Broken Homes {Lashton & Malum}

IV

"Calum, you might want to sit down. T-There's been an accident."

"Are the Hood family stable? Oh... should we tell the boy to expect the worst?"

"I'm so sorry, but there was nothing we could do."

Calum eyes burst open, his heart racing as he sat up, beads of sweat coating his forehead. He was gasping for air, struggling to breathe as he attempted to compose himself and calm down. Calum never had nightmares. Even he was little, he'd never really had bad dreams. Sure, he got nervous most of the time and he was shy, but his dreams were the one place he was safe from the outside world. And now his only safe haven was gone.

Just like they were.

He could feel tears pooling in his eyes, and he frantically wiped at them with the back of his hand in an attempt to stop them from coming out. If they did, they would never stop. Feeling around his bed, his hands found Toby and Calum quickly held the toy close to his chest, stroking the soft plush in an attempt to relax. The stuffed teddy had really helped him out in situations when he was panicking as of lately.

It was then that Calum noticed the missing presence of his roommate. Actually, now that he thought about it, it didn't really sound like anyone was around. Calum slid out of bed and peered above him at the top bunk - no Luke. He then cautiously opened the door and peered down the hall, but no one was around. He could, however, hear voices downstairs. Following the noise, Calum found himself in the dining room.

"Ah, there's Calum," Nathan smiled, making all the other kids turn around to face the blushing boy. Great, thanks Nathan. Haley ushered him into a seat, which was next to the boy Michael had told him was named Ashton, and placed a plate stacked with pancakes in front of him. "You slept in, but we figured you needed the sleep. Don't get used to it though," Nathan winked at Calum, but he didn't get a reply. Calum was too busy looking at his plate.

Those were a lot of pancakes. Everyone else seemed to have the same amount, and they were all happily digging into their meal, but not Calum. He was examining the stack of pancakes, every single detail about them. Did he really need pancakes? Or even any breakfast at all? Then again, he didn't want to disappoint Haley, she had worked hard at making food for him and he was considering not even having a single bite. But the pancakes just wouldn't leave his mind - what if this was the meal that determined his appearance for the rest of his life? If he had one pancake, would it haunt him forever?

Haley seemed to notice the internal conflict the poor boy was having, because she came over and crouched down between him and Ashton, which made the curly haired boy freak out and edge his chair away from the care worker. "If you aren't feeling hungry, we can just give them to the others and you could have something smaller, like an apple."

Calum hesitated before nodding, pushing the plate into the middle of the table and all five pancakes quickly disappeared. He could feel Michael watching him, but he tried his best to ignore his watchful eyes as he followed Haley into the kitchen to grab an apple.

What Haley didn't know was that as soon as Calum was out of the room, the apple was thrown into the rubbish bin.

Having escaped breakfast, Calum was now sat on his bed flicking through a random book Nathan had let him borrow, but was interrupted when he heard the door creak open and Michael appeared in the doorway.

"What was that all about?" Michael approached Calum slowly, his voice gentle but stern. Calum froze, he knew Michael was watching him at the table, but he really didn't think he would call him out on it.