The Reason/ 5SOS & 1D

Part Eighteen

"Hey Calum."

I laughed at his completely and utterly shocked expression. 

He clearly wasnt going to be able to muster up words any time soon so I walked towards him and pulled him into a hug.

He hugged back and we stood there in the doorway soaking up the embrace. As he pulled away I waited for him to start asking all the questions I knew he was dying for me to answer. 

"Does anybody else know you're back?"

I was suprised that this was the first question to come to his mind. 

"If by anybody else you mean Cassie, then yes. She knows Im back. I was at her house late last night when someone dropped her off."

"That was me. We had just finished watching a move. She's really missed you man. Was she mad at you? Did you guys fight?"

I flinched at the word fight. The thought of my mom yelling at me was still fresh in the back of my mind. 

"No, Cassie and I are fine. I wish I could say that about my mom and I. Can I stay here tonight? I dont think it would be a good idea for me to go home." 

I saw the concern grow on his face but he just nodded and let me come inside. 

As I walked through the hallway towards the living room I scanned my eyes over all the pictures on the wall. There were tons of Mali, Calum's older sister, and Calum himself. The one at the end caught my eye. 

"Hey, is this new?" I pointed at me and he smiled.

"Yeah, Cassie took that yesterday at the park. It turned out great." 

It felt good knowing that Cassie was still taking pictures. I knew how much she loved it. 

Calum ran upstairs to get me a blanket and pillow, so I sat on the couch and waited for him to come back down, knowing he would want to talk about what happened with my mom and where I had been the last two months. 

I saw him coming down the steps and prepared myself to tell the long story of what happened for the hird time. But to my suprise he didnt bring up my mom or my absence or anything. He gave me a simple goodnight and started walking back up the stairs.

I heard his footsteps stop as he turned around and started to speak.

"Im really glad you're home."

I smiled at the words coming out of my mouth. 

"Me too, Cal. Goodnight." 

I laid down and thought about the events of the past two months before I slowly dozed off. 

*the next morning*

I was woke up to a pillow smacking me right in the face. 

"Wake up sleeping beauty, we have somewhere to be!" 

Calum threw the pillow down and went in the kitchen to grab some breakfast. 

"Where are we going?"

I didnt know we had anything planned today and the thought of actually doing something excited me. 

"Its Saturday, we have band practice." 

The realization hit me and my stomach dropped. I was gonna see the other guys today, and I didnt know if I was ready to face them yet. 

"You know, Im not feel very good Cal. I think Im gonna stay behind today." 

I fake coughed to make it sound more realistic, hoping Calum would either believe me or realize that I couldnt face them yet. 

"Bullshit. You're coming Luke. There's not getting out of this. It's time."