Almost Alice » l.h

4.2

a m y

"What?! Alice, you're insane!" Calum cried as we sat together at the table in the dining room with Ashton and my sister.

Ashton put up a hand to stop Calum from shouting. "Cal, chill. If Alice wants to drop out of school and get a tutor then let her, it's her decision."

I sighed and rolled my eyes a little, knowing Alice was too focused on Calum to notice if I had an attitude about her decision. I was partly grumpy because the bruise forming on Alice's cheek was very noticeable so I couldn't stop thinking about how Luke had backhanded her across the face. I hadn't bothered trying to even text or call him, knowing I'd just let him sit and wait until Monday. Yeah, then he'd have it.

Despite the fact I didn't want Alice anywhere near Luke at this point, I still didn't want her dropping out of school. This was her last chance to make some memories with friends and she was just blowing it. How good could her memories of home schooling be? She was just by herself all day with our mom. At school, she could make memories, like the days she walked around the halls with Calum during photography, or hanging out with me and Cal and Luke - although he wouldn't be allowed to sit with us anymore - in the library during English, or listening to Michael and Violet bicker about something pointless while we all took bets on whose side Ashton would take when he showed up. They were small things but they were memories that she'd remember when she was old.

Hanging out with your mom all day, everyday for most of your school years is a dumb memory.

"Can you please keep your voice down?" Alice requested.

"For what?!" Calum asked, still shouting even though there was no need to.

I rested my cheek on my hand that was propped up by my elbow on the table, a bored expression on my face. "She hasn't told our parents yet."

Calum perked up immediately, a smirk on his face. "So there's still a chance they'll-"

"They won't say no." Alice and I replied at the same time, making Calum look at us warily as Ashton chuckled quietly beside me.

"Our parents will do whatever makes her most comfortable," I explained, "so if that means she wants to leave school, they'll let her and get her a tutor."

"I don't know why you're so upset, you didn't even want me to go to your school in the first place." Alice huffed, looking at me.

"I can't change my opinion on having you at school?" I asked, sitting up straighter. "Look, Al, I know some fucked up things have happened since you started going to school but it's been so much better with you there! I can't even imagine how I got through school without you. If you're not there, Calum will just bug me again, and I don't even know how I'll keep myself from kicking Luke's and Ross' asses if you're not there to stop me."

She shrugged. "If you survived without me before, you can do it again. You'll all be fine."

With that, she stood up and left. I didn't know if she was going to just go to her room or if she was going to finally tell our parents her decision, but I just stayed in the dining room with Calum and Ashton, accepting defeat.

Ashton's phone dinged and he fished it out of his pocket, looking at it before asking, "Have either of you heard from Luke?"

"You know he has the brains and not the balls to text or call me." I said flatly.

Ashton chuckled quietly and nodded. "Right. Calum?"

"Uh, yeah," he said, leaning back in his chair and stretching. "He um, he just kept apologizing over and over and then tried to get me to get Alice to answer him but when I tried calling her, her phone went straight to voicemail."

"She turned her phone off." I told him.

"That's what I figured and I told him that," he shrugged. "So then he called me and I let him vent to me and I don't think Luke's ever hated himself more over something."

"But that's the thing!" I burst, my composure completely falling apart. "This is how abusive relationships start, okay, I've seen it! It just takes one hit and then the abuser makes it seem like they're the victim and they plead for forgiveness and cry and mope but then they do it again and the cycle continues. Alice is not going back to him and I'm definitely not easing up on him."

"Baby, I completely see where you're coming from with this, but Luke isn't abusive," Ashton said carefully, knowing I was close to snapping, especially now that he was taking Luke's side in this. My blood was boiling. "Anger issues doesn't equal abuser. Does he lose his temper a lot? Yes, but he doesn't intentionally hurt people. When Alexa Leslie threw a ball in your face five times when you were six because she had bad eyesight and gave you a nose bleed, you didn't think she was abusing you, did you?"

"No, but-"

"No buts, baby, it's the same thing." Ashton told me.

I glared at him, knowing he was right but still angry he'd take Luke's side on this. He hit my sister! I had every right to be angry with him and I knew my parents would be too when they finally saw that bruise on Alice's face. My dad would probably try to press charges or something.

"Alexa Leslie got hot, though." Calum nodded to himself.

Ashton and I both ignored his comment. I stared at the table, my arms folded across my chest, while Ashton rubbed my back soothingly. "I know you're angry now but please don't say anything like that to him. That would tear Luke apart if you told him he'd abuse Alice. You know he wouldn't intentionally hurt her."

"But he's intentionally hurt her before, even if it wasn't physical," I quickly reminded him. "He called Alice a guy, remember?!"

"Because he wasn't educated," Ashton sighed, probably getting fed up with my petty excuses to be furious at Luke. "Princess, you need to let that go. Alice did."

"Well she's not letting go of the hitting thing so neither am I." I stated. "I can be angry if I want to. Do you even see the bruise he left?! I hope my parents make her go back on Monday just so he can see it and feel like shit."

"You're sadistic." Calum commented.

"I'm pissed off." I corrected.

"You're not going to let up, are you?" Ashton asked.

I looked up at him. "Ashton, he hit my sister," I said slowly. "I have every right to hate him."

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, which I was surprised wasn't in a bun because he always wore it like that after he found out how much I liked it. "Alright, then Mike and I will pick you up for school Monday. If you're going to be around Luke, I have to make sure I'm there at all times."

"I can watch her." Calum pouted.

Ashton laughed. "Bro, she'd tear you to pieces before finishing Luke off if you got in her way."

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I've had no motivation to update anything lately fuck

And I know you guys are probably going to be mad at Amy for being super pissed at Luke but if someone backhanded someone you cared a lot about, I think you'd be pissed at them too

Oh and idk if any of you remember when I had that The 1975 series (I only had up Sex and Robbers) but I never finished it so I deleted the stories so I'm restarting that and I'm not going to post any of them until I have them complete so I don't get lazy again and delete them. I'm doing Sex for Calum, Heart Out for Luke, Girls for Ashton, and I can't decide between The City and Chocolate for Michael but I think I'm going to do The City, so maybe I'll do Chocolate as a bonus that'll be about all or maybe it'll be about one of the girls, idk yet

So yeah, anyway, have a good day/night depending on where you are!!