Always You ( Calum Hood AU)

Part 7- Wildflower

Calum burst through my door and I chuck the phone in my hand at him reflexively.
"Did Michael tell you?" He says ignoring the phone that landed his feet.
"Jeez Cal, ever tried knocking?"
"This is important." He says excitedly, like he's about to burst out of his skin.
"I could've been changing." I reprimand
"But you weren't. Will you listen now, Sunflower?" The nickname rolls off tongue as easily as the day he coined it.

At seven, he was fascinated by the way I wore a yellow shirt everyday. Said I reminded him of a sunflower, and I liked that enough to become his friend. Somehow, it stuck, and I'm not even sure he realizes that it's not my actual name anymore.
Yet, it still gives me butterflies and goosebumps every time I hear it.

I sigh and flip my legs over the edge of the bed, "What?"
His smile widens to an almost impossible size like he's about to explode with joy, "We're going on tour!"
I gasp and rise to my feet, "What?"
"We're going to open for One Direction!"
"Oh my goodness! That's amazing!"
He pulls me into a hug wrapping his arms tightly around my waist and I swing my arms around his neck pulling him down to my height.
I let go of his neck and cup his cheeks guiding his eyes to mine, "This is what you guys have been dreaming about!"
He smiles, "We wouldn't have made it this far without you."

I'm suddenly aware of the space between us, or lack of it. His arms are still firmly secured around my waist and our faces aren't nearly far enough apart. We had been close like this plenty of times before, but it never felt like this. His excitement made me feel like I had electricity pulsing through me. Making me feel almost too bold. The pit of my stomach yells at me to kiss him, my heart screams that he'll kiss me back, but I know won't. Truth is, if he wanted to kiss me, he would. Calum's usually confident enough around women, I've see him kiss plenty of girls before. If consent was the problem, a blind man could see I wanted this deep into my bones.

I pull away, "Oh please, that's not true at all."
Three sets of footsteps thunder up the stairs.
"You told her without us?" Ashton yells.
"I wanted to tell her!" Luke yells.
"I should've gotten to!" Michael argues.
"I couldn't wait!" Calum buzzes

I jolt awake. My head pounds. Just a dream. Just a memory.
Calum's arm is still lightly draped over me, and I slip out without waking him up easily. I quietly check my phone. 6 A.M. no real point going back to sleep.
I don't know if I could anyway. I'm hungover. I need a coffee, and a break. Being this close to Calum again triggered all the memories I had suppressed. All the feelings I desperately buried and tried to crush.

Calum's POV

"I'm just saying: how come I've never seen one of those fortune telling machines?" I ask.
Olivia Rose shrugs, "Maybe it's an American thing."
"maybe." I always see them on the tv, and wanted to try one at some point.
"What if I gave you a fortune?" She muses.
"It'd probably be a load of rubbish."
She smacks my arm, "You're a load of rubbish. I could be a good fortune teller."
"Go on then." I challenge.

She rests her knee on the couch next to my thigh and surveys my face. She dramatically grasps my hand and studies the lines. My hands tingle at the contact and fireworks shoot off in the pit of my stomach.
It's just Olivia Rose, I reason. But that's the problem, it's Olivia Rose and she's not just anything.
"Your hands are kinda sweaty." She complains.
I shoot her a look, "So are yours."
She gives my hand a small squeeze, but doesn't say a word.

"You're going to be world famous one day." She predicts.
"Oh yeah?"
She nods, "Not gonna need to hang around me anymore."
"I'll always wanna be around you. Who else will have chewie nonstop?"
She rolls her eyes, "you're bloody annoying."
I laugh.
"And you'll find an absolutely smashing girl. She'll sing along to Greenday with you and you'll go on lovely picnics and things." She continues.
You. It could be you. I want it to be you.
I scoff, "Watching rom-coms again eh?"
She drops my hand and scoots away, "I'm done."

"Aw Sunflower-"
Luke jumps over the back of the couch and sits next to Olivia Rose. She leans back into him comfortably, like second nature, and smiles, "Thought Michael had kidnapped you."
I roll my eyes.
"He fell asleep. What are you lot up to?" Luke asks.
"She gave me a fortune. It was rubbish by the way."
"It was not!" She argues.

"Can I have one?" Luke asks
"Well you'll be famous too." Her eyes bounce between the two of us, "you'll be in a band....and Michael."
Luke laughs, "Yeah, alright."
She laughs, "And Ashton."
"Now you're just naming all your friends." Luke says
"Is he that older bloke?" I ask
She nods.
"Isn't it odd he's mates with you and not people his own age? Right creepy."
She rolls her eyes, "Ashton has friends his own age, he's friends with Evelyn. I met him at her house."

"Can you finish my fortune?" Luke chimes in.
"And we'd still be best mates, and you'll be married with some ankle biters some time." She finishes
Luke shakes your head, "You were right Cal, rubbish fortune."
Olivia Rose springs off the couch, "I bloody hate you two."
"Aw Liv." Luke says affectionately
She rolls her eyes, "I'm taking a nap."
"That sounds nice, I'm coming." Luke kids.
"You can sleep on the floor, like a dog." She says resolutely.
Luke laughs.
"Go play with Michael. I'm sure he's on his Xbox or whatever." She mutters.

I wake up and lazily stretch. These kind of dreams aren't unusual for me. I didn't try to keep it a secret that deep down I missed her, but nobody ever looked closely enough to notice. Some days I wish Michael would notice how I talked about her a little too much or that my eyes lingered on her a little to long. he's always paranoid about Luke and Ashton, but never me. then again, it'd be wrong to throw it away for someone I'm stuck in the friend zone of.

I realize the bed next to me in empty. Where is Olivia Rose? But then I smell coffee and hear a soft voice singing and realize that insomniac is already up, and I'd kill for some coffee.