Status: i update when i feel like it
Even If You Don't
I Made a Promise That I'll Come Home Soon
Calum's POV; Later that night
That night – around 10 – the excitement and activities of the day started to wind down. Lori put Asher to bed before going to bed herself – she'd allowed him to stay up later since Mari was home, but she told us his bed time was usually 8:30. The rest of the group was pretty tired from jet lag, so they all just went to their respective places to sleep not long after Asher was in bed, but Mari and I were still awake.
We were sitting on the living room couch, her legs draped over mine as she was writing in the notebook she jotted her song ideas down in. I tried to peek over a few times, but she just giggled and smacked my arm playfully, moving it so I couldn't see anything she'd written. I couldn't help but smile at the sound of her laugh as I squeezed her thigh lightly. I laid my head back on the cushion, returning my attention to the movie that was quietly playing on TV.
Only a couple more minutes passed before another interruption. We looked over as quiet footsteps came down the stairs, finding Asher rubbing his eyes.
"Mawi sing song," he murmured, clearly almost asleep.
"Still can't fall asleep without someone singing to you, huh?" she smiled, getting up. "I'll be back in a minute," she said. I nodded as she picked the toddler up, grinning slightly as he nuzzled his face in her neck.
I noticed she left her notebook on the couch beside me, contemplating peeking inside. But if I knew one thing about Mari, it was that she hated when people touched her notebook without permission, and I knew that she'd tell me about it when she was ready – if she ever would be. So instead, I waited for a moment – just until I heard Mari reach the top of the stairs – before pausing the movie and quietly following her.
"Do we have any special requests tonight?" I heard her ask as I stopped to sit on the stairs. Asher must have shaken his head, because the next thing I heard was "Same as always then?" He nodded as she sat down in the rocking chair, her feet propped up on the edge of his bed so she could push back and forth lightly. Asher laid his head on her chest, closing his eyes as she started singing as quietly as she could.
Within a minute, I was all packed up
I've got a ticket to another world
I don't wanna go, I don't wanna go
The silent words are hard to speak
When your thoughts are all I see
"Don't ever leave," she said to me
When we both fall asleep underneath the same sky
To the beat of our hearts at the same time
So close, but so far away
Can you hear me?
She sleeps alone, my heart wants to come home
I wish I was, I wish I was beside you
She lies awake, I'm trying to find the words to say
I wish I was, I wish I was beside you
I couldn't stop myself from smiling, leaning my head on the wall next to me – the 'same as always?' comment playing over and over in my head. It was incredible to think about how many times Mari must have sung something I wrote to her brother. And the fact that he clearly liked it enough to always want her to sing it to him made it that much better.
Another day and I'm somewhere new
I made a promise that I'll come home soon
Bring me back, I'll bring me back to you
When we both wake up underneath the same sun
Time stops, I wish that I could rewind
So close, but so far away
She sleeps alone, my heart wants to come home
I wish I was, I wish I was beside you
She lies awake, I'm trying to find the words to say
I wish I was, I wish I was beside you
There are pieces of us both under every city light
And they're shining as we fade into the night
She sleeps alone, my heart wants to come home
I wish I was, I wish I was
She sleeps alone, my heart wants to come home
I wish I was, I wish I was beside you
She lies awake, I'm trying to find the words to say
I wish I was, I wish I was beside you
She sleeps alone, my heart wants to come home
I wish I was, I wish I was
Mari looked down to see whether or not Asher was sleeping, smiling softly when she saw he was. She carefully stood up, laying Asher down on his bed. She pulled the blanket over him and kissed his forehead, telling him she loved him before coming out of the room.
"You're not very quiet, you know," she whispered without even looking at me, closing the door behind her.
"How long have you been singing that to him?" I asked as we went back to our spot on the living room couch. She had put her notebook on the coffee table and curled up into my side, my arms around her shoulders and her arms around my waist as she laid her head on my chest.
"Since the first time I came back home after moving to London," she murmured into my shirt, "My mom would always sing to him, but she said it still didn't work the way it did before I left. I would never sing him a specific song – just whatever was stuck in my head that day – but I was visiting during Christmas a few months after I moved and it just made sense to me to sing Beside You to him. Put him to sleep instantly-" I could feel her smile at the memory. "-so every time I come back, I sing him that song as my way of telling him I'll always miss him and love him and I come back as often as I can."
"You guys are the cutest siblings ever," I sighed, making her giggle.
"You and your sister are pretty cute too," she said, tilting her head to look up at me.
"I don't think she'd ever sing me to sleep every chance she got though," I teased, poking her sides gently. She laughed a little louder – but still made sure she was quiet enough not to wake everyone else in the house up – and grabbed my hand, lacing her fingers mine on top of my stomach.
"At least you and Mali can talk to each other without broken sentences and loud whining," Mari replied.
"We still talk to each other like that," I laughed, making her laugh as well.
Her laugh slowly faded before she reached over and grabbed the remote, unpausing the movie on the TV screen. I smiled and shook my head as she returned to her spot on me, waiting until she got comfortable to kiss her head, feeling her smile into my shirt again.
~
Three hours later
We were probably about 15 minutes into our third movie when I started feeling Mari's breathing go from steady to what it normally sounded like, signaling to me that she was trying not to fall asleep. When I realized this, I grinned slightly and kissed her head once again.
"Princess, just go to bed," I chuckled, "I'll be there as soon as this is over."
"No," she whined sleepily, "Wanna sleep with you." I smiled at her softly, reaching for the remote and pausing the movie.
"C'mere," I murmured, taking Mari's hand and tugging on her to her feet before I lied down on the couch. I grabbed the remote and then pulled her on top of me, her face instantly burying itself in my neck. "Better?" I asked. She hummed happily into my skin and I kissed her forehead. "Goodnight, princess," I whispered. She tried to say it back, but her words only came out as a jumbled mess since she was practically already asleep. I chuckled lightly and unpaused the movie on the TV screen, listening to Mari begin snoring softly in my ear.
That night – around 10 – the excitement and activities of the day started to wind down. Lori put Asher to bed before going to bed herself – she'd allowed him to stay up later since Mari was home, but she told us his bed time was usually 8:30. The rest of the group was pretty tired from jet lag, so they all just went to their respective places to sleep not long after Asher was in bed, but Mari and I were still awake.
We were sitting on the living room couch, her legs draped over mine as she was writing in the notebook she jotted her song ideas down in. I tried to peek over a few times, but she just giggled and smacked my arm playfully, moving it so I couldn't see anything she'd written. I couldn't help but smile at the sound of her laugh as I squeezed her thigh lightly. I laid my head back on the cushion, returning my attention to the movie that was quietly playing on TV.
Only a couple more minutes passed before another interruption. We looked over as quiet footsteps came down the stairs, finding Asher rubbing his eyes.
"Mawi sing song," he murmured, clearly almost asleep.
"Still can't fall asleep without someone singing to you, huh?" she smiled, getting up. "I'll be back in a minute," she said. I nodded as she picked the toddler up, grinning slightly as he nuzzled his face in her neck.
I noticed she left her notebook on the couch beside me, contemplating peeking inside. But if I knew one thing about Mari, it was that she hated when people touched her notebook without permission, and I knew that she'd tell me about it when she was ready – if she ever would be. So instead, I waited for a moment – just until I heard Mari reach the top of the stairs – before pausing the movie and quietly following her.
"Do we have any special requests tonight?" I heard her ask as I stopped to sit on the stairs. Asher must have shaken his head, because the next thing I heard was "Same as always then?" He nodded as she sat down in the rocking chair, her feet propped up on the edge of his bed so she could push back and forth lightly. Asher laid his head on her chest, closing his eyes as she started singing as quietly as she could.
Within a minute, I was all packed up
I've got a ticket to another world
I don't wanna go, I don't wanna go
The silent words are hard to speak
When your thoughts are all I see
"Don't ever leave," she said to me
When we both fall asleep underneath the same sky
To the beat of our hearts at the same time
So close, but so far away
Can you hear me?
She sleeps alone, my heart wants to come home
I wish I was, I wish I was beside you
She lies awake, I'm trying to find the words to say
I wish I was, I wish I was beside you
I couldn't stop myself from smiling, leaning my head on the wall next to me – the 'same as always?' comment playing over and over in my head. It was incredible to think about how many times Mari must have sung something I wrote to her brother. And the fact that he clearly liked it enough to always want her to sing it to him made it that much better.
Another day and I'm somewhere new
I made a promise that I'll come home soon
Bring me back, I'll bring me back to you
When we both wake up underneath the same sun
Time stops, I wish that I could rewind
So close, but so far away
She sleeps alone, my heart wants to come home
I wish I was, I wish I was beside you
She lies awake, I'm trying to find the words to say
I wish I was, I wish I was beside you
There are pieces of us both under every city light
And they're shining as we fade into the night
She sleeps alone, my heart wants to come home
I wish I was, I wish I was
She sleeps alone, my heart wants to come home
I wish I was, I wish I was beside you
She lies awake, I'm trying to find the words to say
I wish I was, I wish I was beside you
She sleeps alone, my heart wants to come home
I wish I was, I wish I was
Mari looked down to see whether or not Asher was sleeping, smiling softly when she saw he was. She carefully stood up, laying Asher down on his bed. She pulled the blanket over him and kissed his forehead, telling him she loved him before coming out of the room.
"You're not very quiet, you know," she whispered without even looking at me, closing the door behind her.
"How long have you been singing that to him?" I asked as we went back to our spot on the living room couch. She had put her notebook on the coffee table and curled up into my side, my arms around her shoulders and her arms around my waist as she laid her head on my chest.
"Since the first time I came back home after moving to London," she murmured into my shirt, "My mom would always sing to him, but she said it still didn't work the way it did before I left. I would never sing him a specific song – just whatever was stuck in my head that day – but I was visiting during Christmas a few months after I moved and it just made sense to me to sing Beside You to him. Put him to sleep instantly-" I could feel her smile at the memory. "-so every time I come back, I sing him that song as my way of telling him I'll always miss him and love him and I come back as often as I can."
"You guys are the cutest siblings ever," I sighed, making her giggle.
"You and your sister are pretty cute too," she said, tilting her head to look up at me.
"I don't think she'd ever sing me to sleep every chance she got though," I teased, poking her sides gently. She laughed a little louder – but still made sure she was quiet enough not to wake everyone else in the house up – and grabbed my hand, lacing her fingers mine on top of my stomach.
"At least you and Mali can talk to each other without broken sentences and loud whining," Mari replied.
"We still talk to each other like that," I laughed, making her laugh as well.
Her laugh slowly faded before she reached over and grabbed the remote, unpausing the movie on the TV screen. I smiled and shook my head as she returned to her spot on me, waiting until she got comfortable to kiss her head, feeling her smile into my shirt again.
~
Three hours later
We were probably about 15 minutes into our third movie when I started feeling Mari's breathing go from steady to what it normally sounded like, signaling to me that she was trying not to fall asleep. When I realized this, I grinned slightly and kissed her head once again.
"Princess, just go to bed," I chuckled, "I'll be there as soon as this is over."
"No," she whined sleepily, "Wanna sleep with you." I smiled at her softly, reaching for the remote and pausing the movie.
"C'mere," I murmured, taking Mari's hand and tugging on her to her feet before I lied down on the couch. I grabbed the remote and then pulled her on top of me, her face instantly burying itself in my neck. "Better?" I asked. She hummed happily into my skin and I kissed her forehead. "Goodnight, princess," I whispered. She tried to say it back, but her words only came out as a jumbled mess since she was practically already asleep. I chuckled lightly and unpaused the movie on the TV screen, listening to Mari begin snoring softly in my ear.
♠ ♠ ♠
Title/song used: "Beside You" by 5 Seconds of Summer