Meet You There | Calum Hood

49

Holland paused at the sink, she was in the middle of cleaning a pan from the dinner she and Calum had made earlier, as the door to her apartment opened.

Calum's eyes turned to look at her as he stood only a foot away from her waiting to dry the dishes that she had washed.

Lexi stepped through the doorway and immediately met Holland's eyes.

"Um...hi." She said cautiously.

Awkward tension filled the room and Cal turned to Holland quickly. "I'll be in your room. You guys need to figure this out. Being at odds with her will only be a distraction for you." He kissed her temple and sat the towel he'd been using against the counter before offering Lexi a small smile and retreating back to Holland's bedroom to hide from the impending storm between the two girls.

"Holls..." Lexi breathed out, she sounded defeated, like she had just accepted that things between she and Holland would never be the same.

"I just can't make it make sense Lexi. I want to believe you, but something just doesn't sit right with me. Why didn't you just tell me?"

Lexi released her suitcase and took a seat on the couch, Holland crossed the room to join her, desperately wanting to get some answers from her best friend and put this awkwardness behind them.

"I don't know. I think I knew you would be angry with me and I didn't want to face that. When I found out coach's response to everything I felt awful and I just didn't want to admit that it was my fault. Especially when I saw how devastated you both were."

"You shouldn't have kept it from me, Lexi. Hiding it from me makes me feel like you wanted to see me hurt or punished or whatever. If you'd just told me what happened at least I wouldn't have been so blindsided."

"I'm sorry, Holls. I don't know how many times I can say it."

"I know." Holland said matter of factly. "I miss you." She added after a moment.

"I miss you so fucking much, Holland. You're my best friend and I swear I never meant to hurt you. I'm so, so proud of you and I would never do anything to purposefully hurt you or your career. I hope you know that." She said.

"Promise me no more secrets." She asked of her friend and Lexi nodded quickly.

"Swear." Lexi promised with tear filled eyes.

"Let's just put this behind us then. We've got less than a week until our first competition of the season and I need you."

Holland held her arms open and Lexi accepted the hug, both girls relieved to have talked their issue out. Lexi was basically Holland's sister and sister's sometimes fought and made mistakes. Such was life.

She promised Lexi that they would catch up over the next few weeks but Cal was waiting in her bedroom and she feared that was a relationship with an expiration date and she wanted to spend as much time with him as she could before the inevitable occurred.

•

"So, how are you and Cal adjusting?" Lexi asked Holland as the girls stretched out on the mat. Their new team leotards sparkled under the gym lights as the arena filled with fans for their first meet of the season.

"It's....different." Holland answered honestly.

The pair of them had decided to maintain a casual relationship through the season. He understood that until the Olympics, gymnastics was her top priority but that she would do her best to talk to and see him when she could. She in turn promised to be understanding of his crazy schedule as well. His band's new album was set to drop in March followed by a promo tour and then a headlining world tour that would carry him through summer.