Calum's PoV

With everything that had happened over the last few days, I told Poppy to have a rest when we woke up the next morning so I could make her some breakfast and we could relax for the first time in what felt like forever. The amount weighing on both our minds wasn't going anywhere any time soon but we could distract ourselves for a small amount of time and for once be surrounded with positivity and joy. Instead, I woke up at 8am alone in bed with a clattering sound coming from the next room.
Tiredly, I rubbed my eyes as I rolled out of bed, letting out one final yawn as I began shuffling into the noisy room slowly and grumpily. As soon as I got through the doorway I took in the sight before me with widened eyes and an open mouth.

"Poppy, what the-" she was stood on top of a ladder painting the ceiling with her hair tied up in a bun with a bandana around her head. She wore one of my old white T-shirt's underneath some dungarees on that hung from her bump. She was humming to herself as she slapped the paintbrush against the ceiling, swiping it left and right to cover the area. I looked around and noted that this was the last part of the ceiling to do. What time did she start this? "You've done the whole ceiling already?" Poppy suddenly stopped mid stroke and looked over to me, yanking out an earphone I didn't see as she smiled.

"Morning babe, you okay? I didn't wake you did I?" She asked sweetly and I didn't have the heart to start moaning about how I'd told her to rest. She seemed properly happy for the first time in ages and I wanted that to last.

"Not at all. This looks great!" I gestured to the ceiling with a smile. She painted the last few strokes and made her way back down the ladder, placing the paintbrush down as she wiped her hands and rushed over, hugging me tightly. "How long have you been in here?" She let out a small shrug and a shy smile.

"I woke up needing the loo but I couldn't go back to sleep so I thought I'd get started." She said, her voice seeming to give way a little at the end of the sentence. She subtly cleared her throat without making eye contact with me and then changed the subject, hoping I wouldn't say anything. "What do you think?"

"Well, it looks amazing but I think we need you to rest now." I started to lead her towards the door but she stood firm, as if her feet were glued to the floor.

"Cal, I need to finish the room today." She said sternly as if I could not change her mind. I wanted to remind her that she was pregnant and ill but I knew that would just anger her. I needed to work my magic of persuading her another way.

"Have some breakfast with me. We haven't had time to ourselves in such a long time..." I batted my eyelashes as she stared at me, letting the corners of her mouth turn up slightly. She looked around the half painted room before she looked back at me.

"Fine, but I want pancakes." She said with a smirk. We walked out of the room with our arms around each other and as we arrived at the kitchen, I pulled the chair out for her and offered her the seat like a true gentleman. She let out a little laugh as she thanked me.
I got to work mixing up some pancakes and cooking them whilst the coffee was being made. All the time this was going on, we chatted happily - looking back on things that had happened over the last few weeks and even making some of the worse situations sound better. Once I'd plated up the breakfast, I placed Poppy's pancakes and coffee down in front of her and sat beside her with mine.

"I miss the guys." She said suddenly as she finished a forkful of pancake and some strawberry. "Now that you're all promoting your new song and album, the amount of time I see not only you but them is going to really go down. Especially when I'll be on mat leave soon." She didn't mention anything about the treatment and once again I let it slide.

"Look, just because that new nurse starts training with us on Monday doesn't mean that we are going to forget about you! Look how close you are with everyone. Mikey and Crystal  will probably be over even more with baby India and Ash is like your best friend. Luke and Sierra love you, they'll want to be round all the time babysitting and seeing you. Don't even worry about something like that. You're our nurse until you have our baby but then you're still everyone's friend." She let out a small sigh, sipped her coffee and then smiled.

"You're right. I'm sorry." She said sadly.

"Don't be sorry! Everyone thinks things like this at some point. We have a lot going on and I think we just need to remove all the negative things from our minds and lives so we can focus on what's important!" I held her hand across the table and she finally grinned, nodding happily just as my phone began to buzz at the side of the table. I glanced down to see Luke's name.

"Go on, take it. He never calls for nothing." Poppy nodded down at my phone and I reluctantly removed my hand from hers as I answered.

"Hey man-" I began but got cut off.

"Are you in the room with Poppy?" Luke said quickly.

"Yes." I began to panic.

"Move rooms please." I looked over at Poppy once more before I lied through the phone.

"Hold on Luke you're breaking up, I didn't hear that." I said as I swiftly moved into the bedroom and leant against the window. "Alright, what's up?"

"Her parents." My stomach dropped. This was the last thing she needed. We just needed a break.

"How do you even know about-" once again I was silenced.

"They've sold their story to the papers." Luke was really angry and I could tell by his short answers.

"They fucking what?" I spat back, fury taking over in an instant.

"They basically said Poppy is an unprofessional, hotheaded mess. They've blamed some of it on you, on our band, but mainly they're just out there with their claws out making it seem like she's trying to climb through fame by being a bitch. It's nothing like her, we would know, but the paper has come to management for a response. I just don't want her to see it." Luke sighed sadly at the end, the angry demeanour lost in an instant. "She's got so much going on this is the last thing we need."

"I know, and she was just saying she missed hanging out with everyone. Why don't we plan a little surprise get together?"