once // calum hood

5

the next chapter will start January but from there on out it won't be a month between each chapter... I hate that it's not going to be consistent but I can't combine four chapters into one lmao that's even more stressful to me

DECEMBER 

"Lucas, hand me the star tree topper. It's in that box over there." I point from the ladder I'm standing on.

It's our turn to host everyone for our family Christmas gathering. I have two more days to get everything set up. Most of the decorations are already up, I just have to finish the trees. We put up three usually, but since our guest rooms will be filled there will be one upstairs too. It's a skinny pencil tree so it shouldn't take too long to decorate.

Today is Lucas' first day home from school for winter break, and I have to say, it's a lot easier to get things done when he's here to help me.

For about a week after the date with Jared and incident with the Calum look-a-like, I spent my nights at bars using a fake ID I bought from a girl I knew in high school. I never went home with anyone, I'd always get the bartender to call me an Uber when it got too late. Sometimes I'd get back just as my alarm went off to wake Asher up, sometimes I'd get two or three hours of sleep.

That all came to a halt when one morning, I didn't make it home. The same morning my mother needed to meet an essential client, and when I did finally get home, she was already two hours late. I have never heard my mother scream so loud. We fought for a solid thirty minutes, making her even later.

My defense was that I'm eighteen and if I'm still getting straight A's I should be able to do whatever I want. She argued that I agreed to watch Asher and I wasn't allowed to decide to quit randomly. I wasn't quitting, I had lost track of time once. She didn't believe me.

Fights like this never happen in our family, and now everything is awkward. I haven't spoken to her since then unless I absolutely had to. My father feels like he's stuck in the middle, but he's yet to say anything. Lucas seems clueless to the whole thing, which is probably better for me so I wouldn't have to hear his smart ass comments. On weekends when everyone is in the house, I either stay in my room or say I'm going for a run. Usually, the latter option means I'll be out all day.

We all tiptoe around each other on those rare days I stay in the house. I've considered moving out, when I turned eighteen I got a not-so-little amount transferred to my bank account. Of course, if I moved out, I wanted to get a job. I wouldn't want to just sit on my ass all day in the apartment I buy. That's still up for debate in my mind. It'd be weird not living at home, but I could move anywhere I wanted to go.

"Here, earth to Teagan," Lucas says, nudging my leg with the tree topper I asked for.

I take it from his hands and stick it on the top of the tree, adjusting it until it feels like it will stay put. Carefully, I climb down from the ladder and walk in a circle around the tree to make sure there aren't' any holes or things that need to be fixed. Lucas watches me with furrowed eyebrows.

"You don't have to watch me like that, it's weird." I laugh, folding up the ladder so I can take it into the dining room.

"You don't have to look at the tree like that, it's weird." He mocks, shaking his head.

"Go play video games or play with Asher or something. I'm going to start on the tree in here."

As I walk through the kitchen after putting the ladder up, I hear Lucas say, "Okay Asher, fetch!"

I giggle and open the garage door, we conveniently labeled the boxes last Christmas, so every tree has its own box of ornaments and decorations. Suddenly, there's a loud crash coming from the living room. A gasp and a scream follow, so I drop the box and run back to where I just came from.