More Than a Fan || cth

Chapter 13

"Calum?"

I turn around to face the unfamiliar voice, and immediately get a sense of deja vu. A pretty brunette stands in front of me with a side smile on her bright red lips.

"Uh, d-do I know you?" I ask, glancing around on the porch. She raises her eyebrows, narrowing her eyes and looking at me like I'm crazy.

"Yeah, we met at a party a few months ago." She tells me. I close my eyes for a second, trying to convince my brain to remember. I snap my head up when I realize.

"Right! Delilah, right? I'm sorry, I meet a lot of people." I say, looking toward the floor and rubbing the back of my neck ashamedly. I feel like an asshole.

"Yeah," Delilah mutters, studying me with her bright eyes.  From what I remember, a while ago I talked to her for a bit at some random party. I'm surprised I remember her.

"How have you been? Have you liked this area of LA?" I ask her, realizing that when I had talked to her, she just moved to this area.

"Pretty nice. It's hard to make friends if you're not well known, though." She states. I smile.

"I definitely can relate to that. When the boys and I first moved to LA, all we had was ourselves. We spent all our time together at the house and just screwed around. It's really different now." I explain. Delilah acknowledges my comment with a nod.

"Ketchup!" I hear a voice yell behind me, and I don't get the time to turn around before I feel arms around my shoulders. Lacie's face appears next to me. She's leaning her body weight on mine. A huge grin is plastered on her face. Delilah grimaces. Lacie's eyes meet hers. She smiles slightly. I notice she feels uncomfortable, but she's trying to push that away.

"Yeah, that's where Ketchup was born." I chuckle. Lacie nods vigorously. She looks at me, her intense gaze making my heart speed up.

"Yes sir. Who's this?" She asks, looking back toward Delilah, who shifts uncomfortably.

"This is Delilah. I met her at a party a few months ago, we were just having a chat."

"Cool. I'm Lacie, not good with meeting new people but hi." Lacie says, holding out her hand, her bright smile still radiating friendliness. Delilah looks down at Lacie's hand with slight disgust, but she disguises it.

"Yeah. Okay." She says, then turns to me. "I'll see you later maybe, Cal. You have my number in your phone." Delilah tells me then pushes past Lacie and I, going back into the house. I realize that Lacie is subconsciously playing with the hair on the back of my neck, and it runs chills up my spine. She turns toward me again.

"Is she okay? I don't want to say she's being rude, but she was being kinda rude." Lacie points out and I shrug.

"I'm not sure. She seemed fine."

"Before I came outside."

"I guess," I murmur, sending Lace an apologetic look. I take her hand, guiding her onto the couch outside. She plops down and pats the space next to her. I join her. "How are you doing?"

"Good, Luke found me a drink!" Lacie giggles.

"I can tell," I smirk. She smiles obliviously, reaching up to twirl a piece of her hair around her finger. "So,"

"Sooo,"

"I'm kinda bored." I admit. Lacie grins.

"Same."

"Are you hungry?"

"Kinda."

"You know what? Come on," I start, standing up and taking her hand in mine. "Let's go."