terrified. ✿ calum hood au

[1] return

calum-

"cal!"

i spun around at her voice, grinning widely when my eyes landed on my best friend. "kae!"

i opened my arms, and she flew into them, hugging me tightly. her head buried in my chest, and her arms locked behind my back. i closed my eyes while resting my chin on her head, savoring the moment.

too soon, kaeleigh pulled away, looking at me excitedly. "i missed you!"

"i missed you too." i agreed, leading her inside. "why didn't you tell me you were back?" i asked as we climbed the stairs to my room.

"i wanted to surprise you." she smiled, and i closed my bedroom door. "we got back to the house and i asked my parents to take my stuff in because i saw you walking inside."

"i'm glad you're back." i ruffled her hair, and she groaned, attempting to fix it. "while you had a blast in america, i was stuck here for two weeks alone."

"liar." kaeleigh scoffed. "you have luke, michael and ashton."

"luke had family over, ashton is still in london, and michael locked himself in his room to play video games." i said, counting them off on my fingers. "so yeah, i was alone."

"the poor baby." kae teased, poking my nose. "you shouldn't have told your mom you wanted to stay home after graduation."

"i didn't feel like going anywhere." i shrugged. "i was perfectly fine with staying here."

"sure." she hummed, "that's why you just complained about being alone."

"i was fine staying, i wasn't fine staying alone." i corrected, and she rolled her eyes. "so, how was the u.s?"

her eyes visibly lightened as she began talking about her trip. "it was incredible! florida was extremely hot, but i had a blast. we went to the beach, and to disneyland, gosh cal it was so fun. i wish you could've gone."

i slung my arm around her shoulders, leaning back against the headboard. she curled into my side, and i smiled. she didn't know that these small actions caused my insides to flip and my skin to tingle.

"i'm so glad we're done with school." kaeleigh breathed, "no more seeing those stupid teachers."

"yeah." i agreed. "how's the book going?" i asked, referring to the story she had been writing for the past year.

"good, actually." kae answered. "i only have a few more chapters to go. amber just has to-"

"don't tell me!" i cut her off, covering her mouth with my hand. "i want to wait until you publish it so i can but the first copy."

kae licked my hand, but i just shrugged and kept it there. she huffed, lifting her hands up to pry mine away. "i'll send you the book for free if it gets published, cal."

"when it gets published." i corrected her, to which she rolled her eyes. "you're an amazing writer, publishers will be begging to publish your book."

a faint pink tainted her cheeks. "thanks, cal."

i just smiled brightly, and kaeleigh wrapped an arm around my waist, resting her head on my chest. i wondered if she could hear my heart threatening to burst from my chest, or if she could feel my hands shaking.

"how are things with the band going?"

"uh, good." i stuttered. "i wrote a new song, so when ash gets back we're gonna start rehearsing it."

"i wanna hear it!" kae exclaimed, turning around and switching the arm around my waist so she was looking up at me. "sing it for me?"

"nope." i grinned. "you have to wait until we have it all figured out."

"poo." she pouted. "meanie."

i stuck my tongue out at her, and she returned the gesture. i laughed, poking her cheek, causing her to hit my arm. "so what are we gonna do for your birthday?"

"my birthday is in october."

"i know," i rolled my eyes. "but i want to be prepared."

"ashton's birthday is in three weeks." kae pointed out. "be prepared for his instead."

"i am prepared for his. and for luke's." i stated. "but yours is the next one."

"i don't know what i want to do," she shrugged. "i guess i just want to have a relaxed day."

"okay."

"so what are we doing for ashton's birthday?" she asked. "i feel so out of the loop."

"that's what you get for going to america." i teased, and she opened her mouth, but i cut her off. "ashton doesn't count, it's his birthday. but we're going to a club."

"of course." kaeleigh said, not surprised. "so basically, any other saturday night with the guys?"

"yeah." i laughed. "but we'll probably go to lunch and get him a cake, or something. we aren't that stupid."

"i'd beg to differ."

"shut up." i whined, a pout forming on my lips. "i passed high school with good grades, i am not stupid."

"yet you aren't going to uni." kae smirked.

"i'm not going to uni because the lads and i want to focus on our music." i stated, flicking her forehead. "and you aren't going to uni either, for a similar reason."

kae just flicked me back, and then her phone vibrated. she pulled it from her pocket, reading the screen, before typing something. she looked up at me with a frown, "sorry, cal. i have to go home."

"that's okay." i said, and we both sat up. she gave me a hug, before she was out the door.

"love you cal!" i heard her shout from downstairs, before the door slammed closed.

"i love you too." i whispered to myself.