zero ; l.h.

her

he hates her.

he hates her.

noelle's bloodshot eyes were glued to the pitch black ceiling above her. sleep wasn't an option, although calum had told her it would help if she got even a little.

sleep wouldn't fix what went wrong with luke. it wouldn't take her back in time so she could stop being so goddamn inconsistent and just love the boy to the best of her ability. it wouldn't take back the fact that she'd driven him away.

she never would've guessed that being so close to him - just a few miles away - would make her feel so much farther. by coming to brooklyn, noelle had hoped to mend their broken relationship, but now she realized that it was too late for that.

everything was much worse than 'broken'. everything was unfixable.

it wasn't until she felt part of the bed deflate that she realized someone had entered the room and was sitting near her. she jolted into a sitting position and leaned back against her palms.

"so you are awake," calum mused quietly, swinging his legs onto the mattress.

her eyebrows furrowed, "what are you doing here? it's nearly two in the morning, you should be sleeping."

"you should be too," he countered. "talk to me, ellie. i don't know much, but i know you're hurting."

"i should've done something earlier," she bit her lip. "this is all my fault. the miles didn't separate us, i did. i made him feel like he meant nothing when in reality he meant everything."

"then tell him that. scream it to the heavens if you have to. don't let this end without him knowing."

"i doubt he'll believe me. he's probably angry enough that he won't listen to anything."

noelle barely made out his shrug, "you never know unless you try."

"trying is scary," her voice broke and she hugged her knees to her chest.

silence filled the void between the two, though there was a lack of tension in the air that eased the muscles in her shoulders.

"how did it feel?" he asked suddenly.

"how did what feel?"

"finding luke on the roof. being with him."

a multitude of words and emotions flooded her, but she could only utter a few simple words.

"it felt like watching the sun rise."

a warmth spread across her forehead as calum ghosted his lips against the skin carefully before heading towards the door.

"my advice? keep watching."

then he exited the room, leaving her with a much heavier mind than before.

-

despite their deep conversation just hours previous, calum was strangely normal when she saw him again in the morning. he greeted her cheerfully and talked to her throughout the entirety of breakfast without even mentioning a thing about their exchange.

"we have a guest coming to see you, by the way," he announced after putting away dishes and plopping down next to her on the couch.

"is it—"

"no," came the abrupt response. "it's someone else. but i think you'll be happy to see him."

"if you say so," she muttered skeptically.

an hour or two later of mind numbing television, the doorbell rang and calum went to answer the door. noelle twisted her torso to watch him open the door and the corners of her lips turned upwards when she saw the person standing on the other side.