The sun was shining and the birds were chirping as I woke up the next morning, the feeling of Calum's lips still on mine from last night.

After he had kissed me he had pulled away, his cheeks red but his eyes bright and smiling.

We had then said goodnight and I had walked inside my house, falling down on my sofa and squealing like a child on christmas morning.

Once Dawson had calmed me down enough, I went to sleep.

As I got ready for work I couldn't stop smiling, making myself look cute and pretty for when I saw Calum later today.

Dawson decided he needed to go back to New York so his absence wasn't suspicious and left after hugging me goodbye.

I finished getting dressed and then after eating breakfast, I got on my bike and rode to the corner store.

I was opening shop today so I was alone for ten minutes when suddenly the door burst open and I looked to see Kate walking in, a gigantic grin on her face.

"Tell. Me. Everything!" She jumped up onto the counter and I laughed.

"Well we went out to dinner and a movie and then went to have coffee, and he was really sweet and we had great talks. And then he kissed me goodnight."

"HE KISSED YOU?!" She shrieked and I covered my ears.

"Yes." I laughed. "He was really nervous so I told him to just kiss me on the cheek so he did and then I closed my door and he knocked and when I opened it he just leaned in and kissed me."

"So how was it?" She winked.

"Really good." I smiled bashfully. "When I opened the door he said he had to stop being a coward and then kissed me and oh my gosh Kate, I wanted to faint. It was perfect."

"So what are you two now? Are you talking, dating, boyfriend girlfriend?"

"I guess we are just seeing each other. He said he wanted to go on another date with me."

"Aw, i'm so happy for the both of you."

"Me too. I'm excited about this."

As our morning went on I kept looking at the door expecting Calum to walk in but he didn't, well not until after the lunch rush like normal.

When he came in he was laughing at something with Michael and then saw me, his smile widening.

I stepped around the counter to wait for him and when he approached he placed his hand on my arm and kept walking, leading me to the back store room.

We stepped inside and he closed the door behind us.

"What's this about?" I asked him.

"I didn't want to talk about us in front of Ashton." He said. "He's pretty mad at me."

"Oh." I said.

"But um, I decided to take tonight off and I was wondering if for our second date, you would want to come over and have dinner with me and the kids?"

"I like that idea." I smiled.

"It's not too much too soon?"

"No. I think it's perfect." I said and he nodded. "So last night..." I then smirked and placed my hands on his abdomen, feeling the cloth of his uniform between my fingers.

"I decided that I don't want to hold back anymore. I'm interested in you and attracted to you, and I want to pursue it and see where it leads, and I have to do that with no reservations."

"Okay." I smiled. "Pursue me then."

"I intend to." He chuckled. "We should probably go back out there."

"Yeah." I said and opened the door, stepping out.

"Wait!" Calum then said and I turned around. His eyes flickered down to my lips and he leaned down and pressed a kiss to them.

"WHOA! CALUM JUST KISSED NESSA!"

I whipped around to see Michael, Luke, Ashton, and Kate staring at Calum and I with wide eyes.

"We uh..." I said and looked back at Calum for help.

"I can't believe you, man!" Ashton then shouted at Calum.

"Ashton I-"

"No. I don't wanna hear it." Ashton then stormed out of the shop.

"Okay, what is going on?" Michael asked.

"I...I should go talk to him." I said to Calum.

"No, I need to." He said.

"No. It should be me." I said and then walked out of the shop, searching for where Ashton had gone.

I saw him walking and began to jog towards him.

"Ashton! Ashton!" I called out to him and he looked behind him but kept walking.

"Ashton, stop!" I said when I reached him and placed my hand on his shoulder, making
him stop walking away from me.

"Are you dating him?" Ashton asked me in anger.

"We went on one date."

"But you're his girlfriend."

"No... we're just going on dates."

"Why did you tell me that once you were settled we could go on a date and then start dating Calum?"

"I told you once I was settled you could ask me...and Calum asked me first. I'm sorry Ashton, Calum and I didn't mean to hurt your feelings, honest."

Ashton nodded, not making eye contact with me.

"Do you like him?"

"...Yeah, I really do."

"He kissed you..."

"Yeah, he did."

"But you're not his girlfriend?"

"He hasn't asked me to be."

Ashton nodded again.

"I feel like such a jerk." He huffed.

"Why?"

"Because i've seen the way Calum looks at you and the way you look at him and I was jealous. But he hasn't been with someone for a long time, and if he likes you then as his friend I shouldn't stand in the way of that."

"Maybe you should say that to him?" I suggested and Ashton nodded, giving me a little smile before the two of us began to walk back to the store.

Calum was waiting outside and stood up straight when Ashton and I walked up.

"Ashton, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you." Calum apologised.

"No, i'm sorry for standing in the way of your happiness. If you want her then go for it, I can't get between that."

Calum nodded.

"Thanks."

Ashton walked back inside while Calum and I stood outside.

"He's a really good friend to you." I said.

"I know. I should have talked to him better." He sighed. "But uh, is 5:30 tonight okay?"

"Yeah." I said and he softly smiled before the two of us walked back inside.

Everyone stared at us but we ignored it and Calum ordered his sandwich and I handled the register again.

"So, i'll see you tonight?" He smiled at me.

"Yeah."

"Okay. Bye, Nessa."

After Calum left I stayed at work for a little bit longer and then went home.

I decided to watch a little television before getting ready to go over to Calum's and was halfway into a very annoying yet slightly entertaining reality television show when my phone rang.

I looked to see it was Calum and hit mute on the remote before answering.

"Hey."

"Hey, so I have a question. Are you allergic to anything?"

"Walnuts." I said.

"Cool- Eli don't touch that!"

I chuckled.

"Okay, i'll see you tonight."

"Bye." I laughed as I hung up.

A little later on I dressed in a short black skirt and then tucked a white tee into it before putting my hair up in a stylishly messy bun.

I had to keep one hand on my skirt so it didn't fly up as I rode my bike to Calum's house. When I got there I leaned my bike against the tree in his front yard before walking up his steps and knocking on his door.

It opened a few seconds later to reveal Calum in jeans and a Dahlonega PD tee shirt.

"Hey, come on in." He smiled at me and I walked in.

"Nessa!" Eli suddenly appeared at my side.

"Hey, Eli." I hugged him.

"Are we going to watch The Jungle Book?" He asked me.

"Nessa is here to have dinner with us tonight, bud. Remember, I told you." Calum said.

"But we can still watch the movie?" Eli looked up at me.

"Why don't we have dinner first and then we'll see, okay?" I asked him and he nodded up at me with a smile before hugging me again.

Calum stood there smiling at us before a very happy Cade came over to us.

"Hey Cade!" I picked him up to tickle his little stomach. "You're just the cutest boy in town, you even give your daddy a run for his money."

Calum laughed at this and we then stepped out of the doorway and I followed him to the kitchen.

"Do you need me to help with anything?" I asked.

"No, I'm good."

"You don't have to do all of the work."

"I'm making you dinner." He laughed. "You can just sit on the counter over there and talk to me."

I set Cade down on the floor where he toddled off to find Eli and then pushed myself up onto the counter next to Calum.

"So how has your afternoon been?" I asked him.

"Well I spent a good hour looking at recipes online to figure out what to make you and then ended up calling my mom and asking her and now she's very curious as to who you are, and then I went grocery shopping with the boys and then came back here."

"Sounds fun." I looked down at the cutting board where he was cutting chicken into small pieces.

"What about you?" He looked up at me.

"I did nothing really. But I think i'm going to go car shopping tomorrow."

"Oh yeah? What are you looking for?"

"Something that's cheap and works." I said and he laughed. "But i've never bought a car myself so I don't know what to do really."

"You've never had a car? Oh, well I guess since you lived in New York you didn't need to."

"I had a driver, so..."

"A driver? Is your family rich or something? Are you a famous celebrity?"

"No." I laughed. "My dad is just a really...well known business man."

"Ah." Calum nodded. "Well if you want, i'd be happy to help you out and give you some guidance."

"That'd be nice."

"Just let me know what time you want to go."

"Okay." I smiled and lightly kicked my feet.

Calum turned and went to the refrigerator and
came back with a bowl of artichoke dip and then went to a pantry to get crackers.

"Help yourself." He said and I smiled as I did so, taking a bite.

"It's good."

"Moms favourite recipe. She told me not to screw it up and give her a bad rep."

I laughed.

"Well, you can tell her that you did very well."

"So what did Ashton say when you talked to him?"

"He asked me what we were and I said that we had only gone on a date, and that we didn't mean to hurt his feelings. And he said he didn't want to stand in the way of your happiness."

Calum smiled.

He set down the knife and then moved to stand in front of me, placing his hands on my crossed legs.

"Would it be too much to ask for a kiss?" He asked me.

"No." I laughed and leaned forward to kiss him.

It was quick and I think we both wanted more but he pulled away and went back to cooking.

I watched as he put the chicken in a pan and began to cook it.

"So what are you making?"

"Pizza." He said. "Homemade, just like my mom used to make it."

"Sounds good."

Cade came wobbling into the room and I smiled as he came up to me.

"Do you want to watch your Daddy make us dinner?" I asked him and slid off the counter before picking him up and walking over to where Calum was rolling out the pizza dough.

Calum chuckled as we watched him and soon Eli joined us, wanting to be in on the action.

Calum put the pizza in the oven and then we went to the living room where we sat down on the sofa.

"Can we watch The Jungle Book now?" Eli asked and Calum sighed.

"Fine, we can watch part of it." Calum shook his head and stood up to put in the movie, Eli cheering.

Eli moved to sit next to me, Cade on the other side and when Calum turned back around he frowned.

"Hey, I was sitting there."

"But I wanna sit next to Nessa." Eli pouted.

"Eli, move."

"Daddy!" Eli whined.

Calum sighed.

"Fine."

I laughed lightly and watched as Calum sat down in an armchair, an annoyed look on his face but I sent him a wink and he shook his head, giving me a smile.

Eli and Cade leaned on me as the movie started and Calum kept looking at the three of us and laughing.

After about twenty minutes he went to the kitchen to check on the pizza.

"Okay! Dinners ready!" He called and I stood up, bringing the two kiddos with me.

Calum used a pizza cutter to cut the pizza into squares while Eli, Cade and myself sat at the kitchen table.

"Okay, everyone dig in." Calum set down a plate with pizza slices on it and Eli and I took a couple while Calum cut one up for Cade and then took one himself.

"It's good." I said after I had taken a bite and Calum smiled at me.

"Can I get that in writing so my mom believes me?" He laughed.

"Sure." I joined in his laughter.

When everyone finished eating Calum took the plates into the kitchen and I stood up and moved next to him.

"I've got it." I said and grabbed a plate.

"No, i've got it." He shook his head and took it back.

"You made dinner, at least let me wash the dishes."

"No!" He said and I laughed at his stubbornness.

"Please?" I stepped forward and pressed my hands to his chest before batting my eyelashes up at him.

"I'm a police officer and I have two kids; do you really think the puppy dog look will work on me?" He asked with a little smirk on his lips.

"It can if you let it." I flirted back.

He looked at me for a moment then sighed.

"I'll wash, you dry." He said and I smiled at the victory before helping him do the idishes.

"So what time do you want to go look at cars tomorrow?"

"Let's say one-ish?"

"How about noon-ish and we can grab lunch before we go?" He suggested.

"Okay." I smiled.

We finished the dishes and Calum picked up his phone and began to type.

"Nessa, lets finishing watching the movie." Eli came up to me and I followed him to the living room and hit play on the remote.

"Hey, Michael is gonna come watch you guys tomorrow." Calum said as he came up to us and Eli smiled.

"Hey Nessa, can you spend the night?" Eli asked.

"Spend the night?"

"Yeah. We can watch movies and you can sleep in our room."

"There's no bed for me in your room." I laughed, playing along.

"Oh yeah!" He laughed too. "Then you can sleep in Daddy's room! He has a big bed!"

I blushed as I glanced up at Calum who was blushing hard as well.

"Well I can't spend the night tonight, but maybe you two can come spend the night at my house one time."

"Daddy, can we?!" Eli jumped at Calum.

"I think that would be okay. We'll see." Calum told him.

At this we all sat down to watch the rest of the movie. Calum sat next to me with Cade in his lap, and I had Eli leaning against me.

When it got to Eli's favorite song he had me dance with him, Calum laughing hysterically at us.

After we had danced and sang, Eli ended up falling asleep along with Cade.

"I should probably get them to bed." Calum said as he turned off the tv.

"Yeah." I gave him a small smile.

He picked up Cade and carried him to his bed before coming back for Eli. I stood up and stretched, adjusting my clothes as Calum walked back in.

"You don't have to leave." He said.

"Oh, I just thought you'd want to get them to bed."

"Well they're already asleep." He gave me a closed lip smile as he stepped forward. "I'll make us some coffee and we can talk."

"Okay." I smiled and sat back down while he went to the kitchen. I heard him making the coffee before he came back with two mugs.

"Thanks." I took the mug that he passed to me and he sat down. "You know, I meant what I said yesterday, the boys really are so sweet."

"Yeah, they're something else." He laughed quietly. "They really like you."

"I really like them too."

It was quiet for a few moments.

"Do you uh, want to watch a movie? I promise we have some over a G rating."

"Sure." I giggled and he got up to pick a movie.

I was a bit surprised when he turned out the living room light and sat down next to me.

As the movie started I felt his arm come around my shoulders. I felt his hand touch my shoulder and I looked up at him to see him looking down at me.

He tilted his chin down and closed his eyes as he leaned in and I closed my eyes as well as I felt his lips softly touch mine.

It was a ghost of a kiss and as I went to pull back he moved in, missing my mouth and he opened his eyes.

I saw him then see where I was and he moved in again to press a more firm kiss to my lips.

His kisses felt nice and tender against my lips but I felt like he was forcing himself to move faster than he was ready to.

"Calum." I said in the second between his lips left mine and went to touch them again.

"Hmm?"

"We don't have to do this."

He pulled back two inches to look at me.

"You don't want to kiss?" He asked.

"No, that's not what i'm saying." I shook my head. "I like kissing you, I do, but I just don't want to move faster than you're comfortable with."

"Nessa, if I wasn't ready to kiss another woman then I wouldn't have kissed you."

"I know, it's just that...I guess I just don't want to rush this."

"Then we won't rush this...whatever this is..."

"I think this is us getting to know each other." I said.

"I think so too." He whispered back and I realized he had moved back in so he was close enough that I could feel his breath on my face. He then brushed his lips against mine and I relaxed.

I felt his hand come to rest on my cheek and then felt the tip of his tongue touch my bottom lip and I shivered.

I parted my lips and felt his tongue touch mine, his lips moving up to encase my top lip.

I didn't mean to but a whimper of pleasure slipped out and if I was correct, I felt Calum smile against my mouth.

We broke the kiss and Calum removed his hand from my cheek, his brown eyes looking into mine.

Someone shouted in the movie and I jumped, Calum's eyes widening at me before he chuckled.

"Shut up." I shook my head with a playful smile and turned back to the television.

I leaned into his side as we watched the movie.

We had been kissing in the beginning so I didn't even know what it was called but it had Will Smith in it.

At one point in the movie he was jet skiing with a woman and swung his leg and accidentally knocked her off her jet ski.

I gasped a laugh.

"Could you imagine?" I looked over at Calum but instead of his smile I was met with his peaceful, sleeping face.

His head was leaned back against the cushion and his lips were parted slightly.

I smiled at this and reached for the remote to turn off the movie. At this he let out a snore and tried not to laugh.

I stood up and took the blanket off the back of the couch and laid it over him before finding a notepad and pen on the coffee table and wrote him a note.

Calum,

Thank you for having me over for dinner, I had a great time. By the way, your snoring is cute. See you at noon.

Nessa

Turning back to Calum I leaned over him and pressed a kiss to his forehead before quietly making my way from his house.

I locked the door as I left and walked down the front porch steps and to my bike, getting on and riding back to my house.

As I pulled up in front of my home I noticed one of my front porch lights was out and I reminded myself to fix that tomorrow as I leaned my bike against the rail and walked up to unlock the door.

It was only like 10:30 so I got in the shower before I went to bed.

My alarm woke me up at 9:30 in the morning and I sighed, grabbing my phone to see I had one text from Calum.

'Okay, now we're even.'

I laughed and sent him back a winky face.

I got out of bed and went to the kitchen to make myself some coffee before sitting down on the sofa to turn on the morning news.

Every time I turned on the television I half expected there to be a photo of my face on the screen saying WANTED.

This morning there was nothing really interesting so I abandoned the tv and went to get ready.

I didn't want to go overboard today so I stuck with shorts and gray tee shirt I had owned since college that had NYU on it.

I separated the top half of my hair into a bun and put on mascara before heading to the living room to wait but remembered the burnt out lightbulb on the porch.

So I went to the garage where there was a cabinet where the previous owner had left extras.

I grabbed one then a step stool I had purchased and went out to the front porch, setting the stool in front of the light and stepping up.

I unscrewed the dead light and set it down before screwing in the other one.

"Well someone looks domestic." A voice came from behind me and I turned to see Calum standing on my porch.

"Hey." I smiled and flipped the switch to make sure the light worked before stepping down from the stool.

"Come on in." I opened the door and he followed me inside.

"You ready to go?" He asked.

"Yeah, let me just put this away and grab my bag." I said and went to put the stool away and throw out the old light and then went to my bedroom to get my bag.

I walked back out to the front of the house where Calum was looking about.

"Okay, I'm ready." I smiled as I stepped up to him.

"Let's go." He copied my expression and held the door for me as we walked out.

The two of us got in his car and he pulled away from the curb.

"So, I'm really sorry about falling asleep on you last night. You should've woken me up." He said.

"It was fine, like you said, now we're even." I laughed. "And besides, you're kinda cute when you sleep." I winked and he dropped his jaw at my obvious teasing.

"Wow." He said and I laughed.

We reached a stop sign and he stopped and when I thought he was about to go he instead moved and placed a hand on the back of my neck before leaning over to kiss me soundly.

My cheeks were hot when he broke the kiss and moved into his seat again, pressing on the gas.

I released a breath to calm myself down and cleared my throat.

"So where are we going for lunch?" I asked.

"There's this really good hole-in-the-wall taco place I thought we could go of that's good with you?"

"Yeah, sounds great." I smiled.

"Eli was very disappointed that you were gone when he woke up this morning." Calum moved to a new topic.

"Aw." My heart fluttered happily.

"And I told my mom that you approved of my cooking skills, so hopefully she'll get off my back."

I laughed.

"Your mom sounds sweet."

"Yeah, she's great." He said and then pulled into a parking lot of a strip center.

We got out of the car and walked into a little restaurant.

"It smells really good in here." I said as I stood next to him in line.

"Thanks, it's me." He joked and I shook my head as I laughed and then leaned in and pressed my nose to his chest, inhaling.

"Clean laundry and a very nice cologne. I approve." I winked up at him.

"Did you just smell me?" He laughed.

"What are you gonna do about it?" I teased and he smirked before leaning down and pressing his nose to my shoulder.

"Dove soap and coconut." He said as he came back up. "I approve."

He and I ordered our food and Calum paid for both of us. We got our drinks and then went to a table.

"So besides cheap, what kind of car are you looking for?" Calum asked.

"Like a small car."

"That tells me nothing." Calum laughed.

"I think when I see it I'll know."

"So do you have a budget?" He asked.

"Yeah. But I'd like to not spend the full amount."

"Well i'm good at bartering so we'll try and get you the best deal."

"Thanks for helping me out with this. Seriously, I'm totally clueless on cars."

"It's no problem." He smiled at me.

Our food came and as we ate I saw Calum eyeing my plate.

"Do you want to try?" I asked. "I don't mind."

He reached over and took one of my tacos off my plate and took a bite.

"It's good." He said. "You can try mine if you want."

I took one of his tacos and took a bite.

"I like it." I smiled. "Here, you can have mine and I can have this one." I gestured to each other's tacos we were holding.

"You read my mind." He chuckled.

When we were done with lunch Calum drove me to a car dealership where we parked and no sooner a salesman walked out to us.

"Can I help you with anything?" He asked he as he approached. I noticed him look me up and down and I shifted uncomfortably.

He was maybe a few years older than me and was very attractive, but I wasn't interested.

"She's looking for a car." Calum said and I realized I hadn't answered the guy back.

"Well I'm Chad, nice to meet you." He shook my hand and then Calum's. "Anything in particular you're looking for?"

"Well I was thinking something used. I'd like something small and I have an $9,000 budget."

"Okay, well the used cars are this way, so let's go take a look." Chad said and began to lead Calum and I over to the used car section.

"Oh I like this one." I said as a car caught my eye and pointed to it, Calum walking ahead to look at it.

"It's a Ford Focus." Calum said as he walked around the car. He looked in the windows and then circled the car one more time. "There's some scratches but i'm sure if you got it detailed it would be fine. What's the mileage?" He then asked Chad.

"It gets 40 miles to the gallon on the highway."

"That's good, Ness." Calum looked at me then Chad. "Could we see the inside and maybe test drive it?"

"Sure, i'll go get the keys." Chad said then left.

"The price says $9,500 but maybe we can get him to knock it down since it obviously needs to be detailed." Calum said but I was a little hung up on the name he had just called me. "What?" He asked as I stared at him.

"You called me Ness."

"Oh...is that okay?"

"I like it." I smiled and he matched my expression.

"So you like the way it looks?" He then placed his hand on the car.

"Yeah, I do."

Calum and I looked at the car for a few minutes until Chad came back and handed me the keys. I unlocked the car and then got in, looking at all of the things.

"I like the cup holders." I commented and Calum laughed as he sat in the passenger seat.

"Okay, the car is more than the cup holders. Why don't you test drive it."

Chad gave us the go ahead and so I backed out of the parking spot and drove out of the lot and onto the streets.

"The brakes are kinda touchy." I said after a few minutes.

"Yeah i've noticed. You about put me through the windshield eight times."

"Shut up." I rolled my eyes. "I can get used to them."

I then pulled into a parking lot and Calum and I switched places so he could drive it and see if I was missing something that was off.

While he did I messed with the radio and aux to make sure they worked and when Calum pulled back into the dealership he checked the lights, windshield wipers and horn.

"I mean it's a good car Ness." Calum said as Chad walked towards us.

"Should I get it?"

"If you like it then yeah." He said and I nodded.

We got out and Chad approached.

"So what did you think?" He asked with a grin.

"She liked it." Calum looked at me. "We'll offer you $9,000."

"I really can't knock down the price on a used car." Chad shook his head.

"Well it has to be detailed and that's going to cost me $500, so..." I said.

"Let me check with my manager." Chad said and went inside and came back a few minutes later. "We'll take it."

"Great." I smiled and then Calum and I followed him inside where I had to do the paperwork.

"So how long have you two been together?" Chad asked as I was signing a form.

"Oh, we're just friends." Calum said and my heart sank in my chest.

I tried not to show my displeasure at his words and hurried to finish up.

Calum decided he would follow me home in his car when we left and I was at a red light when my phone rang and I looked to see it was Calum.

"Yeah?" I answered.

"Hey, pull over in the Valero parking lot."

"Okay?" I said and he hung up.

I did as he said and he got out of his car and walked up to my back tire. I watched him in my rear view mirror then got out.

"What's wrong?" I asked him.

"Your back left tire is shaking like crazy when you drive."

"I can't feel it." I furrowed my eyebrows.

"I have a mechanic friend, so why don't you get it checked out. It may be a problem with the rim."

"Okay." I said and we got back in our cars before driving the rest of the way back to my house.

I parked in the driveway and he parked in front of the house.

The two of us walked up to the door and I let us in.

"Let me give you the mechanics number." Calum said and I found him a sheet of paper and he wrote down the name and number.

"Thanks." I said. "And thanks for coming with me today, you were a major help."

"No problem." He smiled. "If you come by the station tomorrow after work I can help you get the Georgia license."

"Okay."

"Okay." He said and there was an awkward moment.

"So uh, i'll see you tomorrow?" I broke the silence.

"Yeah. I had fun today." He smiled at me and then stepped closer to me. "See you tomorrow, Ness."

He then leaned down and tilted his head to the side as he kissed me. It was soft and quick but I blushed nonetheless.

"Bye." I gave a little wave as he left and the door closed behind him.

I sighed at this, my heart pounding in my chest from his kiss and just his presence.

I really did like him, and I thought he really liked me but he said we were just friends. Like, I understood we had only been on three dates and we hadn't known each other long, but was I crazy for thinking we had something more than friendship?

Because in my mind, friends didn't kiss each other like the way Calum had kissed me last night.

I needed to know what we were.

But I didn't know how to ask.

--

Finally got a new chapter up! And don't let the fluff fool you, the drama will be coming soon.

What do you think Calum is feeling for Nessa and why he said they were just friends?

More to come!

Much love xx-M