OK QUICK- This is kind of what I imagine Aurora to look like because she's afro-latina and Cuban duh. I know I've said she is latina but I don't think I've gone more in depth of her ethnicity and stuff but that will come later ok. This update is long and I hope you like it. I will also add pictures of the other character's and what I imagine them to look like. A lot of them will be reality tv characters because I'm addicted to MTV and you may recognize them ok. Aurora will have like six or seven friends (from L.A. and Chicago) that will be mentioned so you'll get to meet them and see them soon. Ok on with the update!

***

Calum: you're late

Aurora looked at the text on her phone and could not help but roll her eyes. She was not that late. Only like half an hour late. And it wasn't like she was super far away; she was sitting in her car outside of his house. She had been for the past ten minutes.

Calum and her had been in constant contact since they had met at a month prior at the park and they were finally meeting up again. Aurora had been busy with being in the studio and Calum had done a mini tour with his band to promote their new single.

Aurora was so excited to see him again. They had grown so attached to each other, simply from texting and she loved the friendship they had. She had really grown to appreciate him because he seemed like the only real person in Los Angeles. Aurora immediately opened up to him and he did the same. He just always seemed to know when she was having a bad day and vice versa. There wasn't a day where they weren't texting, calling, or sending each other memes through Instagram DMs. She read the message once more and responded, letting her fingers hit the screen.

Aurora: i'm outside dork

She loved the sound of her nails hitting the phone, having gotten them done that morning after the Zumba class with her friend, Mei. The small girl had been trying to distract herself from the important news she would be receiving at nine p.m. that night. Aurora would be finding out if her new song with Halsey, 'Nightmare', placed on any charts. It was customary for any new release, saying the song was only released a week prior. It was the most important week for any new song.

After seeing the shit show of a song, it had been, Alex, Ashley and her had spent thirteen hours reworking it and they finally had a finished piece. They were all so proud of the song, but Aurora was still worried to see where it would place. Charts weren't everything, but it felt great to get recognition.

Aurora had already tried to dance out her nerves at Zumba, pamper her nerves out at the salon and was now trying to smoke out the rest of her nerves. As long as she could keep herself distracted, she would be good. Now Calum could be her distraction. She let the cigarette roll in her fingers, dangling outside of the car window as she stayed put outside of Calum's house. Aurora already was on her second cigarette already, but she could not help but smoke. She only did so when she was really, really nervous.

Aurora would have gone into Calum's house already, but she really needed to smoke.

The small girl wouldn't lie but it did take her a long time to find the neighborhood, especially to get past the security guard. He did not want to believe that Calum had given her the password to the gate. Maybe it was the fact that her car was from 2002 and made a loud noise every time she pressed on the gas a little too hard, but she was still offended. It was not her fault that she did not fit the aesthetic of the Los Angeles neighborhood.

"Hey! What are you doing waiting outside?" a voice called out, drawing Aurora out of the small haze she had been in. Cigarettes always made her mind feel foggy but she did not mind.

"Give me a minute," Aurora replied, holding up the cigarette in her fingers. She was almost done and did not want to bring it into Calum's house, especially not knowing if he was fine with cigarette smoke or not. She was planning to put a mint in her mouth, spray herself down with perfume and neither of those were viable options now if Calum was waiting for her.

Calum huffed and rolled his eyes dramatically, but Aurora could tell that it was sarcastic.

"I haven't seen you in a month. Just bring it inside."

"Are you sure?"

"We can go out back if you are that concerned."

Aurora huffed, similar to how Calum had done earlier. Deciding to not focus on the cigarette anymore, realizing how much she had missed the brown boy a lawn across from her, she dropped it to the ground and stubbed it out as soon as she got out. The brown girl quickly checked to see if she had left anything in her car but had decided that she only needed her phone and purse.

She quickly slipped into her mouth, grabbed the cigarette butt- she was not about to litter- and went walking towards Calum. As she approached him, his arms opened widely for her embrace. Aurora could not help that her legs naturally picked up the pace as she went to hug him.

The small girl was immediately engulfed with the smell of his cologne and his familiar arms. He immediately buried his face into the girl's neck and Aurora could not help but be in awe. The size difference between them was so comical.

"I didn't know you smoked," Calum whispered, pulling away from their comfortably long hug. It had been a month, give them a break.

Aurora could not help the whine that escaped her lips as he pulled away. "I haven't seen you in so long and that is the first thing you say?"

"I just did not take you to be someone to smoke," Calum mused, a grin growing on his face at the girl's hint of annoyance. He loved that.

Calum opened the front door wider to let Aurora into his home and followed behind her as soon as she entered. He could not help but watch how she took off her shoes, revealing two socks decorated with little pigs, or how she placed her purse and her phone next to her shoes. She was there just for him and not anyone else. Her attention was his.

She looked around the house casually, enjoying the way it was modernistic, but still had the elements of home. He had pictures of his family, his band, and his friends hanging on the walls. As Calum pulled her into the house, she could see numerous windows that really brightened the house. She was so surprised that his house overlooked the mountains of California. It was beautiful.

The one thing she was excited about was the couch. It was ginormous, plush and Aurora just knew it was comfortable. She wanted to cuddle with Calum on this couch.

"I smoked a lot like sophomore year of high school and then I quit once I realized how dumb I actually was for doing so. Now, I just smoke when stressed and I'm really fucking stressed," Aurora admitted, shrugging her shoulders.

The tall boy grabbed onto her hand and brought her into his living room. He pushed her down onto the couch and then sat next to her, both of their bodies just easily melting together. Her legs naturally wrapped around his waist, his arms wrapped around her waist, and then her hands were in his hair. She was lightly pulling at his brown locks and he just hummed in happiness. His head was resting on her chest and they were enjoying each other's company.

"I get that. I started smoking because of anxiety from touring and being famous in general, too. It helped distract me," Calum said, tightening his grip on Aurora's waist. He had never met someone so similar to him. It was scary. "Why are you nervous?"

"I find out tonight if a project I had at work did well. I'm really scared to see the results," Aurora answered, not really disclosing in depth what the project was.

"I get that. The week before I release a song, or an album, I panic and go through like five packs a day. I also drink a lot, which leads to a lot of interesting stories," Calum said, tugging the smaller girl towards him when he noticed a gap between the two. It was barely there but it was too much.

"I've definitely done that before. Or I've stayed high for like a full seventy-two hours depending on the severity of the project," Aurora admitted.

It was not healthy for her to do that, but it had only been once. Khalid and Aurora had written a song for a movie and they were waiting to see if it would be accepted for the soundtrack. They had both been so nervous, that they hotboxed her car for three days straight. It was fun, but she would never do it again. She swore she felt numb for about a week after.

"I didn't know you smoked either," Calum said, a fake look of disbelief gracing his face.

Aurora giggled, knowing he was not judging her. Aurora just did not give off the personality that she would do all of these "corrupt" things. She had an innocent energy she gave off.

"There's a lot you don't know about me Hood," she mused, pressing her lips out in a pout.

"And I can't wait to learn what that is."

***

She was not sure how they managed to do it, mainly from her being up since six in the morning, but it was now almost three in the morning of the next day. Aurora was so glad that she did not have a meeting until two in the afternoon the next day and it was just to discuss Ashley, Alex, and her new song. The two had been talking on and off for the past eight hours. When they weren't talking, they were in a comfortable silence.

The pair had watched a movie earlier, but once it had ended, they still didn't want to leave each other's presence. To be fair, they had gone a month without seeing each other face to face. Aurora could not help but let out a gasp as she saw what time it was.

"I need to check something quickly and then I'll be on my way," she said quickly.

Aurora climbed off Calum, the two somehow switching in the middle of the evening and ran to the front of the house where she had left her phone eight hours prior. She did not need it with Calum. They could keep each other entertained and she really valued that. It was a genuine friendship.

The small girl slowly pulled out her phone and was immediately bombarded by notifications. Three were from her mother complaining about her brother being late, nine were from her family group chat congratulating her, and one-hundred-thirty-three were from her group chat with Ashley and Alex.

Ashley: WE

Ashley: DID

Ashley: IT

Ashley: BITCHES

Ashley: Nightmare is number one on Billboard and iTunes worldwide and Rolling Stone wrote the best article about it

Alex: I love you guys and I'm so proud of us

Basically every other message after that said the same thing. Aurora sent in her messages as well, feeling bad that she was responding almost three hours later. The warmth she felt bubble in her stomach was overwhelming and the smile on her face was incredibly wide. This was the first time her song had place number one in the first week. They normally would place in the Top Ten and then work their way up to the top.

"Everything ok?" Calum asked, peeking in from the hallway entrance. He could see that she was scrolling through her phone but wanted to give her privacy. He had already taken up enough of her time away from her priorities.

"I'm good. I just need to get going. It's really late," Aurora said sadly, not really sure if she wanted to leave Calum just yet. She loved his company.

"Why don't you spend the night? It's really late and I don't want you to drive. Especially since L.A. is a lot of crackheads and shit," Calum spoke softly as he talked, and then he noticed the small girl yawn. She giggled in the yawn from what the brown boy had said. Los Angeles could get interesting at night.

"No, you're definitely staying. You're exhausted and I have a guest room," Calum decided, grabbing the girl by the hand and starting to drag her up the stairs.

Aurora did not really argue it, saying she lived half an hour away and that could easily become forty-five if she was driving slowly from exhaustion. She let the boy lead her up to the second floor and to the door that hid the guest room.

She was just extremely lucky that she did not have to work until later in the afternoon or she would never make it in time. She would never have time to get showered, dressed, and fed in that time if she spent the night at his house. Especially since the meeting was closer to Ashley's house than hers.

"Thanks, Calum," Aurora mused, wrapping her arms around him.

"I'll get you a spare toothbrush and some pajamas. My sister may have left some stuff here last time she visited," Calum informed, pulling away from the hug but only after squeezing her tightly once more. "There is a bathroom inside of your room and my room is right across the hall in case you need anything else."

She said one final goodnight. Aurora smiled as she went into the guest bedroom, walking quickly to the bathroom, finally glad to get to use the bathroom. She had only left Calum once in the eight hours they were together, and she really needed to go again.

When she walked out of the bathroom, washing off her face by just running some water on it, she noticed that Calum had left some stuff on the bed. There was a new toothbrush, some toothpaste, and one of his t-shirts. The small girl naturally gravitated to the shirt first, lifting it up to her face. It smelled like Calum and she could not help but inhale deeply.

She quickly changed into the shirt after she had that small, and kind of strange moment. (Calum would never find out about it.) She was just in the shirt and her underwear, not really wanting to confine herself in a bra or the jean shorts she had been wearing earlier. She was going to be comfortable in her sleep. The shirt ended about mid-thigh, her big thighs stopping it from ending at her knees. Aurora didn't mind. She thought it looked cute.

Aurora climbed into the bed and buried herself in the sheets. She was so comfortable, staying in Calum's house even though they had just met. There was something different about him. As she responded to Ashley and Alex a bit more in depth, she could not help but wish she was across the hall, cuddled up into Calum's side.

That is when she took the initiative. She was never one to do so, but she quickly climbed out of bed and crossed the hall before her intuition could stop her. Aurora knocked on the door softly and did not expect for it to swing open so quickly. It was as if Calum had been waiting for her to come over. He was shirtless, wearing a pair of grey sweatpants, and he looked absolutely cuddly. Aurora could not wait to grab onto him.

Aurora tried not to let her eyes do a once over, but when she saw Calum do one to her, she realized she could do the same. She could see his tattoos fully now and she wanted to ask him all about them, again. 

"Get in bed. I sleep on the left"

***

Long update! 2,704 words! Hope you enjoyed it and love it and basically the mutual friend pining that kills me. I love you all for supporting this novel. Anyways, it's almost one a.m. and I have to work early tomorrow so goodnight!

-malumwritings