Sing- Sequel to Speak

3

C A L E B

Ella had fallen asleep in my arms by the time the movie was over.  I looked down at her and kissed her forehead.  I gently maneuvered myself so that she was out of my grasp, and I laid her down lightly with a pillow under her head.  I took a blanket that was sitting on her chair and covered her with it.  I walked over to the dvd player and took the disk out.  I placed it back in it's case, setting it on top of her desk.  I left her room, leaving her door open just a crack.

I started to walk down the hallway when a door opened near me.  A sleepy Luke walked out of his room with his eyes half shut.  When he saw me, he jumped back as if I startled him, his eyes widening.

"Oh, I'm sorry.  I just didn't expect to see you there." He laughed and gave me a half smile.

"You're good." I smiled back.

"So, erm- where's Ella?" He asked, looking behind me.

"She fell asleep while we were watching a movie.  I wasn't quite sure what to do, so I was gonna go tell Bryana." I explained.

"Oh.  Well, were you going to stay for dinner? I'm pretty sure Ash is just gonna order a pizza because we're all still pretty jet-lagged." He told me.

"Only if you guys are okay with it.  I don't want to intrude on your welcome home." I told him.

"No, it's fine.  We should probably start getting to know you a little bit better since you and Diana seem to be a pretty big part of Ella's life.  I'll go wake up Ella.  You can head downstairs and hang out with whoever else is down there." He said, walking towards Ella's room.

"Okay sounds good." I said, as he clapped me on the back and headed down the hallway.

I walked down the huge staircase and went into the kitchen to see Bryana on the phone at the table, and Michael sitting on the counter swinging his legs.  I turned my attention over to Bryana who was still chatting away on the phone.

"Okay, that's perfect! Yeah, thank you. Bye." She said and then hung up on whoever she was on the phone with previously.  Michael looked over and noticed me standing in the doorway.

"Oh hey dude.  I didn't know you were here." He said.

"Yeah I just came over and watched a movie with Ella.  Luke's waking her up because she fell asleep while we were watching it." I said with a breathy laugh.  Michael and Bryana smiled back at me.

"Michael get off the counter, you're not 5!" Bryana scolded.  Michael laughed as he jumped down and took a seat at the table.

"Did you get all the toppings I wanted?" Michael said in a hopeful voice.

"Oh of course Mikey!" Bryana said mockingly with a pout, ruffling his hair.  He swatted her hands away as she giggled.

I heard a pair of footsteps come down the stairs and not too long after, Luke and Ella walked in.  Ella still looked really tired, but super adorable.  She trudged over and leaned her head on my shoulder as Luke went over to the refrigerator, grabbing the carton of milk and drinking from it.

"Lucas that's disgusting stop It!" Bryana groaned. "It's like living with a bunch of toddlers." She muttered under her breath.

"I'm gonna go grab Ashton and Calum." She said exasperatedly and left the kitchen.  

"You're not a vegetarian, are you mate?" Michael asked suddenly, looking my way.  I shook my head and laughed at the sudden question.

"Oh that's good because I always ask for extra pepperoni." He laughed.  "So, love birds, do you ever spend any time apart? All I ever hear from Ella is 'Caleb this, Caleb tha-'" He said in a mock dreamy voice before he was cut off by Ella promptly hitting him in the chest. "Oi!" He shouted, as Ella laughed.

"You can shut your mouth now, Michael." Ella said with a warning tone, and eyes to match.

"Oh, but it's so fun teasing  you about your ~.  You guys start school back up tomorrow right?" He asked.

"Ugh, don't remind me." I groaned.  Michael laughed at my response until we heard more footsteps coming down the stairs.  Soon, Bryana, Ashton, and Calum walked through the kitchen door.  

"What's this I hear about a certain boyfriend being in the house?" Ashton said as he walked through the door.  Ella and I were visibly blushing at the comment.  Ashton giggled at us and sat down at the table. "You're staying for dinner right?" He asked, to which I nodded.

"Right then, this ought to be fun!" He mused.

///

The pizza had finally arrived and we were sat around the table as the boys shared funny stories from while they were on tour.  Luke seemed quite distant and zoned off frequently.  He was probably just tired.  I had my own things to think about though.  

While Ella had been gone, I'd gotten back in touch with Gabby.  Not like I was cheating on Ella or something, I just knew Ella wouldn't be very happy if she knew I was talking to her again considering how the friendship had ended prior.  She still hasn't earned my trust back fully or anything either, but I guess it's a long story.

After the populars dumped her for the who-knows-how-long-ith time, she fell into the wrong crowd after we wouldn't let her back in.  The kind of group that smoked, did drugs, and got into trouble all the time.  While she defended that they were supportive and good friends, I knew that wasn't the full story.   

So one day, she messaged me on twitter with a really long paragraph about how sorry she was and how she would do anything to win us all back.  She started to have health problems after all of the smoking and drug abuse.  Her parents surprisingly hadn't completely written her off, but they were severely disappointed in her and pretty much gave up hope that their little girl was ever coming back.  She ended up in the hospital several times and was diagnosed with depression and bipolar disorder.  It would explain a lot with what used to happen when we were friends.  

It was a cry out for help and I wasn't going to leave her behind again.  So, we started to gradually talk more as the days went on.  We even met for coffee once or twice, just to get her mind off of things.  She wanted to get back to normal but wasn't sure if Ella even wanted to ever look at her again.  I promised that I would eventually talk to Ella, but I could never seem to find the right time.  Tonight definitely wasn't, especially in front of her family.  I also didn't need us to get into an argument on the day that I told her I love her.  Needless to say, I was going to have to wait a little while.  I just felt bad that I was still in contact with Gabby during all of this.

I was shaken out of my thoughts when I felt Ella's foot nudge me under the table.

"Are you okay? You haven't spoken a word since that story Michael told about his terrible date." Ella said and looked at me with concern.

"Yeah I'm okay,  I've just had a lot on my mind lately.  I smiled at her reassuringly.  All of a sudden the house phone rang, drawing everyone's attention.  

"I'll grab it." Ashton said, excusing himself from the table.  Everyone fell back into a light conversation, where as I was more focused on Ashton who was listening to whomever was speaking on the other end.  

His for head creased and his eyebrows lowered into confusion.  His eyes got wide all of a sudden as he gulped. "Yes, thank you for calling." He said and hung up the phone, still wearing a shocked face.

"What's wrong Ash?" Bryana said, looking over at her obviously distressed husband.

"That was a call from a correctional facility in Melbourne.  Ella's biological father wants to see her."