Pieces of You

Chapter Seven: Sweet

It was late, dark, and frigidly cold when I finally got back to the apartment. I locked my car and briskly walked to the building, walking up the stairs quietly so as to not disturb our neighbors. I froze when I heard an all too familiar laugh sound from what I knew had to be our balcony.

"So why don't you like little anyway? Obviously we love her... I just never understood." Michael's voice sounds off in the distance. I feel an almost overwhelming guilt pass through me knowing I'm eavesdropping.

But I have to know the answer.

"I don't hate her, but she's just so... I don't know it's going to sound dumb." He stops, and I hear glass clinking which tells me their drinking.

"She's almost sickeningly sweet I guess? Something about it just irked me I guess, and then she's so clueless and innocent too. She said she didn't need a babysitter that first night and then got shitfaced like an idiot. I don't like babysitting, mate. I did my best obviously, I wouldn't turn anyone away in the state she was in. That was it though, I had to help her. I couldn't just leave it, you know? I'm not that much of an ass." He finishes, and Michael lets out a laugh, making my blood boil. The fucker laughed.

I'm stopped almost directly under the boards of the balcony they're sat on, my chest burning with heaving breaths from my anger. I can smell the smoke, I know it's Luke's.

As I'm seething in the dark my phone starts to ring really, really loud. I scramble to pull it out of my pocket, but it's too late. It's my custom ringtone for Cal and I know Michael would recognize it anywhere.

"Shit." I hear him mutter and the boards creak as he stands up. I silenced the ringing but didn't answer. I heard the door slam, and my heart is pounding with a fury in my chest.

"Little... I-" Michael runs up to me, rounding the stair corner quickly.

"Don't. Just don't." It comes out as barely a whisper, and he watches me with worry furrowed deep in his brows.

I cry when I'm angry, I can't help it. I'm not sad, I'm barely hurt by it even, but I'm so angry. My tear ducts begin to betray me, pricking my eyes with salty tears as I rush past him. I bolt up the remaining stairs and push the door open, finding Luke scowling in the entryway.

Okay, fuck maybe I am sad and maybe it really hurt more than I ever wanted it to. I shouldn't care what he thinks of me after everything he's done, but somehow I can't see him as a villain. I see him the way he was when we were kids with matching scraped up knees and muddy shoes. Something in him changed, and I don't know how or why he started to act the way he does now. It's like two different people, the Luke I've always known, the one that I saw in the hallway and hospital room. Then there's the way he looks at me now, and how he hates me.

"Eavesdrop much?" He asks sarcastically, his frame towering over me. It's bad enough he can see that I'm crying, but still typical of him to not even care.

I kick off my shoes and practically rip my coat from my body. I'm suddenly boiling hot from the rage flooding my small frame.

"Cami why didn't you answer your phone? You scared the shit out of me!" Calum's loud voice comes echoing down the hall.

"She was a bit busy, mate." Luke responds, his face returning to a pleasant smile for Calum.

He finally reaches us and sees me standing, red faced, and breathing heavily. He gives me a questioning look laced with concern.

I'm not like this often, completely overtaken by my own anger to the point of shaking and unclear thoughts. In fact, I've been numb this whole year and it's the first time I've felt anything so deeply. There's so much trying to push its way out of me, and I just want to fucking punch Luke. I want to punch anything, or run for miles until this feeling goes away.