Even If You Don't

Mari's POV

"Are you filming me again?" I heard Calum ask after I watched him look directly at my phone.

"What? Me?" I tried acting innocent, "I would never do that." He stared at me for a moment before looking back down at his guitar, trying to hide the fact that he was smiling.

"You've been spending too much time with Mike," he shook his head, beginning to strum the instrument again.

"You're just jealous because that time isn't spent with you," I scoffed jokingly.

I posted the Snapchat to my story before putting my phone in my pocket and getting up off the couch. I plopped down beside Calum, leaning on his arm and listening to him play. I was always so mesmerized by Calum's guitar playing, obviously being a fan before this tour, but I never thought I'd get to hear it in person – or this close up.

"You're really good," I murmured into his shirt, my eyes closed in content. He didn't say anything, but I could hear him smile.

"You play?" he asked softly.

"No," I chuckled, "I've asked Vanessa to teach me before, but I'm not very good. She's a great teacher, but I just can't pick up on it, I guess."

"It's not that hard once you get used to it," he told me, "You probably just need more practice."

Calum nudged me gently so I would sit up. Once I did, he moved his guitar to sit on my lap. He came over to sit on the other side of me, his arm wrapping around my neck so he could still reach the strings.

"We're gonna go over the basics first," he said, showing me where my fingers needed to go on the neck of the instrument.

Calum tried to help me for about half an hour – bless his heart – but I just wasn't catching on. I think he could tell I was getting upset with myself, because every time I grumbled quietly, his press a reassuring kiss to my cheek and tell me I was doing just fine. Of course, that only made me more nervous, but I kept focus the best I could.

Well, until someone else came into the room, anyway.

"Trying to learn how to play guitar again?" Kaylynn chuckled as she and Ashton came into the room.

"Yeah, and it's going about as well as it did when Vanessa tried teaching me," I sighed. Calum laughed softly in my ear, making my heart skip a beat.

"We'll just try some other time," he said, "You're getting frustrated and it's not easy to learn that way."

"Thanks for trying, Cal, but I think I'm just gonna stick to drums," I shook my head, leaning back on him slightly.

"Well, we just wanted to see if you guys wanted to go walk around the city before soundcheck," Ashton spoke up, "The others are taking naps."

"I'm in," I nodded, getting up, "Don't think Cal could keep up with us though."

"We'll see about that, drummer girl," he laughed again, standing up as well. We waited for him to put his guitar back in its case before setting off on our exploration.

~

A couple hours later, we all got lunch together before heading out for round two. The city was absolutely beautiful – I mean, it's Italy – but I was most excited when we decided to head toward the woods. We had split up into pairs – Kaylynn went with Ashton while I dragged Calum along with me – and we found a random little treehouse somewhere along the way. It was just a large piece of wood wrapped around the trunk about halfway up with a sketchy looking rope ladder, but the little kid in me immediately ran to it.

Calum ran after me, having no idea where I was going, but he followed anyway. I climbed up the ladder as he was about halfway there, smiling happily as I laid down on the wood. I heard Calum grumbling to himself a few seconds later as he struggled to climb it as well, making me grin again. I rolled over onto my stomach so I could look down at Calum. He had almost made it to the top when he looked up, his breath hitching when he saw he was only a couple inches away from my face.

"What's wrong, Rockstar?" I smirked, "Getting tired? Need to go back to the venue?"

"No," he tried not to show his pout, "You just didn't tell me there was going to be any climbing involved. I'm not wearing the proper attire."

"We're wearing basically the same thing," I reminded him, giggling softly as we hadn't even told each other what we were wearing that day but still ended up in jeans, band shirts, and high-top Converse.

"Yeah, because you stole my shirt after Ashton accidentally spilled his drink on you at lunch," pulling at the flannel he'd had to button up so I could change.

"And now you're my hero!" I informed before rolling onto my back so he could enter the treehouse. "Come on, Cal! Where's your sense of adventure?! What fun would the world be if everything was flat and unclimbable?!" Calum flopped down beside me, happy to have something solid to rest on.

"You keep everyone on their toes, Mari, I'll give you that," he admitted, "I do have one question though."

"What's that?" I turned my head to look at him.

"Do you know how to get back to the venue from here?" he asked. I just shrugged nonchalantly. "What does that mean?" he said slowly, propping himself up on his elbow to face me. I simply shrugged again. "You don't know how to get back? And that doesn't worry you?!" he shook his head, "We've got a show in 5 hours! We're supposed to back in 20 minutes for soundcheck!" I smiled at him, pushing a piece of hair off of his face that fell during his ranting.

"You need to loosen up, Cal," I told him, barely catching the way he swallowed thickly when I touched him, "Save the seriousness for the music."

"Music isn't the only thing that needs to be serious," he mumbled.

"What else could possibly need to be serious?"

"Us," he said softly.

My heart skipped a beat, then started pounding as I dropped my arm onto my stomach – is he saying what I think he's saying?

Calum's POV

I couldn't believe I'd basically just admitted to Mari that I like her. I mean, I was going to do it at some point, but I was hoping to be a lot smoother than that. Either way, though, as I watched her reaction – my heart pounding in my throat – I found myself short of breath when I caught her glancing at my lips. So I went for it. I leaned toward her cautiously, testing the waters to see if she would move away. When I paused, I heard her let out a breath.

She suddenly grabbed the back of my head and pulled my face to hers, kissing me roughly. I instantly lost my breath, not expecting her to be the one to take initiative. Clearly, I should have since she'd been that way since the moment I met her – not that I'm complaining about it now.

My left forearm came to rest on her right side, right up against her body, so I could hold myself up, not wanting to fall on top of her – not that I would complain about that either. I felt her smile as she twirled my hair around her fingertips – both of us just taking the moment to enjoy kissing each other.

However, our moment was only cut short.

"Hey!" we heard Kaylynn's voice from below us, "You two lovebirds about done yet?!"

"Yeah!" Ashton added, "We've got soundcheck in 15!" I let out a quiet groan, putting my forehead on her. I felt her giggle quietly in response to my actions, her fingers still playing with my hair.

"Would be a shame if something happened to your drums before you got back, Mari!" she said when neither of us made a move. Mari turned her head suddenly so she wasn't yelling toward me, and my own head fell against my neck.

"If you put one finger on my drums, Kaylynn Marie, you can kiss that pretty little bass of yours goodbye!" she threatened.

"You wouldn't dare," she growled.

"You've known me for 5 years, Kay; I will!" I heard her sigh and then stomp away, making my stomach shake as I chuckled lowly.

"Don't be late!" Ashton warned us.

"We'll be there, Ash!" I assured him, my voice slightly muffled by Mari's skin. He followed Kaylynn back toward the venue, leaving Mari and I alone once again. "Not looking forward to dealing with no privacy all the time," I commented, pressing a kiss to the base of her neck. Mari laughed softly, moving her hand to my chin and pushing my head back, only to reattach her lips to mine.

"Get used to it, Hood," she murmured, "As soon as we get back to that venue, this is going to be our lives for the next six months."

"And for the months after?" I whispered.

"I like to think we'll have more privacy when we're not all crammed into two tour buses and four hotel rooms," she smirked, "And I live alone, you know."

"I like the sound of that," I grinned slyly, pecking her lips before sitting up. "But we better be heading back," I sighed.

"I think we could stay for at least 10 more minutes," she commented.

"You think we can find our way back in less than 5 minutes?" I cocked an eyebrow. Mari simply smirked and I fought back my own smile, trying to make it seem like I was upset even though I knew I wasn't doing well. "You know how to get back, don't you?" I asked. Mari giggled with a small nod. "Then why did you let me think you didn't?!" I laughed.

"Because I like watching you squirm," she winked, only making me immediately start tickling her.