Close As Strangers // c.h.

21

*Calum's POV* 

"Calum, Calum wake up!" I hear someone yell.

I open my eyes to find Mali over me shaking me awake.

"Wha- What's going on?" I ask still pretty groggy from my nap.

"Lizzie just called from the hospital and said that you should get down there as soon as possible, that's all she said. She didn't give me any details, but she sounded frantic," she tells me quickly and I am immediately awake. "Oh and she said to bring your guitar," Mali adds.

"Are you coming with me?" I ask her as I look for my jacket I took off before laying down for my nap.

"Yeah I think I am," she says. I look up and can see tears tugging at your eyes, which leads me to pull her into a hug I believes she needs.

"No matter what," I start saying. "I am your rock and I'll always be here for you, always,"

"Thank you, Calum. But don't worry about me, you have Ren to worry about," she sniffles, letting a single tear run down her cheek.

Without any other words I grab my guitar and get into the car with Mali by my side.

No matter what, we have each other, and nothing is going to change that. Or at least not at this moment.

We pull up to the hospital and quickly run in. I remember that Mali told me that Lizzie didn't give any details about Ren's condition. I know that this could mean good news, but with the course of this week, my mind quickly darts to the possibility that she's really not okay and that I could have missed some of her last moments because a doctor kicked me out of the hospital.

I know the way to the room by heart, and Mali follows quickly follows me wanting to get there as fast as humanly possible. Nearing the room, I think about the day I had last seen Ren awake and her usual self.

"Calum, please don't leave," she whispers to me as we lay in bed. It's 9 am and we have to leave for the airport in 15 minutes.

"I wish I could stay baby, I wish you could come with me. I just want to be with you," I tell her, not sure what else to tell her to ease our pain of leaving. "Hey it's only 6 weeks, it could be worse," I joke trying to lighten the mood.

"Yeah I know, but that is 6 weeks too long," she sighs into my chest.

The rest of the time in Sydney goes too fast for comfort. We leave the house; Ren and I in a car and the three other boys in the other. The other two girls opted to say their goodbyes at home, but Ren wanted to come and see us off.

We parked and walked hand in hand into the dreaded airport. She was able to get past security with us and walk with us to the gate. We saw fans outside the airport and stopped with a few of them, but with the mood I am in, I'm sure I wasn't the most pleasurable person to meet.

I sit down in one of the airport seats and Ren sits next to me, instantly laying her head on my shoulder. I grab one of her hands and massage it gently as to give her an indication that I'll always be here for her.

The thirty minutes prior to the flight went faster than my liking, and before we knew it, we were saying our goodbyes.

Ren had tears running down her cheeks, but I could tell she was trying her hardest to not let anymore fall.

She went over to Michael first and gave him a hug. I'm assuming he whispered something funny in her ear because for a split second she let out a small giggle.

Next she went over to Luke and had to stretch her arms to get up and around his neck. Luke was noticeably upset and that let him to not sharing any words with Ren. I could see that she was a little sad by this action, but she knew that it is his way of saying he is too sad that to even imagine saying a goodbye.