Calum & Keegan

pt 3: los angeles

  His eyes flutter close and mine follow suit, just as my lips hover over his, we jump apart at the sound of Ashton's voice at the door.  

"So you two aren't coming?" Ash asks as his eyes slowly come up from his phone's screen and meet mine. "Did I interrupt something?" His eyebrows narrow and a death glare is given through them. I realize then that Calum is still sitting on the floor in front of me, not too far away from where he was a few short seconds ago and I'm awkwardly leaning on the couch's back cushion, my cheeks radiating heat and blush.

"No, I was making sure she was ready to go back. I just woke her," he mumbles and avoids Ashton's eye contact which gives him more reason to think something was happening between us. Calum's finger picks at the white carpet that he's sitting on to distract himself from Ashton's glare.

"I'm sorry, dimples, I'm tired and didn't want to make you escort me to the hotel," I give Ash my pleading and sorry eyes and his posture relaxes in surrender to my apology.

"Well, just be safe and Cal, let me know if you want to meet us somewhere. I'm just a call away. Also, please remember to keep your hands to yourself. She's my baby sister," he warns and walks away, his words lingering in the air.

"Shall we?" Cal lifts his head to look at me and an irresistible smirk rests on his face. My smirk mirrors his as I grasp his hand and drag him behind me, running down the halls of the almost empty venue. We stop to peer around a corner in attempt to dodge Ash's protective mask. Seconds before my foot steps, Michael's skunk spiky hair appears behind us and a laugh escapes his lips.

"What the hell are you two up to?" He chuckles as he investigates our poor hiding skills.

"Nothing, you didn't see us," I smile up at him and give him my best wink, squeezing his hand in attempt to charm him.

"You scare me, but be safe. I didn't see you," Mikey chuckles once more and shakes his head as he walks away.

  Calum and I remain quiet as we continue on our trek to call a cab. As we reach an exit, I figure out where we are and know we're about to get mobbed.

"Calum, we're entering the stands area and exits. We could get seen. This is where they told us not to go," I advise him and jerk his sleeve of his black sweatshirt to grab his attention. He spins around on the heels of his black converses and grips my shoulders tightly.

"We've got this, just run to the street and don't stop if they're out there. We shouldn't draw much attention, we aren't that popular," he reassures me and downplays the band and the effect of just playing the Staples arena in Los Angeles. I roll my eyes and follow behind him.

  As we approach the exit, he opens the door and he squeezes my hand tighter as we walk through the door to find an empty street save for a handful of people walking to cars. He brings a finger to his lips to remind me to be quiet and guides us toward the main street a block away.  I trail behind him and keep my head down, hoping that the boys don't see us. Once we reach the busy street, he holds his hand out to hail a taxi. Cal opens the door of the yellow car and tells the driver to bring us to a certain address that I've never heard of. I raise my eyebrow in question at Calum and he just shakes his head suggesting that he won't tell me. Calum lets me in first and then he scoots along the stained clothed seats to be next to me. I lay my head against his shoulder and look outside the car, tuning into the radio and watching sidewalk full of people. It stays like this until we hit the Hollywood portion of LA then I sit up to admire the fancy stores and eateries along the strip.

"Are we eating? I'm kinda hungry," I admit to Cal and finally look over to find him also in a gaze, but instead of looking out the window, he's admiring me. His eyes lock with mine and he realizes that I was talking to him.