Safety Net • CTH

Chapter 13 • Talk Fast

- Eva's POV -

The weekend ended faster than I wanted. It was now Monday and I was stuck in boring meetings all day.

"Which brings me to my next topic, Eva, how have the band been with you around?", Margaret asks, causing me to jump out of my daydream.

"Oh, um, they've been fine. I don't think they were happy with me being around all the time in the beginning but I think they're warming up to the idea of a constant babysitter.", I laugh.

"It doesn't matter whether they're happy or not, they should listen to and respect you", she adds.

"Oh they do! Everyone's been very welcoming!", I say awkwardly.

"What about Calum, how has he been?", she asks.

I quickly dawned on me that I had to pretend like me and Calum weren't getting as close as we were.

"He's good, behaving really well, he hasn't shown too much of an interest in going out or partying so everyones just been staying home, having movie nights or bonfires.", I answer.

"Good, well, keep it up.", she says. I nod at her with an awkward smile. "Alright team, I have people analyzing social media to see what the general consensus is to Calum's apology, we wont get the final results back till Friday, so till then, let's come up with some good PR ideas for the band..", she starts.

***

The rest of the meeting went on for what felt like forever. I was finally on my way back to the house. I pulled into the driveway and made my way inside. When I get inside, I notice the lights dimmed and the house was almost silent. Calum walks out of the kitchen and into the living room to greet me.

"Hi love, how was work?", he says with a smirk. He walks over to me and helps me take off my jacket.

"Hi Cal, it was good..", I say taking off my jacket and handing it to him. "..whats going on?", I ask.

"Well, I have a little surprise for you.", he says with a cheeky grin.

I couldn't help the smile creep on my face. "Yeah? Whats this surprise..?"

"If I told you it wouldn't be a surprise, now would it?", he laughs.

"I guess you're right..", I start to say.

"Just go upstairs, dress nice, and I'll pick you up at 7.", he cuts me off to say with a smirk. 

He leaves me to go back in the kitchen. As I make my way up the stairs to my room, I hear Calum laugh to himself in the distance.

I get into my room and immediately start a shower. I figured it was probably that date we talked about a few days ago but I didn't think he would actually come up with something.

Now, I quickly realized the reality that I was getting ready for this mystery date, with a guy I shouldn't be seeing, and I had absolutely no idea what either of our intentions were. Nonetheless, I was still finding myself getting ready for it, even being giddy about it. I know what I'm doing right now is wrong, and still, I cant find the courage to stop. I was in too deep at this point.

I finished my shower, dried off, and started prepping my skin care. It was now 6:00PM and I realized I should probably hurry. I don't even think I have anything to wear. I only really bought business clothes and lounge clothes. All he said was "dress nice" and thats not very descriptive.

I finished my makeup and was going through my whole closet looking for an outfit. I finally settled on a black long sleeve top, leather skirt, and thigh high boots. I had no idea what to expect so it seemed like the safest option.

I was putting on lip gloss when, sure enough, exactly at 7:00PM, I heard a knock on my bedroom door.

"Who is it?!", I jokingly shout.

"Your secret admirer!", Calum shouts back.

I laugh and open the door to reveal a very nicely dressed Calum Hood with flowers in his hand. "Good evening Eva, it's nice to see you.", he smirks.

"Hi Cal..", I laugh. "..sorry if I'm underdressed, I didn't really pack for a da-"

"You look beautiful..", he cuts me off. "..Ready to go?"

"Yes", I say, following his lead.

We make our way downstairs and he leads me to the backyard. He opens the sliding door to reveal a dinner for two set up in the backyard with lights and candles.

"Wow, you went all out, huh?", I say smiling at him.

"Well, I promised you a date where no one would recognize us and thats what you're gonna get.", he says with a cheesy grin.

"I love it, thank you", I say turning to him and giving him a side hug.

"Thank you for giving me a chance", he says pulling me in tighter.

We go over to set up and sit down.

***

- Calum's POV -

The night was filled with laughter, deep conversations, and pizza. I wasn't a chef by any means, but I'd say this homemade pizza I made was pretty impressive.

What was more impressive though, was how I got Eva to agree to a date.

Being with her gave me such a warm feeling. I felt safe, like I could really trust her.

I'm not really one to fall for someone, but she made it so easy. I knew I was in deep whether I wanted to be or not. I had no idea what was to come of this, and I was even more uncertain of our future but all I knew in this moment was that I wanted to be with her. I wanted her to be mine and I wanted to make her happy. She makes me want to be a better person.

"How'd you like the pizza?", I ask, trying to get out of my head.

"It was great! You're really good!", she says with bright eyes.

"Well, if you're all done, I can get this cleaned up, I set up for a movie in the living room too.", I say.

"Sure thing! Can I change into pjs first, though? This is not a movie watching outfit!", she says laughing.

"Of course, I'm gonna change too so I'll meet you in the living room in a few.", I chuckle back at her.

She walks into the house. I pick everything up and take it to the kitchen sink, then quickly went upstairs to change into sweats.

When I got back down, she was sitting on the couch scrolling through her phone. Even in pajamas, she was gorgeous.

I make my way to the couch and sit beside her. "What do you wanna watch?", I ask grabbing the tv remote.

"Hmm, anything! Halloweens coming up so what about something scary?", she says excitedly.

"Sounds good, how about Hocus Pocus?", I say scrolling through the tv guide.

We both stare at each other for a second then burst out laughing.

"Actually..I do love that movie though.", she says with a straight face.

"Hocus Pocus it is!"

I put the movie on and we start watching the tv.

As the movie goes on, I feel us getting closer on the couch, we were full on cuddling at this point; and I was not complaining. I wanted to make her feel safe. As I feel her nudge herself tighter into me, I just had a strong feeling that this, was right. It felt right. it felt like we were just meant to be in this moment.

The movie was almost over, I felt myself getting sleepier. I look down at Eva and she's pretty much completely dozed off at this point. "Eva", I whisper. "Are you awake?".

"Hmm", she mumbles, pretty much letting me know she was asleep. It was fine though, I could lay like this with her forever.

We both drift off to sleep, cuddling in each others' arms.

A/N

Sorry I've been MIA yall, works been crazy, but I'll be better. Hope you like the chapter!