I sit on Calum's bed and wait patiently for him to finish up in the shower, fiddling with the shiny ring on my left hand. I sigh deeply and purse my lips, wondering to myself about how much of a mess my life is. Between the parents who decided they didn't want me around, the girl who went crazy at me and tried to hurt my newfound Australian family, the new best friend who has yet to contact me after leaving weeks ago, and the fianceé who is mad at me for getting pregnant.
"Don't think so hard, you'll strain yourself." Calum chuckles, entering his bedroom with nothing but a white towel wrapped around his waist. I shield my eyes with a squeak and flop backwards on the bed to avoid seeing anything.
"How about you cover yourself up before you accidentally flash me." I groan.
The sound of drawers opening and closing indicate that Calum is getting dressed, so I wait a few more seconds before opening my eyes again.
"So, what do you wanna do today?" Calum asks as he pulls a shirt over his head. He fluffs his hair and takes a heavy seat beside me.
"Dunno." I shrug. "I do need to book a doctor appointment though, I haven't gone in yet."
"What?" He shouts, surprised. "You're meant to do that in the first few weeks!"
"I'm sorry!" I laugh. "I'll call in right now."
"No, we'll just drive there and see if there's time for walk-ins." Calum decides.
Together, we gather our things and head into the hallway, only to be stopped when we hear talking in the living room. Calum puts his hand out to keep me from making noise and puts a finger to his lips.
"-can't stand that they're getting so close! Soon he is going to be the one marrying her!" Luke says angrily.
"It's your fault she had to move in with him, you could have handled things much better." I hear Michael scorn, recognizing the slight raspiness his voice takes on when he gets agitated.
Calum comes into Luke's and Michael's view, keeping the conversation from escalading. He waves me forward and I will myself to step into the room. Ignoring the the tension, Calum smiles and grabs hold of my hand, which brings a deep frown to Luke's lips. Michael only smirks and steps into the kitchen.
"If you don't mind, Mere and I will be going now." Calum announces. "We'll be back in a few hours."
I absentmindedly eyeball my engagement ring and admire the shine of the light reflecting from the beautiful gem. In doing so, I feel the hard gaze of Luke's piercing blue eyes on my person and immediately look up to him, only to have him turn away guiltily. Calum tugs on my hand and leads me outside, where we grab our shoes from the porch and tug them onto our feet before getting in the car.
"Did you see his face?" I ask, turning to my best friend as he shifts the car into drive. "He totally misses me."
"You want him back after what he said to you?" He responds with a scoff. "No way."
"What?"
"Don't think this is me taking my chance with you, it isn't like that. But he's acting like a total douche-baby, do you really want him to father your child?"
I hold back my laugh at Calum's use of douche-baby, and instead turn my head to look out the side window and hide my obvious smile.
"The window reflects, you know. I can see you giggling." Calum snorts. "But in all seriousness, I think you should take that ring off."
"No - what? No." I shake my head and finger the ring, making sure it rests securely on my finger.
"Meredith, I swear to God, take it off."
