Close As Strangers // c.h.

4

*Ren's POV*

I am woken up suddenly by my ringtone. The sound of 'Don't Stop' filled my room, which led me to believe that Calum is calling me. I grab the phone off my nightstand and instictively picking it up as soon as possible, which I immediately regret. I don't need this right now. I don't need any more stress and I don't need anything more from him. But nevertheless I picked up my phone and started talking.

"Hey, Cal." I immediately wonder if he could hear the strain in my voice.

"Hey, Love. I miss you so much and I'm sorry for calling so early. I needed to know that you were doing okay, and most of all I needed to hear your beautiful voice."

There it was. This is why I struggle so much with the fact that he is away. Whenever he calls me he always tells me things that make my heartache and things that make me just want to hug him for eternity. But, I can't do that, he is hundreds of thousands of miles away, and the distance is killing me.

I let these thought pass through my head and I realize that I have left an awkward silence within this conversation. I don't need, I don't want to talk to him right now.

"I love you too, Cal. But I can't talk right now, I have too much stuff to do before school starts today. I'm sorry, I'll call you when I can..."

Then I hung up. I pressed the red button, and hung up on the love of my life. I collapsed on my bed and started crying. I need my mom more than ever right now. She always had a way of making everything better when it seemed like things couldn't get worse.

During my sobbing episode, I get an idea that might help me. If the journal, which had memories of the boys in it, made me feel better, then maybe other things that are filled with memories will also pick up my mood.

I grab my backpack, which I put my journal and some food in it. I run down the stairs hoping that I won't cross paths with Kelly, luckily I didn't. I then ran through the front door and hopped into my old, rusty, red pick-up truck. I put the key in the ignition, put the car in reverse then back out of my driveway into the street.

I start driving in the very familiar direction, it was the direction of the forest that was on the edge of the town. Ever since the boys and I had gotten close, we spent a lot of our free time here. When they were little, Luke's dad built a treehouse here and we all still hang out in it today. Although I don't usually go to it when the boys are gone, it usually just reminds me how alone I am.

When I arrive at forest, I park my car and start walking down the all too familiar path leading to the tree house. I reach the tree that is the foundation for the tree house and start climbing the ladder to enter it.

Once I throw all of my stuff into the tree house, I climb in and take a good look around; virtually nothing has changed since the last day we were in here. The stack of mix tapes were still in a messy pile in the corner, and there was still an empty pizza box laying open. I also see one of Cal's hoodies thrown into a heap on the floor. Not caring how long it had been since someone had touched it, I picked it up and put it on. It strangely still smells like him.

Surprisingly, I don't feel upset or sad, I feel very at home. I immediately regret not coming here sooner, because this is the most calm, and maybe even happy, I've been in the last 6 months.

I find one of the many blankets that we keep in there and lay it out. I drop down onto it and pull out my journal, ready to read more of what I had written only a few short years ago.

As the first day of school progressed, I became really close with the Brunette boy, Calum. We were good at all of the same things: geography, art, and language arts. Now don't get me wrong, all of the boys and I became friends with me that day, but there was something with Calum that just clicked.