A/N: Hey guys! There's about a day and a half left in the awards thing asdflkjhg5sos is hosting. If you'd like, vote for this book in the Cashton category, PLUS you can vote again even if you already voted before! Thanks guys. If you vote (or vote again) it would mean the world. Even if this story doesn't get the most votes, it's amazing to even be nominated so thank you.

Anyway. Enjoy this chapter. Big things are happening... Hint. Hint.

CALUM

I lay beside Luke on the bed, my head resting against his chest. He has his fingers in my hair, running through the dark strands slowly. His blue eyes are trained on the television, but he doesn't pay much attention to it.

Luke and I both have day offs today, so he figured we could just be lazy all day, which has turned out nice. It's good to have a day where Luke is home with me instead of out working or talking on the phone. We rarely ever get days like this, and I want to cherish it.

Luke glances down at me and looks at the ring on my finger, smiling. He leans over and kisses my lips gently, a blush bleeding onto my cheeks. My head flurries with his touch, a smile showing on my lips. God. I'm so in love with him.

He pulls away reluctantly when his phone beeps from where it sits on the nightstand. He picks it up, squinting at the bright screen, illuminating the darkened room.

"Low battery," Luke mutters. He glances around. "Do you have a charger?"

I lift my head from his chest so that he can move. "There should be one in the left drawer," I tell him, and Luke slides off the bed to get it. I burrow deeper under the covers, hugging my knees to my chest. The weather hasn't gotten any warmer, and even for California, I've been freezing even inside the house. I hug my knees to my chest, letting my eyes close once again.

A few minutes later, Luke stops rummaging around in the drawers and says, "Calum?"

I turn to look at him. "Yeah?" I answer sleepily. Once I meet eyes with his slightly confused and hurt ones, I freeze when I see him holding up the brochure from a month or two back, the same one Ashton gave me at the restaurant. Luke's eyes are narrowed as he looks at it.

"Why do you still have this?" He asks, his voice hard.

"I--" I stop, trying to figure out the right words to say. I can already feel my muscles getting jittery from the thought of Luke getting mad. I push the covers away, sitting up on the bed. "It was just--"

"I told you that this wasn't an option, Calum," Luke interrupts, his voice growing louder and angrier. My heart sinks in my chest and I push myself to the edge of the bed, standing up on the opposite side of Luke. Today had been going so well, we had been so happy. I curse myself silently for ruining everything.

"I know!" I try and defend myself, trembling at Luke's familiar icy blue eyes. "It's just been in my drawer since I got it."

"Then why are these dates circled?" Luke asks furiously, opening it up and showing the dates for orientation that I circled with red pen a few days back. I feel sick to my stomach as I look at them.

"I was just going to go and see if I liked it," I say quietly, honestly. My heartbeat throbs loud in my ears. "That's all."

I pray that my words diffuse the situation, but the blonde has none of it. Luke storms over in three long strides and grabs me by the collar of my shirt, pulling me to his face. "I told you that you weren't allowed to do it. Why do you have to be so disrespectful?"

His cold hands brush against the bottom of my chin, the contact making me flinch.

"I--" I don't have the chance to finish, because Luke shoves me against the wall, making black spots fill my vision. My words fall off my tongue like they were never there, and I struggle to regain my balance as Luke pins me against the wall.

"Do you want to leave, is that it? You just can't stand me, huh?" Luke says, his voice in a growl. I look up at him, struggling to see him clearly. My vision is fading at the sides, my head feeling horribly light. I fight to keep standing, trying not to fall over.

"You know I love you," I say, my breath catching in my throat. Tears begin to well up in my eyes. "More than anything."

Luke furrows his eyebrows and pushes me into the hallway, pinning me against the railing that leads downstairs. "Then why would you try and leave?" Luke asks incredulously. Something changes in his voice. "You can't leave me, Calum, you can't!"

"I'm not, I wasn't going to, I promise!" I choke out, tears swelling in my eyes. The railing digs into my lower back and Luke's tight grip on my skin makes me arm grow numb. Teardrops escape my eyes and roll down my cheeks in panic. "Please, Luke, please stop."

"I told you the brochure wasn't an option." Luke says scornfully. He twists my arm a little and I cry out.

"Please stop, Luke, please stop." I can't help but beg him now, feeling pathetic under his hold. All I want is for him to calm down, to stop, but the fire in Luke's eyes hasn't faded.

"You never listen to me, god damn it!" Luke snaps, giving me a final shove. "Who the hell do you think you are?"

Luke's strength and the combined fogginess of my mind makes me lose my balance, stumbling backwards. The ground disappears behind me and I struggle to grasp the railing quick enough.

"Luke--" I gasp, but before any more words can escape my throat, I lose my balance and I drop onto the stairway, tumbling down until my body hits the landing, my head smacking the hardwood floor and sending my world into darkness.

~*~

I go in and out of consciousness for the next few hours, and I can only remember a few glimpses of it. I remember hearing sirens from somewhere in the distance, and the feeling of someone picking me up bridal style, nestling my head under their chin. Then it went black.

A little while later I remember the sound of steady beeps in a closed room, the sound of a familiar woman saying, "He has a severe concussion. We're going to have to take a MRI to make sure there isn't any more severe internal damage in the brain. How did this happen, Mr. Hemmings?"

I remember hearing my fiancé say, "He fell down the stairs."

Then it went black.

An even longer while later, maybe a few hours, I remember hearing a familiar boy's voice, one with curly hair and hazel eyes. He wasn't in the room, but maybe in the doorway, saying, "Let me in! Let me see him!"

And I remember Luke's eerily calm voice say, "It's family only, Ashton."

"What did you do to him?" Ashton's voice said, sounding furious and emotional. "What the hell did you do to him?"

And then it went black.

When I finally wake up, clearly, I open my eyes to find a plain white ceiling, obnoxiously clean and pale. I blink hazily, looking over to find a heart monitor tracking my pulse, beeping loud and clear in the room. Slowly sitting up, I notice Luke sitting in the corner of the room, his eyes closed and his face in his hands. His shoulders are slumped, looking as dismal as I've ever seen him.

He looks up, lifting his head and doing a double take when he sees me awake. "Calum, you're awake. Thank God."

I watch him stand up, walking over to the edge of the hospital bed. He reaches up to touch my cheek and I involuntarily flinch. Luke pretends not to notice, touching the side of my face gently.

"How are you feeling?" Luke asks, his voice abnormally tender. I can still feel his hands against my chest, pushing me down the stairs. I look away from him, looking instead at the paper band wrapped around my left wrist. My hands are shaking, and I clasp them together to make them stop.

"My-- my head hurts," I tell him, which is true. Luke lowers himself into the bed and nods.

"You have a pretty bad concussion," says Luke. I stare at him for a moment before looking towards the empty doorway.

"Did someone come and want to see me?" I ask, thinking back to my glimpses of the past few hours. Luke visibly stiffens.

"Yes, that Ashton coworker of yours. It's family only, unfortunately," Luke says. I glance at him. He doesn't seem too sad about it.

Luke brushes back my hair, leaning in and pressing a kiss to my lips. I don't kiss back, feeling too overwhelmed by everything going on. Luke notices and pulls back, furrowing his eyebrows but not saying anything.

Just then, the door opens, and in walks a woman who looks familiar. It's not until she's messing around with some equipment by the bed that I realize it's Ashton's mum. She locks eyes with me and gives me a reassuring smile.

"I'm glad you're awake, Calum," she says cheerfully, but something in her voice is off as she looks at Luke.

"We've got the scans back, and there isn't any other internal damage other than the concussion," Mrs. Irwin says, and she hugs the clipboard to her chest.

Luke breaths out in relief. "Good. So, does that mean we can be discharged?"

Ashton's mum looks uneasy. "No, Mr. Hemmings. Calum needs more time to heal here in the hospital, because his immune system appears to be struggling," she says. She then looks directly at me. "Have you experienced any trauma in any way recently?"

Luke answers for me. "No, he hasn't."

"I asked Calum," she says sharply, giving Luke a particularly not-nice look. She returns her gaze to me. "Have you, Calum?"

I can feel Luke's eyes on me as I stare up at the woman. The heart monitor beeps a little faster. "No, I haven't," I say softly.

The nurse purses her lips, but she just nods. "Very well. Then I have to say that we will need him here for a few more days in order to give him time to heal."

Luke stands up. "That's ridiculous! One day, at most. He needs to be home. Discharge him."

"Mr. Hemmings, it would be best for Calum to--"

"I asked you to discharge him," Luke says a little louder. He takes a step forward and Nurse Irwin stiffens. "If you don't, I'll bring my father down and he'll make you."

Mrs. Irwin glances at me and takes a deep breath. "Fine," she says through gritted teeth. "One day. Then you can be discharged."

She opens the door and stalks out. I close my eyes, wishing I could melt into the hospital bed and disappear.

Luke turns back to me, looking relieved. "Sorry, babe. I'll get you home as soon as possible." He walks back to me and climbs beside me on the bed. I scoot over a little and Luke lays down beside me, laying his arm over my waist and curling the other under his head. His steady breathing fills my head as he rests, and I let his breaths and the loud beeping of the heart monitor pound out the soundtrack of my mind.

---
A/N: The next chapter is very important. I have no patience whatsoever so I will probably post it pretty soon.

Does anyone have any new fanfics to recommend? Boyxboy of course, but it doesn't have to be a fanfic. I need some new stuff to read while I'm procrastinating studying.

As from me, I just read Glitter by thekellicunderthevic and it is amazing. 10/10 would recommend

I get so off topic in these author's notes hahahaha thanks for reading and listening to me go one and on in these things. Hope you enjoyed. Please vote and comment your thoughts, perhaps?

I love you to the moon.

-Grace