Your Name's Tattooed

Chapter Thirteen

I wake up with my hair plastered to my forehead. If I was warm last night, I was absolutely scorching now. Calum's warm chest was pressed to my back and his golden arm was wrapped protectively around my waist. When I try to wiggle out of his grasp, he grumpily groans and pulls me closer. Despite the heat radiating off of his skin and the fact that I now felt as hot as the sun, my stomach does somersaults. But I had to get out of his grasp.

"Cal, you need to move," I whine, and he huffs out a reply.

"Why?"

"Because you're a portable heater and it feels like it's 100 degrees in here," I mumble. Soon enough he scoots away and sits up.

"Happy?" Calum says in a groggy morning voice. I sit up next to him and nod.

"Very content," I tease. He rolls his eyes and stands.

"I don't feel like making breakfast, so do you wanna join? We can go through the Tim Horton's drivethrough if you don't wanna change," He offers, the sleepiness in his voice. I simply nod.

"That'd be great."

"Perfect."

--

Two toasted blueberry bagels and an iced mocha and frozen hot chocolate later, Calum and I sit in the parking lot of an abandoned outlet store. The sun was just beginning to come up. If I was with any other person, I would be grumbling. But with Calum it was different. Everything was different.

"So, what are you doing during spring break?" He asks, downing some of his frozen drink. It may of been eight am, but it was already in the seventies. I take a bite of my bagel before answering.

"Finally visting my mom," I respond, and he nods.

"You didn't visit for Christmas?" Calum suddenly asks, and I shake my head.

"She went to see my grandmother,"

"Where does she live?" The boy asks another question.

"Ohio," I softly answer.

"Why'd you move to Minnesota?"

"Parents divorced, and since I was old enough to decide who got custody of me, I chose to come here with her when she moved."

"Why?"

"Why'd you move to Minnesota? You have an Austrailian accent," I change the subject. Calum nods to himself, making it clear that he got the message.

"I wanted to get away, and the guys came with. It just kinda stuck I guess, we've been here for two years, now three." He answers. I nod.

"Me too," I state.

"So when are you leaving?" Calum goes back to asking questions. I take out my phone and look at the time.

"At ten. So we have two hours, Hood. Do something amazing."

--

The maori boy does nothing short of amazing. He brings me to a secluded hilltop hid by trees that overlooked . It was the definition of beautiful.

"Cal, how did you find this place?" I ask, sitting in the bed of his truck.

"I, uh, got really upset once and just drove around. This place kept me sane and I used to come here a lot, then I got better." Calum reveals, leaning against the back of the truck.

"I can see why you continued to come here," I state as I look around the clearing. It was like a typical romance novel, but Calum and I weren't anything like the couples in those books. For starters, we weren't even a couple.

A comfortable silence settles around the clearing as the sun comes up. Birds begin to chirp and we watch as Mankato, Minnesota comes to life. It was truly beautiful. But beautiful things have to come to an end too.

My phone starts buzzing from my pocket, and I can see that my mom is calling. Probably already in the car to come pick me up at the apartment. I slide my thumb across the screen to answer.

"Hey, you're calling early," I greet, and she laughs from the other side.

"Am I interrupting something?" She jokes, and I shake my head despite the fact that she can't see me.

"No, no. I was just getting ready to go back," Is my response.

"Where are you if you're not home? Aurora Rosalyn Ashmore, so help me God if you're hungover-"

"Mom! Mom, I'm not hungover, I'm just out with Calum." I interrupt, immediately regretting saying his name. She was going to ask all kinds of questions once she got me in the car.

"Is he a nice boy?" My face turns red in response.

"Yes." I can hear her grin from the other side as she speaks her next words.

"Alright, I'll see you in fifteen minutes. I love you, baby bear," Her words ooze with love and I smile at the old nickname.

"Love you too." I hang up. I turn to see Calum looking at me with a shit-eating grin.

"Baby bear?" He laughs. I roll my eyes.

"Shut up," I respond as I slide out of the bed of the truck. Calum does the same.

"I'm never letting you live this down."

--

He stops the car outside of my apartment and nonchalantly takes a picture of me. I turn as I hear the shutter sound.

"Care to explain why you're creepily taking pictures of me?" I tease, and he smiles his crinkle-eyed smile.

"Gotta live in the moment." Cal says.

"In that case," Comes from my mouth before I bring out my phone and take a picture of him and his priceless grin. "Now we're even."

We walk up to the apartment door and I look down at my legs to reveal that I'm still in his clothes.

"Is your goal to steal all of the group's clothes?" Calum teases, and a giggle makes its way through my lips.

"Maybe," I respond, unlocking the door. "But if you really want them back I'll wash them and give them back."

"No, it's good." I hear him say from behind me as I unlock the door. After unlocking, I turn to face him.

"When are you coming back?" The kiwi asks, and I shrug.

"Two days before term starts back up."

"I'll see you then." Calum says before enveloping me in one of his warm hugs. This one was different, though. I didn't understand why. After pulling away, I smile up at him.

"Don't miss me too much," I tease as I walk in.

"No promises, Ashmore."