Summer //hood//

32. Meet The Hoods

"You'll be fine," Calum reassured Summer for the umpteenth times. It was clear that he was trying to look calm and patient and tried his best not to lose his temper and snap at her.

Summer took a shaky breath before she swallowed a pill for her panic attack. She drank almost the whole water inside the bottle and she squeezed it so tight until the water that was still inside the bottle squished out. "I'm fine- Just nervous," she said, sounding like she was assuring herself.

Calum released a breath out of his mouth and stared at his girlfriend with a sympathetic look. This was his first time facing someone with a panic attack and to be honest, he was freaking out inside because he didn't really know what to do. He took a seat beside her on the bed, rubbing her shoulders so it wouldn't look so tense. "You don't have to be nervous, Summer. There's no reason for you to be nervous," he said to her.

"Well, I do have one. I'm going to have a dinner with your family," she mumbled.

"But, you've had dinner with my family a couple of times- mostly, with my mom," Calum looked at her with confusion.

"The problem here is," Summer took a deep breath before she released it with a huff, "This time I'm going to have a dinner with them as your girlfriend, not Mrs. Hood's worker." She explained, emphasizing the word girlfriend.

Calum stopped rubbing her shoulders. He tilted her chin with his fingers so he could see her eyes. "Do you want me to cancel the dinner?" He asked with concern.

"No, please don't," Summer answered quickly, shaking her head. "I don't want to make them disappointed."

"But, because of this dinner thing, you had a panic attack and then-" Calum tried to argue but Summer interrupted.

"No, please don't, Cal," she pleaded. She looked at the uncertainty in his eyes. "I'm fine now. Thanks to you," she assured him.

"You sure?" Calum quirked an eyebrow to her.

Summer nodded although she wasn't really sure about it. She knew she was over reacting about this dinner thing, but she felt like all of these things with Calum was happening so quickly somehow at the moment. She just still couldn't believe if this was real or not.

"I'll tell you something to make you feel even better than now," Calum said, rubbing her knee which already made Summer felt better.

"What is it about?" She asked him.

He smiled to her but then he averted his eyes away from her. "I don't know if you already knew about this or not, but I think-no, I believe you're my mom's favorite worker," Calum said then looked back at her.

Summer furrowed her eyebrows. "What makes you think like that?"

"First, she loves to talk about you with so much admiration and she's really proud of having you as her worker. She always tells me about how such a wonderful person you are. She once said to me that you reminded her a lot of herself when she was young- Determined, hardworking, and caring. She says a lot of great things about you and to be honest, there were times when I was sitting there, listening to my mom's lecture about you and wondering about you,"

Calum's one hand reached for Summer's hand. He laced their fingers together and he rubbed his thumb over her knuckles. "Oh, and I still can't forget the times when Mali was mad at her because mom wouldn't shut up about you. She once said to my mom 'Do you really need to say those things about Summer in front of your daughter's face?'" Calum chuckled, making Summer chuckled too.

"Now, I know why Mali was bitter at me when I worked there for the first time," she mused, remembering the times when Mali was being mean to Summer for no reason.