Fragile Bird 》5SOS AU

twenty two

DELLA

Tears ran down my cheeks as I sat on the floor of the girl's locker room.

I don't even know how it happened but I had made it into the fetal position in one of the shower stalls.

I felt so sick.

"Della? Are you in here?" A sweet voice asked timidly as the locker room door squeaked open. I sniffed as I recognized the voice.

"Del, it's Londie."

"Londie? I'm here." My voice cracked and I started crying again. A moment later, the stall door opened and Londie crouched down and pulled me into a hug.

I sobbed in her arms for a good five minutes. My tears didn't faze her. She merely stroked my hair and whispered that it was okay and she was here. Though I couldn't voice it, I was internally grateful.

Londie and I hadn't known eachother long but she was a good friend.

Once my tears had reduced to sniffles and laboured breaths, Londie turned to me. "What happened?" She asked like she knew something had to have triggered my breakdown.

"I...I don't know. One moment I was standing in line in the cafeteria and the next thing I knew someone fell into me and I was on the floor. And someone was offering to help me up..."

I took a deep breath.

"But when I was about to take their hand, I looked up and saw...saw my father."

"You mean yours and Calum's dad?" Londie asked slowly, confused. I shook my head.

"No. Like my father....from before the car accident."

Londie's widened and she helped me off the floor. "Come on sweetie. Let's go find Calum."

I splashed my face with cold water and wiped my eyes before Londie steered me out of the locker room and to wherever Calum was.

~

CALUM

"Babe, just breathe. Tell me what happened."

I rubbed Della's back soothingly while Londie held her hand with a concerned look on her face.

The three of us were sitting in the music room which, thankfully, was empty for at least another hour.

"I fell in the cafeteria and this kid offered to help me up and..." Della started but cut herself off. Whatever happened must have really unsettled her. If anything hurt her, I'd hurt them back and so would the boys, especially Michael. God he loves Della so much.

Della rubbed her face with her hands and let out an exasperated sigh.

"I had a flashback. I saw my father. My biological dad from before the accident and I didn't tell Londie before but...I was scared."

"Why were you scared?" I asked, trying to make sense of the situation.

"When I saw my father, I got scared because I thought he was going to hurt me. I was scared of my own father."

"Della, do you remember anything about your family before the accident?" Londie asked and Della shook her head.

That's when I realized no one knew anything about Della's biological family, not even my parents. All we knew was that Della was the sole survivor of a hideous car crash.

Della sniffled and quickly wiped a stray tear off her cheek.

I pulled her into a hug. I kissed her forehead and said, "Don't worry Della, we'll figure it out. Everything will be okay. I promise."

~

MICHAEL

"So Della was scared of her biological father she saw in a flashback?"

"Correct." Calum said as we changed in the locker room for PE.

"Do you know why?" I asked while retying my Converse. Calum shook his head. "Not really but I have an idea. You're not gonna like it though."

I sat on the bench and raised an eyebrow at my kiwi friend. He sighed and sat down on the bench opposite of me. He rested his hands on his knees and looked me in the eye.

"I think Della was abused before the accident." He said quietly, even though we were the last people in the room.

"What!? That's crazy Calum. How could you possibly know that?" I shouted, thankful no one could hear us. The thought of someone laying a harmful finger on my baby did not sit well with me.

"I don't! But there's no other explanation. Look, we're not detectives but we gotta figure out what Della's life was before the crash. I mean, Della was scared of her own father. She thought he was going to hurt her." Calum ran a hand through his now unruly hair, obviously frustrated.

"He's dead though, why would she be scared if she doesn't remember anything?" I asked, confused.

"Amnesia does that to people. Flashbacks can trigger certain emotions and reactions even if the person doesn't remember anything."

I sighed. We should be running laps right now or playing dodgeball. But I needed to help my angel. Whatever she went through, she didn't deserve it.

"Cal! There should be a police report on the car accident, right?"

"Well yeah, why wouldn't there be-ohhh! If there's a report on the accident, there must be other files connected to it."

I nodded, proud of my idea.

"Okay, we'll figure everything out this weekend. Ashton's uncle might be able to help us but in the mean time, Coach Langdon is probably gonna give us zeros if we don't get out there." Cal said and got up.

"Watch, he'll make us run extra laps for being late."