•Cassidy

"Why didn't you just call the police?"

I sighed heavily, shrugging my shoulders in a nonchalant response. Calum's head was propped up on the pillow beside me, making his sharp jawline protrude even further. He had a small little smile tugging on his lips, but I think that is just because he is excited that I let him sleepover.

"That would have taken so long. If I just stepped in to do something this innocent man wouldn't have gotten murdered. I don't need a few hundred dollars, so why not help someone out?" I responded, turning on my side to get a better look at him.

His hair was messy and fell over his forehead in random patterns, the ends of each lock of hair curling up at the end and hiding his tan skin like a curtain. He was taking long blinks to rejuvenate his tired eyes, making his long eyelashes flutter against the small, little bags underneath his eyes. He is so gorgeous, even in this dark bedroom in the very early part of the morning.

Calum's plump lips grinned at me as his hand crept underneath the blankets and picked up my hand, intertwining our fingers together. "You always have had this moral obligation to be kind to people who don't really deserve it, Cass. It's adorable. But don't do something like that ever again."

"No promises," I whispered, suddenly realizing that we were talking incredibly loudly when my parents were just down the hall.

He groaned, scooting closer to me so our faces were almost directly in front of each other. I hope my breath doesn't stink.

"Please, Cassidy," Calum pleaded, his beautiful brown eyes locking on mine. "You scared the living crap out of me. And I'm scared that there will come a day when I won't be there to protect you, so please just protect yourself."

I nodded, understanding that I didn't make the best decisions regarding my own safety tonight, but it felt right in the moment to help that guy. "Thank you for getting me out of there, by the way. We'll have to go pick up my car tomorrow."

"Anything for my girlfriend," Calum stated proudly, kissing the top of my nose. Then he sunk backwards, his eyes widening with realization at what he had just called me.

I gulped. I hated the conversation that was brewing.

Calum licked his lips before he spoke, a deep exhale escaping his mouth. "Cass. What are we?"

There it is. The dreaded three words.

I truthfully didn't know. Obviously I liked him; I liked him so much that I was terrified. Obviously I wanted to be with him and listen to him call me baby and bake him cookies when he's sad and cuddle with him at all hours of the day. But there was still a hint of nerves for getting my heart completely shattered to pieces again, and I was incredibly worried that the day would come again.

"I don't know."

He rolled his eyes at me. "Don't give me that shit, Cassidy. We're a couple. Do you really think I would have drove down to the diner for someone else just to make sure they were okay? Do you really think I would have punched some guy for anyone else? No, I only do this for you. I'm not going to hurt you. I'm crazy about you."

"You're just crazy in general," I tried to tease, but my smile diminished when he didn't even react to my attempt at messing around with him. He looked genuinely ticked off.

"Shut up. You're making this so difficult," Calum grunted, shaking his head at me. "I realize I was an asshole before. But that's the thing. Before. I'm not anymore. Why can't you see that I've changed?"

I placed my hand on his bicep. I felt an ounce of guilt strike through me. "Of course I see you've changed, Cal," I insisted, stroking my hand over his smooth skin. "I just- putting a label on things is stupid. I don't know. I'm just scared."

"For God's sake! I'm scared too!" He yelled at a low volume in complete annoyance. Calum sighed, finally glancing up at me. "We don't need a label, you're right. But I wanna be yours."

I beamed up at him, pressing a kiss onto his cheek. "Don't go all Arctic Monkeys on me, Hood."

He chuckled, scooping me up into his arms. His fingers swiped away a few pieces of my hair and tucked them behind my ear delicately. "Cassidy, will you please be my girlfriend?"

My heart was beating rapidly against his chest. I had slowly regained my trust in him, especially after tonight's recent events. We could still take things slow in a relationship. Maybe this was exactly what I wanted all along.

"Yes."

He grinned, colliding our lips together in one swift motion. I smiled against the kiss. I had an official boyfriend for the first time in a long time, and he was my best friend. He was the kid I used to despise. And now I'm kissing him at three in the morning with butterflies fluttering throughout my stomach, and I couldn't be happier.

•*•*•

"Calum? What are you doing here, son?"

My eyes shot open quickly. My father was standing in the doorway of my room, his thumb still connected to the lightswitch he had just flicked on. Luckily the only part of our bodies touching was our feet that were tangled together underneath the blanket, but that didn't stop my cheeks from burning bright red.

Calum sat up, his hair even messier than before and he rubbed his eyes as a yawn escaped his mouth. "Morning, Mr. Gold! Uh, Cassie and I were hanging out last night since we both had some jet lag and I guess I fell asleep."

My dad nodded, falling for his half-lie. "Alright, kiddo. As long as you two weren't making any other kiddos," He said with a laugh, which Calum and I pretended to join along with. "That would be the day-- you two ending up together."

I swallowed. "Yeah, it's too bad that that would be weird since we're such close friends."

"It would be weird," My father agreed. "Well I came up here to tell you that your Mum and I made some breakfast. Cal, you're welcome to join us. And you're welcome to sleep over whenever but just not in my daughter's bed next time."

Calum smiled, shaking his head in confirmation as he slipped out of the bed. "Right. Sorry about that."

My dad exited the room without another word, making me exhale a deep breath that I was unaware I was holding. Calum instantly burst into a fit of laughter. "Stop! That was so close," I whined.

"Such close friends, hm?" He mocked, coming closer to me to peck my lips. His hands traveled down to my butt, giving it quick squeeze. His lips hovered over my own. "I'm pretty sure friends don't do this."

"Shut up," I mumbled, kissing him for barely even a second before I pulled away. "I need to go brush my teeth."

"Yeah, you do," Calum joked, flashing me a wink. He was giggling to himself, obviously in a good mood and I found it adorable. "I'll save you a seat at breakfast, baby."

I nodded, strolling into the bathroom across from my bedroom. I gaped at myself in the mirror, realizing that I looked like a piece of expired cheese on a hot day. I rapidly pulled my hair up into a ponytail and splashed water on my face in hope of revealing something more presentable. I brushed my teeth quickly, even though I would be eating soon, and went to the bathroom before heading downstairs.

Calum was sitting across from my parents, a bowl of cereal placed in front of him with a happy grin on my face. He was so adorable. And he was my boyfriend. What a great feeling.

"Morning, sweetie," My mum greeted, directing my gaze from Calum to her. She handed me a plate full of pancakes that were already drizzled with syrup. "How did you sleep?"

"I had a hard time falling asleep because of the time difference," I explained, sinking into the seat next to Calum. His hand instantly went to my thigh, rubbing small circles against it. I bit my lip to prevent myself from making any noise.

"Calum coming over probably didn't help you fall asleep either," My mother scolded, her eyes narrowing at me in an accusatory manner. "It's good to have you here in the morning again though, Cal."

"I'm glad to be here. You always make the best food, Mrs. Gold," Calum said with a smile, trying his best to suck up even though he was only eating cereal that probably took my mum two minutes to prepare.

My dad smiled at him with admiration. "How have you been, Calum? The rockstar life must be treating you good, yeah?"

Calum laughed. "Yeah. It's a lot of work and travel though. I'm really glad we got this summer off. I needed a break."

"Having all those girls throw themselves at you must be exhausting, huh?" My father teased, with a hint of sarcasm laced in his tone. Calum just scooped up a spoonful of cereal with a tiny grin on his face, making me become a little jealous. "You got yourself a girlfriend yet?"

Calum put his spoon back in the bowl, making a clinking sound echo throughout the kitchen. He licked his lips to get rid of the lingering milk. "Actually, yeah I do. She's great."

My mother grinned widely, pressing a hand up to her chest. "Aw, you do? That's wonderful, honey. Is she okay with you and Cassidy living together?"

I tried my best not to laugh. I placed my hand that wasn't grasping onto my fork over Calum's hand that was still on my thigh, and gave it a little squeeze.

"She's definitely okay with it," Calum assured my mother. It was true. I was more than okay with it. "She knows that Cass and I are close. Plus, we didn't really have a choice on the whole roommates thing, so."

My dad nodded, scarfing down his french toast. "Hopefully we can meet her someday."

"Hopefully," I muttered, chewing on the inside of my lip to stop myself from bursting into a hyena-like fit of endless giggles.

I glimpsed up at Calum for the first time since the exchange, and he was already beaming at me with delight. I had the urge to just tilt my head up and kiss him right there. He was so good with my family, and so good with me. I knew this whole relationship thing was going to be super easy for us.

Or was it?

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author's note: lemme get u guys some peanut butter to go with all this fluff

but yeah they are datin now wow i love c squared so much i could cry

GUYS I MADE THE PLAYLIST IT IS ON MY 8TRACKS (MY USER IS SUGARPLUMYO) AND IT IS CALLED ROOMMATES! (HOW SHOCKING) I TRIED TO PUT AS MANY SONGS AS YOU GUYS REQUESTED AS I COULD BUT IF YOU THINK IM MISSING ANY LET ME KNOW! if u are on your computer the link will be in the external link :--)

by the way guys joey is the guy from high school that she had a crush on and caused the big fight between cass and calum cmon man i wasnt talkin about joey tribiani even tho i love joey hes my fav person on friends next to chandler

thank you all so much for reading this i love you all i really do you guys are the best thnks for bein rad af

AND THANK YOU FOR 1 MILLION READS HOLY SHITTAPONE THATS A TON I CANT BELIEVE IT IM IN SHOCK

dedicated to mukeclemmings_ for writing a super long comment about how i am funny and genuinely care about everyone and how i took her fanfic virginity and i am so honored to have done that haaha but thank you so much i screenshotted and tweeted your comment on my twitter (@calumfridge) bc it was so lovely and made me happy i love you wow