Trouvaille

Chapter 5

13.01.2019

'Niks,' Calum woke her up from sleep, holding out her phone to her. 'It's Tom's dad.'

Nikki was fully awake in a second, taking the phone offered to her with a gulp. She accepted the call, and steeled herself to tell them the news.

It was an emotionally exhausting call, as both of Tom's parents broke down and sobbed over the phone to Nikki. Nikki was reminded of how much they both loved her, when even in the face of their son's accident they remembered to ask her how she was doing. Both Dominic and Nicola were going to fly over to LA as soon as they could get a flight, and they were deciding on whether to bring Harry, Sam and Patrick.

Nikki got herself and Calum some coffee from the coffee machine down the hall and brought it to him. Calum looked tired, dark shadows under his eyes, and his usually cheerful face somber. He was gazing down at his phone, his hand brushing through his hair. Nikki remembered that he had actually had a show that night somewhere in LA- he must have ditched that to come be here with her. She wondered if she got shit for it from his manager and the boys.

'Didn't you have a show today?' She asked Calum, sitting down on the table right opposite him.

'Uh, yeah,' Calum said, looking up from his phone, 'It's okay. It was just a small one for our friends and their friends so the boys covered for me. How are his parents?'

'They're trying to get the first flight out here, and they're trying to figure out what to do with his brothers,' Nikki said, 'His mum is very distraught but his dad recovered quickly and is being the embodiment of British stoicness now.'

'Cal,' Nikki said, suddenly not able to meet his brown eyes.

Calum hummed under his breath.

'Thank you,' Nikki said, her face getting hot all of a sudden, 'you didn't need to do that, but I'm glad you were here.'

'Leave you alone when your best friend is in the hospital?' Calum asked, tapping her chin to make her look up at him, 'I would never do that.'

'I guess,' Nikki said, flustered, 'I just-'

'I'm your friend too, Niks,' Calum took her hands in his, 'And I'm here for you.'

'Nikki!' A voice made Nikki turn around- it was some of Zendaya, Jacob and two of Tom's other friends. 'How is he?'

'Same,' Nikki said, Zendaya pulling her into a hug.

'Are we allowed to see him?'

'Not yet,' Nikki replied, 'Maybe tomorrow morning, is what the doctor said.'

Tom's friends stayed for about an hour, before leaving with promises to come back the next day. They wanted to stay, but the doctor told them there was no need for all of them to stay, since Tom was anyway not aware, and they realized that it was right. A lot of people had come by and called, all of them with a million questions. Calum was still there, curled up on the couch, holding her hand, getting her coffee, and offering small smiles of reassurance as Nikki talked to everyone. It was about 2 in the morning now, and the calls were slowly dying down. Tom's team had released a post as well- telling people what happened and to give Tom and his family some time.

Nikki was curled up on the couch next to Calum, trying to distract herself. Calum himself was trying to get hard to not go to sleep, but Nikki could see how tired he was, his eyes drooping. Her heart filled with affection for this boy who had absolutely no reason to be with her right now, but was here, anyway. She snuggled closer to him, laying her head on his side. He lifted his arm to let her snuggle closer. 'Get some sleep,' Nikki murmured, turning off her phone and putting it away.