Mess is Mine // Calum Hood

Chapter 14

July 2018

As quickly as the boys had returned from the previous tour, it was time for them to head out on the road again for the 'Meet You There' tour. Needless to say, I was terrified for what the next few months had in store for Calum and I. Things were going well at the moment, but if the boys' last tour was any indication of how this tour would go, I was in for a wild ride of emotions. I tried my best to not think about it and just live in the moment, but the thought of not seeing Calum for three months constantly loomed over me.

The boys jetted off tomorrow, and Calum invited me to his place to spend his last day in LA together. I parked my car in the driveway next to his and walked up to the front door. Calum swung it open without me having to knock, and he pulled me into a hug the second he saw me.

"Hey you," he said, holding me tightly. If I didn't know any better, I would've assumed he was just as scared about leaving for tour as I was. I wrapped my arms around his waist and buried my head into his chest, breathing him in. We stood in the doorway holding each other for several minutes before finally separating and heading farther into the house. We hadn't made any solid plans; we just wanted to be lazy, watch movies, and eat shitty Chinese takeout. 

"What movie is first?" I questioned, plopping down onto his couch. He shrugged and scratched the back of his head with a slight grimace.

"I thought you'd bring some," he admitted.

"What a way to treat your guest," I teased, throwing a pillow at him as he stepped towards the couch. 

"I'm sorry!" he laughed, putting his arms in front of his face to dodge the pillow. "I just figured you'd have something you'd want to watch." 

"You kill me," I responded, rolling my eyes as he sat down next to me. He opened up Netflix and handed over the remote, allowing me to scroll through the movie selection. We ended up bickering over what to watch before finally settling on a random indie horror movie that Calum thought looked interesting. It ended up not mattering what we chose, because we weren't watching it anyways. 

"If could know when you would die, would you want to know?" Calum asked randomly about five minutes into the movie. I laid down on my back, resting my head in his lap so I could look at him while we talked.

"Definitely not," I responded. "I can see why someone might want to know, but I don't. Would you?" Calum zoned out in thought, winding strands of my hair around his fingers as he contemplated the question. 

"I don't think so," he answered finally, looking back down at me. "I think that takes the fun out of life." 

"Agreed," I nodded, taking a moment to take in his appearance. His hair was a bit of a curly mess, the bags under his eyes had started to fade, and there was a slight amount of light in his eyes. I couldn't help but smile up at the boy, hoping that that light would continue to grow and that he would begin to feel the happiness he deserved.

"You're staring again, Nichols," he commented as a smirk settled onto his lips.

"So what, Hood?" I shot back, raising my eyebrow at him. He moved too quickly for me to stop him, and in an instant his fingers were tickling my ribs. I was ridiculously ticklish, and I squirmed around on the couch, gasping for air between fits of giggles. Finally, I wriggled free from his grip and rolled onto the carpet. His dog, Duke, was beside me in an instant, so I quickly grabbed the little guy and stood up while cradling him. "Come any closer and I will kidnap Duke right now."

"Now you're playing dirty," Calum pouted, standing up from the couch and taking large steps towards me. I held the dog out for emphasis, but Calum didn't care. He quickly, but gently, snatched Duke from my hands, set him on the ground, and started to chase me. My first instinct was to dash into the kitchen and get some space between us so he couldn't tickle me anymore.