We finish dinner and start heading back to the dorm. We decide to do the interview in Calum's dorm because he wanted to show me his pet hamster Duke. I was a sucker for cute animals, after all.
As we drive, Calum tells me about his living arrangement and explains to me that he has a new dorm where all four boys live together in their own separate rooms, sharing a bathroom, kitchen and living room. I can only imagine the chaos that ensues in their dorm. I have a brother at home so I know how messy teenage boys can be. He also tells me that he's from Denver, Colorado and has an older sister. I explain how I am from the most boring town in Virginia called Midlothian. There wasn't much to do, aside from going to the park or the mall. In the summers, we would take a ride to Richmond and go to the Kings Dominion theme park.
Soon we arrive back at the dorms and we walk up to Calum's building. His dorm is on the 3rd floor and we decide to take the elevator. This building seemed newer than mine and the walls were a different color. We take a short walk down the hall and arrive at the dorm. When the door opens, I am shocked by how clean the living room is. It's surprising, since there's four boys in one small space. Ashton and Michael are sitting in the living room playing video games. They give us a small wave and Ashton asks, "Hey Nova, what are you doing here?"
"Oh I'm here just to finish the in-" Calum steps on my foot like he wants me to stop talking. I guess he didn't tell the others that I picked him to interview over them. Oops.
"She wanted to check out my record collection. And meet Duke, obviously."
I smile. "Right. That's what I meant. I heard that Duke is like his pride and joy."
The boys nod and I walk with Cal to his room. We enter his room and I notice all the band posters on his walls. He has a Panic! one, a Radiohead one, and a Coldplay one, amongst several others.
"Woah, your room is so cool!" I say. He has a typical loft bed with a desk underneath. In one corner he has a red bean bag chair that's facing a tv and some gaming consoles. In another, he has a record player and many vinyls. And finally, in the last corner, Duke's cage. He walks me over to the cage and scoops up Duke from under his little hamster igloo.
"Do you wanna hold him?" he asks.
"Of course!" I hold out my hands and he passes Duke to me.
"Aww, he's so sweet!" I pet him and he purrs? If hamsters purr then that's what he did. After a few minutes we put Duke back and Calum asks if I want to sit down on the bean bag with him. My palms start to sweat, but of course I agree to sit down. It's big enough that we have some space between us. Once we sit down, he reaches out and grabs his acoustic guitar that's right next to us. He starts playing a song that I don't recognize and begins to sing the lyrics:
Within a minute I was all packed up
I've got a ticket to another world
I don't wanna go
I don't wanna go
Suddenly words are hard to speak
When your thoughts are all I see
Don't ever leave, she said to meWhen we both fall asleep, underneath the same sky
To the beat of our hearts at the same time
So close but so far away
Can you hear me?
She sleeps alone
My heart wants to come home
I wish I was, I wish I was
Beside you
She lies awake
I'm trying to find the words to say
I wish I was, I wish I was
Beside you
"Wow, that's awesome!" I say.
"Yeah, it's an unreleased song that we're working on for whenever we get to record our first album."
"What's it called?"
He laughs, "Isn't it obvious?"
"'Beside You', I guess?"
He smiles, "It fits right, because I'm beside you."
Suddenly we're staring at each other, and I'm looking deep into his eyes. I see him look down at my lips, but I don't know if I'm hallucinating or not, so I don't make a move. He barely starts to lean in, when suddenly the door bursts open.
"I brought you a tac-OH SHIT sorry!" Luke barges in the doorframe carrying a bag from Taco Bell. "I didn't mean to disturb a moment."
"Uh, it's okay," I stammer. I was still so nervous from what we were about to do.
"Yeah, haha," Calum nervously laughs.
"Actually, I think I'm gonna go get some air outside." My heart was pounding and I felt like I was about to pass out. Before the boys could say anything, I ran out of the dorm and downstairs. I felt so embarrassed.
I could only make it so far before I heard footsteps behind me. I picked up my pace and pushed open the front door only for it to be pouring. Fuck. I can't go back now. I had committed to this. With rain pouring down on me, I ran beneath an overhang on the side of the building that covered the dumpsters. Cool, now I'm with my own kind.
"Nova!" Calum shouted out from behind me. I looked away from him. Still, he came through the rain to be beside me.
"Hey, why are you upset?"
"It's stupid," I mumble.
"You already said that once before, and like I said, nothing you can say is stupid."
"It's just that my parents have always been super overprotective of me. I never had the chance to be this close to a guy, and I was already so nervous. And when Luke walked in, it was an unexpected factor that made it all weirder."
He doesn't say anything, so I look up at him. Before I know it, his lips are pressed against mine. It lasts only for a moment, but it feels so right. He's the first to pull away.
"I just want to make sure you're not uncomfortable. We can take this as slow as we need to. And, now I have an excuse to see you again."
I smile the most genuinely I've smiled in so long.
"Why's that?"
He smirks, "Because we can never seem to finish this interview."
YOU ARE READING
End Up Here
Фанфик"A forty-five minute drive with Calum Hood and my girl crush? Shit." Nova Hale is in her second semester of college in Los Angeles. She starts to have doubts about the music class she's taking and what she wants her career to be. But when her profes...
