once // calum hood

19

"Call me as soon as you get there, I want a house tour over FaceTime. You're going to have so much fun but don't let Mali replace me as your best friend." Hayden pouts and pulls me into a hug.

"You know she could never," I say dramatically and hang my arms over hers.

"So I wrote my parents address on the fridge, I know you already sent them rent for this month but if you don't want to pay on the 15th of every month just text my dad. His number is there too. I-"

"Teagan, I will be fine. I'm going to embrace living on my own. You know I've literally never had this much freedom. You just come back and visit as often as you want." She grabs my shoulder sand shakes me a little bit.

"I know, I know. I just feel like I'm leaving my kid behind." I groan and look up to the ceiling and I hear a hearty laugh come from Haydens lips.

"Yeah and I feel like I'm sending mine across the country when she's totally not prepared."

We embrace one more time before I finally make my way through security. Mali texts me that she'll be at the airport to pick me up as soon as I land. I text Calum that I'm on my way right before the airline attendants tell us to power off our cellphones.

Finally, I get a chance to take a deep breath as I watch the plane lift off. It feels like now that I'm physically on my way, a weight has been lifted off my shoulders. I'm optimistic about how this will go. I'm excited to have an opportunity to get closer with Mali because I know that family is one of the most important things to Calum so it's important to me that they like me. I still hadn't met his parents but maybe we could take a trip this summer to see them.

I plug in my headphones and try not to stress about it too much. I already know that Mali and I get along well enough to have a conversation and I can't imagine that living with her for a week would be a bad thing. There's always the "what if's" though.

+++

A yawn escapes my lips as soon as I step off the plane. The sun is setting so it made for a gorgeous view as we descended. I was prepared to look for Mali's blonde hair but I didn't have to look for very long. She was standing right outside the gate and jumped to hug me as soon as I emerged.

"Ahh! You're here! How have you been?" She squeals excitedly. Her accent sounds thicker than Calums but it's comforting to hear, it reminds me of him.

"So hungry honestly, can we get food before we head home?" I groan and she laughs.

"Definitely, there's an in and out like five minutes from the house. Sound good?"

"Oh absolutely. I've missed it."

I follow her through the airport and we skip the baggage claim because I brought my duffel as a carry on instead of checking it. Once we get into the parking garage she pulls the keys out of her purse and hands them to me.

"I'm driving?" I question, giving her a wild look.

"You have a week to learn the ways of LA before I have to leave, you might as well start now." Mali shrugs and I sigh. Calum's car comes into view and I'm kind of surprised. I don't know why I was expecting her to have her own car, she's visiting too.

"He never let me drive his car, it's kind of exciting." I laugh, throwing my bag in the back seat and then getting into the front seat.

"If he complains tell him to buy you a new one so you won't have to drive it, that shut him up real quick." Mali chuckles and I nod in agreement.

"But he does like you more than he likes me so he might actually go for it." She holds out her hands like a balancing scale, moving them up and down.