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Hannah and I were laid sprawled out across my bed, textbooks open in front of us. “I hate coursework.” I muttered, taking another sip of my wine.
“What I don’t get is why you insist on drinking while we work.” Hannah rolled her eyes as she jotted something down from the textbook.
“As the late, great, Ernest Hemingway said ‘Write drunk, edit sober.’” I smirked, as I downed the last of the wine before dropping the glass back on my bedside table and picking up my phone.
“Has he replied yet?” Hannah asked as I frowned at my phone.
“Nope.” I shrugged, “He’s probably busy. That or he’s lost his phone again.” I grumbled.
“Calum does have a tendency to do that.” she laughed, flicking through the pages.
“I swear to god he would lose his head if it wasn’t screwed on.” I chuckled. Normally it wouldn’t bother me that Calum hadn’t replied in so long. It had only been a day afterall, but today was my birthday and it was only a few weeks until I went back to uni.
“Hey, cheer up. We’re going out in a bit. You’re 19 and we’re going to celebrate!” Hannah cheered, slamming her books shut. “This can wait.” she chirped, pulling me up from the bed.
“What are you doing?” I giggled, the wine going to my head.
“Fall Out Boy dance party!” she screamed as ‘The Phoenix’ began blasting through the speakers. She began to jump around like a raving loon and I felt myself compelled to join her.
After about three songs I was out of breath. I needed to start running again. Well, I say again, I never started running in the first place. I was about to go and pour myself another glass of wine when my phone vibrated. Calum had tweeted.
“@Calum5SOS: She's the one that they call her whatsername”
I sighed as I replied. “@Calum5SOS it’s OLD whatsername, doofus :P” he’d managed to mis-quote my favourite song.
“Well one thing’s for sure, she’s holding on my heart like a hand grenade.” I heard a familiar voice boom, the smirk evident.
“You came!” I screamed as I flung myself at my boyfriend of four years.
“You thought I’d miss spending time with you?” he smiled, leaning in to kiss me.
“I thought you were ignoring me!” I pouted playfully, leaning against his chest. I hadn’t seen him in months. He’d been on tour and I’d been busy at uni. We’d found it hard finding time for each other too, because we were both always so exhausted and time zone differences, but we somehow managed to make it work.
“I had Luke take my phone off me so that I didn’t tell you I was on my way.” he laughed nervously as he rubbed the scruff of his neck.
“You’re too cute!” I laughed as I leaned up to peck him on the lips, “Is Luke here?” I asked, suddenly realising what he had said.
“Yeah...uh...I wouldn’t disturb...Hannah kind of grabbed him and ran. Is she drunk?” he asked uncertainly. I blushed for Hannah.
“Yeah, maybe we should go out.” I mumbled, dragging him out the door.
He intertwined his hands with mine as we made our way from our apartment to the beach front. We didn’t say much on the way there. Calum swung our hands lazily between us. We nearly made it to the beach front without anyone stopping us, but we were nearly there when a young girl shot him an uncertain look.
“I’m pretty sure she recognised you.” I smirked.
He snapped his head around in time to spot her, “Hey!” he called and her face dropped as she realised who he actually was.
The girl was with her mum and she couldn’t have been more than ten. “H-hi.” she stuttered, her mother looking at Calum sceptically.
“Do you know who I am?” he asked her and she nodded. “Well it’s always a pleasure to meet a fan. I’m Calum what’s your name?” he asked. Calum was good with kids, almost as good as he was with dogs.
“Lily.” she whispered. “Is she your girlfriend? Is she who ‘She looks so perfect’ is about?” Lily asked, finally finding her voice and I couldn’t help but laugh at the crimson blush that spread up his face.
“Yeah, Calum, is it about me?” I laughed.
“Yeah it is.” he muttered. “I’m really sorry ma’am!” he apologised to the mother who still apparently had no idea what was going on. “I’m from the band 5 Seconds of Summer.” The mothers face flooded with relief.
“I thought I recognised you!” she smiled.
“Would you like a picture?” Calum asked, “Or do you want me to sign something?”
She nodded fervently, “Yes please!”
Calum bent down, crouching next to her as the mother took their photo. She handed Calum a pen and a notebook for him to sign.
“It was a pleasure to meet you, Lily.” Calum beamed as he said goodbye to the little girl, and we began to head in the direction of the beach.
“You’re so cute with kids.” I smiled, leaning closer into his side.
“Least I’m not Luke, he gets’s all flustered around them and doesn’t have a clue what to do. They ask too many questions for his liking, and well Ashton. Let’s not talk about him.” Calum joked. Ashton and children were my idea of a nightmare. Once, he’d been staying over, and we were babysitting and I swear to god he was more trouble than the three year old who wouldn’t go to bed.
We strolled a while longer before finding ourselves at the beach front. “Where is the sand?” Calum asked, confused.
“This isn’t Australia. It’s Plymouth. We have stony beaches.” I laughed.
“But how are we supposed to have sex on the beach?” he pouted, and earned a weak punch to the arm from me.
“We aren’t!” I chuckled, but I felt a blush creep up my face at the memory of the night we’d spent in Sydney, alone on the beach.
“Well, you didn’t mind before.”
“We are going home!” I chided. Not only were there other people about, but there were people I recognised. I wasn’t sure if people knew about my relationship with Calum. I mean, it wasn’t a secret, but I hardly went around blurting it out. Hannah on the other hand loved to show off Luke. It was cute really, and I think it boiled down to the fact she was insecure about herself, and no one could deny how gorgeous Luke is. Especially more recently as he’s gone through puberty and his biceps have tripled in size and he got his lip pierced. Showing him off was her way of proving she was worthy.
“Do you reckon they’re done yet?” Calum asked as we made our way back towards the flat.
“I fucking hope so we’ve been gone nearly an hour!” I laughed. We’d stayed at the beach awhile longer, but although it was September it was windy and I was cold. Calum went to offer me his jumper before realising he wasn’t wearing a top underneath.
“I’m really glad you came.” I whispered. Calum and I had been dating for four years and this was the first year I thought I was going to have to spend my birthday without him. The idea had had me crying for weeks.
“I couldn’t miss your birthday. Not for things I can do when I get back.” he smiled down at me, “What kind of boyfriend would I be if I didn’t come celebrate your birthday with you?” Calum was literally the cutest human being. We’d met when I was in Australia for the summer. I was staying with his aunt on some exchange trip and it was a summer romance. Six weeks of laying under the stars, spending days wandering the city, kissing and cuddling. It was supposed to be one of those things that just ended when I went home, but it never did.
“A very, very bad one.” I whispered seductively against his lips. We were at the front door to the apartment block.
“Can we have our turn next?” he asked as he pushed me against the wall, placing kisses against my collarbone.
I didn’t even reply, just dragged him into the elevator, slamming him against the back wall. I hadn’t seen Calum in nearly six months. Which meant I hadn’t had sex in nearly six months and he was looking at me with bedroom eyes and it was doing things to me.
The elevator pinged, and the doors opened. Before I knew it we were collapsed in a heap on my bed, limbs tangled as we fought for dominance. I finally relented, my back collapsing against the mattress as he pinned me to the bed.
“I love you.” I mumbled into his lips.
“I love you too.”
Fifteen minutes later we were both lying tangled in my sheets. Sweat dripping from both of our bodies.
“I really need to get in shape.” I panted.
“I know how we could do that.” he smirked, leaning over, kissing me deeply.
“You’re ready to go again?” I panted. I wasn’t sure I had it in me.
“Maybe later.” he chuckled as he sat up, pulling on his shorts. “Where are my boxers?” he asked as he searched my floor.
“I’ll be damned if I know.” I laughed, sitting up. I hadn’t been looking when the clothes went flying.
“I’m going commando then.” he shrugged and the idea sent shivers down my spine. I didn’t want to spend the rest of my evening thinking about the fact he wasn’t wearing any underwear.
I finally pulled on my clothes to go and see if Luke and Hannah were okay. It was my birthday and we’d planned to go out for dinner, but I wasn’t sure if that was still happening.
“Do we have to go out? Can’t we just spend the rest of the day in bed?” Calum groaned.
“No! We need to get up! It’s my birthday!” I giggled, pulling him off the bed.
“I haven’t seen you in six months! I don’t want to share you with anyone.” he grumbled, pulling me against his chest.
“Well you’re going to have to! I’ve missed you though.” I admitted, feeling myself relax against his chest.
“I can’t go this long without seeing you again.” he mumbled into the top of my head.
I felt my shoulders sag as the air was knocked out of me, “Calum, you’re going to have to. I can’t afford to fly out and see you all the time, and neither can you, and you’re busy with the band.”
“It kills me not being able to see you, or talk to you or touch you.” he smirked, gripping my sides causing me to let out a loud laugh. I was incredibly ticklish and he knew this.
“Calum, baby, it’s hard, but we’re all the stronger for it, don’t you think?” I smiled up at him, catching his lips with mine.
“It’s hard sometimes, being without you...it’s really hard.” he sighed against my lips. I wanted to be able to fix it, to tell him I’d come see him whenever, but I couldn’t.
“Two more years, and then I’ll move out there if I have to, but for two years we’re just going to have to deal.” I sighed. I wanted to be the good girlfriend and tell him to go off and do his own thing, that in two years if we were both still single and both still wanted to be together we could, but I was too selfish. I needed Calum in my life, even if it was only the little bit I had. He was my anchor.
“Two more years of this and I’ll be a sex deprived maniac!” he joked. I smacked him on the chest.
“You can’t take anything seriously can you?” I pouted playfully.
“Life’s too short to be taken seriously.” I smiled, I loved that about Calum. He knew how to be happy, even when it was impossible to be. He just viewed the world in such a positive light. He never had a negative thing to say. It was just refreshing.
“I hope you take me seriously.”
“What my 5’5 midget? There’s nothing serious about you!” I rolled my eyes. More height jokes. I had to admit it was hilarious. Calum stood well over six feet and I was barely over five. My tip toes always hurt when he was around.
“I’m being serious though, we can do this. We’ve made it this far right? We can do it for two more years, and I can save up and come over in the summer, for the whole summer.” I smiled and so did he, and I could tell we were both thinking about nights lying under the stars and days wandering through cities all without a care in the world. Where we could just be us and not have to worry about time differences and catching flights and all the things we had to think of on a daily basis.
“That would be perfect, but I’m warning you now, more and more girls are throwing themselves at me, I may find it hard to resist…” he sighed, but I could tell he was joking.
“Oh well in that case I better not keep you!” I’d never been the jealous or untrusting type. I knew Calum wouldn’t cheat on me, and I’d know that until he did. Not trusting him wouldn’t do either of us any good. It would just put a strain on the relationship and make things more complicated and overall I’m the one who would end up hurt.
“I love you.” he smiled, pulling me in for another kiss.
“I love you too.” We flopped down on the bed, Calum pulling me close and we stayed like that for a while, until I heard the front door slam shut.
“We should probably get up now.” I chuckled, pulling myself into a sitting position.
“IS IT SAFE?” Hannah’s voice called through the door.
I yanked open the door to find Hannah all windswept. “It’s always been safe. We aren’t the noisy ones.” Calum called as he walked over to her, pulling her into a hug.
“Pft we aren’t noisy!” Hannah scoffed, pulling away in disgust. “You smell of sex.”
“Uh, yes you are.” I chuckled, sinking down onto the sofa that was about 10 years old and falling apart.
“No we aren’t, are we Luke?”
“Uh…” Luke didn’t say anything, just rubbed the back of his neck and refused to make eye contact…it’s always the quiet ones. Well, not so quiet…
“Oh my god!” Hannah wept, mortified, she buried her face in her hand. The tips of her ears had turned bright red, as I imagined the rest of her face had.
“Well, that was interesting. Is it time for dinner yet?” Calum asked as he pulled open the cupboards looking for food.
“You’ll be lucky to find anything in there, Calum. We’re students our money goes on rent and alcohol.” I laughed.
“Can we go out then? My treat!” Calum called.
“Fine.” I relented, pulling myself up from the couch to run a brush through my hair. Truth be told I wished I’d agreed to just stay in bed with Calum. I loved Luke, but I saw Luke more than I saw Calum. Luke’s parents had more money than Calum’s, so Luke came to visit more often.
“Then, we are going back to bed and we aren’t coming out until I have to leave.” Calum mumbled in my ear as he placed a kiss on my shoulder. I didn’t argue.
I followed Calum out of the flat, Hannah and Luke at my heels. I wasn’t sure where we were going but Calum promised me he had an idea.
“Seriously, Calum, where are we going?” I grumbled after fifteen minutes of walking.
“We’re nearly there!” he promised.
“Bro, you said that like ten minutes ago.” Luke grumbled, he was lagging behind the rest of us, dragging his feet along the floor.
“No, look, there!” he called, pointing at a small restaurant I’d never eaten at before. It looked like it had three tables at most and there was no one in there. I felt a little hesitant as I followed Calum into the restaurant.
“Cal, are you sure?” I asked sceptically. I mean the place looked nice, art deco stuff on the walls. It looked like it was dedicated to Andy Warhol.
“Yes. I promise, you’ll love it.”
I nodded slowly, unsure if I should believe him, but he’d never let me down before and honestly I was too tired to argue. I just needed food and my bed.
I was pleasantly surprised by how nice the food was. I’d never eaten here before, and honestly unless Calum had dragged us here I never would have.
“This is delicious.” Hannah moaned as she took another bite of her veggie pizza.
“It really is! Thank you, Calum!” Luke sputtered, his mouth still filled with food.
We ate the rest of dinner, chatting and laughing, and I couldn’t think of a better birthday. When dinner was over Calum demanded on paying, despite my protests.
“Sophie, would you pack it in? It’s your birthday, you are not paying for your dinner.” he rolled his eyes, handing the bills over to the waiter, “Keep the change!” he smiled.
“You’re mean.” I pouted.
“Only you would expect to pay for your own birthday dinner.” Luke laughed, slinging his arm around my shoulder.
“Can we go back now?” Hannah asked eagerly, and I didn’t even want to think about why she was so desperate to get back.
“Fine.” I sighed, not like I wanted a drink on my birthday.
“We can go out tomorrow.” she promised, clearly understanding the look on my face.
I nodded, and then we made our way back to the flat. Honestly, I was kinda excited to have some time alone with Calum.
“See you later.” Hannah called dragging Luke into her bedroom.
“We should probably put some music on.” I laughed, pulling out my iPod and sticking it on shuffle, All Time Low, blasting from the speakers. I turned it down so that it was just background music.
“I have a surprise for you.” he smirked, sinking down on the edge of my bed.
“You being here is surprise enough.” What else could be possibly give me? What else could make today any better?
“It took me two years to save for it. I was going to give it to you last year, but I didn’t have enough money. When I say it’s a surprise I mean it’s a complete surprise. No one knows about it, not Mikey, Luke, Ash or even my mum. I just wanted it to be a complete surprise.” he grinned, and I could feel myself getting more and more nervous by the second. Whatever it was clearly a lot of thought had gone into it, but what if I didn’t like it? What was I supposed to do then? Calum always knew when I was lying.
“Calum…”
“No, please.” he smiled. He pulled an envelope from his pocket, and handed it to me. I felt my heart hammering against my chest. I wanted to know what it was, but at the same time I didn’t want to open it.
Hesitantly, I pulled a sheet of paper from the envelope. A British Airways logo in the corner, I felt my heart stop at the sight of it. I pulled myself together enough to finish reading the letter.
“I...I can’t believe you did this for me.” I stuttered, tears falling from my eyes. I couldn’t believe he cared about me enough to do this for me.
“It was the least I could do for you. You do so much for me, and you mean so much to me. The idea of being able to see you whenever I want was kind of selfish. It was really a selfish present.” he laughed. I couldn’t believe it. He’d bought me a ticket to see him in Australia whenever I wanted to.
“If I’d waited another year I could have made it a world ticket, but after not seeing you for so long this year, I couldn’t wait. That, and we don’t have too much going on this year. We’re at home mostly apart from a few months, but mostly we’re at home recording.” his smile was lighting up the whole room, and I couldn’t help but throw myself at him. I pulled him in close, throwing my arms around his neck.
“I love you so much.” I cried into his shoulder, and he fell back onto the bed, pulling me into his lap. “I’ve missed you so much.” I sobbed. It had been harder than I had realised being away from him for so long, and being given the opportunity to see him whenever I wanted was what had made it so obvious. “Please, please don’t leave me again.” I wept.
“Hey, I’m not going anywhere just yet.” he smiled into the top of my head. “I love you too.” he chuckled.
“Thank you, Calum. I don’t think you understand how much this means to me.” I managed to pull myself together. “You’ll never be rid of me.” I joked.
“I hope not. I hope I’m never rid of you. The day that happens is the day that I die.” he laughed, but I could see the tears in his eyes. I wanted to say something, but I knew better than to point out he was crying.
“Do you think we’ll make it?” I asked after a moment of silence. Were we going to be the ones who ended up married with kids? Who told our grandkids about the summer we met?
“I don’t have a doubt.” he admitted proudly.
“You still leave me breathless.” I admitted.
“Words can’t describe what you do to me.” he smiled sincerely. “I know you’re scared, but this is right. I know this is right, because you’re still worth dying for.”
“I love you, Calum.”
“I love you too, Sophie.”