened, revealing two rambuctius boys with the rest of their stuff. "Hey lovebirds! Let's get this party started!"

My eyes rolled involuntarily as the three boys began chanting something that must have been some sort of inside joke. Soon enough we were all sprinting down my staircase. They dog piled each other on my sofa in my living room, with their giggles practically replaying through a surround sound stereo system. A grin found it's way onto my lips by seeing them so cuddly and happy, but I could not remove the queasiness in my stomach from the phone call.

I pretended to sniff my armpits. "Ew, I really need to take a shower. I'll be down in a bit. Enjoy yourselves, boys."

"Noooo," Luke whined, lifting his head up and off of Calum's back. "The party was just about to start! We could play like truth or dare or braid each other's hair or have a pillow fight! Come on, Addy."

I rolled my eyes at his mocking behavior. "We can do that after I take a shower," I insisted.

"Well at least let me join you," The blonde persuaded, earning a slap across the cheek from Calum and causing another eruption of laughter.

"Goodbye, losers," I called in amusement, trotting back up towards the bathroom. "Try not to break anything!"

I grasped a towel from the cabinet underneath the sink and placed it on my countertop, ready for me to grab when I was out. Fortunately, the shower didn't take long to heat up and I stepped my nude body inside of it quickly, letting the warm water cleanse all of my impurities. I let my body slide down the wall and plant my butt against the cold tile covering the floor of the shower, feeling the water pour over me like a hurricane. My mind was jumbling with thoughts that I couldn't seem to get rid of.

The only thing I was sure of was that there was no way in hell I would leave Calum. I needed to somehow convince my mother to let me stay or somehow convince Calum to come with me. Breaking up was not an option.

Suddenly, horridly cold ice began pegging the top of my head. I squealed, springing to my feet to attempt to dodge them. I could hear familiar laughter coming from outside of the shower and noticed a metal bucket dropping the ice onto me. "I'm going to kill you!" I screeched, becoming overwhelmingly freezing.

This just caused the chuckles to continue. "Aw, Addy I'm sorry!" Ashton apologized once the last piece of ice had dropped. "In my defense, your boyfriend was the one who dared me to do it."

I smirked to myself, shaking my head at his typical playful behavior, and immediately seeked revenge. "It's okay," I yelled through the thick shower curtain with a laugh. "Can you send him in please?"

Muffled chatter was easily heard and the door swung open and closed, which surprised me that I never heard those sneaky little shits the first time. "Cal?"

"Yeah, it's me," He responded wearily, seeming a bit frightened of my reaction. "Are you mad, baby?"

I pulled back the curtain, watching as his guilty eyes widened with lust. I smiled at him. "No, of course not. How could I be mad at you when tonight is your celebration night? It was pretty funny," I half-lied.

His tall body was still leaning against the counter with his arms folded across his chest. "Oh. Well then why did you want me to come in here?"

"I wanted to kiss you," I purred, doing my best to keep up with my act. Calum shot me a goofy grin before waddling over to me and placing his dry hands against my drenched skin. Our lips connected within an instant and after several seconds, I tugged on his fully-clothed body, causing him to fall into the shower with me and become completely wet. "Karma!"

"Ad!" He complained, leaping out from underneath the showerhead and attempting to shake off of the lingering water. I was cracking up at his shocked expression, mentally applauding myself at my comeback. Eventually, he ended up laughing as well. "I guess I deserved that, didn't I?"

"Yeah," I agreed, turning off the water after another short rinse of my chocolate locks. "Consider us even, now."

He handed me the plush towel and enveloped it around my shoulders like a gentleman. Even after our little mischief, we still couldn't even be angry with each other. This is why I had to stay. We were truly perfect for each other and I was happiest when I was around him.

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author's note: THIS CHAPTER IS ALL OVER THE PLACE HOLY SHITTAPONE OMG THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING THIS THOUGH OKAY

I DONT EVEN KNOW WHAT TO SAY UM I HAVE NEW FANFICS ON THE WAY THOUGH SO MAKE SURE IF YOURE NOT FOLLOWING ME YOU SHOULD. I JUST POSTED TWO NEW CALUM ONES THAT WILL START AFTER AFRAID ENDS GO READ THEM PLEASE

I LOVE YOU GUYS SO MUCH I CANT EVEN THANK YOU ENOUGH YOURE ALL RAD AF

ill proof read when i get home okie

dedicated to crazypersonstwin for saying "i will wait as long as i have to for the update i dont mind waiting for the best writer in the world" LIKE AWWW  WHAT THE FUCKK YOURE SO CUTE AND NICE IM BLUSHING THANKS FOR WAITING FOR ME SINCE IVE BEEN HELLA BUSY LATELY ILY GUYS