Close As Strangers // c.h.

18

*Calum's POV*

*Italics in the middle are a flashback*

As soon as I get off the phone, I realize that the whole plan that we had with Mali isn't going to be needed, so I decide to call her after.

"Hey Mali,"

"Hey Cal, kick ass song bro. It was one of the best you've ever written,"

"Hey thanks sis, yeah, I knew it was going to be a good one,"

"So the plan still on for tomorrow?" 

"Actually no, I kinda told her we are coming back, I couldn't wait any longer,"

"Ah, I don't blame you," she concurs. "We should all be at Ash's though when we come back, Ms. Irwin has been begging to cook a big meal for us for a while now, tonight will be perfect," 

"Yeah we would like that, I'll tell Ashton to give her the heads up,"

"Perfect. So you guys can get your way from the airport to Ashton's?" 

"Yeah of course, I think one of the cars might still be in the parking lot," I assume no one moved the car since we drove to the airport. 

"Alright, I'll see you tonight, Cal. Love you!"

"Love you too," I say with a chuckle, and then she hung up.

I have been waiting for this moment for what seems like ever, and it's finally here. I can't even think about sleeping right now so I know the night on the tour bus is going to be a long one. I ponder what I should be doing for that time and settle on practicing on the guitar watching a few movies. When I had first come up with the initial plan, when I first saw her in person, I wanted to sing 'Half A Heart' by One Direction to her, and I still plan on doing that, just no the way that I had once hoped for. 

I can see inviting her to a surprise, taking her to her favorite park, pulling the guitar out of my truck and singing the song to her. She loves it and forgives me in entirety. But this is in a perfect world, and we all know that is not what we live in. 

I load up onto the tour bus to find the boys in the back playing FIFA, and of course I jump in. Right now, I would not miss a chance to distract myself and let the time go by fast. 

A few hours later, we finish and the other boys head to bed. With how much my head is spinning with excitement, worry and other emotions, there isn't anyway that I'm going to be able to sleep for a while. I turn on a movie and start watching it. 

About an hour in I go into the other part of the tour bus to find one of the few acoustic guitars we have sitting on this bus. I strum out the first few chords glad that I remember them.

The night goes by and thankfully by 1 am able to fall asleep and manage to get a few hours of sleep before hopping on an airplane heading back to home.

*Ren's POV*

Once I get off the phone with Calum, I am sure that I'm going to explode.

Although I'm not sure if the cause of the explosion is going to be excitement, nerves, anger, or a little bit of all three.

I'm so fucking happy they're all coming back.

I'm so fucking nervous to see them, it's been literally 6 months.

I'm so fucking angry at Calum and them for so many reasons. 

I'm not quite sure how to feel, and I kind of like that.

For a while now, I've always known how I felt. No matter what happened, there was always that hint of sadness I was feeling and I couldn't shake it. But now that I know these facts, sadness isn't an emotion that is taking the forefront of my mind, and damn does it feel nice.