More | Sequel to Meet You There

21

"Drive faster!" Luke pleaded from the passenger seat of Calum's car.

"I'm already speeding, getting pulled over definitely won't help us get there any faster." The dark haired boy reasoned.

Luke groaned and dragged his hands through his mop of long blonde curls as the lights of downtown Los Angeles flew past the windows of Calum's Range Rover. He hit the lock button on his phone to make the screen light up, 11:43 PM. Calum cut his eyes to the side, watching his friend closely as Luke stared at the screensaver, a photo of Sierra with their baby's sonogram.

"Five minutes, mate." He promised as his foot pressed a hair harder on the accelerator.

Luke's fingers tapped impatiently against the handle of the passenger side door as they were forced to stop for a red light. The noise was irritating but Calum did his best to ignore it, not wanting to add any further stress to his already panicky friend.

The lights and signage of the hospital came into view three minutes later, Luke didn't even wait for Calum to pull to a stop under the portico before darting from the car and into the hospital entrance in search of his wife.

Calum couldn't help but chuckle as he watched his friends lanky frame take off at a run down the hospital hallway after receiving instructions from the receptionist at the front desk. When he'd disappeared from view, Calum circled the lot, finding a spot to park and walking towards the entrance at a much more leisurely pace than Luke had.

"Which way to the Maternity Ward waiting area?" He asked the receptionist. She was an older woman, greying hair and a smattering of wrinkles across her face, but her eyes were kind and welcoming. Calum supposed that was beneficial in her line of work.

"Go just down this hall, take the elevator to the third floor and it'll be the first wing on your right." She told him with a warm smile.

"Thank you!" He followed her instructions and pulled wide the door for the waiting area only to stop in his tracks at the sight of Holland, her head propped against her hand as she mindlessly scrolled on her phone.

Surely there was somewhere else he could wait until Cai was born. He didn't want to be in a room, just the two of them, for God knows how long. He couldn't fathom being that close to her for an extended period of time, he didn't trust himself.

He lost his opportunity to turn back, however, when she lifted her head and her eyes stared straight through him.

The silence stretched out between them, neither seemed to know what to say, so instead of putting his foot in his mouth he took a seat in one of the flimsy red chairs, a few feet away from the one she sat in.

He hadn't expected to see her and he certainly hadn't prepared for it. He'd been avoiding her for selfish reasons, his own fears holding him hostage until he convinced himself she had to hate him for that night only a few short weeks prior.

"I—um—I wasn't expecting to see you here." He finally spoke, his words breaking the silence, it stung as if the quiet had been glass and now a million tiny shards had shot between them, pricking their skin like a thousand tiny cuts. It hurt to be this close to her now.

Holland tensed at the sound of his voice, her eyes rising to find his again.

"You guys were at the studio. Ash and Kay are out of town. The Clifford's have a two month old. Sierra didn't know who else to call when you and Luke didn't answer your phones." She shrugged.

"Sorry." He offered lamely.

Her shoulders raised and lowered slowly and she returned to what she had been doing before he'd entered and she'd noticed him, scrolling through her phone.