Melting His Jet Black Heart [cake au] ✔

10.

Chapter 10

Calum's eyes shot open and he jolted up, getting into a fighting stance. When he realised it was just Luke, he bit his lip and relaxed. "Sorry."

"What's wrong?"

"I just... it's nothing."

"Please?"

Calum let his eyelids fall and forcefully bit his teeth together. "I don't think I can." He was on the verge of crying, feeling weak for not being able to tell Luke and angry for letting his life get so messed up in the first place. "I'm sorry that I'm so weak..."

"Hey, don't say that. You're not weak," Luke replied quietly, in a soothing tone. "It's obvious to me that it's hard to talk about, so don't feel like you need to. But what I think is that it's always better to talk it out, and by talking you'll begin to sort out your issues subconsciously. Okay, how about this - I'll start with my problems."

Calum looked at Luke with a tear in his eye, taking a deep breath as Luke began.

"So... when I was twelve, my dad left home and he secretly sold our house, keeping the money to himself. I was left with my mum and two brothers with pretty much nothing, except for the savings mum had made over the past twenty or so years; still nowhere near enough to buy a house. So our relatives all chipped in a few thousand dollars and we managed to get this cute little house that's also close to school. My father's departure left scarring marks on us all, but I especially have learnt to deal with it, whilst keeping my mum safe too."

Despite Luke's outer emotions, it was evident that his father leaving had a massive impact on his life, and this really stunned Calum. He thought Luke had the perfect life with no problems at all, but actually he was wrong.

"That's not all; my eldest brother Ben blamed himself for our dad leaving and had to be put in hospital for weeks after he tried to kill himself. We were all devastated when we came home to find him on the floor with pills next to him; it really ruined mum for a period of time. I was probably hurt most by it, because he's completely different now, he never talks to any of us and lives two hours away by plane."

This also amazed Calum because he'd tried committing suicide numerous times in the past, and hearing this made him feel awful for Mali. How had she coped during the times he was stuck on suicide watch in hospital? How did she hold back the tears when she saw his red, torn skin and ruined insides?

"I...I'm sorry. I misjudged you. I thought you had the perfect family and I kind of envied you for that."

"Envied?"

"Yeah."

"Why is that?"

Calum gulped and took a very deep breath, anticipating Luke's reaction once he had finished speaking. Would he kick him out? Would he hate him? Worse, would he pity him? He cleared his throat, tiny beads of sweat forcing their way out of the skin on his neck and forehead. Here goes nothing.

"I was ten. My parents ran a successful computing business..." He stopped and put his head in his hands. "Oh my God. I'm sorry... I can't."

Luke winced and wriggled over to his side, putting a firm hand on his upper back. "It's okay Calum. I won't judge you, I'll just listen. Go ahead," he reassured softly.

At the sound of Luke's voice, Calum breathed once more and continued. "Okay. So my parents had this business. They'd been running it since I was around three years old, and throughout that time they gained a lot of business partners but at the same time, many rival companies and enemies who were out to get them. They all wanted to know my parents' secret; except there was none. They worked hard; they even managed to raise two children whilst staying on top of all their work." He paused shortly before continuing. "Then, one day, they arranged a deal with a smaller company – though I'm not too sure about the details because I was too young – to cooperate in a new construction of offices on an empty stretch of land on the outskirts of Sydney. They'd supply the workers, we'd supply the computers. It was simple.

"Except someone – I don't know who – suddenly had a change of mind and for some reason that I'm not sure about, my parents were accused of stealing the money of the smaller company. Apparently several billion AU dollars had been taken and the smaller company had invested all their earnings into the project, so with this money gone their company was bankrupt. So they began a series of raids on our house to get their money back.

"It started off pretty rational. They posted aggressive letters saying they'd take legal action if their money wasn't returned within so and so days, but it got progressively worse. They'd smash the windows of our property with bricks that had warnings taped on to them, and they'd also steal our possessions. We'd hide in my sister's room under the covers as my parents argued with them downstairs. A few hours later they'd come up and comfort us, telling them that they'd gone, but it would happen so often that we grew to distrust them.

"Finally... after around two months of raids, they send two people over who broke down the front door, shattered all the windows, and eventually, brought out knives." He paused again, letting Luke's hand caress his whilst the tears formed in his eyes. Luke listened very carefully to his words, with both remorse and a sense of achievement. "M-my parents hid us both in a kitchen cupboard. My sister had her head in her knees, crying silently, but I foolishly watched the scene unfold from the small gap between the two cupboard doors..."

Luke gasped. He knew what Calum was going to say. His hand stopped stroking Calum's and like a magnet, attached itself to his open mouth. He wanted to cry, too.

"I watched my parents being killed right in front of me."

***

HE TOLD HIM!! YAY :) 

Arrrghhh I'm so excited to get moving with the story now! Afraid you guys are gonna have to wait a whole week... unless I update tomorrow ;) Nothing's impossible...............

Vote/comment/follow, sending you guys lotsa love in return!

Kimmy xx