close as strangers | calum hood

thirty

Calum

I had woken up early because the boys and I planned on going to the studio to begin working on our next album. Jaden and I always fell asleep cuddling, but woke up on separate ends of the bed, so getting up wasn't an issue. At around 8, I quietly got out of bed and went to the bathroom to take a shower and get ready.

I was trying my best to remain quiet so Jaden could sleep. She stayed up late last night working on an art piece. When she's in her zone, she doesn't like to be interrupted.

As I walked back into the bedroom, Jaden was sitting up and rubbing her eyes.

"Sorry baby, did I wake you?" I asked as I closed the bathroom door behind me.

Jaden nodded sleepily, "Uh huh."

I chuckled and walked over to her, planting a kiss on her cheek. "Sorry." And I walked over to the closet to get dressed.

"Where are you going, babe?" She asked.

"The boys and I are going to the studio to write today." I said as I picked out some shirts.

"Do you want me to make you breakfast?" Jaden asked as she began getting out of bed.

"No need, baby. You went to bed late, just go back to sleep." I argued. But when I heard no response in return, I looked back to see that she had already left the room. I groaned, knowing well that she had already started making breakfast for me.

I finished getting ready and walked out to the kitchen, seeing bacon, eggs, and a bowl of fruit ready for me at the breakfast bar.

I sat down with a huff, "Thank you, baby. Now please go back to sleep."

"My day has just begun." Jaden giggled as she walked over to my side. She lazily wrapped her arms around my torso and rested her head on the back of my shoulder as I ate.

"You're too good to me. I feel bad for waking you up." I frowned.

"Okay." She sighed, releasing me from her embrace. "I'll go back to sleep."

"Come give me a kiss first." I said, spinning in my chair so I could face her.

Jaden giggled. "You're so needy."

I wrapped my arms around her waist and pulled her small frame closer to me. I pressed my lips gently against hers and kissed her slow.

She moaned quietly against my lips before pulling away. "Okay! You have to get going. I'm going back to bed."

I watched as she walked away, wearing nothing but her underwear and my t-shirt. "I love you!" I called.

"Love you, baby!" Jaden responded, followed by the sound of our door closing.

-

I showed up to the studio a few minutes late. Breakfast kept me home a little longer. I walked into our studio space, seeing the boys chilling around the room on their acoustic guitars.

"There he is!" Ashton beamed from his seat as he saw me.

"Sorry guys." I said as I took a seat on the couch.

Michael smirked at me, "Did Jade keep you?"

"She made me breakfast." I shrugged.

"Aw!" Luke exclaimed. "That's so cute."

I chuckled, "Alright, guys. Let's get writing. What ideas do we have?"

And so we began throwing ideas onto the table, making up riffs on the spot, and revising previous ideas. At the end of the day, we completed 2 songs, but we were unsatisfied with them. We ended recording rough versions so we could come back to them and revise in the future.

"You guys wanna hang out at my place after?" I asked the boys as Luke was recording his part of the song.

"You're not gonna bang Jaden tonight? That's a first." Ashton joked. Mikey laughed along with him.

I chuckled, "Hey! We don't have sex all the time. Come on, it'll be a chill night. We can get some beers and sing some karaoke."

"Karaoke? I'm in." Ash said all too quickly.

As Luke stepped out of the recording booth, I invited him as well. "Luke, you down for beers and karaoke at my place?"

"Is that a question? Obviously!" He exclaimed as he began packing up his guitar.

One of the many perks of living in downtown Sydney was that I was close to everything. That included the recording studio we go to. After our recording session, we picked up some beers at the store and walked a few blocks down to my condo.

As we walked into the unit, we saw about 4 boxes of pizza on the kitchen counter. I guess Jaden got too lazy to cook today. The place was quiet, except for the sounds of sniffling and the television on. I quickly walked into the living room, only to find Jaden curled up on the couch, crying with a cup of ice cream in her hands. The Fault in Our Stars was playing on the TV.

"Oh god, I thought something happened." I sighed in relief as I kneeled in front of Jaden.

"Something did happen." She sniffled as tears streamed down her face.

I frowned, "What happened, baby?"

"Augustus died." She cried as she leaned forward and nuzzled her nose in the crook of my neck. I chuckled and rubbed her back.

"Alright, babe. The boys are here." I whispered to her.

Jaden looked up and turned her attention for the entrance of the living room, where all three of the boys were standing. She smiled weakly and said, "Hey."

"It's okay, love. I know, I cried during this movie, too." Ashton chuckled as she walked over to Jaden and wrapped his arms around her.

"You know what will make you feel better? Karaoke!" Luke exclaimed as he placed the beer cases on the table.

Michael got to setting up the karaoke after closing the movie. Luke and Ashton helped themselves to pizza, and I cleaned up Jaden's ice cream.

"What song do you want?" I heard Mikey ask.

"Oh! Give me Hey, Soul Sister!" Jaden exclaimed.

Just as her song was started, we all gathered back in the living room with food and beers. The lights had dimmed and Jaden was holding the microphone to our karaoke machine.

"Your lipstick stains on the front lobe of my left side brains," She sang. We all cheered for her. Jaden wasn't the greatest singer, but we loved watching her because she always looked like she was having the best time. It was adorable.

"Hey, soul sister! Ain't that Mr. mister on the radio, stereo, the way you move ain't fair, you know!" We all sang in the chorus. The boys and I had popped open our beers as Jaden sang her heart out.

After Jaden, Luke was eager to go. He chose Livin' on a Prayer. To make things dramatic, he starter the song with his back to us. We all cheered. Jaden opened a beer are Luke was singing.

"Tommy used to work on the docks!" Luke sang, dramatically turning. We all whistled at him.

"Unions been on strike, he's down on his luck it's tough, so tough." He sang. We all knew Luke was going to kill this song, and he did. He had the voice for it.

We each took turns singing songs. Eventually, karaoke just turned into all of us singing the songs as a group and jumping around. The more beers we drank, the crazier the night got. The less I remember.