close as strangers | calum hood

sixteen

Jaden

We were huddled up on the roof, facing the ocean after our dinner. I was afraid to bring up the obvious elephant in the room, and it seemed like he was, too. I sighed as I moved my head to rest on his shoulder.

"What are we gonna do, Jaden?" Calum asked with a heavy heart.

"I don't know." I frowned.

We both knew he was leaving for his tour, soon. The boys had been hard at work, spending hours on CALM. Not too long ago, all their tour dates were confirmed and their concerts sold out quickly. Everything was set and ready for them to leave. Again.

"I hope you know that this time, I won't make the same mistake." He whispered.

I shook my head, "I don't know how much I trust you on that."

Then there was a pause in the conversation. I knew that Calum lacked a rebuttal. He knew I had every right to doubt him. He was probably doubting himself.

"I just hated the thought of saying goodbye to you every time I had to leave again. It wasn't a good solution, but part of why I never got back in touch was because I was afraid of leaving again." He muttered.

"Calum, that's some bullshit." I said with a little giggle. "I would much rather you come back to me and leave again than for you to ignore me all these years because you're a pussy."

He chuckled, "I told you it wasn't a good solution."

I smiled at the boy for a few moments. He was an embodiment of everything I ever asked for. Calum got away from me before, but I will never let it happen again.

"Why are you staring at me?" He asked.

I blushed slightly "Uh- sorry. I just, really admire you. Thank you again, for what you did tonight."

"Of course. I'm glad you enjoyed it. You and your art deserved it." Calum smiled.

My smile quickly turned into a frown. I realized how much I was going to miss him, and how scared I was of losing him again. But I would never let myself be the one holding him back from chasing his dreams.

"Love, don't frown like that. I know things aren't ideal right now, but we'll work through it." He said, reassuringly.

"I'm just afraid." I sighed, my view going back to the vast ocean in front of us.

A few weeks after that night, I found myself at the airport, saying goodbye to the boys once again. Their families were surrounding us, hugs and tears were everywhere.

"I know you're worried." Ash said as he stood beside me, watching the scene in front of us.

I nodded, agreeing with his words. He wrapped an arm around my shoulder and pulled my small frame closer to his body. "I will make sure that when we come back to Australia, you'll be the first person we call."

"You mean that?" I ask as I look up at the curly-haired boy.

"I mean that." He smiled.

Just as Ashton and I finished our short conversation, Luke walked up to me. Ash removed his arm from around me, and I was quickly pulled into a hug by Luke. I returned his embrace as I wrapped my arms around his torso.

"I'm gonna miss you, Jade!" Luke whimpered.

I giggled, "I'm gonna miss you too, Lukey."

"Alright, alright! Enough!" Mikey called as he separated Luke and I.

"Hey! Ash had such as long time with her, give me a few more seconds!" Luke frowned at Michael.

"No." Mikey said quickly and pulled me into a hug.

"I know you're worried," Mikey whispered into my hair as he hugged me. "But I won't let anything bad happen to this friendship again. You can count on that."

"Thank you." I replied. It seemed like all these boys were keen on keeping this friendship alive. It meant a lot to me. As Mikey let go of me, Calum began walking over to me.

"This is exactly what I dreaded." Calum frowned as he looked down at me.

"What?" I asked.

His eyes began tearing up, "Saying goodbye."

"Cal, we're not saying goodbye. You're coming back." I frowned back at him.

"I know, but it just feels like we just reconnected. Now I'm already saying goodbye."

"That's because you took so long to get back to me." I rolled my eyes.

He rubbed the back of his neck, "Oh yeah. Well, I promise when we come back, you're the first person I'm seeing."

"Okay." I smiled and walked into his chest, wrapping my arms around his torso. Saying goodbye to Calum was definitely the hardest. I wanted more time with him, but I knew I didn't have that. I wanted to keep him with me, but I didn't want to hold him back from touring the world.

"We'll be okay." He whispered.

"Final call for passengers boarding flight 2941!" An announcement called. I knew that was the boys flight. I pulled away from the hug and looked up at Calum. I wouldn't be seeing him for a long time.

"Stay safe." I smiled weakly at the boy.

Calum reached down and placed a soft, lingering kiss on my lips. I wanted to hold onto him, but if I did then I wouldn't let go. I pulled away slowly, and looked up at him.

"I will." He smiled, before heading off with the boys. I watched as they all handed their boarding ticket to the flight attendant. I was waiting for Calum to look back and wave at me one last time.

But he didn't.