3: pickup truck - kings of leon

= [unedited]

©alum

I could've easily gotten a speeding ticket when I went to pick Luke up; I was that concerned for him that I practically flew down the roads. When I got there, he'd been sitting on his skateboard in the middle of all the ramps, watching the road. I decided the most sensible thing would've been to take him to the hospital. He was drugged up on painkillers, but he'd probably be in agony when they wore off.

"Don't bleed on the seats!" I snapped, but immediately felt bad when I saw Luke's face droop.

My car was a heap of shit, but I didn't want it to look like I'd killed someone in the back of it. I told Luke to shut the door. He did as I asked, but waved to someone before he did so. I looked out of the window and saw a kid, about our age, riding around the skate park on a BMX. I drove off, and they waved back.

"Who was that?" I asked casually.

"She said she's going to look out for Mikey," Luke said, opening a fresh packet of tissues I'd just handed to him. He put the tissue on his nose, and snuggled into the back seats.

"Does she know him, then?"

"No, but she promised," Luke muttered sleepily.

"Don't go to sleep on me, Luke," I warned. "You might have concussion."

"The nurse said I was fine," Luke yawned.

"That nurse is such a dumbass. She said Mr. McCoy didn't need to go to hospital when I knocked him out," I reminded him.

He sat up slowly, nodding his head. "Will you put the radio on?"

I clicked a few buttons and tuned into a local station I liked that played indie stuff. Luke tapped his foot to the songs as we drove. Other than the music, the car ride was silent.

"Are you going to tell me what happened?" I asked as we pulled up in the A and E car park.

"Later," like said, stumbling out of the car. "When I'm feeling better."

I nodded and helped him through to reception.

=

It turns out Luke's nose wasn't broken but it was possible he'd be getting frequent nose bleeds for the next few weeks. The nurse didn't ask how he did it, she just raised her eyebrows when he walked through the door. He thanked her quietly when we left end, but that's about all he said the whole time.

I drove Luke home, and his brother Jack was sitting on the doorstep when I pulled up. Luke flipped him off, stepped out of the car and walked up to his brother. I waved to the two boys as I set off to my house. I put my kings of leon cd in, because my house was a good 15 minute drive from mine. That's a downside to living in such a spread out neighbourhood.

I parked my car outside the house, because we don't have a driveway. Me and mum live in a tiny two bedroomed house on the outskirts of town. Luke's family live in quite a big place in the middle of town. We don't need anything big because it's just mum and me. I locked my car and walked into the house.

"Where've you been?" Mum was sitting at the table eating spaghetti and drinking a glass of red wine. I sighed, sitting in the chair opposite her.

"Luke got in a fight and Michael's disappeared. Everything's kicked off," I said, rubbing my temples.

Mum nodded, got up and dished some pasta out for me. She poured me some water and set it all down in front of me. I tucked in hungrily, because I hadn't eaten lunch.

"Luke's mother didn't mention it at Zumba, but we presumed you were together because neither of you were home when we got back." Mum took a sip of her wine.

"His mum doesn't know yet," I said, slurping my spaghetti noisily.

"Poor love," my mum shook her head with sympathy. "He's a mummy's boy, Luke is, and it pains Liz to see him getting into trouble. Apparently he's become quite reserved at school, and he's dropping behind in maths."

I wanted to laugh, because Luke secretly confided in me once that he hated maths. It was his best subject, and he had to pretend to like it because his mum taught it. But at the same time, I was worried. I hoped Luke was okay at school without me. We didn't really hang around much there, but I'd been so busy worrying about how Michael was coping I'd forgotten about Luke.

"If they'd just let me go back..." I mumbled, causing mum to glare at me.

"Calum, its your fault, and your fault only, that that school won't let you back," mum set her fork down.

"Please, I don't want to start an argument," I said, standing up. "I was just saying. And I do feel bad, you know, I wish I hadn't done it."

Mum nodded, picking her fork up again and continuing to eat. "I know, Cal, it's not your fault. If your father hadn't left, if you'd grown up with a father figure in you life, we wouldn't be in this mess."

"It's not dad's fault," I shook my head. I hated it when mum makes out that everything is dad's doing. "He didn't just leave, you kicked him out!"

"Calum," mum warned, but I had already started.

"No, you don't understand! I wish I'd gone to live with dad in LA, I wish I didn't still I've in this shitty dump with you and your shitty friends gossiping! Mali should've stayed with you, I should've gone with dad. It's not fair. At least dad understands me, he gets why I did it. You just listen to your stupid friends and that stupid school and their fucked up advise, you don't listen to me. I hate you!" I yelled, my breaths becoming shallower. I stood up, tripping over the chair and leaning on the wall for support.

"Calum, go to your room," mum said quietly. "Think about what you've done. I want you to consider other peoples feelings, because if you blow off like that to someone who's not me, goodness knows what they'll do."

I stumbled up the stairs, my vision blurry. I felt bad, but I couldn't help it. Ever since my conversation with Mr. McCoy, the teacher I'd sort of beaten up, something inside me changed and now I'm finding it a lot harder to control my feelings. I just want to lash out all the time.

Maybe this boxing thing will help.

=

Basically Calum struggles with keeping his emotions to himself n shit

The first chapter was actually gonna be cal and cas meeting and this story wasn't gonna have the rest of the boys in but there you go.