After the movie, Stella and Brooklyn decided to go back to the boys' house, but Avery said she wanted to be alone for the night. Luke ran to the door as it opened, but looked disappointed when Stella closed it behind her, "Is she upset? Is she okay?" Luke asked, referring to Avery. "Yes, she's okay," Brooklyn said, "She just wanted to be alone."
They walked to the den where Michael and Ashton were playing FIFA, "Where's Cal?" Brooklyn questioned. "I think he's in his room," Ashton said without looking away from the screen. Stella took a seat on the couch as Brooklyn walked down the hall toward Calum's room. The door was closed, so she knocked. Calum almost immediately cracked the door open and peaked his head out, "What do you- oh, Brookie," he said once he realized who was at the door, "Gimme a second, okay?" "Okay."
He closed the door softly as Brooklyn awkwardly stood in the hall alone. Stella approached her, "Is he okay?" she asked. "I don't know. He cracked the door opened and told me to hold on," Brooklyn whispered. Stella shrugged and continued walking down the hall as Calum opened the door to his dimly lit bedroom.
Brooklyn gasped as Stella silently backtracked and glanced into Calum's room. She almost gasped louder than her friend had only seconds earlier. Candles. She saw dozens and dozens of lit candles lining his room. She saw rose petals littering his floor and bed. She saw one of Brooklyn's hands covering her mouth and the other wrapped in Calum's. He was smiling and leading her to his mattress, where he instructed her to lay down, "I love you," Stella heard him whisper, "I'm going to show you how much I love you." He kissed her forehead and lips, then her neck, before tracking back to his door. Stella quickly made her way down the hall before he could notice her lurking.
She tiptoed to the den, where she pulled her phone out and clicked Avery's icon, putting her on speaker. "What are you doing?" Michael asked Stella, since him and Ashton were between games. Luke shifted in his seat. "I just witnessed the cutest thing in my life. I'm calling Avery." Luke seemed excited, "Are you going to make her come over?" he asked. "We told you, she wants to be alone. But I can't wait to tell her this," Stella said right before Avery picked up. "Hello?" She said sort of sleepily.
"Hey, Avs!" Luke said. Stella looked at him. "Hey Luke," Avery said after a moment of silence. "I called you to let you know I just saw the cutest fucking thing," Stella continued. "What'd you see?"
"So when we got here, Calum was in his room. Brooke went to make sure he was okay. I went to the bathroom, which as you know, is passed Cal's door." "Yes, I'm aware," Avery said, inching the story further. "Anyways," Stella kept going, "Brooke was just kind of standing outside his door alone. I asked if he was okay and she said she didn't know and that he peaked out the door and told her to hold on. So I went on to the bathroom when I heard her gasp. So I turned around to see if everything was okay," "You mean you turned around to be nosey as fuck," Michael interrupted. "Shut the fuck up, Michael, I'm telling a story. So I kinda maybe sorta peaked into Cal's room and saw a fuck ton of candles and rose petals. He told her he was going to show her how much he loves her then came to shut the door so I bolted the fuck out of there and came to call you," she finished.
Ashton's booming laugh started up as Luke pouted, "That's so cute," he said. Stella smiled at him, "So fucking cute," she agreed. "That is cute," Avery said, "I'm going to go now." "Night, loser, "Stella said. "I love you, Avs," Luke said into the phone. Avery hung up. He sunk back into the sofa, "Maybe she didn't hear you," Stella suggested. Luke half smiled and went to his room.
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She liked to say it was a miracle, the way the seven of them ended up together. Calum and Brooklyn had been together since grade 10. Brooklyn had moved to Sydney from Seattle, landing in his science class. He was cocky around her, she thought he was annoying. She didn't give Calum a second glance until she became friends with a cute little guy named Luke. He was friends with Cal and assured her that he was just being like that because he thought it deemed him desirable. Brooklyn reluctantly went to Luke's to play soccer, "football", as the Aussies called it. He didn't tell her Calum was there, but she assumed Calum was the reason she was invited in the first place.
Two years later, once the three of them were out of school, one of Brooklyn's American friends joined her in Australia. It was Stella. She became acquainted with Calum and Luke, but quickly clicked with their other friend, Michael. Stella and Michael had both grown up with less-than-okay home lives, and their snappy attitudes, love for video games and similar music taste brought them close in a matter of weeks.
Finally, Avery decided to join her two best friends in Australia. They had begged her to do so for ages, telling her all the guys were hot and how she'd love the scenery. She gave in and packed her bags, leaving rainy Seattle behind. Avery was more of the shy type, so it took her a bit longer to get close to Luke. But she did. Maybe it was the fact that every time she'd look at him, he was already looking at her. Maybe it was the fact that they both laughed at the same things, or the way that the two of them naturally took up for one another.
Either way, two years later, the seven of them were inseparable.
