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"They're saying I cheated on you with Luke," Leilani Morales murmured as she stared at her phone which displayed yet another article pertaining to the reason of her social media disappearance. Calum set his mug of coffee down on the glass table and dropped down next to her on the couch, having come back from the kitchen just a second prior. Mali glanced over from the recliner where she watched Gossip Girl on TV, engrossed in the show that Leilani didn't particularly care about anymore. They were having a relaxation day--something Leilani was very accustomed to at this point considering all of her friends refused to allow her any stress--but one simple, innocent Google search of her name led her down a deep, dark hole.
Calum immediately grabbed the phone from her grasp and locked the screen, setting it down on the table next to his mug. They may have been taking things slowly after the talk by the gate a couple of weeks ago, but he never once hesitated to turn her away from any potentially negative situation. His determination to be a better man and be supportive of the baby made his instincts to protect her go into overload. "Don't look at that stuff. You know it's not true. I know it's not true. That's all that matters."
"They're just desperate for another story since you dropped off the face of the earth," Mali added, tossing a piece of popcorn in her mouth. "No one actually believes that shit. I mean, it was hard enough to believe that Calum got someone as hot as you but Luke too? That's astronomically impossible."
Calum chuckled at the joke but Leilani didn't laugh. She barely cracked a smile. Just the thought of thousands of people reading that article and thinking she would do something as horrid as cheating on her partner made a sick feeling settle in the pit of her stomach like a weight. Luke hadn't been around as often for the past couple of weeks as per her instruction seeing as she needed time to reconcile various relationships she'd been avoiding and also wanted him to continue enjoying his own life. No one in the media knew the full story, which was why it shouldn't have bothered her as much as it did. They didn't know she was the one who pushed him to pursue someone else. They didn't know that the only feelings between them now were platonic. They didn't know she worked so fucking hard for her relationship with Calum to improve. They didn't know about the small gathering she'd planned for Calum's birthday. It wasn't their right to know.
So why did it fucking bother her so much?
"Lan, don't go there," Calum murmured against her ear, resting his hand tentatively on her thigh. He was so hesitant lately, scared that one wrong touch or affectionate statement would send her away from him. The last thing he wanted to do was lose her when he just got her back. She may have worn the promise ring but that didn't mean she wholeheartedly forgave his actions in Sydney.
"Go where?" Leilani replied innocently and tried to put the best, most believable smile on her face.
"To that dark place. It's just an article. It doesn't matter," Calum said and shifted his hand to rest on her protruding stomach. He stared at her fondly. "All that matters is you and our boy."
