"Dude, I'm crashing in your garage, if that's cool?" Michael asked, glancing at Calum once he climbed out his car. He nodded at the lilac colored boy and smiled.

"S'cool." Calum replied, opening the door for Nikki to step out. She kissed his cheek and he closed the door behind her.

Ashton and Mhina pulled up a bit after, parking behind Calum's car. He stepped out and opened the door for the girl.

Calum's eyes fell on Mhina for a bit before she glanced his way which caused him to look away.

"Why do the neighbors have so many cars parked out?" The brown boy asked, furrowing his brows at the many vehicles nearly parked out in the road.

Mama Joy gave her son a look then shook her head. "Since when are their business any of yours?" She raised a brow at him and he stuttered to answer her question.

"Exactly." She said toting her bags to the door. Luke and Michael chuckled at the boy and he glared at them, following the shorter woman into the house.

They all decided to get their bags the next day because they were all pretty tired. So, the plan was to crash at Mama Joy's house and get some decent sleep.

That's until...

"Surprise!" A crowd of voices sounded and nearly scared the group to death. The front door was barely parted so they had no idea who was on the other side.

Calum was first to peek inside, bumping heads with Mhina since they did it simultaneously.

"M'bad." Calum mumbled, a slight chuckle in his voice. The brown girl matched his reaction but mumbled a 'it's alright', rubbing the spot.

A sound of a throat clearing, Ashton's throat clearing to be exact, followed by the boy putting his arm around her waist.

They dropped their expressions completely and turned away from one another. Calum rolled his eyes before twisting again to look through the slit dooor.

"What the--" The brown boy paused, his brows meeting, reaching for the door and opening it all the way.

He revealed the many family members that laid behind the wooden entryway, each of them smiling brightly at the sleep deprived group.

"Surprise!" They shouted in unison again, probably hoping for a better reaction from them.

"What's this about?" Mama Joy said, walking further into the living room and smiling up at the balloons and decorations.

A girl who looked like a younger Joy broke away from the rest of the members and smiled up at the older woman.

"Mal!" Calum said loudly, causing everyone to look in his direction as he quickly approached his sister.

She opened her arms and brought him into a hug.

"Hi, Callie." She said, calling him by his nickname which caused him to scrunch his face.

"I'm a grown man. It's Calum." He corrected, deepening his voice but not convincing his sister since she started chuckling.

"It's nice to see you, big head." Mali replied, punching his arm.

The remaining group entered all the way, closing the door behind them and waving at the other family members. Most of them gave hugs since they were familiar with Calum's family, even Nikki.

Well, everyone except Mhina. It didn't feel right. She didn't feel right hugging these people, not just because she didn't know them, but the fact that she didn't really feel apart of their family.

So, she stood in the same place which was a few feet from the stairs and living room.

"Excuse me? Why is everyone at my house unannounced?" Their mom questioned, breaking the brother-sister moment. Mali giggled at her mother's slight attitude, making her miss dealing with that when she lived there.

"We're here to celebrate the new addition. That reminds me...where is my new sister?" The girl searches but it wasn't long. Calum watched as Mali smiled and began walking over to Mhina.

"Mhina?" A soft voice sounded from beside the darker girl, causing her to look in the direction. She eyed the girl who was the spitting image of Mama Joy and could be the female version of Calum, a small smile on her lips.

"You must be Mali." Mhina's eyes shifted from Calum, who stood behind his sister, back to the girl who is now technically her sister as well.

Mali nodded and was quick to bring her newest sibling into a hug.

"Oh thank goodness! Now I have someone to discuss girl things with when I need it." Mali said into Mhina's hair which caused the darker girl to giggle, eyes soon falling on Calum.

He smiled at the two and a wave of guilt washed over him.

You were taking this away from her.

A small voice repeated those seven words in his head. He soon didn't feel like celebrating or partying. He didn't feel like being out there being happy with everyone. It just felt wrong...

"Mum, I'm gonna go upstairs for a bit." Calum lied to his mother, knowing he was planning to be there the remaining of the surprise party, looking down at his shoes.

Mama Joy knotted her brows and shook her head, that's until she saw his gloomy state.

"Sweetie, you okay?" His mother asked and this caught Mhina's attention once her and Mali pulled away from each other.

Calum nodded and leaned over to kiss the older woman's cheek, turning to start up the stairs soon after.

"Is that our Mhina?" Another voice caught the darker girl's attention and she broke away from Calum's steps as he went upstairs to glance at the people a few feet from her.

"She's beautiful." A man broke from the even bigger group and took steps towards the girl and cupped her face. Mhina smiled up the older man, examining his features.

If it's something they all had, it was that strong Hood gene.

"Thank you." The girl blushed though she hated how open and welcoming everyone was being. It was the complete opposite of how she was feeling and it just...wasn't the day for all of this.

She just felt overwhelmed.

"Shy one, yeah?" The older man asked, a chuckle following since she nodded. He removed his hands and threw an arm around her shoulders.

"Well, no need because Uncle Leo gonna make sure they play nice." Leo winked, bringing a giggle from Mhina's lips.

"Let's celebrate my newest niece, Mhina Hood!" The man said loudly and everyone made whooping noises, grabbing the cups and drinks.

Ashton approached the girl and wrapped his arms around her waist, pecking her forehead.

"I'm sorry, babe. I know I've been standoffish but--"

She shook her head with a small smile and kissed his cheek. This brought a grin to his lips as she backed away to stand straight.

"No need to apologize." Mhina said, bringing a hand up to cup his cheek. She felt terrible for what she was thinking about currently.

While she had this great guy standing infront of her, smiling from ear to ear, and holding her in his arms, Mhina was somewhere else.

"I'm gonna go upstairs and get dressed in...well something that's not this." Mhina chuckled, tugging the end of her hoodie. Ashton let off a giggle and nodded, releasing her but not before kissing her one more time.

Usually he'd think something suspicious but he's had a moment to ponder on things and realized he was being ridiculous.

He saw how he was overreacting; accusing his girl and his bestfriend, who is also her foster brother, of having a 'thing'.

And usually he'd ask to go along with her but he decided not to and trust his girl.

"I'll be down here." He said, parting from Mhina and turning to head towards the rest of the group.

Mhina swallowed and headed upstairs. Mama Joy stopped her on the way up and she explained where she was going which her mom nodded to and joined everyone else.

As Mhina made it to the very hallway that separated the black door from the lavender one, she couldn't help but sigh.

Why did she technically lie to both her 'boyfriend' and 'mother' just to get upstairs to Calum?

Why was she planning on doing what she was about to do?

Why was she not feeling bad about lying to them just to get to do what she knew she needed to do?

These questions circled her mind as she reached for his doorknob. She twisted the knob and opened it.

Calum sat on his bed facing his window, back facing her as she closed the door.

She bit her bottom lip, not knowing what to say or how to say it. But as soon as the words found her tongue, his voice sounded.

"Mum, I'm alright. Please go and have fun. I'll be down in a bit." Calum said, figuring it was his mom since she seemed concerned earlier. But he was soon proven wrong when a different voice, a smoother and deeper voice replied.

"We need to talk."

The brown boy furrowed his brows and twisted slowly in his spot.

"Mhi--what are you doing here?"

"Did you mean it?" Mhina ignored his question and carried on the subject that was lingering on her mind ever since the flight back.

Was everything in those texts something he meant? Was those texts something he sent while it was 'in the moment'? Was he regretting sending them because she didn't text back?

She couldn't help but think this and it's what brought her up there to talk to the boy.

Calum's brows seemed to touch before they relaxed, realizing what she was talking about. He nodded softly before standing and stepping towards the girl.

"Of course I meant it...every word, Mhina." He replied, looking down at the shorter girl. Mhina glanced down at her shoes with clouded vision. The tears daring to escape but she refused to let them fall in front of Calum.

It hurt to hear him say that. 

"So you regret it, huh? You regret that night, being with me, everything, yeah?" Mhina replied bitterly, a dry chuckle following it. She was disgusted with herself but this only made it feel worse.

Of course she read the messages and it moved her but hearing him say he meant everything kind of made her feel ashamed.

Here he is regretting being with her and she's daydreaming about that very night.

The brown boy's widened as he jerked his head back in disbelief.

He just knew she didn't say that. 

How could she say that?

She definitely misinterpreted his text messages.

Another something he was afraid of.

"Mhina, look at me." Calum said in a soft tone, hoping to get her to look him in the eyes. She kept her focus on the ground and found his random black carpet to be far more interesting than looking into his browns.

That and she couldn't dare look at him when he basically said he regretted being with her.

Calum cupped her face with a hand and moved her face up to meet his own.

"Look at me." He said a bit more sternly, caressing her cheek. He hadn't noticed she was crying because her eyes were closed.

However, a single tear escaped from her right eye and streamed down to his thumb.

"Mhina." Calum said softly, wiping the drop from her face. His heart nearly dropped when she opened her eyes to show she was in fact crying.

Calum shook his head but at the same time she shook her own.

"I--"

"No, you regret what happened, right?" Mhina jerked away from his grasp, hot tears escaping her eyes as she moved.

"Mhina, I've never said that."

"It was implied in those texts!"

"You misinterpreted the whole thing then because I will never regret what we did." Calum quickly replied, taking a step to the girl. That got her to shut up and Calum was happy because she was talking foolishly.

He would never regret...that night.

The boy intertwined his fingers with the girl's, watching as her heavy eyes blinked as they stared up at him.

"Someone's tired." Calum commented and Mhina giggled, rolling her tired eyes.

Their bodies laid under the white duvet, Mhina laying on his bare chest.

Neither of them talked about what had occurred a few minutes ago and really they weren't going to discuss it.

Everything that was done...it was done.

No need to bring it up because it happened and that's that.

The girl yawned and reached to kiss his jaw.

"Goodnight, Calum." Mhina said softly before she drifted off to sleep. The boy smiled, feeling her puffs of breath escaping her mouth and falling on his upper chest.

He leaned down and kissed her forehead, lips staying on her skin before parting away from the girl.

"Goodnight, Mhina." Calum whispered, sighing and looking up at the ceiling.

A minute passed and the boy slowly snapped back to reality. It was then he realized what huge mistake he just made. His eyes widened when he noticed the damage he allowed his feelings to cause.

He was poking at a wound that had no business being bothered.

But unlike broken skin and cuts, it didn't feel bad.

But like broken skin and cuts, the damage was done.

Yet, Calum felt he couldn't be there knowing he's kicking himself for allowing this to go this far but loving what happened at the same time.

It was way too twisted and he needed to go before the feeling of her underneath him numbed the feeling of knowing what he did was wrong.

So, he carefully removed himself from the bed. He kissed the top of Mhina's head one last time for the last time and started towards the door.

"Never?" Mhina asked, watery eyes on his browns.

"Never." Calum repeated, reaching a hand to cup her cheek, once again wiping another falling tear.

So we back in aussie yall and we got mali and trap house owning Uncle Leo!!! The legend himself lol and yall notice Ashton had a change if heart so suddenly? What dat about? also we get a conclusion of what happened between Mhina and Calum and yes it's what you think lol but anyway it's gonna get even juicer and probably sad from here so yeah /: hope yall enjoyed this and love you all ♡♡♡

Also comment and vote cuz I lyk dat so yeah lol