Adelaide's Point of View

The only noise echoing throughout my home was the one deriving from our forks scraping against the top of our plates.

After we cleaned up, I had made the two of us some late-night dinner with the groceries that were lingering around my pantry from last week's shopping trip. An awkward silence settled upon us once we planted our butts in the seats across from each other. There was no conversation or eye contact and we didn't fling our food at each other like we usually did. I was aware that it was merely due to the fact that our minds were both cluttered with worries, but I still wasn't fond of the lack of laughter.

"So, did your parents make you anything special for dinner last night to celebrate?" I wondered, in an attempt to lighten the thick tension lying between us.

Calum finally glimpsed up from his gaze on the microwavable chicken tenders. "Uh, yeah. We had my favorite pasta. It was nice. Our dinners have changed a lot since that one that you went to."

"Well I'm glad," I stated sincerely. I didn't like the idea of him fighting with his parents at the table. That day when he stormed out of his own house still frightened me, but I understand his actions now. "They must be really happy that you've got your charges removed."

"Not as happy as I am," Calum replied, lightly laughing but with the absence of his smile.

"Right," I agreed, scooping up some of the instant mashed up potatoes and filling my mouth with the fluffy food.

An uncomfortable silence swept over us again and I was desperate to change the atmosphere. I even debated turning on one of his favorite songs and dancing around like an idiot just to get him to grin and return to the giddy behavior of his that I adored. I felt guilt sitting upon my chest as I noticed how evident his sadness was.

When I opened my mouth to attempt to start another conversation, I was interrupted by Calum slamming his silverware down and pushing his plate forward. "I can't do this," He complained, standing up and weaving out from his chair.

"Do what?"

Calum ran his hands through his hair in frustration. "I can't just," He stuttered, then sighed heavily before raising his voice. "I can't just sit here and pretend like everything is fine. You're leaving in a week, Ad! You're leaving the country! Nothing is fine!"

I tucked a piece of my brown locks that had escaped from my sleek ponytail behind my ear. "I know, Cal. We have to make the most of our time together. But there is still the option of you coming to the US with me?"

He glared at me, crossing his arms across his chest in a stubborn manner. "No, Addy. I can't just leave my family or leave Ash and Luke, and you can't leave your family either. We're both selfish. Neither of us are willing to leave our home."

"Ashton said he would look into moving to America if you moved," I told him, attempting to keep my voice low and not yell back at him in the same octave. "You should call him. He's really worried about you."

Calum's fists clenched together tightly into fists and I prepared myself for him to release his anger by breaking something else in my kitchen. "How the hell does Ashton know? When did you tell him?"

I involuntarily gulped in fear at his reaction. "I told him two days ago before they left," I informed him cautiously, trying my best not to make him angry or lash out.

It didn't work.

"He knew before me? You told my best friend before you even told your boyfriend?" Calum screamed even louder, backing away from me as the fury pumping inside of his veins increased.

"You were asleep!" I explained, running a hand through my hair in frustration. "I didn't want to make you upset while they were here. But Ashton brought it up."

Calum clicked his tongue to the roof of his mouth in annoyance, as if he was fed up with my presence. His fingernails scratched along the surface behind his neck, one of his nervous habits. "I can't believe you would ask him to move to America, Ad. That's incredibly selfish of you. My friends do not need to change their lives for us to be together, that's insane."

I bit down on my bottom teeth, grinding them together, to prevent myself from exploding in the same manner as he was. "Ashton offered! I didn't ask him!" I defended, wiping my hands against my temple to remove some of the stress. "I think you should call him and talk to him about it, okay? We need to figure out how we're going to make this thing work."

Calum shook his head in a condescending manner. "Addy, this isn't going to work when you move. You know it's not going to. We're going to have to-"

"Don't," I interrupted, before he was able to say those two words that could cause my entire world to come crumbling down into tiny pieces. "Don't say it, Cal. Don't."

He tugged on the ends of his shaggy black hair, pursing his lips tightly together. His brown eyes locked on mine and they were filled with distraught sadness. "We have to break up, Adelaide."

"No!" I instantly screeched, just as the tears started to build up in my own eyes, threatening to spill over the edge and stream down my cheeks like a waterfall. "No, we don't have to do anything! I don't want to break up with you!"

His body, the body that I have touched every inch of, tensed up as he continued to place distance between us. "I can't handle a long distance relationship. We can't even live right next door to each other without caving in and having a sleepover. I already have bad anxiety and I don't want it to get worse if I have to be paranoid about you cheating on me or finding someone better."

I was sobbing now, something that I used to be insecure about but now I had grown accustomed to him seeing me cry. "This can't be happening," I blubbered, feeling my chest hiccup as his brows furred together and his watchful gaze grew deeper. "Do you, do you not love me anymore?" I choked out.

Calum sighed heavily, extending his hands out to grasp my shoulders and pull me closer to him. His index finger reached under my trembling chin and push it up so I was forced to stare into the irises that I will always adore. "Of course I love you, Ad. But this isn't fair for either of us. We can't have this kind of commitment stretched out across the globe. I know myself and I know I'll get bad again. I can't do that, okay? But we can still keep in touch and be friends."

I squirmed out of his grip as a new sense of adrenaline bolted throughout me. "Friends? Are you shitting me right now, Calum? How on Earth do you expect us to just be friends? We couldn't even last a week being just friends! Now how do you expect us to be just friends when we've had sex so many times and when we learned basically everything about each other? Platonic relationships never work!"

He pounded his fist against the door, banging on it to blow off some sort of steam. His mood kept altering from completely ticked off to completely calm and it was frightening how easily his moodswings occured. "Hey, you were the one who promised not to leave me! Since the beginning you told me you would never leave! I didn't want to date in the start because I knew this would happen. I knew you would leave me just like everyone else in my life. Stop trying to play the victim!"

I lifted up to wipe the tears that were still swimming down my face and my nose sniffled up some mucus in order for me to speak properly. "I'm not leaving on purpose! Even with the move I'm still going to try to keep our love strong. You're not even going to try, Cal! You can't just give up."

His jawbone protruded even farther out as he attempted to keep his eyes from becoming glassy as well. After a few moments of the two of us staring at each other, the only sounds coming from our lungs exhaling deeply, he finally nodded his head. "I'm sorry, but this is it."

"Calum, no!" I called, covering my palm around my wrist and pulling on it as hard as I could to keep him from exiting my house. My vision was clouded with tears that seemed to be made of chlorine since they burned so much. "Calum, please don't do this. You're the only person I've ever loved. I can't be without you."

He forcefully shrugged me off of his arm. I stumbled backwards until my back hit the wall in the hallway. Calum spun around, shooting me a melancholy expression. "You may no longer be my girlfriend, Addy, but you'll always be my baby."

My heart ached as I sprinted after him when he exited my house, and all of my crying seemed to match the gloomy weather of the omnious clouds hanging above our heads. "Calum, don't act like this is our only option! If we love each other we'll be okay. I know it. Just, please don't ruin everything."

He shook his head again, his dark hair ruffling around as the gusts of winds became more prominent in this evening weather. "Addy, don't make this harder than it needs to be. Just accept it. You're going to America and I'm going to be here in Australia. This is a last resort. It's not the easiest thing for me to do either, okay? But this is better for us in the long run."

My heavy breathing quickened as the sobs continue to pour. I couldn't just accept this. He was supposed to be my soulmate. But now my soul is caving in and has an incredible pain shooting through my heart and it hurts, mate. I desperately wanted to just collapse into his arms and have him stop the crying and promise me that everything was going to be okay. But it wasn't. He was breaking up with me and it wasn't a joke.

"I can't believe this after everything that's happened you're going to choose to be a coward," I managed to spit out. "We could at least try until I figure out a way to move back to Australia. Or you can talk to Ashton, I don't know! You're giving up so easily. If what we had is real how can you end this just like that?"

His tongue glided across his pouty lips, tracing over every detail on each chapped crevice. "I'm scared, Ad. I'm just trying to protect the two of us from future heartbreak."

"My heart is breaking right now," I wailed, blinking my eyelids rapidly to try and change this scene that was unraveling in front of me. I physically couldn't stop crying and he was still stood stiff in front of my home, without able to show any flicker of emotion.

After several moments of me continously wiping away my tears as I studied every inch of my love's face, he finally made a movement. Calum lifted his palm up so it was facing me and he waved gently with a solemn expression plastered over his lips. "Goodbye, Addy."

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AUTHORS NOTE: OH MY GOD IM SO INCREDIBLY SORRY FOR THIS AND IM CRYING JUST AS MUCH AS YOU ARE IM SO SO SO SORRY IDK WHY CALUM IS BEING SO AEHWRJHUWERFH

HOPEFULLY THE GIF WILL CHEER EVERYONE UP EVEN THOUGH IT PROBABLY WONT BUT MAYBE SOME TISSUES AND ICE CREAM WILL?

THANK YOU GUYS FOR 400K I LITERALLY GAINED 100K READS IN LIKE A WEEK LIKE WHAT HOW DID THAT EVEN HAPPEN OMG

AGAIN IM REALLY SORRY BUT I LOVE ALL OF YOU I HOPE YOU ARENT MAD AT ME JUST BE MAD AT CALUM AND ADDY THEY ARE BOTH KINDA AT FAULT IDK