#5sosstannetwork

You knew he missed tour. It was evident in the way he was constantly picking up instruments, recording himself playing a few chords and singing along to the tunes he was playing. You didn’t blame him because that’s all he’d known for the last 4 plus years. They never took breaks like the one they were about to and it was eating him up.

Unfortunately for you right at the beginning of the third week, Calum got sick. It started as a mild cold. He was a coughing mess but could manage, but by day two he was cooped up in bed, with a fever that just wouldn’t go away.

“Do you want something to eat? I can make soup,” you cooed, gently pushing his curly locks away from his forehead.

“No,” he rasped. “I’m not hungry.”

“You sure, love? You haven’t eaten anything all day.”

“Aren’t you like, supposed to starve a fever?” He grumbled. He was grumpy because, on top of not feeling good, he hadn’t slept well and you knew he was tired. Cal could function on little to no sleep but he was a mess when he was sick and sleep deprived.

“I dunno. I’m not a doctor,” you huffed. “Crackers? Some toast?”

“I told you I’m not hungry,” he snapped and promptly turned away from you, curling his legs up to his chest and pulling the blankets all the way up under his chin. You sighed quietly and left the bedroom, knowing it wasn’t worth it to argue with him when he was feeling so miserable. You headed to the kitchen to start some soup. Even if Calum didn’t eat it right away you knew he would eventually, plus it froze well which meant you’d be able to eat it as leftovers.

You had just finished putting the noodles in the pot when a groggy Calum walked down the stairs. His hair was disheveled and his eyes were red and puffy and you figured he’d just woken up from a nap.

He threw his arms around your waist, leaning the majority of his body weight on you as he held you from behind. “I’m sorry,” he mumbled, resting his warm forehead on your shoulder.

“What?” you asked and spun around, leaning against the counter as you looked at him.

“I’m sorry. I yelled at you and you didn’t deserve that. You were just trying to help and I was a jerk and I’m sorry,” he apologizing, sniffling and then turning his head, coughing hard into his elbow.

“You need to go back to bed,” you told him, rubbing his back as he continued his coughing fit.

“Come with me,” he begged, his voice hoarse.

“Ten more minutes and I will.”

“No. Now,” he whined.

“I have to finish the soup. I promise as soon as it’s done and put away I will join you in bed.”

“‘M not leaving until you come.” And true to his word, Calum waited in the kitchen with you, practically dragging you up to bed when you had put the whole pot in the fridge.

You climbed under the covers with him, smiling as he rested his head on your chest, tucking his frame against your much smaller one. “Calum, a little spoon?” you gasped playfully. Calum always insisted on being the big spoon, saying it was emasculating to be the little spoon and that he was the protector, which meant he was the one to always hold you.

“Shut up,” he murmured. You giggled softly, carding your fingers through his soft curls. “I swear if you tell anyone, I will tweet out the most embarrassing photo I have of you on my phone.”

It was a rough day for you. This morning you woke up feeling off and just wanted to stay in bed and relish in the emptiness that had manifested throughout your body. But you knew you couldn’t since you had work and a ton of errands to complete in the afternoon that you couldn’t afford to miss. Throughout the day, your friends had noticed your foul mood and had been walking on eggshells the whole day which had pissed you off even more. As the day progressed, your mood only worsened. And by the time you had gotten back to your house, you were just one push away from a complete breakdown.

At this point, your body was on autopilot, going through the motions of life without much thought. Your legs were working on their own accord and had brought you to your closet where you changed out of your day clothes and into shorts and one of Calum’s old t-shirts. Calum’s clothes brought some semblance of comfort, and you needed as much comfort as you could possibly get tonight.

Sensing your obvious distress as soon as you walked through the door, Duke had been quietly following you, keeping an eye on you just in case you needed help. When he saw you getting into bed, Duke begged to be let up with you. Picking him up and placing him beside you, he found a comfortable spot before laying down, making sure that he was still within your arms reach.

Blankly staring at the ceiling, you felt tears building up in your eyes. It was days like these that made you feel so alone. Even though it was filled with everything you wanted, your place felt so empty and hollow with just you and Duke occupying it. There was a piece of your family missing, and he was thousands of miles away from you.

You felt the first tear escape as your thoughts continued to dwell on the fact that Calum was so far away when you needed him the most. You missed your boyfriend so much and you wished that he was he to tell you that it was all going to be okay. You wished that he was here to help you take the pain away.

Tears were streaming down your face, and you couldn’t stop them. Burying your face in your pillow to muffle your uncontrollable sobs, you cried out all of your emotions and frustrations.

Once the tears slowly eased up, all of the pent up emotions that you had held in for so long finally left your body as numbness to its place. Duke had curled up against your body at this point, showing you some much needed love.

Reaching out for your phone, you texted Calum to see if he was able to answer your facetime call. You desperately needed to see his face and hear his voice tonight before you were able to go to sleep.

A couple of minutes after you sent the text, your phone lit up with Calum’s contact picture. Immediately accepting his call, Calum’s face filled up the dark screen.

The way the camera was angled, Calum immediately noticed the way your eyes were glassy, red, and puffy and the constant sniffles that escaped your mouth. Immediately concerned, a frown appeared on his face.

“What’s wrong hun? Is everything okay? Are you safe?” Worry laced his voice as he slowly took in your emotional state.

“Bad day,” was all you needed to say.

“Aww, hun, I’m sorry. I wish I was there at home with you right now to help you take away the pain. You know it breaks my heart to see you cry.”

“ s’okay.”

A comfortable silence fell between the two of you as you took each other in. Calum looked good. Although there were slight bags under his eyes from lack of sleep, he looked happy to be on tour with some of his best friends and playing to so many crowds.

“Cal?”

“Yeah, hun?”

“Can you talk about something? Please. I-” your voice cracked, “I just need to hear your voice.”

Calum began update you on his life since the last the two of you were able to talk and talked about his plans for today. He retold some tour stories and about his adventures in the cities that he got to explore since they had the day off that day. He was excited to go to the pop-up store to meet some fans and play the show tonight since the crowd at this city was always so responsive and alive. You occasionally interrupted and gave your input, but other than that, it was mainly a one sided conversation.

He continued talking for about 20 minutes before Calum looked at the clock and cursed. He had to leave as soon as possible so he wouldn’t miss his call time.

“I love you, bubs, g’night,” your voice echoed in the empty bedroom as you said goodbye to Calum.

“I love you, hun. Sweet dreams,” blowing you one final kiss before your screen went dark, no longer displaying Calum’s face but rather your recently called list.

Your conversation with your boyfriend had calmed you down considerably, and you were thankful that you caught him when he was free, even though it was somewhat of a short conversation.

Placing your phone on the bedside table, you shifted your body until you were comfortable before you fell into a dreamless sleep.

Ending the call, Calum sighed. It hurt him so much to know that you were across the world, crying your eyes out, and he could barely do anything about it.

He wasn’t going to lie to himself, being on tour for so long and away from you had impacted him more than he would like to admit. He missed your voice. He missed your hugs. He missed your smile. He missed everything.

Although touring and press took up the majority of his time, You were almost always on his mind. He was always thinking about you wanting to know what you were up to and how your day has been.

The rest of the boys had seen how Calum wasn’t really acting like himself lately due to your long absence. They tried to help him get his mind off of it by taking him out, or making sure that he was never alone with his thoughts, but it wasn’t enough. Calum really appreciated the gesture, but nothing would ever get rid of the void in his heart.

He knew that it was hard for you to give up a part of your life to travel with them around the world. That it wasn’t fair for him to ask for you to put your life on hold so that you could watch him fulfill his dreams. No, that wouldn’t be fair to you.

But all he wanted was to have you at his side. He wanted to remove the thousands of miles of land and ocean that was between the two of you. He wanted you to come and see the world with him.

Shaking his head, he tried to get rid of the selfish thoughts as he left his hotel room to get to the location of the first interview of the day.

As he drove through the city, his mind couldn’t help but wander. He knew that you absolutely love traveling and exploring new places and he could practically hear your voice as he drove by all of the gorgeous buildings and landscapes.

He could imagine it right now. Whenever the band had a ounce of downtime, he could imagine the both of you walking up and down the streets exploring the local cafes and boutiques to get a feel of what the city was actually about. You would skip all of the overhyped tourist attractions and head straight for the local business since that’s where so much of the culture was located.

Calum was pulled out of his daydream by his driver announcing that they had arrived at the location.

Walking into the building, he was guided to the filming space where Michael, Luke, and Ashton were situated.

“Cutting it close, huh Calum,” Ashton teased his bandmate and best friend.

“Shut up,” Calum rolled his eyes, slightly flustered due to being late.

“What made you so late anyways? You’re normally pretty good at showing up on time.” There wasn’t any hostility to Ashton’s tone, just curiosity.

“Y/N had a rough night at home and called me. We were talking, and I completely lost track of time.”

All of the boys nodded at Calum’s answer. They all knew that being away from each other was taking a toll on you and Calum’s mental state, and couldn’t blame him for taking time to make sure that you were in the right headspace.

As Calum was getting settled, a young woman walked into the room and introduced herself and gave a quick rundown as to what was going to happen before quickly starting.

This process repeated a couple of times with a variety of different people and production crews. By the end of the multiple interview sessions, a few hours had already passed.

Throughout the interviews Calum stayed quiet. Although most of the time, he was pretty reserved, Michael, Ashton, and Luke could tell that Calum’s silence was different than normal. They all knew that his mind was thousands of miles away. They tried to alleviate some of the burden of answering questions for Calum by helping steer some of the questions away from Calum, only letting him to respond when it was completely necessary.

When the last interview was finally over and production had left the room, Calum rested his head in his hands and let out a deep sigh.

He could barely concentrate on the questions and comments that they were asking. He tried so hard to try and get you out of his head for just a couple of hours for the interviews, it was easier said than done.

The image of your red and swollen eyes and your tear stained face was burned into his memories. It broke his heart over and over again every time he closed his eyes.

A few tears of frustration slipped out of the corners of his eyes. All Calum had wanted was to make you happy, but he could barely do that thousands of miles away.

Sensing his best friend’s distress, Michael walked over to where Calum was sitting and tried to comfort his crying bandmate.

“It’ll be alright, man. Y/N is strong and so are you. Only a couple more weeks until you get to see her again.” Michael rubbed circles on Calum’s back.

“I know. It’s just hard.”

“You’ve got this, mate. You can do it,” Michael leaned back against the sofa, and Calum followed in suit and rested his head against Michael’s shoulder.

The two of them stayed like this for a while. Calum closed his eyes and thought of you. Calum associated you with happiness. Almost all of his memories of you were filled with joy and love, and he wanted to savor those moments right now to cheer himself up. In contrast, Michael was on his phone, a concentrated look on his face as he rapidly types on his phone, but careful not to disturb Calum.

Both lost in thought, Calum and Michael almost missed their cars since they didn’t hear Luke calling for them to leave the go to the venue.

Michael stood up and headed towards the exit.

helped Calum up and the duo headed to the cars out front, where Ashton and Luke were already seated in the cars.

“Feeling better, Cal?”

Calum only nodded and the both of them walked outside and into their respective cars.

You leg bounced out of nervousness as you stared at the map in front of you. Only an hour more on the plane before you land and finally see the man of your dreams after so long.

It had been such a last minute decision to take a break from work and fly out to where the boys were touring, but Michael had somehow managed to convince you to fly out to spend time with Calum.

He had texted you in the middle of the night 2 days ago telling you how much Calum had missed you and how much of a toll it had took on his mentality. Michael and the rest of the boys had wanted you to come out and bring back the Calum that was always smiling and cheery, the Calum that was always there to liven up the room.

You were reluctant at first, who wouldn’t have been. It wasn’t like you to drop and leave everything behind for a relationship. Not to mention how last minute and unplanned to trip would be but Michael, with the help of the other boys, had managed to change your mind.

You loved Calum with your whole heart. He was your everything. And when you heard that he wasn’t feeling like himself, your heart broke. He deserves all the happiness in the entire universe, and you would do almost anything to make sure that there was always a smile on his face. Michael, Ashton, and Luke were the final push that you needed to fly all the way out to see Calum.

“What are you nervous about sweetheart?” The lady that had sat next to you had woken up from her sleep and questioned your bouncing leg.

“I’m going to see my boyfriend.” You flashed her a small smile.

“Aw that’s so cute! But if you are going to see your boyfriend, why do you feel so nervous?”

“I don’t really know,” you sighed, “this isn’t like me to just drop everything and fly somewhere because I miss someone. I’m traveling across the world for him, and to me that’s insane.” As you spoke, a smile started to form on your face.

“If you are flying all the way out here on your own, you must really love him.”

“He is the love of my life, he makes me feel like the only person on the world when I am with him.” As you spoke, you couldn’t help but look at your phone’s lockscreen, which was one of the candid pictures that you took of him while he was laughing.

“Well, if he makes you feel like the luckiest person alive, then hold onto him, okay? He seems like a special one from the way you are speaking of him and the way your face lights up whenever you talk about him. Don’t let him slip away.”

“I won’t.”

The rest of your flight was spent talking to the woman seated next to you about various topics. And before you knew it, the plane was about to land.

Getting up from your seats, the both of you said your goodbyes and parted ways.

You followed the signs around the airport that led you to the luggage carousel. Quickly finding your luggage, you glanced around the room, looking for the person who was sent to pick you up. Michael had texted you when you landed at the airport, saying that they had sent a driver to come and get you since the boys were busy with an interview by the time that your flight landed.

The driver led you out to his car, packed your bags in the trunk, and then drove you to the hotel that the boys were going to stay at later that night. During the short trip to the hotel, you eyes were glued outside of the car window. All the buildings and architecture that you passed were so stunning and the environment was completely different than back home. You were trying to absorb every single detail about the city as you drove through the city.

As the car slowed down and pulled up to the curb of your hotel, everything started to feel a little bit more real for you. You were going to finally see you boyfriend after so long, and you couldn’t be more ecstatic.

Hopping out of the car with a bounce to your step, you thanked the driver and headed inside the hotel to check in and get settled before the show tonight. Taking a quick shower and nap to try and get rid of some of your jetlag, you prepared yourself for the long night ahead of you.

Your phone chimed after about 3 hours of being in your hotel room, indicating that you had a text message. Grabbing your phone, you saw that it was Ashton texting you what your room number was so that he could come and take you to the venue.

Texting him your floor and room number, you did some last minute touch ups before you heard Ashton at the door.

“Hey, Y/N.” The drummer pulled you into a quick hug before asking if you were ready to leave.

“Yeah, let’s go!” The enthusiasm in voice was not missed by Ashton.

“Ready to see lover boy, huh?”

“Shut up, Irwin. Let’s go.”

Shaking his head, he led you downstairs to the car, where the two of you chatted about the boys recent adventures and just catching you up on some of the stuff that you missed.

There was a brief pause in the conversation before Ashton spoke again.

“You know he really misses you. I’ve never seen him like this before.”

All you could do is smile at his words.

“Just don’t break his heart, okay? He’s my best friend, and I don’t want want to see him hurt. He really loves you.”

Ashton’s words warmed your heart. You were glad that Calum had such supportive and loving friends and family like Ashton.

“I don’t think I ever could, Ash. He means the world to me.”

Ashton flashed you one of his million dollar smiles before walking out of the car and towards the venue. You followed right behind him.

“Good because as much as I love you, Calum is my soulmate, and if you hurt him, I’d have to kill you.”

Laughing at his words, you nodded. “Deal.”

“Okay, I just texted Cal, they are all in the main green room. Let’s go.”

The both of you navigated the many halls and corridors until you could hear Luke’s laugh.

“I’ll go in first, don’t want to outshine you, Y/N,” Ashton teased.

“Fuck off, Ash.” You rolled your eyes and let him enter the door first. You heard the other boys greet him and before going back to whatever they were doing.

Taking a deep breath, you walked through the threshold, your eyes immediately scouring throughout the room to find your boyfriend. He was laying on one of the couches scrolling through his phone.

Walking towards his figure, Calum’s eyes caught movement out of the corner of his eyes, causing him to look up from his phone.

When his eyes reached your face, Calum immediately shot up and ran to you, enveloping your body in one of infamous hugs. His hands were wrapped around waist and his head rested on your shoulder.

“Y/N? What the fuck? What the fuck are you doing here? What the fuck?” He repeated the question over and over again; his tone indicating his enthusiasm and confusion.

Slightly pulling away, you responded with a big grin, “Hey handsome.”

Not liking the space that you had just created, Calum immediately pulled you closer and placed a kiss on your forehead before dragging you to the couch so that the both of you could sit down.

“What are you doing here, hun?”

“Am I not allowed to visit my boyfriend while he is on tour?”

Calum gave you a look.

You rolled your eyes, “I really missed you, so I took a couple of days off to come a visit. Not to mention that the boys practically forced me to fly out because they knew that we’re both miserable without each other.”

You a couple of coughs and a clearing of a throat as you finished your sentence. Looking over to the other side of the room, you saw Luke, Ashton, and Michael with the biggest smirks on their face. They looked at you and Cal expectantly, waiting for some type of thank you.

Calum rolled his eyes at his bandmates’ antics and thanked them.

“No problem, making dreams is what we do!” Luke responded in the most obnoxious way possible.

“Want to go somewhere more private, hun? So we don’t have a crowd spying on us the entire time?” Calum sent a glare over to the boys as he said that last sentence.

Standing up, Calum led to you to a different room adjacent to the one you were just in. Quickly closing the door, he pushed you up against the wall and placed his forehead on top of yours.

“I’m so glad you’re finally here, hun. It’s one of the best days of my life,” he whispered while staring into your eyes.

“Me too.”

“I can’t wait for our off day tomorrow! We can go exploring the city and do a bunch of dumb and fun stuff. Like I heard there is this really cool local pub down the street from our hotel, and I was going to drag one of the boys with me, but now that you’re here, I can take you.” Calum was beaming at this point.

You couldn't help but smile at his enthusiasm. “Anything you want, bubs.”

A comfortable silence fell between the two of you as you both enjoyed finally being in each other’s presence. Seeing Cal in person for the first time in so long had rejuvenated your heart and soul, and you couldn’t be happier now that you were in his arms.

The two of you sat there for some time to just catch up and talk to each other face to face. The room with warmth and love as the two of you spoke.

“Y/N, I know I’ve already said this, but I’m so glad that you are actually here on tour with me, even if it’s only for a couple of days. I love you more than anything, and I would give you everything if I could.”

The sincerity behind his words made you tear up. You loved him more than anything and were willing to give up everything you had to be with this man. He made you feel like you were on top of the world whenever you were with him. He made you feel like the only other person in the world in a room full of people whenever he looked at you. He made you feel like nothing else mattered when you were by his side. There weren’t enough words in the world to convey how much love you had for this man. He was your sunshine, and you couldn’t be any happier.