Always You ( Calum Hood AU)

Part 4- Take What You Want

When we finish our walk through the zoo Tristin, Luke, and Ashton are already waiting for us at a picnic table with some sandwiches.
Calum lifts Parker off his shoulders and gently places her on the bench before sitting down. I dramatically flop down next to Ashton and put my legs in his lap, "my feet hurt."
"Doesn't mean I want them." Ashton complains, but he doesn't move them.
I raise an eyebrow at him, "They're probably sweaty."
"Oh well in that case." He winks at me and we both start cracking up.

Michael shakes his head, "god you guys are so weird."
"Don't be jealous." Ashton says quickly placing a hand on my shin.
Parker shoves a sandwich in her mouth.
"Woah, slow down." Calum says, "You're going to choke."
"Aunt Livie told me we could go play after I ate."
"We can't play if you make your tummy hurt from eating so quickly." I chime in.
She nods and climbs into Calum's lap to finish eating. He shoots me a smile.
My heart feels like it's going to explode. I can tell Tristin is thinking the same by the look we exchange.

"Aw, daddy." Luke says in a deep voice.
I give him a little kick from across Ashton, "Ew Luke."
"I'm sorry, mommy."
I look at him, horrified he would go there, even if it is a joke.

"I'm done." Parker chirps
I glare at Luke, "Same, so very done."
Tristin smiles, "guess that means it's playtime."
"Push me?" She asks him pointing to the swings. I think this is the first time I've ever seen her directly address him.
"Sure."

Luke points to one of those metal carousel things, "Who wants a ride?"
"Us." Ashton volunteers
"Us?" I question
"Bet I can last longer than you." He challenges.
"Loser buys the other dinner." I raise.
"I could go for a dinner." Ashton says arrogantly.
Calum laughs, "You guys are going to puke."
"I think I'm going to call Crystal." Michael says.
We all walk off without him.
"Whipped." Luke mutters and we all laugh.

Ashton and I climb onto the hot piece of playground equipment. The metal makes it like an oven. It'll probably give us third degree burns, but it's worth it for a dinner.
I latch onto the poles protruding from its surface and Luke starts spinning. The world turns into a blur of colors and I close my eyes.

"Stop." Ashton calls out after a minute.
Luke stops the spinning and Ashton jumps off and runs presumably to vomit.
"Are you okay?" Luke asks.
"Yeah." I say gingerly stepping off.
After a few steps my legs give out, but Calum catches me.
"The world is still spinning." I say.
"It's fine, I was here to catch you."
"Stop falling on people all the time." Luke kids.
"I was going to get you a stuffed penguin in the gift shop but now...." I start.
"Fall on whoever you want." Luke concedes.

~~~

"Hey Livia, thanks for taking Parker." Casey says strolling over to our bench.
"No problem, the boys are crazy about her." I report smiling fondly at everyone playing on the playground.

Parker notices Casey and points him out to the boys before dragging them over.
"When people told me all the boys would be chasing after her I didn't think it'd be so soon." Casey kids.

"Daddy, Aunt Livie bought me a kangaroo. They're my new favorite animal." She exclaims.
"Wow, another stuffed animal." Casey says looking over at me.
I smile innocently.

I introduce Casey to the boys, and Parker falls asleep in his arms.
"Nice to meet you all." Casey addresses the boys, "Sorry, I have to run. Parker throws tantrums when she gets too tired."
"No worries, she's got the right idea with the nap." Luke says
Casey laughs and waves before leaving.

Calum's POV

Michael sits quietly upfront gazing out the window. Luke, Ashton, Olivia Rose, and I are squished in the backseat, but Olivia Rose is mostly on my lap because there isn't enough room. I wrap my arm around her waist so that she doesn't fall. If it bothers her I wouldn't know because she's dosed off on Luke's shoulder.
"Thanks for the ride." Ashton says to Tristin.
"Oh, anything for Livia's friends." He replies

"How'd you meet her?" Luke asks him.
"What are your intentions with our Livie Rose?" Ashton jokes.
Tristin gives Ashton a friendly side eye, "Well first of all, I'm gay if you couldn't tell."
Ashton shrugs.
"I was sitting in the park, where I lived at the time. I was down on my luck, I didn't have a job, and I had nowhere to live. I was 17 and my parents had kicked me out because I came out to them."
"I'm sorry." Michael mutters.

Tristin shrugs, "Anyway, I think Livia has a superpower for telling when people need her,
because she came over and started talking to me, took me out to breakfast. Next thing I knew I was living with her and she had gotten me a job and made sure I kept up with school. She pretty much saved my life, and she's my best friend in the world."
"Wow." Is all Luke can come up with.
Tristin shakes his head and smiles, "she's such an angel, she makes the rest of us look bad."

If there was one thing I knew about the Clifford's, and especially Olivia Rose, it was that they loved hard. It doesn't matter to her if you are a complete stranger, if you need help she's there. No matter how many times she got hurt it is like the sun only shines for her. She truly is a sunflower, and it's beautiful.

"I wouldn't have made it through high school without her." Luke says.
I smile, "I didn't make it through high school."
"She has a way of making you feel special." Ashton reflects.
Tristin sighs, "I wish she didn't hate herself so much, she's such a beautiful soul."
Michael nods sadly.
"What do you mean?" I ask.
Tristin glances back at her sound asleep in my lap, "she always puts herself down, and the amount of nights I hear her crying alone in room, or how long it takes her to get dressed because she hates the way she looks."

I feel my arm wrap more tightly around her waist. My heart breaks for her. She's the most beautiful girl I've ever met inside and out and I can't believe she doesn't realize that.
Is it normal to think about your friend that way?
Probably, I'd bet that's how Ashton thinks of Luke, I reason.

"Plus her coworkers are terrible, it's worse than high school." Michael says.
"Ugh, especially Kathy, the staff baker. She's the worst." Ashton says
Everyone else nods in agreement.
"She only stays at Netflix for the pay." Luke adds.
Finally something I know about.
"Don't even get me started on Jeremy." I say
"We call him wormy Jeremy." Tristin tells us.

We all laugh and she stirs in my lap.
"We should probably stop talking." I say softly