CALUM

One day later, just as Luke planned, I'm discharged.

Luke brought over some clothes from home, and I change into them half-heartedly in the hospital bathroom. The tiles are white and slippery, and the lights are way to bright to be pleasant. Everywhere I look sends a throbbing headache so I've resigned to staring down at my Vans.

I exit the bathroom slowly, seeing Luke wait for me by the door. He puts his arm around my waist once I reach him, supporting a bit of my weight as we walk down the hallway. We head to the elevator, joining a bunch of other people and doctors in the small space.

By the time we get to Luke's car in the parking lot, my head hurts like hell and my bones are tired. My body feels drained of energy.

I get into the car and rest my head against the window. Luke starts the car and drives down out of the parking lot, throwing concerned glances at me as he does. He doesn't say anything as we drive down the highway towards our house, and I'm grateful. Sound is painful.

We get to our house a few minutes later, and Luke stops the car in the driveway, looking at me with concern. "Stay there. I'll come around and get you."

His voice sounds so gentle, and caring, and I'm too exhausted to interfere as he gets out of the car, coming to my side and opening my door for me. He reaches inside, pulling me effortlessly into his arms as though I weighed less than a feather. He is careful not to touch me where my bruises are, resting my head down on his broad shoulder instead.

I can hear Luke's steady heartbeat as he carries me up to the front door, and I shut my eyes when the sun beats down, the bright light making my head pound painfully.

Once we are safely inside, Luke sets me down gently. "You're okay. We're gonna be okay," He says softly. I wrap my arms around myself and turn away from him, an uneasy feeling setting in my stomach.

I head up to go to our room, but I stop at the landing of the stairs, images of Luke screaming in my face flooding back to me. I stop, regaining my breath. I had tried to push those memories away.

Luke places a hand on my shoulder. "What's wrong?"

I immediately move away from his hand, letting it fall back to his side. Luke looks offended, furrowing his eyebrows. I look back at the landing, remembering the pain shooting through my head as I hit the ground. "You pushed me," I say quietly.

Luke presses his lips together. "You fell," he corrects.

"No, Luke, you pushed me," I say louder, my voice shaking a bit. Luke looks unsure of what to do, just staring at me with narrowed eyes. He stays silent, his icy blue eyes staring into mine.

"I-- I don't know if I can do this anymore, Luke," I say softly, moving away from the blonde. Luke looks confused.

"Do what?"

"This, Luke! Us!" I say, tears swelling up in my eyes. "You scare me. I'm scared to do anything because I'm afraid to make you angry."

Luke doesn't say anything for a moment, looking confused. Then he rolls his eyes and says, "You're not making any sense. Sit down."

My voice cracks. "I love you, Luke. I love you more than anything, but--" I stop, looking down at the engagement ring sitting on my finger. My lungs shudder as I pull it off, desperately throwing it on the floor by Luke's feet.

Luke stares at it in shock. "What the hell, Calum?" His voice raises into a yell, and I force myself not to back down like I usually do.

"I can't do this anymore. I can't," I say quickly, watching him turn on me. His angered face slowly melts into a more desperate one, and his voice becomes stern.

"You can't do this to me, Calum. You can't leave, I-- I can't handle it if you left," Luke says, heartbreakingly upset, and I falter a bit. His blue eyes turn glassy, and he takes a small step forward. "Please."

A voice in the back of my mind knows exactly what he's doing, but I can't stop myself from staying put where I stand. Luke takes another step forward, looking awfully desperate.

"You can't do this to me. You're not allowed to leave, I won't let you. You can't-- you can't leave. Not like my mum did with my dad."

I swallow roughly, tears pricking in my eyes. I back away a bit, but my back presses against the wall and Luke steps closer to me before I can turn away. He grabs my jaw in his hand, forcing me to look straight into his icy blue eyes. Panic drips into my veins.

Before I can move, the door slams open. I turn around, seeing the person I would least expect walk into the foyer, locking eyes with me.

My father stands in the middle of the foyer, looking horribly out of place. Behind him, in the doorway, stands Ashton, looking more worried than I've ever seen him.

I turn back to Luke, who looks even more confused than he did before. "Mr. Hood?"

"Luke," I say, catching his attention. My voice trembles. "I'm leaving. And-- and I'm not going to come back."

Luke's expression changes, becoming furious. "God damn it, Calum!" His voice cracks, and a few tears roll down his cheeks. He grabs a glass vase from the table and hurdles it toward me. I dodge it just in time, the glass shattering against the wall, breaking whatever trance my father was in.

He storms towards Luke, anger in his eyes. "You hurt my son. You put him in the hospital."

"Fuck off!" Luke shouts, trying to slip back my dad to get to me, but my father pins Luke against the wall, slamming his fist against my ex-fiancé's face.

I stand, frozen as my father and Luke fight in anger, not knowing what to do. A part of me whispers that Luke is getting what he deserves and wants to go up and hug my father, while the other part hurts to see the man I love get punched so hard in the face.

Before I can decide what to do, Ashton appears beside me, his calming hazel eyes catching my frenzied ones. He looks like the eye of a hurricane, his face completely at peace as I hear Luke yelling in the background. He holds my gaze, raising his eyebrows.

"Luke, he--" I stop, my throat choking up. I want to move, I want to leave, but my feet seem planted to the floor. I can't seem to walk out. I know Luke will follow me, he'll grab my arm and slam his fist against my cheek before throwing me into our bedroom and scolding me for trying to leave. He'll keep me here, messing up my head with his deep kisses and charming smiles, his gentle voice. I can feel the panic rising in my throat.

"I know," Ashton says gently. "I know. I'm going to help you, okay?"

I nod, trying to stop the tears from rolling down my cheeks. Ashton nods before passing me, rushing past my father and Luke and disappearing into me and Luke's bedroom. I watch him with frantic eyes, and then I look at my father, angered eyes and a bloody lip.

Luke pushes off the wall, turning to me frantically. His eyes are swollen red, and I realize with a jolt that I've never seen Luke cry before. He catches my gaze and holds it.

"Please, Calum," Luke says, his voice uncharacteristically broken. It doesn't even seem like him. "Please don't leave me. I need you."

His voice makes me want to fall back into his arms and let him kiss my cheek, and it takes every will in my body to stay put.

"I can't stay, Luke," I mumble. Luke looks like he might break. "I can't."

Ashton comes back down the stairs, holding a suitcase overflowing with what looks to be my belongings. He falters when he sees Luke staring at me, what looks to be a broken nose and a soon to be bruised jaw standing out on his face.

"Don't do this," Luke says as Ashton returns to my side. "I love you, please don't do this.

Ashton suddenly narrows his eyes at the blonde. "This isn't love, Luke! I've watched Calum come into work this entire year with bruises all over him. That's not love."

Tears slip out of Luke's eyes, his expression angry but horribly desperate at the same time. Ashton's words ring true in my ears, and I step away from Luke, moving towards the door. I want to tell Ashton that it's all Luke has ever known, this behavior. He learned it from his father and he never experienced love like other people. He doesn't know how to handle affection. But I turn towards Ashton instead. I'm done defending his actions, as much as it makes me hurt.

"Come on," Ashton says. "Let's get you out of here."

---
A/N: And so it begins...

I quit my babysitting job the other day and now I'm 103% sure the mother hates me but whatcha gonna do

I also went to the dermatologist the other day and I forgot to wash off my temporary one direction tattoo that I put on my wrist and it's of that one where they were tiny babies right after X factor and the dermatologist was like I'm gonna need you to wash that off so that I can check the skin underneath?? and I could feel the judgement so hard

Anyway. Back to the story. Remind me to have shorter author's notes so I don't bore you all to death haha thank you, as always, for reading. Can't thank you enough. Please vote and comment if you feel like it.

Love you to the moon.

-Grace