Even If You Don't

Mari’s POV; Two weeks later

After our European leg of the tour ended, we were given two weeks off to do whatever we wanted. The boys wanted to go back to Australia to spend time with their families while the girls and I went back home – home being London, of course – because we had written some songs throughout the last three months that we’d been itching to get recorded.

After our two-week vacation, the girls and I were boarding a flight to the States, planning on meeting the boys there. Since we’d have a couple hours to kill before their flight arrived though, we went out shopping and met some fans before time was up and we had to go back to the airport to meet the boys.

I was obviously excited to see them after so long – and honestly, being able to physically kiss Calum again instead of blowing kisses through a phone screen made me that much more impatient. The girls were poking fun at me for being so eager, but I simply ignored them – not my problem I was the only one with a boyfriend.

When the band’s flight was announced as arriving, my leg started bouncing nervously. Sure, I’d talked to Calum every day of break, but did that really mean he was as excited to see me as I was to see him? I couldn’t remember the last time I’d been so head-over-heels for someone and I was truthfully starting to psych myself out.

But when the flood of people started coming down the hallway and I finally saw Calum again, the smile that overtook his tired expression when we locked eyes made all those thoughts disappear.

Calum quickly broke away from the crowd as I hopped up from my seat, excitedly running to him. He dropped the carry-on bag in his hand just before I jumped up so he could wrap his arms around my waist while my legs wrapped around his own.

“God, I’ve missed you so much, princess,” Calum murmured into my shoulder, squeezing me lightly.

“I’ve missed you too, Cal,” I whispered, moving my head a bit to kiss his jaw.

“Next time we go on break for that long, I’m taking you with me.”

“I like that idea,” I told him, “A lot better than the one I came up with about sneaking into your suitcase.” Calum’s stomach shook as he laughed. He shrugged the shoulder my head was lying on, causing me to pick it up, only to have his lips hit mine. I smiled as I happily kissed him back, making him smile as well.

But – as it happened every time we tried to kiss each other – our friends started gagging obnoxiously until we pulled away. And truth be told, it was starting to get on my nerves.

“So what?” I asked suddenly, returning to my feet to look at everyone, “Just because you guys are all miserable and lonely or whatever, I’m not allowed to kiss my boyfriend?”

You could feel the mood shift instantly, everyone looking at me as if I were wrong to be annoyed about it. Calum, sensing how peeved I was, quickly picked up his bag and ushered me toward baggage claim before Michael inevitably made some sarcastic remark and made things worse.

“Have you had coffee yet?” he asked me as we stopped in front of the carousal. I cocked an eyebrow at him and he continued as if he already knew what I was going to say. “Your fuse seems shorter than normal,” he commented, “You tend to get more agitated with everyone when you haven’t had any coffee.”

“I don’t think asking for 5 minutes with you without some stupid gesture being done to ruin it is asking for too much, Calum,” I grumbled.

“I’m not saying it is, princess,” he shook his head, “I’m just saying you should tell people it annoys you before it’s too bottled up.”

“I do,” I murmured, “No one ever listens to me.”

Calum didn’t say anything else – he just wrapped his arm around my shoulders and pulled me into him. My arms immediately went around his waist, my head laying on his chest as we waited for the boys’ suitcases.

“How about the next long break we have, you and I go somewhere for a few days?” Calum suggested. I tilted my head up to see him smiling at me. He pressed a kiss to my forehead, making me grin as well.

“Where to?” I hummed into his shirt.

“Let’s see…” he trailed off, “We could go to a beach in Hawaii or Disneyland in California or back to Europe and visit all the places we didn’t get to before.”

“Or we could go all of those places,” I replied, feeling him smile against my skin.

“Or all of them,” he nodded, squeezing me lightly.