Addie’s POV
The week passes, and on Thursday we order the bedbugs from my credit card and everyone pitches in, as they promised, minus Aggie, who I haven’t even told the plan to, but they don’t know that. So I just payed a little extra.
Tom was actually gone Monday and Tuesday all day, and a big part of Wednesday. He was back last night, and popped the little quiet bubble we managed to keep for the past few days.
“Doneeee” Michael says, announcing to everyone that the order has gone through, and the bugs will be arriving (in a cold pack) next week. I put my phone down, and feel some kind of satisfaction, like I’m fighting back. it feels good.
“Can we band now?” Calum says, smiling. Michael removes his arm from around my shoulders, and joins the others, plugging in his guitar. I notice Calum literally relax, as if his whole body was tense up until this moment.
Lucy isn’t here, so I sit on the beanbag, eating grapes that Ashton supplied me with. While they play, Calum tries to catch some of the grapes I start throwing at him. So I start throwing grapes at all of them, and Ashton is the best one, he catches almost all of them.
“Why don’t you guys play your own music?” I say after they kind of finish a song.
“We don’t have much of it” Luke says, stealing a grape from my bowl
“Well how about, instead of me throwing grapes at you, you actually work on something” I say, and then catch a grape i throw at myself.
“Ouch” Michael says, faking being offended. “Are you trying to say that we are wasting time?”
“You’re the one who said it” I say laughing.
Luke’s phone rings, and he goes inside to answer it.
Calum sits next to me on the bean bag, and puts his hand around my shoulders. He then steals grapes. The cuts on his face have mostly healed. Don’t know about the bruises on the rest of his body, but I have noticed how he sometimes tries to hide a wince when he sits a certain way. I must’ve been staring at the cuts, and the faded purple on his jaw because he chuckles.
“They don’t hurt much” He says, relaxing into me.
“What about the rest of them?” I ask, glancing at his chest. Michael and Ashton are talking to each other, but since they are not talking to us, i ignore them. I am suddenly aware at how close Calum’s face is to mine, and his hot breath on my face.
“They’re alright” He whispers.

Calum’s POV
She blinks at me a couple of times, and then glances at my lips. Or maybe my jaw. She might be examining my bruise. The ones on the side of my torso hurt the most. But I don’t want her knowing that. Probably because I’m embarrassed by it.
“You should maybe go get them checked out” Her voice almost a whisper. All I want to do is close the distance between us.
“You don’t need to worry about it” I say and smile at her.
She shrugs, and then Luke comes in and announces “Ok, so don’t even ask me how, but Lucy got us another gig!” He is all smiles and hyperactivity.
“No way!” Ashton says, high five-ing Luke.
“Remind me to worship her the next time I see her” Michael laughs.
“Where?” I ask. I forget for a moment how close I’m sitting to Addie.
“Same place! Apparently, she called the dude and asked if she could get feedback on our band, and he was really pleased, and so he offered us another gig this Saturday!”
“Oh my god!” Addie laughs “Lucy should do this for a living!”
“Well, if we make it, she will be our permanent manager!” Ashton laughs as well, and then we call Lucy to thank her. She seems annoyed at us calling her, because, as she put it, she was ‘getting in the zone to study History’
So after that, we start rehearsing for real, and we try out a couple of our own stuff, forming the set list. Addie gives us her input. She is brutally honest, which is exactly what we need, because we change some things around on one of our song, and it works better.
By late afternoon, we are all tired and hungry, so we go out to eat, and then I’m driving Mikey, Luke and Addie home.
“Tomorrow after school we band!” Luke says, as he closes the door of my car. He seems excited and hyper, and to be honest we all are. We’ve gotten gigs before, but not that close in time, and not in places like downtown Sydney, in a big upcoming club.
“It’ll be even better this time!” Michael says from the back. “I have a feeling. We’ll fucking crush it!”
After I drop Mikey off, I drive me and Addie home. We sit in silence, the radio on, playing some song I’ve never heard.
“You can drop me off here” She says. We’re a couple of minutes away from our houses. “Tom might be home. Don’t have the energy to argue” She clarifies.
“Sure” I feel a pang of disappointment that our car ride is ending sooner than I expected. I pull up on the side.
“I’ll see you at school tomorrow” She says, and gets out of the car. I wave at her and continue driving.
After a minute, I park the car in my driveway, and hear yelling and crashing from Addie’s house. I wait and see if I can distinguish what is being said, but I cannot. Then I see Addie walk down the street, and she must’ve heard the commotion, because she picks up her pace and gives me a confused and concerned look. I shrug, but don’t make a move to leave.
That night I text her
‘Everything alright?’
‘No’ she texts back.
I don’t even think about. I put on a hoodie and go downstairs. My parents have already gone to bed, so I sneak outside easily enough.

Addie’s POV
I was lying on my bed. My mom brought me food and some painkillers, and made sure my bed was comfortable, and told me I didn’t have to go to school tomorrow. I told her I was tired, which wasn’t a lie, and she left, turning the lights off, and telling me she loved me.
My arm felt like it was on fire. I took the painkillers my mom left for me, and was waiting for them to start working when I heard a soft knock on the glass of my door.
“You awake?” Calum’s voice comes from behind it. I get up pull the curtains away and let him in. He closes the door and takes off his shoes. He is in sweats and a hoodie.
“Hi” I say. The pain killers really need to kick in, because the pain is real.
“Oh my god, what happened?” He says a little too loudly and reaches for my face.
“Keep your voice down” I say and take a step back.
“Did he…did he do this to you?” He looks at me, stunned. My lip is cut, I had a bruise forming on my forearm and my face was stinging from the slap I got. My eyes were probably really red, and watery, from the hour-long crying.
I nod, and sit on the edge of my bed. I don’t want to meet his eyes, so i pick my nails.
“Addie” he says softly and I hear his footsteps. He then kneels in front of me, and I look into his eyes. My room is pitch black, but I can still manage to distinguish his features. “What happened?” He asks softly.
So I tell him. As much as I can without starting to cry. I tell him how he was yelling at Aggie when I came in, and how I stood up for her, because she wouldn’t, and how he gave me ‘warnings’ and how I lost my temper and how he slapped me once. And then my mom came, and Aggie told her because then she was all on Tom, in front of his friends, which wasn’t a good idea, so before he could hit my mom, I got involved again. And so I got the worst of it. And then he left in a fury, and was probably going to be back tomorrow.
He says nothing for a while.
“You need to tell the police” He says, his voice barely above a whisper “There are restraining orders against this. And if he comes near you, he’ll be arrested.”
I shake my head. We have gotten a restraining order one time, but then his friends started harassing my mom, and threatening her, and so she got scared and got it lifted. And she’s been scared ever since.
“Addie, look at me” He says, cupping my face and not leaving me with a lot of choice “You have to protect yourself, okay? You have to do this. I’ll come with you, I’ll testify or whatever”
Of course he is right. I would give this advice to anyone suffering from domestic violence. But it’s easier said than done. So I just nod because I don’t have a reason not to do it.
He sits on the bed next to me and pulls me in for a hug. I rest my head on his shoulder.
“Can you stay, please?” I whisper. I feel his head nodding.
and then he just whispers back “Yeah”
We get under the covers, and he puts his arm around me, as I rest my head on his chest. I relax into his body, and fall asleep not too long after that.
I wake up to Calum’s voice. But it didn’t seem as if he was talking to me.
“…and we just fell asleep.” He is saying. And I realise he is talking to my mom. Who has seen us sleep together.
I jump up, and startle both Calum and my mom. A sharp pain jolts my head.
“Are you okay sweetie?” My mom was asking me.
“Yeah” I say. My throat feels really dry. “Can you get me some water?” My mom nods and leaves the room without another word.
“I had an alarm in half an hour, but your mom wakes up earlier…” He says, removing his hand and getting off the bed, putting some distance between us. I suddenly feel like the bed is too empty.
“Are you going to school?” I ask, remembering it’s a school day.
“I should” he says, but doesn’t make a move towards the door.
My mom enters the room, bringing me a glass of water. She starts asking me questions about how I’m feeling. She doesn’t seem to bothered that Calum is in my room.
“I have to go to work sweetie, but I’ll be back as soon as my shift is over” She finally says, and kisses my forehead.
Calum and I are left in silence.
“You look better than last night” he says, probably to be polite. Also because it’s a bit awkward.
We stay in silence for a couple of moments, until he breaks it again.
“I don’t have to go to school” He says. “I mean, I can stay with you, if you want”
He meets my eyes and my brain plays pictures in my head of every time we’ve been in close proximity. Especially that night we were in his bed, and he was drawing circles on my stomach, and I was feeling things I haven’t felt with any boy before.
I suddenly get nervous being alone with him, and I get butterflies in my stomach. And it’s really confusing.
“You shouldn’t skip school” Is all I manage to say. I hope he can’t really read it on my face.
“It won’t be my first time” he smiles, and shoves his hands in his pockets. So I nod, because I don’t want him to go, and he is offering to stay.
“I’ll be back in half an hour” He grins at me, and then leaves.
In forty minutes, he softly knocks on the door and I open it. I took a shower, and changed into leggings and a sweater. My hair was still wet when he entered my room. His backpack is hanging from one of his shoulders, he also has breakfast in one hand (smells like pancakes) and he smelled and looked a lot fresher than he did earlier.
“Pancakes?” I ask, pointing at the plate covered with foil.
“Yep. My mom said I should bring over some. She also told me to invite you over for dinner on Sunday” He says “Like you, Aggie, and your mom” He quickly adds.
I nod, take the plate and we move to the living room. When we sit on the opposite end of the couch, he rummages through his backpack and takes out a little bag.
“Only if you want to. Helps the pain” When I see what it actually is I smile. Of course he always has weed. Why not.
“When have I refused?” I ask and he laughs. His phone rings while he is rolling the joint. I look at the caller ID and it’s Luke. Probably wondering where he is.
“Hey, you’re on speaker” Calum answers and put’s Luke on speaker.
“Yo, where are you?” Luke says. He sounds tired.
“I’m at Addie’s” He answers, and then explains the situation from last night in short. “Sooo, I’m just keeping her company for the day” he finishes.
“What. The. Actual. Fuck!” Luke sounds bewildered. “Addie mate I’m so sorry!”
“I’m fine” I say. Which is kind of a lie.
“Well, call if you need anything.” I can hear Michael on the other end asking what happened. After we hang up, Calum is done with the joint and hands it to me.
“Can we smoke inside?” He asks, looking for a lighter in his bag.
“We’ll have to open up the windows” I say, getting up, but he does it before me. He opens almost all the windows in the living room, and grabs a blanket, which is neatly folded on the armchair.
I light the joint as he unfolds the blanket and then sits close to me. He then plays music from his phone, consulting me before playing a playlist, and then we are sitting, our legs propped on the coffee table, which looks so clean and neat, thanks to my mother last night. She must’ve been to anxious to sleep, so she cleaned. She always does that.
So” He says, and takes a drag “How are you doing Addie? And don’t give me the ‘I’m fine’ bullshit” he then exhales and passes it to me.
“I feel like shit” I say. The weed already activating the THC in my brain, making me feel light. “I’m afraid I’ll snap soon” I say and laugh at my own misery.
“Why? What’s on your mind?” He asks, and I take a drag, trying to postpone me answering that question.
I pass it to him, but he doesn’t take a drag. He looks at me expectantly.

Calum’s POV
She is looking at the wall across from us, and I don’t press her. I want her to feel ready to tell me whatever is bothering her. I mean, I know what’s bothering her, but I feel like she needs to talk this out.
“It’s just-“ She starts and stops herself. I continue smoking. “So much shit has happened to me since I moved here”
I pass it to her, staying silent.
“The first night I was almost raped by three disgusting assholes. And I haven’t- I don’t know how to talk about that, so I’ve repressed it. And then I got sucked into your drama with Marissa, and got targeted constantly by her and her friends. And my relationship with my sister is fucked, because she is….I don’t even know what she is. She’s just an asshole really. I don’t know what her deal is.” She pauses taking a drag. I don’t interrupt her “And above all else, like as if all this isn’t enough for someone, my sick, and abusive father, who has never deserved that title, comes barging in like he owns the place, and I get harassed daily by his disgusting friends. I am greeted every fucking morning by Steve and his perverted, predatory, pedophilic face. And my mom is too scared to do anything but take the blame for whenever I lashed out…and just…”
She stops again, taking a long drag. Her eyes are teary and red. She passes it to me, and I put my arm around her before I take it.
“I mean, you were right last night. I’m going to talk to my mom about going to the police. So the Tom Problem will be postponed. And the Marissa drama is just…keeps going…and Chris is…he scared me Calum” I pull her close, and put the joint on the ashtray. It’s almost done anyway. I feel lightheaded and a bit dizzy-ish.
“He can’t hurt you, Addie” I say, because I don’t know what else to say.
“He came into my room” She whispers. And I hear her sniff.
“What? When?” I try to stay as calm as I can.
“A couple of weeks. Aggie invited her friends, and he was here…Lucy was sleeping and he just…he was scary” I hold her closer, and she seems to relax.
“Addie, he won’t touch one hair on your head. I promise” I whisper and kiss the top of her head.
She looks up at me, and our faces are really close.
“You promise?” Her eyes are red and she has tears on her cheeks. I brush them off gently.
“I promise” I whisper. She smiles and settles on my chest.
“Thank you” She says, and drapes her left hand on my torso. “I don’t like crying” She says and laughs.
“It’s okay to cry sometimes” I say. She sits up straight and looks at me.
“I want to get back at Chris for being…well…who he is” She says.
The atmosphere lightens up a little after that. Until she explains to me in details what happened that night we met, and by the end i feel myself shaking with anger. She seems shaken up, but also a little more relaxed, probably because she was finally talking about this.
“I’m going to kill them” I say. I feel very high and very angry and that’s a very bad combination. She takes my hand, which calms down my anger, but not my heart. “Why have you-“ I stop, trying to form the question “Why haven’t you told us this? Have you told anyone?”
She sakes her head, still holding my hand.
“Addie” I say, giving her hand a little squeeze.

Addie’s POV
I feel a lot easier. Keeping this bottled up for so long was not healthy. I knew that. But I thought that if I talked about it I would re-live it. In the worst possible way. And then I would cry and I won’t stop crying.
I was incredibly wrong.
“I don’t know if it’s the weed, or whatever” I start saying “but I feel a lot better” I then rest my head on his shoulder. And we just sit, his music playing and we don’t speak. He reaches for my hand, and we interlace our fingers. But it’s not an awkward, it’s comforting. Very comforting.
We devour the pancakes after that, but I can almost feel the anger radiating from Calum. So I try to take his mind off of it. My stimulated brain did not think this through.
“Why did you date Marissa?” I ask. Yep. Did not think it through, at all!
He stops mid chew, takes a moment, then continues.
“She liked me” He says, not meeting my eyes.
“So? Lots of girls probably like you, that doesn’t mean you date all of them. Unless you like them back” He says nothing, so I add “Did you like her?”
“Yeah” He says a bit too quietly.
“What changed?” I ask. I need to stop. How do I stop asking questions? I should be sober for this. That’s how I stop asking
“I don’t know. I didn’t even notice it. I think she didn’t like me as much as I liked her.” He says, finally looking at me “But I didn’t want to see it, so I just let her string me along.” He laughs, and I say nothing, waiting for him to continue “She’s telling people I used her for sex now”
“What?” I ask bewildered.
“Oh yeah.” He keeps laughing “She is saying I fucked her, and then moved on. Just like that.”
“That’s ridiculous” I say. He is laughing, but I don’t think he is actually finding this funny. I sure as hell am not.
“It’s ironic, because it’s actually the other way around? Plus she was no virgin. I’m like 97% sure of that” He continues.
“She was not” I say, and then continue before I can stop myself “I overheard her and Stephen talking about sex, and who was better, him or you.”
Calum stops laughing, and looks at me.
“What?” He asks. “When was this?”
“Um…” I don’t know if I should’ve said that. But they broke up, so why does it matter? “After you guys…you know, did it. Like the day after or something like that?”
He looks down at his food. And all is quiet except the music from his phone.
“Should I not have told you this?” I ask. My head is clearing up. Couldn’t it do that a couple of minutes ago?
“Nah it’s fine…” He doesn’t look at me “I mean, we’re broken up. And I knew it. Like, I knew she was cheating on me with Stephen.”
“You okay?” I ask after a moment.
“Yeah, yeah” He tries to laugh it off “Just…I don’t know why this hit me.”
“Maybe you’re not over her” I say. It’s not really a question. It’s more of a statement. He can either confirm or deny it. He doesn’t do either.
“Do you want anything to drink?” I say, suddenly feeling awkward. Of course he has feelings for her. If this bothers him that much, there is no way he is over her. And I shouldn’t be thinking about him in the way that I have lately, because he is thinking about another girl in that way.
“Addie” He says. His eyes are very very red.
“Water or juice?” I ask from the kitchen. I don’t wait for a response, I get him a glass of water, and I come back to the living room. The halfeaten pancakes are on the coffee table. I sit on the opposite end of the couch and give him the water. He doesn’t drink the water. But before I can change the subject, and start blabbing, he speaks.
“Do you like Michael?” I almost drop my glass.
“What?” I ask, not sure if I heard him right. Or maybe I am trying to evade the question.
“Do you like him? Like, like like him?” He is looking at me. I can’t read his expression.
“Where is this coming from?” Why am I evading the question?
“I don’t know.” He takes a sip from his water “You guys are just…really close.”
I say nothing because I honesty don’t know. I think I like him? But I haven’t been thinking about him lately. I shrug.
“If it helps, I think he likes you too” He says, swirling the water in his glass. He sounds a little bitter.
I don’t know why, but I am speechless. I cannot produce words.
“We can watch a movie if you want to?” He abruptly changes the subject, and goes to look at the DVD collection, next to the TV. He plays We’re The Millers, and sits back on the couch.
We watch in silence, occasionally laughing, but I don’t really concentrate on it. And I don’t think Calum is either.
I must’ve dosed off on the movie, because I am awoken by Calum’s phone vibrating on the coffee table. We are sharing the blanket, but still sitting on he opposite side of the couch. I am shivering from the cold breeze coming in through the window. Michael’s picture is illuminating the dark room. He is wearing some weird sunglasses and is doing a pouty face. Calum seems to be sleeping.
“Hello” I answer whispering.
“Addie?” He asks confused. “How are you doing?”
“I’m fine” I say. “What’s up?”
“Umm, we’re suppose to band. Is Calum there?” He asks.
“Yeah, he’s asleep. I’ll wake him up” I say, and start poking Calum who mumbles something before opening his eyes. “It’s Mikey” I say handing him his phone.
“Hello” he says. His voice is raspy from the sleep, and probably dehydration.
I leave the room to get more water, and when I come back, Calum is folding the blanket.
“I have to go” He says.
“Yeah” i stand awkwardly with two glasses of water. I don’t understand why we are awkward again. “Here” I give him one of the glasses.
And in the next ten minutes, he is out the door, and driving to Ash’s for band rehearsals and I am alone.
I feel a headache coming on, so I get an aspirin and fall back asleep in my own room. Mostly because I’m tired, but also because I don’t want to be thinking about Calum.

Notes

Hi, new update! Enjoy! :D