SEQUEL TO WILDFLOWER
Heartbreak hurts, but it hurts more when secrets have been left untold...
***
Calum Hood (5sos) fanfiction
Rated M for language, sensitive topics, and smut
Calum steps through the door watching as five pairs of eyes lift to look at him. Nervous for the reaction they may each hold behind them as they realize who has stepped into the shop.
Following the car accident he had managed to walk away with only strains, bruises, and his shattered heart. He'd had Z back for only the blink of an eye before she was finally taken from him for good. The storm and a drowsy driver had taken her in an instant, there was nothing he or anyone else could do. but the fear that her closest friends would blame him still lingered within his head.
The news of his relationship coming out within the media stories about the wreck and her subsequent death only added to the heartache he was dealing with. His fans, though trying to be supportive, had become like a horror themed merry-go-round reminding him constantly of the woman he had lost. If only he had pulled to the side of the road like she suggested, to wait out the storm....
"Do you have an appointment?" Ruby asks, lifting the red mask hanging from her ears to cover her lower face, pulling Calum back to reality.
"I'd have never made it here if I'd scheduled it for myself." Calum shakes his head, knowing they all know the answer already.
"What can we do for you Calum?" Zac asks with a sympathetic smile, not bothering to reposition his mask.
"I need a tattoo, and I need all three of you to do parts of it." He swallows.
"Where?" Zane nods softly, his eyes looking pained.
"My right thigh. It's the only place to do one honoring her. She had one of her favorite there and lost it and the leg." He sighs.
"Flowers?" Levi nods, beginning the work of setting up his station.
"A bouquet." Calum nods, "I have the start of a sketch."
"Bring it here." Zane beckons Calum back through the space.
"I'm paying double for it. You guys have lost a lot more than me this year in a financial sense and I want to help."
"No deal." Zac almost sounds angry. "If you're getting a remembrance tattoo for her you cannot pay me to do it."
"Zac." Calum frowns.
"No he's right Calum. We do this one for free. The ability to put our work and permanently add her to your skin will be therapeutic enough. We are charging you nothing for this." Zane's voice is authoritative as he responds.
"You may have thought you were sneaky, donating that money anonymously to pay the funeral costs. But we all know it was you. You don't get to cover that and pay double for a tattoo too." Levi adds, motioning for Calum to sit, propping the footrest up as Calum rolls his gym short leg up to his hip.
"Add your own touches to the sketch please. You three knew her better than anyone else. Make it perfect, for her." Calum swallows hard.
"We wouldn't do anything less." Zac nods, Ruby and Hazel moving to sit on the chair next to Calum's, both watching as the guys fit the tattoo to Calum's leg correctly and tweak out the details.
"I remember the first time we met you." Ruby offers with a soft smile, having pulled her mask off seeing as none of the rest of them had put them on for this particular job.
"Ya?" Calum chuckles.
"She was smitten that night. I gave her a little nudge and she took it, which was weird for her then. She really was married to her job. But you swept her off her feet that night while you shared fries down at the dive bar."
"She captured my attention before that." Calum smiles solemnly, "it was at the music video shoot she did with us, when she took her helmet off and told me I was an idiot. I was so shocked by how incredibly beautiful and badass this woman was I couldn't even form the apology I so desperately needed to give her."
"When she had her surgery last January." Zac looks up from where he is watching what Levi is currently working on on Calum's leg, "it was the first time she had mentioned you since May. In her high as fuck drugged state she confessed how much she missed you, and how much she regretting everything. That's when I knew without a doubt she was in love with you and always would be. I'm just glad she managed to fix things with you before she died."
"I wish we could have had those ten months." Calum sighs, "all that time we both spent angry and sad and missing each other. I wish she would have come found me so we could fix things and have had that time together."
"You may not have got the time you deserved with her Calum, but I hope you know you had all of her. She loved you like I've never seen her love something or someone before. Even more than she loved her work, you were her everything. And now you have a guardian Angel watching over you for the rest of your life. She's still with you, with all of us really, and she always will be." Ruby smiles softly, reaching over to squeeze his hand.
"She's with her mom now, that's what I keep telling myself. She's left us behind, but she finally gets to be with her mom after twenty-six years. It's less heartbreaking when I focus on that." Calum sighs.
"It's a nice thought." Zane nods, "and we will always have her to thank for introducing us, because now we have each other as friends, and support through life."
"I have the best tattoo artists in LA thanks to her." Calum agrees, "and some wonderful friends."
"It still hurts, but at least we can help each other carry that burden." Hazel nods, "that was her truest legacy in life. She had a magical way of bringing people together and creating joy even in darkness."
"She was something special. A rare and beautiful Wildflower, but the prettiest flowers are always picked first. She dodged death once, unfortunately she couldn't manage it twice." Levi looks up from the tattoo for a moment, "and don't you dare try to blame yourself Calum, I think everyone who knew her knew her time was limited. The world simply couldn't handle a soul that pure for a long lifetime."
"She was the rarest and most beautiful. My perfect Wildflower." Calum nods softly.
***
CalumHood
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Liked by AshtonIrwin, vegaszac, and 462,932 others. CalumHood: Wildflower, fingertips on me, I can feel them still.❤️🌼 Art by @thevegasshop @vegaszane @vegaszac @vegaslevi
Vegaszane: the most special piece I've ever helped create. A perfect representation of the person she was in life
AshtonIrwin: a beautiful tribute to an emasculate woman, and such a pivotal person in your life.
———————— Z was always going to die. 😬 Sav just suggested the coma thing in book one that pushed her death out a bit further. I hope you don't hate me.
I have loved writing this story, Zeppelynn and Calum are truly a couple I enjoyed creating these stories for and I hope despite the sad ending you enjoyed the journey with them!
Go save Greyhound, my new Ashton fanfic! I'm extra excited about it!
