h i m

luke was getting pretty fucking tired of noelle hanging up on him.

it'd gotten to the point where he had to physically force himself out of marie's house so he wouldn't throw his phone at her wall in a fit of anger. afterwards, he attempted to calm down by going around the neighborhood a couple of times, but that did close to nothing in terms of quenching his fiery temper.

ashton, being the only one in the house at the time, nearly fell off the couch as luke slammed the door closed upon entering.

"do i want to know?" ashton asked carefully, getting to his feet.

"she always does this," luke growled as he paced back and forth in the living room. "noelle always plays around with my feelings and i hate it! i hate it so much. god, i hate her!"

the curly headed boy flinched, "you don't mean that."

"oh, but the things is," he scoffed in reply, "i do."

this wasn't luke, not at all. the person ashton was used to seeing had vanished behind this wall of pent up hurt and hopelessness. the wild look in his usually calm eyes and the way his fists were clenched so tightly that even his short nails could've broken the skin of his palm were signs of this.

this scared ashton. he knew how far luke's emotions could take him; hell, his emotions led him to nearly jumping off a building.

but sadness was far different than rage. the latter of the two was unpredictable, it made the one who felt it blind to reason. in other words, luke was a ticking time bomb and ashton had to defuse him before it was too late.

"stop and listen to yourself, man," he put a hand on the taller blonde's shoulder and stopped his pacing. "this is noelle we're talking about. the girl you love."

"that's where you're wrong," luke jerked away from his touch and laughed emotionlessly. "i hate her."

then he walked up the stairs and into his room, paying no mind to ashton's horrified expression and the guilt that was bubbling in the pit of his stomach.

-

luke's eyes cracked open slightly as his door creaked open after hours of complete silence.

"so," calum leaned against the doorframe, "what's this i hear about you hating noelle?"

"save me the lecture," the blonde sat up, swinging his legs over the edge of the bed. "i said what i said."

as nonchalant as he was trying to be, luke was all too aware that if he wanted to, he would take the words back in an instant. the only thing stopping him from doing so was that nagging feeling of neglect and loneliness that - although always present - seemed to be stronger than ever.

"that's it then? after everything you two have been through, you're just going to say that you hate her and that's the end of it all?"

luke rolled his eyes and stood with his arms crossed over his chest, "i'm not expecting you to understand, so stop trying to pretend you do."

"you're unbelievable," calum sneered. "this isn't just about you, luke. this is about her too!"

"why should i pay any consideration to her feelings when she hasn't done the same for me?"

"get your head out of your ass."

a pause.

"what did you just say to me?"

brown eyes narrowed as they met blue in a heated stare, "you heard me. get your head out of your ass."

"you'd better watch what you say, hood," luke threatened lowly, jabbing a finger in his direction.

"you know what? i don't think i will. not until you quit blaming all of this on ellie."

luke's stomach churned, but he hid his hurt with a sly smirk. "you're on a nickname basis with her now? enjoy my leftovers, mate."

whether it be because of his patronizing tone or the fact that he was treating noelle so poorly, something within calum snapped and in a blur, a fist collided with luke's cheek, sending him to the floor with a groan as he cradled his face.

"what is wrong with you?" he yelled, hands still clenched tightly as a silent warning that he would gladly repeat his actions if necessary. "she's giving up so much and you have no idea. she enrolled in some crappy college in brooklyn behind her parents' back! for you!"

"she...what?" the response fell from luke's lips a little too softly.

"oh now you care?" the raven haired boy retorted. "pathetic. absolutely pathetic."

luke silently agreed, but he still felt that he had every right to act the way he had, so he made no move to acknowledge his statement.

"i'm picking her up at the airport tomorrow. don't bother coming to see her until you've fixed your attitude."

the door then slammed. or was that his heart breaking? honestly, he couldn't tell the difference anymore.

-

h e r

"yes, i'm sure i have everything," noelle huffed as she unloaded her suitcase from the car.

"your furniture should be there before your move-in day," her dad reminded her for the umpteenth time. "are you absolutely positive that your friend is okay with you staying over for the summer?"

for some reason, calum had called her early that morning to convince her to stay with him and his family rather than with luke and the irwins. confused, but mostly irritated from being woken up so unpleasantly, she gave in after a while, though not without making him swear to give her a proper explanation later on.

"yeah, everything's all clear."

she shut the trunk door and faced her three family members with a forced smile. even with all the things that'd happened, she really would miss them. after all, they were her family, and she couldn't deny that if she tried.

"i can't believe you're really leaving," her mom didn't bother to wipe her tears and noelle simply frowned, pulling the older woman in to a hug.

"i'll be okay, mom," she murmured. "i'll call as often as i can."

"please be careful out there, alright?" her dad sternly told her, joining in the embrace.

noelle nodded and released the two after an elongated period of silence. not too soon after, her waist was surrounded by two thin arms and she held back a whimper as she turned to run a soothing hand down her slightly shorter brother's back.

"i wish you didn't have to go," kaiden's voice cracked as he buried his tear-streaked face into her shoulder. "i'm gonna miss you so much."

"take care of mom and dad," she whispered, knowing that she'd lose it if she talked too loudly. "and no girls. i'll know if you start dating someone, you know."

he laughed, the action vibrating against her arm, "will you really?"

"call it sister's intuition," she teased.

"i'm strangely okay with that," he pulled away and wiped his face with the back of his hand with a grin. "go get 'em, elle."

she pecked his cheek warmly, "you know it."

then she hoisted one bag over her shoulder and pulled the rolling bag towards her. noelle's heart was heavy as she walked towards the terminal, but not without constant looks over her shoulder to assure herself that her family was still there.

"i love you guys!" she hollered just before she reached the check-in area. a faint call of 'we love you too' reached her ears, and she felt her shoulders relax slightly as she turned away once more.

this time, she told herself that she wouldn't look back.

-

"ellie!" was the first thing she heard once she exited the brooklyn airport.

her head whipped around to find calum standing a couple yards away, arms waving around in the air wildly as he excitedly gestured her over. the thrill of excitement sent goosebumps up her arms and she nearly dropped her bags as she stumbled over to him.

"cal!" she greeted as she wrapped her arms around him. "hey stranger."

he chuckled while he rocked side to side happily, "good flight?"

"as good as a flight can get, i guess," she shrugged, stepping back from his hug. "hope you weren't waiting too long."

"nope. i just got here actually," he hummed and took both of her bags from her, leading her towards his car. "how are things?"

"tiring," noelle sighed. "i've made the discovery that i can't actually run on one cup of coffee for more than twelve hours."

"incredible," calum cooed sarcastically. "i would never have guessed."

she rolled her eyes and watched him shove her bags into the trunk of his vehicle, "shut up. it was a surprise to me."

"i bet it was," he shook his head in amusement. "my house is about an hour away from here, so we'd better get going."

the pair got into their respective seats in the car and buckled up, calum driving off almost immediately after. the radio filled the calm silence between the two, and noelle leaned back against the seat comfortably.

eventually, her gaze drifted to her companion and she noticed dark bruises along his knuckles. an involuntary gasp left her lips and he spared a glance at her from the corner of his eye.

"what happened to your hand?" she wondered aloud, running a gentle finger along the purplish coloring.

calum's hands gripped the steering wheel tighter and the muscle in his jaw jumped as he remembered the events from the day before. he didn't know how to tell noelle about luke and what he said, but he knew that he had to eventually.

"it's...it's a long story," he managed through gritted teeth.

"we have an hour," she raised a brow. "i'm sure that's enough time, is it not?"

he nearly laughed loudly at her persistence, but he found it difficult to even swallow due to his suddenly dry throat.

"i kinda got into a fight," he admitted quietly. "it was more verbal than physical, though."

"who was it with?"

rather than answering, he winced.

"cal?"

noelle was growing weary of his reluctance to answer her simple question.

"calum."

"it was luke," he blurted, trying not to pry his hands off the steering wheel to cover his mouth when he caught sight of her horrified face. "i'm sorry. i was just trying to help and i know it's not my place to meddle, but i couldn't stand the things he was saying about you, ellie."

her lip was caught under her teeth as she wrung her hands together worriedly, "what'd he say?"

"i don't think you should hear it from me."

"was it really that bad?"

the scared tone in her voice made a cold chill go down his spine as he nodded solemnly. he cared so much about this girl and he didn't know if he could stand to see the devastated look on her face, so he kept his eyes firmly on the road.

"i need you to tell me," noelle pleaded.

"i can't do that to you," came the argument. "i just can't."

"if it's as bad as you say it is, then hearing it straight from luke will just break my heart more."

and it really would've. noelle had a lot of scenarios going around in her head at that moment, all of which were negative, and she assumed that maybe hearing it from calum would ease the pain.

"he said..." calum breathed out and tried to rid himself of the lump in his throat. "he said that he hates you."

she was wrong. hearing it from calum didn't ease the pain at all. not even a little bit.

+

i have been gone for so long and i apologize!! this chapter is also really dramatic and terrible i'm so sorry you guys deserve better after waiting for so long :-(

but thank you for sticking around and reading, i really appreciate every single one of you so much!! it means a lot that you all support this even when i'm so bad at updating (sosososos sorry)

QUESTION OF THE DAY: what are the three things you would wish for if you found a genie?