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Part 3

I had completely forgotten that Calum and Ashton were coming over to see Dax and Mays... Until I opened the door late Saturday afternoon.
"Hey sweetheart." Calum winked as he walked past me and into the front room of my house before I could even invite him to do so.

"H-hey." I stuttered, taking a step back so Ashton could come in as well. I closed the door and folded my arms across my chest, staring at Calum as he made himself comfortable in my spot on the couch. "Come on in." I rolled my eyes, following Ashton into the living room.
"Awe, don't tell me you forgot we were coming, babe?" He smirked, and I felt my cheeks heat up. I didn't usually get called babe, but the way it sounded coming out of Calum's mouth made me wish he wouldn't call me anything but babe from now on.
Calum noticed the blush in my cheeks and winked at me, which only made it even worse.
"Of course I didn't forget..." I reached up and tied my hair into a messy knot, suddenly feeling too warm to have it down on my neck. "It just... slipped my mind while I was cleaning." 

"Please tell me that spray worked for Dax..." Ashton said, thinking that I may have been cleaning up after my puppy that was having trouble getting house trained.
Thankfully, that wasn't the case.
"Yes, it did! Thank you, by the way. He is actually doing pretty well. This was an unrelated mess." I smiled. The mess was my room, and thankfully I had finished cleaning it before they got here.
"Good." Ashton smiled and sat down in the arm chair next to the couch. "So where are they?" He asked, looking around the room for any evidence of my puppies.
"One sec." I smirked, running to my room so I could let Dax and Mays out of their kennel. I opened the door and they ran down the hall, slipping all over the hardwood floors. They knew we had company, and they were excited.
I jogged after them, chuckling as I watched them stumble over their own feet. I turned the corner just in time to see Dax jump into Calum's lap, and Ashton slide onto the floor to play with Maisy.

"Emma, which one is this?" Ashton asked, smiling wide as he played tug of war with Mays.
"That's Maisy. She's the angel of the two. And Calum's got Dax. He's a demon." I sighed, laughing a little as he snapped at Calum's fingers.
"Hey, buddy!" Calum laughed too and picked Dax right up, letting him lick all over his face.
Ashton was wrapped up in Mays, so I took a seat next to Calum on the couch, leaning into his side so I could scratch behind Dax's ears.
"He likes you." I smiled, amazed at the way Calum had gotten him to actually sit still in his lap.
"Everybody likes me, babe." He winked, smiling down at Dax and scratching his stomach.
"Oh, of course they do. You're so humble and charming." I rolled eyes, making him laugh.
"Exactly." He smirked, brushing his hand over mine as he moved to scratch beneath Dax's chin.
Dax licked Calum's arm, and that's when I noticed the bruises.
Calum had bruises in the inside of his left arm, some of them an older bluish-green, and some a newer more purple color.

"What happened to your arm?" I asked, gently taking his wrist in my hands so I could get a better look.
"Oh, that's nothing." Calum hesitantly took his arm back, placing his hand over the darkest part of the bruises. "They're just from, uh..." He seemed at a loss for words, but before he could figure out how to respond, Ashton chimed in.

"Can we take the dogs outside?" He asked, clearly trying to help Calum out and change the subject.
"Uh, yeah, sure. We can go out front." I said, looking to Calum as he jumped up from the couch, taking Dax with him. "Just make sure the gate is closed!" I called after him as he stepped outside. I looked to Ashton for some kind of an explanation, but he just shrugged and took Maisy outside, leaving me all alone.
I sighed and stood from the couch, tucking my tank top into my denim shorts before following them outside. I was going to get it out of them somehow.
When I got outside, the gate was wide open and Dax was heading right for it. "Calum, close the gate!" I called, running across the yard when I noticed the car driving down the street. Calum looked up and immediately started running, following Dax right into the road.
"Calum!" I squealed as he scooped Dax up into his arms and jumped onto the grass, the car barely missing the both of them.
The car sped past and I breathed a sigh of relief, jogging over to the both of them. Calum set Dax down inside the fence and closed the gate, sticking his hands in his pockets as I jogged over to him.
"Sorry, I should have closed the gate. first thing." He apologized, digging his toes into the grass.

I ignored his apology and walked right up to him, standing on my toes and wrapping my arms around his neck.
"Thank you." I breathed a sigh of relief that he and Dax were both okay. "You're welcome..." He said, hesitantly wrapping his arms around my waist. I stood there in Calum'a arms and breathed him in, actually loving how it felt to be wrapped up in his arms.
I guess we stayed like that for a moment too long because Ashton cleared his throat behind us, bringing is both back to the present.
Calum hadn't seemed to want to let go either.
I blushed as I pulled back, suddenly realizing how stupid it was of Calum to run into the road like he had.
I slapped his arm as I pulled away, glaring up at him.
"Ow! What was that for?" He whined, rubbing his arm.
"For being an idiot and running into the street." I shrugged, turning and walking be toward Ashton and the puppies.
"Careful not to sound too upset, people might think you actually care about me." He said, following me toward Ashton.
I didn't say anything because I realized that I was starting to care for him a little bit... and that sort of freaked me out.