35 - Calum
"Why the hell is there four holes in the fucking wall?" My dad asks, his voice steady, but eyes wild.
I shrugged and his fists shook slightly at his sides, nose flaring. Funny, my hands were shaking too. I tucked them behind me while he marched over.
I inhaled sharply as yanked me up by my shirt. "Don't make me repeat myself, boy."
Might as well, I mean we all know how this is gonna end anyways. And with that thought I rolled my eyes with a nonchalant, "I always hated that color, I thought it was time to re-model."
A low growl rumbled from his chest and suddenly my vision turned spotty as his fist connected with my left eye. My head lolled to the side from the force of the hit, my neck shuddering.
He got another blow to my jaw before I covered my face with my arms with a tiny whimper.
"You think this is a game boy?"
His knee slammed into my stomach so hard, my feet left the ground for a second before my body helplessly dropped to my knees. I wheezed and gasped for breath.
He bent down to my ear, pulling it harshly before whispering, "Let's play, Calum."
At least I couldn't focus on the heaviness in my heart, I guess that's something good from all this.
He grabbed a first full of my hair, and I stood quickly, following his pulls to minimize the pain in my scalp, until I was face to face with my wall.
"You wanna put holes in the wall?" He yanked my head back, leaving my neck fully extended, exposed. I struggled to gulp.
"Go right ahead," And with that my face slammed against the wall, my forehead breaking through the wall with a painfully loud crack. My ears rang and my knees almost buckled as a burst of dizziness blanketed me. Tears streamed down my face, leaving sticky trails and stinging my left eye.
"How many holes did you make down stairs?" He mocked me, blood from my nose gushing down my face, into my mouth and left hot drips down my neck when he pulled me back once again. "Four, that's how many,"
My arms sprang out from my sides and to the wall, now that I knew what was happening, and stopped him from pushing my face to the fall. My elbows screamed in protest as he pressed harder and I choked back a fear-filled sob.
He huffed in annoyance, grabbing my arms and pulling them behind my back. He swiftly locked his free arm around them, trapping my arms painfully in his grasp. It felt as if my shoulder blades were on fire from the unnatural bend. Yanking my head back again, he muttered "Stupid boy," in my ear, causing me to quiver.
I couldn't help my scream in agony as my face once again crunched in the once white wall, now splattered red.
"David, enough! Stop, STOP" I hear my mother frantically scream and I mentally thank her. "Oh my God," she gasped, her words muddled by the hand she had clamped over her mouth in surprise.
He released me, and I folded to the floor pitifully. My fingers were starting to tingle from his grip, I flex them slightly.
"Looks like I win," he whispers, before leaving me slumped against the wall. My tears still gushing, just as heavily as the blood from my nose.
Doors open and slam, shouts and stomps rattle the house. My mom- arguing with my father for the first time in, well, ever.
I have to leave, somewhere, anywhere. I don't know if I can handle my mother suddenly acting like a mom. Everything is so upside down.
Using the wall, I stand. A wave of dizziness makes my ears ring once again and my eyes shut as I stumble.
Once I regain my balance, I gingerly shrug on my jacket and stumble down the stairs.
I make it do the door just as I heard my mother call for me, and I throw myself outside.
The cold air pokes at my injuries, as if making fun of them. I cringe, wiping my nose slowly with the back of my hand, blood everywhere.
I just walk, or try too. Just trying to leave.
Then, with a gut wrenching realization, I lean fully against the frozen light pole. I'm in front of her house.
I shake my head, taking a deep breath. My heart screams again, crying sharper than the throbbing in my head, and I just want to give up then and there. I almost do, until I hear my name.
"Calum?" I froze, with a shoulder lent against the pole, even my wobbling legs seem to still underneath me. Oh how I wanted to run, but I knew I wouldn't make it far.
Her magnificent eyes widen as she steps from the shadows, her gasp filling the silence. "My God, Calum! Hold on, don't move,"
Was it really that bad?
Valerie turns on her heel and flies inside her house. I stumble a few steps to her drive way, sitting on the curb before I could fall.
"Here," she breaths out, pressing a wet, warm cloth to my nose softly, and I whimpered at the pain that shot through it. "Tilt your head back,"
I do as I'm told. Though I've stopped crying, I feel the need too. Especially as my heart stubbornly races at her touch.
Valerie runs the pad of her thumb over my cheek bone lightly, her eyes glistening. Her cheeks were flushed a light pink, I couldn't tell if it was from the cold, or how close our body's were.
"Your dad is such a prick," She shakes her head slightly, adverting her eyes to the light pole for a moment.
I shrug, "Sorta deserved it this time," my voice comes out horse and I lick my lips, thankful I didn't bust one.
"No," she shook her head once again, pulling her knees to her chest, "Nothing you could have done should deserve whatever the hell he did to you." Her silver eyes travel over my face before shuddering (this time I'm almost positive it wasn't from the cold) and laying her head on her knees, to the side so she could face me .
"I'm so so sorry," Valerie whispers closing her eyes tightly as the wind picked up and tugged at her hair. "You have to believe me," Her eyes open to glisten with unshed tears.
I say quite for a moment, unsure if she was sorry about me getting tossed around by my dad, which wasn't even her fault, or about rejecting me? My chest wales either way, and I let out a deep breath, watching as if fogs around me then disappears.
"I just- I really want to be with you," Her voice makes me heart pound against my headache and I wince at her words.
"I really don't want to talk about this," I say, lowering the rag from my nose to see the bleeding finally stopped. I turn my head from her.
I hate how she's seen every side of me in the past couple of months. The good, the bad, the strong, the weak, all of it. Or maybe I yearn for it, heck, I don't know anymore.
"Okay, then just listen? Please, you didn't let me explain," Valerie leans towards me so slightly I would have missed it if my heart wasn't so hyper-focused on her.
I lean back slightly, wrapping my arms around myself before nodding. She lifted her head at that let out a small breath. "Thanks,"
When I don't respond she turns her head towards the light pole and ran a hand through her hair. I couldn't help but notice how the yellow light highlighted her puffy eyes and pale face.
Maybe she felt the heaviness also.
"You remember Ollie, right? My sweet, amazing little brother?" She pauses, looking to me for some kind of answer. I only blink at her.
"Well," she breaths out, her lips pressing into a thin line. "I finally figured out where they took him, where they moved," Her voice was suddenly hopeful as she continued.
"I'm going to go find him, this is the only time I can. It took me so long to make enough money to buy a ticket, and the prices will only rise in the next week or so, because of the holidays," Her voice breaks off and her eyes dance around the street. "Plus, with this being the beginning of winter break, I won't miss school. It the best time for me to go,"
Valerie's lips tug down, "It just sucks that that winter dance has to be over the break, I -" She cuts off, sighing deeply.
"I just have to make sure they're treating him right. I can't sleep without actually seeing him safe." Her voice wobbles and I feel guilt start to claw at my sides. "You never know, some people are just so horrible," Valerie's eyes lock with mine and I feel my toes start to tingle as my nerves so haywire.
"I really do understand what your dad is like,"
With that her face crumbles and she hides it between her knees. "I just- they have to be hiding something if they'd move just so I couldn't visit, not like they let me see him anyways but-" She lifts her head again, tears tracks streaming down her cheeks. "I just have such a bad feeling about them. I did when we first got there and it only intensified when they told me they didn't want me, only him."
I blinked, trying to process this, and suddenly my heart twitched in realization. Valerie really did want to go with me.
I'm such a teenage girl, focusing solely on if she wanted to go to the dance with me. I swallow the ball of shame that bobbed in my throat, what a stupid thing to get upset about.
"I'm sorry," I whisper, and she looks at me, making a face. "For what? S'not your fault."
"No, I'm sorry for not listening. For jumping to conclusions." My face heats and I scratch the back of my neck when she starts to laugh.
"It's okay, I kinda dropped a bomb on you in there," She sighed, shifting to where her head lay on my shoulder, and I lean into her. "Thanks for all that stuff, in the hideaway," She whispered and I just hum a response.
Then she pulled me close, in a moment more than beautiful or picturesque. Gold light bathed us, making her eyes glow. Her nose and cheeks, red from the harsh cold, pressed against mine; the way her arms wrapped around my neck and her fingers ran through my hair. How our lips fit perfectly, it was then that the heaviness in my heart was trampled by it's beat. And boy was it beating.
It was honesty indescribable.
All my pain, physical and emotionally left me as her lips moved against mine. Then she pulled back, with the most photogenic smile filling her face, and she snuggled close to me once again.
And I couldn't help but think,
Gorgeous. Not pretty, or beautiful, point blank, drop dead Gorgeous is what she is.
We sit like that in the cold for what seems like forever, but this time I don't mind if the minutes stretch on. If fact, I wish time would just freeze, with her head on my shoulder and her sent invading all my senses as I buried my face into her hair. The silence was peacefully coddling us with a strange tranquility, one that I haven't fully felt for a while.
That is until I broke it with a strong,
"I'm coming with you,"
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A|N
longish chapter!!
Ohh, whatcha think?
Is little Ollie in trouble? Who knows, well I mean, I do but...
Feedback?
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