Even If You Don't // Calum Hood

Chapter 26: You're Ripped at Every Edge, but You're a Masterpiece

I CANT STOP UPDATING??????

~

Mari's POV; Three weeks later

After nearly a month of being back in London, I couldn't say I'd been feeling any better. My mind would always wander to Calum – what was he doing, who was he with, did he miss me as much as I missed him? I would mentally reprimand myself every time I wondered if he was broken up about me – he broke up with me; why would he do that if he cared about me?

It seemed like the only thing that could keep my mind away from Calum was being in the studio – though, I wouldn't be the last to admit I was still distracted. The girls and I had written some pretty good songs. Well... They did... I was never much help anymore with everything that had been going on in my personal life...

"Mari," I heard Kaylynn sing softly, knocking me out of another trance, "You okay?"

"Fine," I nodded.

"You sure?" she questioned, "You're not really yourself lately. You usually have 17 songs written when we come to the studio."

"I don't have 17 songs written, Kay," I rolled my eyes, making them laugh.

"Fine, but you usually have at least one." It was silent for a moment – the girls looking at me with curious and worried expressions – before I finally spoke again.

"I think I'm gonna go home for a while," I said softly.

"Okay," Kenzie nodded, "We'll come by when-"

"No," I cut her off, "I mean... Home..."

"Oh," they said in unison as Vanessa continued, "Well, just text one of us when you land."

"I'll try to come back soon."

"Don't worry about it, Mar," Kenzie shook her head, pulling me into a hug, "You stay for as long as you need."

"We'll try to talk to you every day," Vanessa assured me, "We're only 5 hours ahead, so I'm sure we'll be awake at the same time a lot."

"You guys are the best," I murmured, hugging her as well before moving to hug Kaylynn.

"We'll try to have a song written by the time you come back," Kenzie added, "I mean, we're not as talented as you are, but we'll try."

"Shut up," I giggled under my breath, all of us saying 'goodbye' before I grabbed my things and headed back to my apartment.

~

16 hours later

I'd texted my mom before my flight departed asking if she'd come get me from the airport. After a few minutes of 'Yes, Mom, I'm coming home', 'No, Mom, everything's fine', and 'I just wanted to spend more time with the family', she agreed to meet me at my gate.

It was about 4pm when I landed in Indy, so I was a bit tired with my body still being on London time, but I was happy to be back in my first home city. My mom was waiting exactly where she said she'd be – right at the gate with open arms. I happily dropped my carry-on bag so I could hug her, breathing in deeply as she hugged me back tightly.

"If you need to cry, that's okay," she told me, rubbing my back slightly.

"I'm not gonna cry in the middle of the airport, Mom," I stifled a laugh.

"People cry in airports all the time! They'll just think you're happy to see me!" she insisted. I laughed again – a genuine one that time – and squeezed her a bit.