A Surprise ⇢ Callum Ilott

THIRTEEN

"How long do you have to travel until you get home?" Callum asked when they stepped out of the metro. Is was evening, meaning the most metro lines were quiet by now.

Catherine looked on her watch. "An hour and a half at least," she said.

"That's a long travel. You will be home after midnight," he said and stepped on the escalator. He turned to Catherine, who was standing one step below him; she looked tired. "You can stay at mine for the night."

"You sure?"

"Yes, Cate. You look really tired, and I'm not letting you travel alone in the dark, around midnight, for at least an hour and a half." He gave her a weak smile. "You can go home tomorrow, in daylight, when you're rested."

She nodded. "Thank you."

"And I got breakfast for tomorrow morning," Callum winked.

Catherine snorted and was shaking her head. "Shut up."

He laughed and kept looking at her until they arrived at the station hall. When they both were checked out, Callum wrapped his arm around Catherine's shoulder. He noticed that he grew closer to Catherine today and that he really began to like her. And it felt like Catherine did the same. If this wouldn't work out, he didn't have much hope for love left.

"I really enjoyed today," Catherine said and put her arm around Callum's back. "Being the basic tourist in my own country."

"I had fun," Callum smiled. "Tourists in England."

They stopped walking when bumped into a red light. Catherine looked at Callum and a soft smile curved on her lips; he is looking good. She was observing him that she didn't saw Callum looking at her. "Ow," she muttered, embarrassed and looked away. Her cheeks started to heat up, Catherine was hoping that Callum wouldn't see it because of the darkness.

He quietly giggled and gave Catherine a long kiss on her cheek. Catherine looked at Callum, and their lips met for a few seconds. For the first time since that evening, they kissed. And it felt good. Like their lips were made for each other.

The moment got interrupted when the traffic light made a ticking sound, meaning the road was clear to walk. Catherine and Callum both looked away from each other, both having shy looks on their faces. They crossed the street and walked to Callum's home in silence. The night fell, the sky was filled with the stars, and the cold slammed against their faces.

"Err...I'm not living alone. I have a housemate. I don't know if he is still awake, but just to let you know," Callum mentioned.

Catherine nodded. "Yeah, okay."

"But welcome," he said and opened the front door of his house. All the lights were out, so he turned on a small light in the hallway. "I do have a training session in the morning at nine o'clock."

"Oh, I will be awake by then, don't worry," she smiled and yawned. She took off her shoes and coat. "I'm so tired. It suddenly hits me." Catherine blinked a few times.

Callum held out his hand, giving Catherine the sign to give him her coat. "We will go to sleep, I'm pretty knackered too." He hung Catherine's coat on the coat rack. "I will get you something to wear and a toothbrush. And uhm...are you feeling comfortable with sleeping in one bed? Otherwise, I will sleep on the couch."

"No, it's fine," she said and gave him a smile.

Callum led Catherine upstairs. It was silence, mainly to keep quiet for the housemate, but also because Catherine and Callum were tired. Catherine brushed her teeth and washed her face with water. How bad it was, she decided to leave her skincare routine for what it was. Besides that, she obviously didn't bring the products. Callum gave her a pair of grey sweats, a white t-shirt and a black jumper.