g w e n:

My last term at Mesa Vale was coming to a close. There was only a few more weeks till term ended and once school was over, it meant Christmas, New Years, and then I was back home in America. I've been in Sydney for six months, and I was really missing home. I missed my family, my friends, and my old teachers. The more I thought about my old life back home in San Diego, did my stomach hurt from being homesick. But then I would look across the table to see the dark haired boy I fell for, and immediately my stomach would churn in fear of losing him.

Calum sat bent over, his eyes concentrated on his work. In preparation for the end of the term, meant prepping for our final project. I was surprised to see him so engrossed in our school work, but it made me smile. He knew how important my grades were, and for Calum to pull his weight meant a lot to me. But in midst of his pen scratching across the paper, there was something off about my tattooed boyfriend my mind kept wondering about.

"Are you gonna stare at me all day Princess, or actually do some work?" Calum teased, lifting his gaze from his paper to me.

I blushed, "I was just admiring your work ethic, that's all."

"I can get shit done," Calum snapped suddenly.

"I-I know," I blinked my eyes, surprised by the mood swing, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend you."

The two of us stayed silent for a moment, Calum going back to his school work. I could see a different boy sitting in front of me and I was worried. Dark bags embellished beneath his eyes, his hair was awry, and stress seemed to eat up everything that made him light. Maybe I was over thinking things? Maybe he was just tired, but I had a gut feeling in my stomach that something dark was lingering in Calum's mind.

"Is there something going on?" I asked, deciding to risk another mood swing in exchange for figuring out the reason behind Calum's behavior.

He looked up, "yea, you're being less studious today," he chuckled, "come on baby, get some work done."

"Seriously," I sighed, gazing at Calum with a somber expression, "you've been moody this entire week."

"I can't have an off day?" He responded, annoyance in his tone.

"I feel like something is bothering you, and I wish you'd tell me so I could help you," I expressed, "did I do something to upset you?"

"The only thing that's upsetting me is your pestering," Calum scowled. "There's nothing wrong with me. I just wanna get this shit done."

"I'm sorry," I shrugged, "but I don't believe you."

And that's what instigated it all. Calum was beyond angry and irritated with me. He slammed his book shut, the papers in between the pages crumpling as he did so. He backed his chair up, the metal legs screeching loudly across the linoleum floors and prompting the entire class to look at the classroom fiasco.

"Mr. Hood, care to share why you've decided to create a scene?" Our teacher marched over to Calum from the other end of the class, her arms folded over and her face glazed with curiosity.

"It's none of your business," Calum snarled. "And if you try to stop me from leaving this room, then you'll get more than just a scene... you'll get a whole production."

Then just like that, Calum snatched his backpack off of the floor, slung it around one shoulder and stomped out of the classroom, slamming the door behind him. The entire class sat in complete silence after the theatrical rampage - even our teacher stood shocked, momentarily losing her ability to move or to speak.

As my eyes drifted from the still stunned teacher, to my peers around me, I quickly discovered that their eyes were planted on me. The attention made me feel nervous, as my back heated up in reaction. I cowered in my seat, sinking into it and hoping I could just sink right into the floor. I didn't even want to contemplate what was going through my classmate's heads. It was already odd enough that the all American good girl was dating the resident bad boy, and now Calum's angry venture out of class would for sure be the hot topic of Mesa Vale gossip.

And I was right.

When lunchtime rolled around and everyone sat in the cafeteria consuming mediocre school food, eyes would often drift over to me. Whispering would ensue, and even pointing would blatantly tell me I was being talked about. I didn't even have an appetite as I sat picking at the sandwich Mrs. Hemmings so kindly made for me.

"Do you wanna ditch this place and eat somewhere else?" Charlie asked, detecting the anguish that perpetually wavered across my skin.

"No," I reluctantly denied her kind offer, "I don't want them to know I'm bothered by it."

"I guess so," Charlie shrugged, "but I don't like that you're being talked about. It's gross and I wish everyone would talk about something else."

"Yea, but this is high school. I don't want to be talked about, but it's better me than someone who seriously can't handle the spotlight - and trust me, I barely can handle the attention," I cringed, seizing my bottle of juice and twisting the cap open.

"Speaking of talking... do you want to?" Charlie smiled reassuringly.

I took a sip of the citrus flavored beverage, "a little, yea. I'm just worried about Calum. Whatever secret he's keeping, it's hurting him. And I'm not stupid, I know it has to do with his job."

"You're more than correct," Charlie gestured for my sandwich, and I responded by pushing it towards her. "When I was with Ashton," she paused for a moment, and I could sense a million flashes of memories bombard her mind, "I was always worried about him. We'd fight often because he was so stressed out... may I give you a piece of advice?"

"Yes, please," I nodded my head several times, and you could sense the desperation exuding out from me.

"You need to make sure Calum doesn't love his work more than he loves you. That's the main reason why Ashton and I broke up in the first place. He loved me, I know he did. But it seemed as if he was more dedicated to his work," Charlie explained, a sadness that radiated from her eyes. There was a chill; an eerie touch of gloom that caused me to shudder in listening to Charlie speak.

"How did you handle the stress of it all? I mean every time Calum goes to work I get this ugly feeling in the pit of my stomach that I can't eschew. I always get so worried that he's going to get hurt," I bit my bottom lip, my brain immersed in the unthinkable.

"You just try to think positive all the time," Charlie shrugged, "you try to convince yourself that Calum is smarter than the bad guys."

"The bad guys are smart too," I murmured, dropping my chin to my chest. I shivered just at the grimy thought of Fiora's chilling presence.

Charlie sighed. She knew. She knew it better than I did, when it came to boyfriends in bad businesses. She lost Ashton because of Fiora, and I would do anything to keep Calum from the same fate.

"If there's anything I could change about the past," Charlie began, "it's trying harder to get Ashton out of the business. The stress ate me up inside, that instead of doing all I could to convince Ashton to leave Fiora," she shuddered, "I broke up with him instead. I thought that if we weren't together, the stress would disappear... it didn't."

As I opened my mouth to speak, the bell rang. With our conversation irrupted by the blaring cue that dismissed us all to class, Charlie and I stood up from the table. We gathered our things in the midst of all the other students, and headed out to class. We were quiet as we strolled through the corridors, which was different as we tend to be hysterically laughing about something. Our prior conversation put a damper on our mood, but it was a conversation that had to happen.

I've been thinking about Calum, about Fiora, about everything in that realm that my thoughts have been harboring in my mind for ages without a way out. Despite the morbid discussion, it felt good to get my feelings out. However, in doing so, I was faced with a future I was determined to make happen. Calum was going to get mad; he was bound to argue, yell at me, and even walk away - but I'd deal with it as long as he ceases all association with Fiora.

The rest of my school day went by with a blah. It was as if I were in black and white cruise control, and the rest of my peers were living in color. I didn't want to be in school anymore, and couldn't wait till it was over. When it was, I raced out of the campus and headed out towards the bus stop. It was originally planned that Calum and I would head out to the Outreach Center together, but after this morning's catastrophe, there was no way Calum was going to spend his afternoon volunteering.

As I trekked through the parking lot, my eyes pinned to the corner bus stop, I noticed Calum's car in its usual space at the end. I assumed he left campus the moment he stormed out of class, as I hadn't seen him all day, but with his car parked right before me, I wasn't so sure anymore. Then zooming in with rapid speed, a black SUV swerved into the empty stall right next to Calum's vehicle. One of the doors swung open and when it did, Calum was hurled out of the car. His body hit the asphalt, and he cringed in pain.

"Calum!" I screamed at the top of my lungs, running at full sprint over to the wounded boy. I dropped to my knees the second I came in contact with him, and gently held him.

"Gwen?" His voice cracked as he looked up at me, but when he did, I saw that his face was bruised.

"What's going on?" I shrieked, tenderly caressing his face in my hands. That's when I remembered the SUV, and turned my head over my shoulder. But when I did, an all too familiar feeling rushed through my veins. My heart seemed to stop pumping, my breathing stop, and my entire body went completely numb.

In all his sinister opulence, Fiora sat in the car with a menacing look on his face. His extremely light, hazel eyes locked eyes with mine and that macabre feeling threatened to knock me out. As the SUV slowly drove away, Fiora winked at me and the hairs on my arms stood on end. The tinted window raised, but before it completely barricaded his face, Fiora shot me a daunting smirk.

When the car rolled away, I immediately turned to Calum with tears in my eyes. I had no words to say - I was speechless. So instead I cried. Hard. I buried my face into my hands, and even though the Australian sun was baring down on me, I still continued to shiver uncontrollably. But that's when I felt it; when I felt one of my favorite feelings in the entire world.

Calum's arms.

They were wrapped tightly around my shaking body; holding me protectively as I continued to whimper out of fear. Calum's chin rested against my shoulder, rubbing my back with absolute care, and every once in a while he would give me a kiss on my temple.

"Princess," his voice was deep, raspy, and brimming with sorrow, "stop crying, please. I'm sorry baby, I'm sorry."

I lifted my head to look at Calum, "please stop all of this. I don't want you to get hurt, anymore."

"Gwen, you know it's not that simple," he kissed me lightly on the lips, "I can't just stop. Fiora won't let me."

"But you've been so loyal to him for so long," I cried, "can't you just retire? All of this is killing me inside Cal, and I can't handle it. I'm always worried about you and I just don't want you to end up like Ashton."

"Hey, hey, hey," Calum whispered, he held my face in his hands, "I'm not gonna end up like Ash, okay? I'm going to do all I can to get out of this. But for now, I need Fiora to continue believing I'm still on his side."

"No, Calum, no," I shook my head, whimpering uncontrollably, "I don't want you to pretend. I want you out of Fiora's business now."

Calum didn't say anything. He just tugged me back into his chest, softly rocking me in attempt to calm me down. Just the familiar scent of him that wafted into my nose was enough to make me feel better. But nothing was going to make me feel 100% content until Calum was no longer associated with Fiora. Until that happens, there was always going to be that looming darkness that turned my day dreams into nightmares, and my nightmares into reality.

Until then, my life would cease to be the dream I so desperately wished it were.

//

Raise your hands if you want Calum out of Fiora's business??? Unfortunately for Gwen, it's not gonna happen for a while.

I hope you all are enjoying this story so far! Thank you guys so much for reading, for voting, and for commenting. Also, for being patient when it takes me more than a week to update! I really appreciate you guys taking the time to give this story a chance. Thank you so much for that! <33