You're Not Just A Teenage Dream | C.H.

"It was definitely fair, you're just slow!"

As soon as the song ended, Dakota saw the smug look on Calum's face and tried to elbow him in the stomach, missing and hitting the couch instead. He grabbed her arm and pulled her back to him.

"Hey, that's not very nice!" Calum nibbled on her neck to see what kind of reaction he could get out of her. "I just want to hear you sing with me..." he whispered in her ear.

"Whoa there, neither is that!" Dakota jerked forward, trying to quell the chill he sent through her body, only making him more smug.

"I would say I'm sorry, but I'm really not..." He winked at her when he she turned around to glare at him. She scooched forward again, turning her music back on and trying to focus on finishing her chapter. It was just her luck that the next song that played would be "Bad Dreams" and Calum just started chuckling. Dakota shook her head and kept working as he set his chin on her shoulder again, watching her work, humming along to the song.

"It started out just harmless fun/Now you've got me thinking you're the one..." Calum sang only that line, then went back to humming along and playing the air bass behind her back. Dakota's heart fluttered and she smiled, but Calum didn't see it.

---

"Finally!" Dakota slammed her textbook shut 20 minutes later and threw it on the table next to her laptop. "It's only the first week of classes, but I'm already so done with the homework. I don't know if I can keep this up for...god, how many more weeks?" She flopped back against Calum.

"Are you leaving after the term is done?" He asked her quietly. She looked up at him, and his eyes were full of sadness. She had to look away from him, knowing he wouldn't like her answer.

"I have to...my student visa is only good until the term ends..." Dakota hadn't thought about that very much, but now that she had Calum, the prospect of having to be 8,325 miles away from him was really scary.

"We still have time together. We'll just have to make the most of it." He said, more to himself than to her. He put his arms around her. "I'm not letting you go, okay?"

"Okay. I'm not letting you go either." She turned her body so that she nuzzling against his neck. Before she could stop herself, she had started crying. "D-d-don't let m-me go back to S-S-Sydney alone..." She buried her face in his chest, making her cries muffled.

"Hey, listen to me." Calum stroked her hair, trying to calm her down. "I hadn't planned on letting you go back by yourself anyway. I was actually going to ask you to help me book a hotel. I will be as close as I possibly can be." Dakota looked up at him with red eyes.

"R-really?" She sniffled.

"Really. I told you that you're not leaving my sight, and now that we're...this...I fully intend on keeping my word." He wiped her tears away and kissed her forehead.

"Calum, what are we? I mean, I know you called Ashton my boyfriend, but he wasn't. We never talked about it. But, I want to know what you think we are..." She admitted nervously, still hiccupping a little.

"We are whatever you're comfortable with." Dakota contemplated this, and, wiping her eyes one last time, sat up and turned around to face him.

"Hmm...alright...so, as long as you help me navigate the Twitter hate and crazy fangirls, I'm pretty sure I know what I want." Calum looked at her hopefully, knowing what he wanted her to say.

"And what is that?"

"I want you. Plain and simple."

"Exclusively?"

"Exclusively."

"Publicly?" Dakota exhaled, knowing that her answer would change her life, for better or worse.