Complicated | Calum Hood (Sequel to Unexpected)

10.

Jes

Calum had arranged for everyone to come over for a pool day and cookout. It made me less anxious to know that they were coming for an activity and not just to pepper me with questions, though I knew there would be no shortage of those.

Cal had taken care of everything, going to the grocery store to pick up the needed items and making sure the pool was ready. While he fired up the grill I put together a banana pudding for dessert and made margarita slushees.

"Need any help?" Ashton asks as he steps into the kitchen.

"Hey Ash! I didn't hear you come in!" I say turning to greet him. "I think I'm good in here, but it would be great if you could take that plate of corn out to Cal. Where's KayKay?"

"She's in the bathroom changing into her swim suit I picked her up from a brunch on the way." I nod my head in understanding and he just stares at me. I think he's trying to decide if he should say what he's thinking or not. He seems to decide against it and instead picks up the plate of corn and walks out the back door towards Cal who's standing at the grill.

Luke and Sierra arrive soon after and everyone settles themselves outside. I make myself scarce, hiding out in the kitchen until I hear P wake up from her nap. When I walk into her room she's standing against the railing waiting on my arrival.

"Hey munchkin! You wanna swim and see your aunties and uncles? Sierra, Luke, KayKay, and Ashton are all waiting to see you."

"Ashy!" She cries.

"Yes, I know Ash is your favorite but don't tell uncle Luke you'll make him sad." I say showing her my frowning face. She tries to copy me and I laugh at the adorable display.

"Come on bubs." I pull her up on my hip and carry her over to her changing table. I wrangle her into a swimming diaper and swimsuit before scooping her up and heading towards the back yard. I stop short when I hear Luke's voice.

"....man I'm just worried. You've been a mess for six months and now suddenly everything is fine again? It's a bit sudden. What the fuck is going on? We're all just worried about you. You can't just let her waltz back in. She really fucking hurt you Cal, you were miserable."

"I was miserable too." I say drawing attention to myself. Luke jumps and his face reddens as he realizes I've overheard his remarks.

"Would you like to hear the story? Or would you prefer to continue to judge things you know nothing about? I thought we were friends Luke."

I feel the heat in my face as I talk and my voice gets weak. I'd expected comments like this from people I didn't know, I hadn't been prepared to hear them from someone I considered a friend.

"Jes, come here." Calum calls sensing my unease. I move to stand beside him and he wraps his arms around both I and Paisley who still rests in my arms.

"He's just concerned. He'll understand once we explain, they all will." He dips his head and presses a soft kiss to my lips and I nod as I pull away. I avoid Luke's eyes as I take Paisley to the pool. I place her into her float and step in beside her.

I say hello to KayKay and Sierra who return the greeting and then turn to play with Paisley. I try to make small talk but the conversation feels forced and awkward. No one had treated me like this when Cal and I were broken up, so why am I getting the cold shoulder now that we're back together?

My ego bruised, I leave P with the girls and trudge over to Calum.

"Hi love." He says happily as I approach taking my hands in his and kissing my forehead.

"Everyone's being weird." I whisper as tears brim in my eyes.

"Hey, hey don't cry." He says pulling me towards him. "They just don't know. They think you hurt me for no reason and they're being protective now that we're back together. Just give them some time and let them hear what you have to say and I promise it'll be fine. Okay?"

I nod and quickly wipe at my eyes hoping no one noticed me getting upset.

"The food's done I'll call them over and then we can FaceTime with Mikey and Crystal while we talk to everyone over dinner. Sound good?"

I nod my head and place a kiss to his cheek. He squeezes my hand for reassurance and then calls to them. "Food's ready, let's eat."

Everyone gets out the pool, dries themselves off, and heads over to our outdoor table. Ash brings Paisley over and places her in the high chair.

Once the food is doled out I push my serving around on my plate until I can't stand it anymore.

"Cal call the Clifford's." I mumble. He nods with his mouth full from beside me and reaches into his back pocket for his phone. He finds Mikey's contact and dials for FaceTime.

"Heyo!" Micheal answers happily. He and Crystal look quite loved up on what appears to be a hammock.

"Hey guys. Hope you're having a blast on your honeymoon."

"Best vacation ever. We miss you guys though."

"We miss you too." Cal says placing his phone where everyone can see the newlyweds and wave hello.

"Right, so we've called you all here because we knew there'd be a lot of questions once we shared that we were back together." He trails off as everyone around the table shifts uncomfortably as the elephant in the metaphorical room is addressed. "You guys are judging Jes when you have no idea what has happened. I'm guilty of the same but there's a lot you guys don't know about and I think it's best if you hear it from her."

He reaches beneath the table and takes my hand in his. His touch is enough to make me brave enough to tell everyone what's happened.

"Um...so basically the night before you guys came back from the tour before this most recent one, Mark , my psycho ex, broke into our house again. Only this time I didn't wake up and get out before he found me." I chance a glance up to see every eye on me and several shocked expressions. I take a big breath and continue on. "Long story short, he verbally and physically attacked me and held me at gun point. He threatened Paisley and Calum, he said if I didn't end Cal and I's relationship he'd kill them. So to protect them I ended our engagement. It was the hardest thing I've ever had to do." I look up again and hope they can tell that I was just as heartbroken, just as upset when Cal and I ended.

"So what's changed now? Have they caught him?"

"Yes."

"Well that's great!"

"Yeah it is, they got him on all of our charges because we have video and apparently more because there were three other victims. We don't know who or what he did to them. He should be in jail for a very, very long time though."

"Jes...I'm so sorry." Luke says meeting my eyes. "We didn't know."

"I know, it's fine."

"It's not fine." Sierra adds. "We're your friends and we've been shitty, I'm sorry."

I give a weak smile and turn to look at Cal. The look on his face seems to kindly say 'I told you so.' He leans forward and kisses me and it feels so good to be somewhat back to normal. To be able to be us in front of our friends.

"So, the engagement is back on then?" Micheal asks through the phone. I smile and nod flashing him my ring for confirmation.

"Guess so. Maybe three 5SOS weddings in 2020?"

An: happy times in the Calsie kingdom again 😌😌😌

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I love you!
Sav 🖤