Gray Area (sequel to White Noise)

Ch 1 - I Really Hate You

5 months earlier

"I hate you so much, you know that?"

My friend laughed at me before responding, "Um, thanks?"

"No, seriously," I told her. "I really fucking hate you. How can you be seven months pregnant and still look like you do? It's not fair."

Tori just rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to the pregnancy book she had been reading. "Oh, shut up, Lex. I look like a freaking whale."

"No, you don't! You've only gained, like, 5 pounds, and it's all belly. You're a freak of nature."

"I've gained 18 pounds, thank you very much."

"Whatever. I still hate you."

"Love you, too, Lex."

This is what a typical day was like for us nowadays, especially when Calum was out of town. One of us would go to the other's house with the intention of either wedding planning or baby planning, but we'd end up goofing off and not getting anything accomplished. Tori had no motivation to plan anything without Calum, and I had no motivation period. So, we'd just spend most of our time together doing everything we could to put off the inevitable. Procrastination was both of our middle names.

"Speaking of love, when's Calum coming home?"

Just the mention of his name brought a smile to her face. As much as we all picked on them for being disgusting and annoying, those two really were meant for each other in every sense of the word.

"His flight lands tomorrow afternoon," she answered. "Wanna go with me to pick them up from the airport?"

"Sure. Just let me know the deta... Wait. Them?"

"Yeah," she shrugged. "Michael's coming with him. Sorry, I thought I told you."

This caused my ears to perk up a bit. It had been a while since I'd seen Michael. Actually, I hadn't seen any of the guys except for Calum in quite some time, so the thought of being around them again made me excited.

"Oh. That's cool. What for?"

"I don't know, really," Tori shrugged again. "Cal said something about needing some help putting together furniture for the nursery, so maybe that's why."

"And he picked Michael? What in the hell was he thinking?"

"No idea. Should be some good entertainment, though."

I couldn't argue with her there. Just the thought of watching Michael and Calum attempt to put together a crib was enough to make me crack up.

"Luke and Ashton should be in town in the next week or so," she continued. "They worked it out so they could do most of their album prep here in Chicago."

Now she really had my attention. "Seriously? So that means they'll be here up until the baby's born?"

"That's the plan."

I couldn't hide my excitement anymore. This would be the first time in what felt like forever that we would all be in one place again. Ever since our Australia trip, we'd only seen each other in partial groups. A Luke visit here, an Ashton visit there. But now, it seemed, the whole gang would finally be back together again.

"I know," Tori told me, seeing my smile. "I'm excited too."

"Shit. I need to see if I can get some time off. I'd hate to spend their whole visit stuck at the hospital."

"Ugh, work," she groaned sympathetically. "I'm not gonna lie to you. I don't miss work at all."

It had taken a lot of begging on Calum's part, but he had finally convinced Tori to stop working. He had conceded that after the baby was born and their lives calmed down a bit, she could go back and work part time if she wanted. She had been reluctant about it at first, but now I was pretty sure she'd never go back. Not because she didn't love being a nurse, but because I was positive she'd love being a mother even more.

"Yeah, well. We can't all live the luxurious life of being a rockstar's baby mama, now can we?" I joked.

"Ha! You know as well as I do that it's not as luxurious as it seems. I'd rather take ten angry patients over one crazy paparazzi any day of the week."

"You've got a point there," I agreed. I certainly didn't envy that part of my friend's life. She could barely go to the grocery store without getting her picture taken by photographers or fans.

"And besides," she continued, "if being a rockstar's baby mama is what you truly aspire to be, I happen to know of three other eligible bachelors who'd be happy to help you out."

I let out a snort at that one. "Seriously? Thanks, but no thanks."

"Oh, come on! They're all hot. What's the problem?"

"The problem is that they're like my brothers or something," I told her, shaking my head. "That's weird. And you shouldn't be calling them hot. You're happily taken, remember?"

"Yes, Alexis, I remember," she answered rolling her eyes. "I'm engaged, not blind. They are hot. Like really fucking hot. And have you seen Luke lately? Good Lord."

"Okay!" I told her, standing up. "That's enough of that. You might wanna get your pregnancy hormones in check before Calum gets home. I wouldn't want you jumping one of his bandmates in front of him."

"Now there's an idea..."

"Good grief, Tori. I really hate you." I gave her a kiss on the cheek before bending down to address her growing baby bump. "Bye little Hood baby. I'm sorry your mommy is such a weirdo. I promise I'll try to keep you as normal as possible when you get here."

"Yeah, yeah. Get outta here, you jerk." She gave me a swat to the backside as I walked passed. "I'll text you the flight details when I get them, okay? We can head out early and grab some lunch first, if you want. Make a day of it."

"Sounds good," I told her, making my way towards the front door. "We haven't done that in a while." I twisted the knob to make my exit before pausing to turn back towards my friend. "Oh, and Tori?"

"Yeah?"

"I really don't hate you at all."

"Thanks, Lex," she told me with a grin. "I really don't hate you, either."