Where to Find You [calum hood soulmate au]

Scarlett

The sun shined down on my skin as my feet hit the sand. I quickly threw of the dress covering my swimsuit before taking off into the ocean. The water was freezing as the wave crashed against my legs causing the water to spew into my face. It wasn't exactly the nicest welcome to the beach, but I was already loving California. Brynn and Carson slowly made their way to join me in the water before we started taking tons of beach pictures trying to capture the moment forever.
At lunch time, we walked to a restaurant on the pier enjoying the air conditioning as we sat around discussing the previous days on the trip. The food was delicious, which was not surprising as it had been at every other restaurant or food stand we visited prior to today.
We were now halfway done with our Cali trip, and we had been to museums, stores, tourist traps, and now, the beach. We had plans for the next few days to go to celebrity centered sites because when in Rome, right?
We went back to the hotel after stopping at some gift shops along the beach and pier after lunch. Getting back to the room allowed us all to shower. It was relaxing to wash the sand off my body and watch it fall down the drain.
We sat on our beds with the tv playing a movie while we scrolled through the pictures we had on our phones. I don't think we had ever taken as many pictures as we did over the last four days. The sunny days and warm breezes had become the perfect setting for photos. I was loving everything that the state had to offer which meant I wasn't ready to go back to hot and humid days that we would be met with at home despite it being winter. From what I learned growing up, southern towns don't recognize seasons. Weather does whatever it pleases.
The next morning was an early start. We left the curtains open so the rising sun would wake us allowing a full day to spend out and about. The plans had changed late last night with us deciding to travel up to Disneyland to see what it was all about. We'd each been to Disney World at least once growing up, but Florida and California were completely different so we assumed the theme parks would be as well.
—————
"DO YOU SEE THAT? ITS MICKEY MOUSE!" Brynn was screaming the instant we walked in the gates. She had been freaking out the whole car ride trying to think about who she was going to see and the pictures we would take. We each had to buy mouse ears in the gift shop before journeying into they park. I had been mistaken when I thought fair food was the best. It had nothing on theme park food.
The sun was setting as we neared Cinderella's castle. We, of course, had Carson take tons of pictures of us as the darkness enveloped the sky. We had met various princesses, cartoon characters, and, of course, the iconic original characters. Each of us holding our books filled with signatures from the ones we met and pictures as our evidence.
The day came to a close as we walked towards the gates leaving the castle behind. Brynn and I stopped walking immediately at the gates, and Carson knew the drill. He pulled out his phone as we got ready to pose. We were just going to take one final picture at the gates with us kicking a leg out in front of us and our hands thrown up in the air. The smiles on our faces were glowing before we started laughing which caused Carson to continue capture the moment of pure happiness in the form of photos. We removed our mouse ears once we were settled back in the rental car signalling the end of our day straight out of our childhood dreams. It had definitely been a day to remember even though I hadn't magically run into my soulmate.
It was the next morning as I sipped from a bottle of water on the balcony that I realized what was going on. California was feeling like home. I had visited different states before, but the salty breeze and sunny skies felt eerily similar to the feelings of my hometown. Iit wasn't just the temperature that gave that feeling, it was a deep down gut feeling. What did it mean? I didn't have much time to dwell on it as Brynn exited the bathroom fully dressed and ready to go.
It was our last day in California. Tomorrow we had a flight to catch early enough that there was no time to explore. We decided to just go out. We didn't have any destinations until we wanted to try to watch our last California sunset on the beach. We spent our time going in stores, hanging out on the pier, and eating our last few California meals. It was a bittersweet day, yet something felt like it wasn't the end. California had a funny way of making me feel like I belonged. I shrugged it off thinking it was just the fun of the last week that made me feel that.
We caught the sunset on the beach as we sat in the sand. No words were spoken between us, and it felt comfortable. We stayed on the beach for some time after the sun went down not wanting to go back to the hotel to pack everything up. We eventually did, reminiscing on the week we had had. None of us wanted to fall asleep because that would mean the end of sunny California. The next morning we headed to the airport with one last selfie before we lifted off the ground. We'd be home soon, and for the first time in my life, I didn't want to go home.
—————
Our house was the same as we had left it with the scent of vanilla cupcake drifting to my nose from the wall plug ins in the hall. The house was bland and boring compared to the condo we had rented on the west coast. I separated from the couple to head to the laundry room. The salty smell that was left in my dirty clothes was a welcome scent. I put the clothes that needed to be washed in the washer before putting the suitcase away in the hall storage closet. I went to the living room turning on music to blast through the speaker by the tv. The only light on was the one in Brynn and Carson's room, but there was a some light coming in through the light colored curtains around the house. It was almost mid afternoon, and jet lag was slowly setting in as I brought my legs onto the couch to lie down. I didn't have to go back to work for a few days which I was grateful for since I didn't realize how exhausted I was from a week of non stop excitement. After a few days of recouping it would be back to work as an overqualified waitress.