•Cassidy

My throat was starting to become dry due to the amount of conversations I have participated in today. It didn't bother me in the slightest- I was incredibly happy to be able to spend my entire day chatting with my parents on everything we've been up to- but now I could really use a smoothie.

It was weird sleeping alone last night, but there was no better feeling than being snuggled up in my childhood bed that was now much too small for my nineteen-year-old body. It was also quite peculiar to not have Max jumping on the mattress in the morning to wake me up, or to have my older brother, Anthony, not be in the room next door to me since he had finally moved out earlier this year.

Anthony was coming over soon, along with his wife, Elizabeth. They had gotten married last year and had one of the most beautiful weddings I've ever seen. Calum had a show that night, so he was thankfully unable to attend, because I can only imagine how different that evening would have went if the Maid of Honor got into a fight with her enemy. Oh, how things have changed.

Speaking of which, I decided to pull my phone out and text Calum. My thumb hovered above his contact for several moments before I finally clicked on his name. I had to admit I was a bit nervous to text him, simply because I haven't done this in four years. We lived together so there was no reason to text each other when we could have face to face conversations everyday. But now he was currently with his own family, and I was currently missing him.

To: Cal - hi

To: goldilocks - babe!

To: Cal- can you come over

To: goldilocks- clingy much

To: Cal- stfu i miss you

To: goldilocks- i love that song! you know me so well!!

To: Cal- nevermind

To: goldilocks- :(

To: goldilocks- i'll be there in like 10 minutes after i finish kicking mali's butt at fifa. do you need anything?

To: Cal- a smoothie please? x

To: goldilocks - such a diva

To: goldilocks- miss you too btw

I turned my phone off so the screen was now black, whereas my cheeks were blushing a bright color of red. Calum just made me so giddy. I can't believe it took the two of us this long to finally realize the chemistry between us.

A clinking sound echoed throughout the kitchen, making me glimpse up to the source of the sound. It was simply my father placing his cup into the sink and he smiled warmly at me when we made eye contact. "It's so nice having you home, Cassie."

"It's so nice being here," I countered, since I still couldn't get over how nice it felt to be within the walls of my childhood. Every time my feet even barely grazed across the top of the hardwood floors my body was shot with a sense of overwhelming nostalgia.

My fingers traced over the counter top, admiring the coldness of the granite against my smooth skin. Even though I was just sitting here doing nothing, it was comforting knowing I was surrounded by family and by the memories floating in the atmosphere.

Dad opened his mouth to speak again, but we were interrupted by the front door opening, revealing my brother and his wife. "Anthony!" I cheered, leaping off of the chair to go hug him.

He chuckled as he stumbled backwards as I tackled him into a hug. Anthony smiled at me as I released my grip around him, and his green eyes that were nearly identical to my own stared at me with pride. "My baby sister is all grown up. This is so weird. I've missed you so much, Cassie."

"I've missed you too," I agreed. When we were younger we used to fight a lot, especially when the gender card came into play. Mali and I used to always team up against Anthony and Calum as kids, and sometimes I think the feud still lingers.

"Hi, Elizabeth," I greeted, pulling her in for a hug as well. I was fortunate enough to actually like my sister-in-law. She was beautiful, sporting dusty brown hair and hazel eyes that reflected a golden shade in the sun, along with clothes that were always trendy. Elizabeth also didn't like to be called Liz, or Beth, or Eliza. Just Elizabeth. And I liked that.

"Hi, Cassidy. It's so good to see you! Well, in person. We just all watched your new movie the other night at the cinema and I loved it," Elizabeth gushed, placing her hand on my shoulder as she spoke.

I grinned. I always felt awkward when people brought up my acting, but that little boost of recognition from those you really care about was such a humbling feeling. "Thank you. So how have you guys been?"

The front door that we were still huddled around swung open again, this time revealing the boy who I haven't been able to get out of my mind. My heart started pounding against my chest just due to his presence, and I had to remind myself that this was just next-door-neighbor Calum and not I-want-to-lick-your-face Calum since my family was around.

Calum's eyes immediately locked on mine when he stepped foot inside my home with a smoothie in his hand. He smiled at me before moving his attention to my brother. "Calum!" Anthony exclaimed, shuffling over to him and wrapping him into a hug. "How's my favorite little rockstar?"

"Hey, Anth," Calum said through laughter. "I was disappointed I didn't see you out on tour, man. I told you I could have hooked you up with some backstage passes."

"Sorry, Cal. Elizabeth and I totally should have came to a gig full of screaming girls for our honeymoon! I don't know why we never planned that, honey," Anthony teased, making Elizabeth nudge him in the arm to get him to loosen up on the sarcasm.

Calum wasn't even fazed by his remark, mainly because he had the capability of being even sassier, and he strolled over towards me to hand me the cold smoothie I asked for. "Hi."

"Hi," I repeated with a giggle, tearing my gaze away from his brown eyes so I wouldn't ruin our "just friends" façade. "Thank you."

Anthony cooed. "Aw, look at the lovebirds. First Calum drops off a smoothie, then he'll be dropping his pants."

Elizabeth snorted, quickly placing her hand over her mouth to suppress any further sounds from escaping. I, on the other hand, just glared at him. "Anthony!" I hissed.

My brother threw his head back in laughter. "I'm just kidding. But I can't believe you two are actually living together. Mum and Dad gave Elizabeth and I a hard time about that and we're freakin' married. I just hope you two are using protection unlike some people."

I knitted my eyebrows together in confusion, glancing up at Calum to see if he understood what Anthony was referring to or not. But he didn't. "What?" I asked, suddenly feeling embarrassed that I was missing something.

Elizabeth beamed at me. "I'm pregnant."

•*•*•

Calum was perched on my mattress, his eyes scanning the bedroom as if he has never been in here before. After hours of talking about the pregnancy with the happy couple and my parents, Calum and I were finally given some alone time while we waited for dinner to be cooked.

I sat down next to him, letting out a content exhale. "You look beautiful today," Calum told me.

"So do you," I responded. It was true. He was dressed in his typical black jeans with one of those baseball style t-shirts that hung over his body perfectly and made his biceps appear even stronger than they already were.

He rolled his eyes. "I still can't believe we're here. I didn't expect to come home until Christmas. But it just feels so nice to not be surrounded by paparazzi and craziness," Calum mused. "The only weird thing is that I didn't get to cuddle with my girl last night."

My girl. Two words that could make my heart rate increase to the speed of light.

"This whole 'not being able to kiss you' thing is so difficult. I don't know I survived without your kisses before, Cass," Calum mumbled, leaning in closer to me.

His lips pressed against my neck. "You are so Goddamn beautiful and adorable and I really, really, like you," Calum whispered, planting soft kisses up my neck.

I could feel my body tremble by the intimacy of his delicate touch. He started to suck against the exposed skin with his tongue tickling me. "Cal," I murmured, tilting my head back before he could leave an obvious purple mark.

He pouted, but I just cupped my hands around his puffy cheeks and kissed his lips that were folded over. Calum smiled against the kiss as his hands found my waist to pull my body closer to his.

"Cassidy! Calum! Dinner is ready," My mother called from the bottom of the stairs, making me gasp and break apart from him immediately.

Calum groaned loudly as I tugged on his hand to get him to go downstairs as swiftly as possible, before anyone would grow suspicious of our actions. I didn't want them to find out about our little rendezvous. Well, more importantly, I didn't want them to ban Calum and I from being roommates.

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author's note: yo its like 11pm but i really like this chapter and idek why im just so pumped that they are in australia and for whats gonna happen omg

im so tired i didnt even proofread this i just want to get this chapter up before i fall asleep tbh 

OH AND I KNOW THE ELIZABETH BEIN PREGNANT THING IS RANDOM BUT ITS LIKE ACTUALLY IMPORTANT FOR LATER ON OK I SWEAR THERE IS A POINT FOR THAT AND SHE IS LIKE AROUND 3 MONTHS PREGNANT ??

love you all so much if you have any questions or want to talk to me you can tweet me @calumfridge since im more active on there :))

dedicatedto waitinforstyles for saying that my author notes are the best and that she actually reads mine which is ironic bc this authors note is boring but im so tired i swear ill be funny next time maybe idk we'll see but ily thank u babe