Aleena's life is always changing.
Her loving father is dead and her mother loves work more than her only daughter. The only constants in her ever-changing life are her two best friends - August and Kiandra. So when 5 Seconds of Summer's drunken bas...
I turned on the TV to distract myself from the fact that Calum Hood, the bassist for 5 Seconds of Summer, was in my house. And because Modern Family reruns were on.
Calum sat down in front of Mom's brand-new leather couch, leaning his back against it and wrapping his chin in his hand. I, in an attempt to stop my heart from racing, sat in Grandma Oliphant's favorite blue armchair.
However, these positions put us in each other's view frames so that ever so often, Calum's eyes would dart to me. He would drink in my curled up posture and his eyes would linger on my hair and then my face. Once he would see that I've caught him staring he would blush violently and turn his attention back to the shenanigans on the screen. My eyes stayed glued to the insane family on the screen, but my brain was begging me to turn around. Calum's presence in the room kept me on the edge, my heart racing.
It's funny how I'm so in love with this boy and yet he never knew I existed - apart from some heart attack inducing times when he tweeted me back. I doubt he even remembers the witty account with the screen name @allytheredelephant. And I doubt he remembers November 22nd, at exactly 5:00 AM, when he responded to my tweet after the AMAs. But I do. It's extremely eery to be with someone whom you know everything about and who knows nothing about you.
My phone lights up with a notification and I pick it up from the floor, eager to be distracted. Out of the corner of my eye I see Calum's phone also lights up, illuminating his face in the darkness. Ashton just posted two videos on Instagram. I smile and open up the app, chuckling to myself as the short 15 second videos play.
The second one makes me laugh out loud and Calum looks up.
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"Seems like they miss you," I say. Calum nods.
"I thought that we weren't supposed to leave for the gala until Monday," he whispers. His eyes are still glued to the screen, an odd look covering his handsome face. I slide off of my chair and shimmy across the rug to sit next to him. A small smile lights up his face at my stupid movements and I press my shoulder into his. The contact makes my heart race and my face heat up and I'm grateful for the cover of darkness that comes with the 2 AM hour.
"It's only a plane ride away. It just depends on when you take it." Calum's eyes dart back down to his phone, the video of Ashton still playing on mute. "I'm surprised Hi Or Hey hasn't called yet."
Calum shrugs again. "The guys disappear for a couple of hours before events and then reappear in wardrobe. They'll only worry if I'm not on the red carpet." I nod.
A loud screech from the TV makes Calum glance up. My eyes linger on his side profile, my heart racing faster and faster as I drink in his all-too-familiar features. He turns back to me and he catches my creepy gaze and a large blush creeps up my neck. "Sorry," I whisper, turning away and blocking my burning face from him with my equally red hair.
"It's alright," I can hear the suppressed laughter in his voice. God, I'm such a weirdo. "I'm used to it; me being an amazing world-famous bassist." I laugh and slowly turn my head to face Calum again.
"I don't know about 'world-famous,' Cal pal." His liquid brown eyes light up at the endearing nickname and his eyes become chocolate brown slits in his face. His smile warms my room and penetrates deep into my soul. I save the memory for safe keeping; me and Calum Hood sitting in the dark confines of my spacious living room just grinning at each other.
A bright light shoots up from the darkness, illuminating my still red face and shining highlights into Calum's smile. I look down. August is calling me. Rolling my eyes, I pick up and hold the phone to my ear. Out of the corner of my eye, I see him pick up his phone and begin to text someone.
"Hey, Ally." August's quiet voice fills my ears. I sigh in content at the roughness of it and the soft sound of waves in the background.
"Hey, Auggie. Are you two on the ferry?"
"Yeah. Just left a few moments ago and Kia begged me to call you because her phone died." I make a non-committal noise. Calum gets up from the floor and steps around me to get to the kitchen. I watch as he makes his way to the open screen door and sits on the concrete outside. His phone is still on and I can see him typing furiously away on the brightly lit screen. "Ally. Aleena?" Only after a few moments do I realize that August is still on the phone and I'm promptly ignoring him to ogle Calum's toned back.
"Oh, yeah. Right here August."
"Okay." He seems wary of my attention span and launches himself into a very long and treacherous story about how he almost tripped on the docks. All I can give up are a few wow's and one or two insane's. My eyes are still attached to the hunched form in my yard. "Anyways," he takes in a deep breath, "
I nod, then remembering that he can't see me say, "Yeah; I think Michael is on his way on Sunday." At the mention of my brother's and his bandmate's shared name, Calum turns around. His face is illuminated by the kitchen light and I melt from the inside out.
Once again, I seem to lose myself in Calum and miss what August is saying. I clear my throat and take a few cautious steps toward Calum's hunched form. "August?"
"Yes, Aleena?" His tone is teasing and the use of my full name doesn't completely bother me.
"I think the pizza guy is here; I have to go. Sorry." Calum's eyes meet mine in the soft kitchen light. He laughs softly at my quite blatant lie and I collapse onto the floor next to him.
"You ordered pizza Al? It's 2 o'clock in the morning!"
"Yeah, I know. I'm just craving some right now." I can hear August cringe at my remark - he hates everything about feminine needs.
"Yeah, okay. Enjoy it." He stumbles over the fragmented sentences and the call quickly cuts off. I let out a loud sigh and take the opportunity to subtly press my shoulder against Calum's.
"You're friend talks a lot."
I laugh. "Yeah, he does."
Silence envelopes us as we lean our shoulders into each others, the pressure keeping me from floating up into the sky like a balloon filled with happiness. A cool sea breeze pushes against our backs. The smell of the sea wafts into the room, almost overtaking the smell of Calum's expensive and heavy cologne.
The kitchen slowly becomes brighter and brighter as we continue to sit in welcomed silence. Our breaths begin to sync and become steady and slow. The harsh morning light splashes onto the floor, slowly revealing the muted colors of my overly decorated kitchen. The yellow-brown birds who wake me up every morning begin to sing, their songs filling the room.
Looking down, my brain suddenly registers the small amount of space between me and Calum. His tattooed, tan arm is pressed up against my pale, un-inked one. The heat radiating off of him is intoxicating and I find myself pushing closer and closer to the small human heater that is Calum Hood.
