Before fame; a 5sos fanfic

Chapter 14

Ashton:

After ordering the pizza and putting in a movie, I noticed that Michael kept looking at Clarissa. Something had definitely happened while they were out. The big question; what? What happened? I wanted to ask them, but with the way they were acting towards each other, it seemed quite clear. Well, to me. I didn't like the thought, it made me jealous and upset, but I had to confirm it. I pulled my phone out and opened Clarissa's chat.

Ashton_is_the_beeeesssstttt_: Claire, what happened? And don't say nothing, the sexual tension is too evident for it to be 'nothing'. Did you kiss Michael?

Clarissa read the text and her head shot up. She gave me a look and I just shrugged.

ClaireBear97: what makes you think I kissed Michael?

Ashton_is_the_beeeesssstttt_: Like I said, sexual tension. You're not even looking at him but he can't stop looking over at you.

ClaireBear97: Even if I did kiss him, you know I wouldn't tell anyone. Calum would skin Michael alive and serve him, in pieces, to the dinosaurs in the basement.

I looked over at Claire. She was already looking at me, and wiggled her eyesbrows when I caught her eye. I giggled- manly, I know- and looked back down at my phone.

Ashton_is_the_beeeesssstttt_: I don't think any dinosaurs are gonna fit in that tiny ass basement of yours.

ClaireBear97: Do stuffed dinosaurs count?

Ashton_is_the_beeeesssstttt_: No

Clarissa giggled and stood up, walking into the kitchen. Michael got up and followed her, and I could tell Calum and Luke were curious. I heard murmured conversation coming from the kitchen, and then silence that stretched on for a minute before I realized that they were either dead, unconscious, eating or kissing.

Probably kissing.

But who knows, maybe Clarissa's dinosaurs got a little mad and stomped on them...

No, they were definitely kissing.

Clarissa's giggles sounded from the kitchen, and Luke smiled faintly at the sound. Claire had the cutest giggle ever, and at the same time it sounded sexy. There was silence again until a car door slammed. Everyone's eyes shot to the front door, waiting for Mrs. Hood to barge in. Soon after a man that I did not recognize and was certainly not Mrs. Hood stumbled in the door, and walked into the kitchen. He looked drunk by the way he was staggering, and he was headed to the room with Clarissa in it. Call me overprotective, but I was worried. Who was he? Why was he drunk? I got up along with Calum and Luke and together we talked to the kitchen. Michael was in there... Alone.

"Where did she go? Where did he go?" Calum asked, clearly distraught. Michael was holding his head, almost as if he had a headache. I walked up to him and took his hand away, surprised to see a little bit of blood smeared on his temple. Did that man hit him? At that point a million thoughts, theories and questions were swirling around in my head. Was that man a criminal? A rapist? A serial killer? Was Clarissa going to get hurt? Or maybe she left for a reason far from the man. All I knew... Was that I knew nothing. I looked at Luke pointedly, and he nodded before getting a wet cloth for Michael and then running out of the room, probably to get pain pills. I held the cloth to Michael's head and he winced. I noticed that he kept glancing at the door that led to the basement. Why was he looking at the basement door? Did he want to meet the dinosaurs? Or... Was that where Clarissa and the man went? I handed Michael the cloth and walked to the door. I put my ear against it but heard nothing. Maybe I was just being paranoid, but something told me that I would find Clarissa behind the door. I slowly turned the knob and pushed the door open. Thankfully, I was able to do so silently. I looked down the stairs into a room that was usually pitch black, but not tonight. There was a lightbulb hanging from a sting attached to the ceiling, eerily swinging back and forth like a horror movie scene. The light was dim, and the shadows seemed to move. There was old ripped furniture in all corners of the room. Random cardboard boxes and articles of clothing were strewn about the room. It looked really creepy, to say the least. The walls were a dirty beige colour and the floor was uneven concrete. On one of the overstuffed chairs in the room sat a giant one-eyed teddy bear. On the other sat....

You guessed it; the one and only Clarissa Hood.

Claire was staring into the darkness on the other side of the room. She hadn't noticed me yet, which was probably a good thing. She was fiddling with the bottom of her shirt, and she looked nervous. Why would she look nervous? Then I realized; that man must be down here somewhere. I looked around the room, but there were too many shadows that could be housing a grown man. I didn't see him anywhere I was actually kind of scared- there was an unfamiliar, intoxicated man in the house, and I didn't know if we were in danger. I considered calling the police, but Clarissa's actions suggested that she knew this stranger. I decided to wait and see how this played out.

I heard voices coming from upstairs, and I guess Clarissa heard it too, because her head whipped around to look at the door.

The door I was standing in front of.

Her eyebrows furrowed upon seeing me, and her eyes flicked to the shadows she had been staring at before she looked back to me. She looked back into the darkness. All was still for a moment until, all of a sudden, Claire shot up from the chair and ran past me and out the door, grabbing my hand in the process. She pulled me though the door and locked it once we were through. I looked at her questioningly and she shook her head before straightening and walking into the kitchen. As expected, Calum ran up to Claire and enveloped her in a hug before dragging her into the corner. They talked animatedly for five minutes before Calum sighed and put his forehead against Claire's. They whispered a few words back and forth while Luke, Michael and I sat around the kitchen in silence. Eventually, Claire came into the kitchen and took Michael's hand, looking at his wound with concern. He smiled and stared at her while she addressed the rest of us. "Michael is staying here tonight. I don't want his mom to hate me for sending him home with head trauma. If you guys wanna stay too, go for it." She rubbed her temples as if she had a headache, and I felt bad for her. Such a beautiful, wonderful girl shouldn't have to go through the things Claire did. She didn't deserve it.

She turned to face Michael again. "I don't want you to go to school, tomorrow, either. are staying in from school tomorrow. You can stay here, I'll stay with you." She sighed, clearly exhausted. "I'm going to bed. I'm freaking exhausted."
Claire left to her room, leaving Calum, Michael, Luke and I in the kitchen.

"So, who was the... Guy?" Luke asked, looking expectantly at Calum. Cal sighed and ran a hand down his face. "I honestly couldn't tell you. It could be Clarissa's father, I only ever saw him, like, twice when I was five. It could be Masons dad." Mason? I had never heard of a Mason. This while situation seemed bizarre; Calum didn't know the man his sister had just locked in their basement, the man that gave one of my best friend's' a head wound.

Heaving a sigh, I decided I didn't have the motivation to go to school in the morning. I stood up and faced the two boys.

"Sleepover?"