redefine | calum hood

thirty two

Thirty Two

Maddie

I woke up alone in my room, making me mumble as I turned to find my phone plugged in and charging. When I opened it I saw that it was one in the morning, making me sigh. I knew I wasn't going back to sleep, so I forced myself out of bed and went to the room next to mine, which was Calum's. My room was next to Calum's, Ashton was next to Calum, and Luke and Sierra were at the end of the hallway. Luke and Sierra finally caved and gave Michael and Crystal the master bedroom. By caving, I mean they lost the bet and had to give up. It did suck a little for Michael and Crystal because they were on the first floor, so I guess that was a perk for Luke and Sierra.

I quietly opened the door and saw Calum fast asleep on the mattress on the floor. He obviously didn;t bother setting up his bed frame, and I didn't blame him. I slid into his bed, which woke him up, "Couldn't sleep?" he whispered and I shook my head. "Do you want to talk?" he asked. I shook my head and laid my head on his chest, letting him hold me as we laid in silence. For a couple of minutes it was silent until I broke it.

"Can we talk?" I whispered.

"Of course," he sat up, making me sit up. He turned the lamp next to him on and looked at me as I played with the hair tie on my wrist. "What's going on, bubs?" he asked, moving the hair out of my face.

"I don't want you to be mad," I mumbled. "Or send me away,"

"You're not going anywhere, Mad," he reassured me. "You're here to stay, and I'm sorry I haven't made that permanent yet, but I'm working on it,"

"What do you mean?" I looked up with confusion.

"I'm working on the paperwork to adopt you, so it can be official," he lightly smiled. "THis will make everything official,"

"So, you'll be my dad?" I questioned.

"Yeah, you don't have to call me that, you can keep calling me Calum, whatever you want,"

"I never had a dad," I mumbled, "I don't consider my biological dad a dad,"

"You don't have any reason to," he said.

"I want you to be my dad,"

"I'm working on it, it won't be much longer," he smiled.

"You won't send me away no matter what?"

"Never," he confirmed and I sighed, looking down as tears filled my eyes.

"I'm trying to tell you, but I keep getting scared," I whispered.

"You don't have to tell me then," he softly said.

"I want to though, I don't want to hide it from you," I stuttered as I wiped my eyes. "It's scary though,"

"That's ok," he promised. "Things can be scary and take time to process. If you don't feel ok telling me now you don;t have to. We have our whole lives ahead of us,"

"I need Luke and Sierra," my voice cracked as more tears fell down my face.

"Mad, it's really early," he sighed, "they're sleeping,"

"Please," I begged, before breaking out into a sob. "I need them,"

"Alright," he nodded. He got up and left the room, soon coming back with the two. It was clear they were fast asleep and tired, which surprised me that they woke up. I didn't want to wake them, but I needed to tell him.

"It's alright, Mad," Sierra whispered as she sat on the bed next to me, pulling me into a tight hug as I gasped for breaths.

"Darling, you gotta take deep breaths, don't try to talk right now," Luke reminded me. I did what he said as Calum held my hand, rubbing the back of it with his thumb. Once I was calm, Sierra kissed the top of my head as I looked at Calum. He looked flustered and worried about everything, obviously not knowing what to do, and that made two of us.

"You can do it, and if you don't want to right now it's ok. We move at your pace," Sierra reminded me as I wiped my cheeks with my sweatshirt sleeve. I was quiet for a minute as Calum continued to rub the back of my hand with his thumb.

"I like guys and girls," I stuttered. A smile formed on his face as he let out a happy sigh.

"That's wonderful, Maddie," he grinned. "I'm so proud of you, thank you for sharing that with me,"

"You're not mad?" I asked.

"Absolutely not," he reassured me. "I'm so proud of you, I always am,"

"I kissed Iris earlier," I told him.

"Now wait a minute," he said, making me giggle. "Iris? Kissed her today?"

"Yeah, she gives me sweaty hands," I said, making them laugh.

"I'm happy you told me," Calum smiled at me.

"I am too," I yawned, finally feeling ok to fall asleep.

"Get some rest, Mads," Luke told me and I nodded.

"Thank you guys," I told them as they got up, letting Calum pull the comforter over us.

"Anytime, we're always here for you," Sierra grinned. They said a final goodnight before leaving to go back to bed. Within a couple of minutes I was fast asleep with no problem.