Healed//l.h a.u

chapter seventeen

Luke;
make sure to read the author's note

Secrets tarnish the person we show to the ones who question our wellbeing. The scary factor of it all, is that secrets are meant to be discreet but they are far from it. Secrets create alterations in your mental limitation, the more you store away the less stability you have with issues that concern you. They are the reason why the ones who were once able to swim through the waves are now frighten when splashed.

I handled the pressure of containing the most dark truths of my life. Sometimes, I spent so much valuable time sealing information that frustration seemed to be strangling me. The secrets I had were dangerous because they were the memories of my child and teenager years. They were the nights where my bloodshot eyed father would stumble into my room, the taste of alcohol thick in his mouth while his lethal hands bruised his false love all over me. The days I spent with a girl who only found comfort in self destruction. The parties where though the grinding and false laughter I allowed substances into my body that I was aware was damaging me. The sleepless nights I spent pacing my hotel room, hands shaky with pills and lips mumbling all my regrets. All these secrets were only shared to a few ears, but I began to wonder if only in a few days these sad moments would be plastered over the world for people's enjoyment.

My mind drowned in curiosity the moment I left Blaze's house. My hands gravitated towards my phone, my fingers scrolling eagerly through each post. A pain spread across my chest the second my eyes witnessed all the photos that managed to find themselves pouring negativity in a life I tried so hard to keep my past from. Continuing my drive to the anticipated meeting, my thoughts couldn't help but explode with questions of what was this person's motive to release these photos. Did they do it because of the album release? Was it one of the members in our crew who thought that the band needed more attention? Was it one the boys, was it Tiffany? Rain? .. Blaze? l

No, no, there's no way she would of done it.

By the time I reached the destination, I felt drowsy by all the accusations that filled my mind. Walking past the reception area, I couldn't help but notice a few glares sent in my direction. I shook it off, my head set on my most important problem. With the uneasiness that scattered within me, I twisted the knob of my manger's office. I was greeted with stressed faces, rushing around the large space with papers and phones pressed to their ears. I felt even more perplexed when I saw Calum who sat in one of the chairs, embarrassment clear on his face.

"Hemmings." My manager, Stan grumbled, his eyes heavy in exhaustion. "You're late."

"Traffic was bad." I claimed, moving towards the vacant seat next to Calum.

Stan stepped towards his maple wooden desk, piled with paperwork and his laptop that ringed every few minutes. I watched as he sat down, his back pressed against his long leather chair as he fixed the cuffs of his gray suit. My eyes fell towards Calum, whose legs bounced against the cream carpeting.

"You guys were some bitches as teenagers, weren't you?" Stan rhetorically asked, his dark eyes full of integrity.

"What the fuc-"

Calum diverted his stare to me. "Last night, someone hacked into Clifford's security cameras back at home. They managed to find everything, even back in 2012."

"So this asshole, who decides they want to bust their ass to hack into the Michael Clifford's house's cameras go so deep into footage that happened three years ago? What's there motive?" I questioned, slouching in my seat.

Cal's eyes were glassy as he responded. "We- we think Blaze is their motive. It-it just makes the most sense, you know? I mean this stuff they decided to show was from three years ago and each part had something to do with your's and Blaze's relationship. I mean, if they were after us, don't you think they would of done this sooner or you know, give out more information about us personally?"