WRONG NUMBER / CH

chptr 54

She was pacing up and down the street of Calum's flat. Blowing warm puffs of air onto her freezing hands, she rubbed them together in an effort to keep warm. It was 1:24 AM but she was out in the dark and in the cold just to see Calum again.

She didn't think it would come to this. An hour ago she was lying in her bed, thinking about how much she missed it when Calum would randomly send her a message on Facebook about how he hates zucchinis or how fascinating cat ears are. It made her smile, but at the same time, sad beyond comprehension. It seemed impossible to not want to see someone and miss them this much at the same time, but she was wrong.

And after re-reading their conversations and re-reading all the text messages she'd sent to Anna, who turned out to be Calum after all this time, she decided she'd had enough. With a determined mind she slipped out of her bed, put on some warm clothes, took her mom's car keys and sneaked out of her house.

The drive there was uneasy. There were so many times when she'd want to make a complete U-turn and give up on the whole thing completely. But in what seemed like one minute she was there, standing outside Calum's flat, looking up at the building and up at the sky, asking the moon if she was making the right decision.

It shone back encouragingly.

Hesitantly she tapped four words and sent it to Calum's number– the one she thought was her sister's. For months. She believed in this lie for months. And it was time to settle her emotions once and for all.

The message sent, and then she waited.

A mess of thoughts tumbled through her head as she waited for his reply. God, Leia. It's one in the morning. He's probably asleep, idiot. It shocked her how that thought didn't occur to her any earlier. Maybe she figured that if she was up all these nights thinking about him, he'd be doing the same. Of course she didn't know that, but there was always a part that hoped Calum missed her just as much as she did, even more. There was a malicious voice at the back of her head that wanted Calum to miss her so much to the point of madness. Because if he caused her pain, then she wanted revenge.

But that wasn't how love worked. And God, did she love Calum.

No one could make her feel the way Calum did– just the mere thought of him brought light into her eyes, a light that left when her father did. He was her shining beacon of hope when she drowned in a sea of her own darkness. In a way, he saved her. She was so near to a point of no return but he was there to steer her back.

She wanted things to go back to the way it was but there was something holding her back. She didn't know what to think or feel about Calum anymore. She didn't know if she could forgive him.

There was a noise from somewhere, a thud sound that made Leia jump in surprise. There were sounds of muffled footsteps and at first Leia wasn't sure where they were coming from until the door swung open and just like that, he was there.

Calum. He was wearing a flimsy top and pajamas, which made him shiver in the cold.

"Leia," he said immediately, and the way he said her name made something inside her implode. There was so much love in those two syllables. So much hurt and remorse and deep regret written in his eyes and the way he clutched the doorknob, his knuckles turning white, so much emotion in that two seconds he spoke her name that Leia lost her bearings for a moment and decided right then, right there, that Calum was worth the pain, and that she had already forgiven him even before that night.

"Calum," she began to say, but he shook his head in polite response.

"No, please, listen to me first," he said desperately. "I– I am so, so sorry. About everything. You're my– you mean everything to me, Leia, and I fucked it all up–" His breath hitched and she saw his eyes were shining with tears which he angrily blinked back. There was a distance between them that he didn't dare to cross in fear she'd flinch back because if she did, God, that would be the end of him. He stared at Leia, wide-eyed and pleading. "Can you...can you ever forgive me?"

There were goosebumps along Leia's arm, but it wasn't from the cold. She stared back for a second, then dropped her gaze. She couldn't bear to cry in front of Calum again. Not like this. She drew in a breath and calmed herself down. She could practically feel the weight of Calum's gaze and emotion rippling off him. Finally she looked up and put on a brave face.

Calum was destroying himself with every second of her silence. He imagined the worst things she could probably say to him. He already felt pain from words that existed only in his brain because he couldn't bear the thought of them coming to life.

"Calum," Leia began again, straightening herself. She took one last glance at the beaming moon, and it seemed to wink at her. She turned to the boy in front of her again. "I don't think I've ever loved anyone," she continued in a shaky breath, "as much as I loved you."

Calum's heart ripped itself out of his chest. "L-loved? You mean–" He couldn't say it. He didn't even want to think about it.

Loved. It was a verb. The past tense of the word love. Definion: to have felt a passion, devotion, or tenderness for.

But for him, it was the single most painful word in the English language.

He continued to stare at her blankly, wondering if she knew he was self-destructing at the moment.

"I loved you, Calum," she spoke again, softer now. "And I don't know why I've only realized now..."

He held his breath. No. This was a nightmare. No. Wake up, Calum. This is a nightmare, Leia's going to tell you she doesn't love you anymore. Soon the alarm will ring and everything will go back to normal and this would be just another dream but at the same time he knew he couldn't wake up from reality.

Leia exhaled a shaky breath. "That I– I still– I'm still in love with you, Calum," she said softly, "I'm so desperately and hopelessly still in love with you."

Calum froze and at the same time thought, Oh God, don't let this be a dream.

He was tripping over his own tongue and feet, not sure if he could touch her yet, or if she'd disappear like smoke in the wind. "Then that means— that means you— do you? I mean—" He stopped and gulped down the lump in his throat. "Have you forgiven me?"

She cracked a smile.

In that moment, all was right again in Calum's world. That smile changed everything.

"Oh, Calum," she said, almost teary-eyed. "I've forgiven you the moment you opened that door."

a/n: Hi sorry i've only updated now :-)-)-)