Stay || c.h. *completed & editing*

Chapter 11.

Dear Laurie,

The past week or so I haven't gone anywhere with Calum. Mom is still cooling off about the whole thing with Calum and I don't want to push my luck.

He's been coming over when mom isn't home and leaving before she gets here. He doesn't know about her threatening to disown me but I don't plan on telling him right away. Or at all, honestly. It will just concern him even more and I don't want that.

I just really hope it all works out in the long run. I've never felt this way about anyone before.

Wish you were here.

Love,

Ellie.

~~~

I finally gave into Calum telling me it would be fine to leave the house again after about a week of us watching movies, cuddling and talking in my room everyday. I know he was tired of it and I was getting a little bored myself.

"There's somewhere I want to take you," he said to me, smiling as he climbed out my window with me.

"And where is that?" I asked.

"You'll just have to wait and find out," he grinned as he took my hand and walked me to his car.

I rolled my eyes, knowing I was going to get a reply similar to that.

We sat in his car as he quietly played Blink 182 on the radio. I didn't mind the silence, it was actually kinda nice. Silence was nice every now and then. It showed that we didn't always need to be talking, we could just simply enjoy each other's presence.

He pulled into the parking lot of a park and got out, taking my hand to walk with me.

"A park?" I asked. "Very original, Calum."

"Just shut up and follow me," he sighed, pulling me along.

I walked with him through a bunch of trees and I'm pretty sure trails that were meant to be there until he pulled me into a clearing, which was a meadow with a bunch of wildflowers in the long grass.

"Calum--"

"Just come here," he said, pulling me through it. I was glad I wore my jeans today so I didn't have grass itching my legs.

He had me sit down in the middle of it, promising me he'd "be right back." I sat and waited, after a couple minutes laying back against the grass.

I stared up at the sky, my legs and arms sprawled out around me. The sky was partly cloudy, and the weather was forgiving today and wasn't too hot or too cold. One of those tank tops and mid-calf jeans with sandals kind of days, which is exactly what I was wearing.

After another couple minutes Calum was still gone for whatever reason and I got antsy. I sat up and picked a few nearby flowers, beginning to start a flower crown like Laurie and I used to make when I saw Calum come out of the trees holding something on his back.

I looked closer and realized it was a guitar that he had slung around his shoulder and on his back. He sat down in front of me and took the guitar off, sitting down next to him.

He sighed. "I like it here. This is my little getaway."

"It's nice." I nodded.

"Nobody else really comes here," he said. "I know this park is kinda popular but not very many people know about this. It's kinda like having your own little world that you can escape to, you know?"

I nodded. I had a meadow near my house that Laurie and I used to "escape" to when we were younger. That's where we made the flower crowns, back before everything got complicated.