Let Me Keep You Safe - 5SOS boyxboy

Chapter Fourteen

 "M-Michael," Calum whispers as he begins to wake up for the second time.

It had been a couple of hours since he last fell asleep, and Calum's parents had finally agreed to go back to their house and try to get some rest while Michael stayed with Cal. They hadn't expected him to be awake until the next morning.

"Right here, Cal," Michael says, squeezing Calum's hand.

Michael had been drifting in and out of consciousness for the past hour or so. He's running off very little sleep and he's still fighting a pretty bad cold. The doctors had told him that if he wanted to stay back here with Calum that he'd have to take some antibiotics to cure his fever. They couldn't have him infecting other patients. The meds worked on the fever, but unfortunately they didn't do much to help his blaring headache or his exhaustion.

Calum turns his head toward Michael and opens his eyes slowly. Calum lightly squeezes Michael's hand back and curls his lips into a small smile.

"Hey," he whispers, wincing as he tries to re-situate himself.

Michael rubs his thumb over the back of Calum's hand soothingly. "Hey sleepy head," Michael responds. "Try not to move too much, yeah? The doctors had to put you on a weaker pain medication."

Calum just nods and looks back at Michael. A confused expression crosses his face. "You look like hell," he says bluntly.

Michael laughs quietly and nods. "Yeah, I know."

"Are my parents here?" Calum asks, glancing around the room as if they might be here.

Michael shakes his head. "They left a few hours ago to try and get some rest. None of us have slept for almost twenty hours, and they didn't expect you to wake up until morning."

Calum nods, looking down at his hand that Michael is holding, staying silent.

"Do you, uh, remember what happened?" Michael asks quietly.

Calum hesitates for a second before nodding his head. "Yeah, I remember."

Michael's eyes start to fill up with tears, but he holds them back. "Baby who did this to you?" He asks, gesturing to his bruised and battered body. "We need to know. Your mom wants to press charges."

Calum shakes his head. "Don't worry about it. I deserved it."

Michael squeezes Calum's hand harder, trying to contain his anger at Jake for making Calum feel like this. "Calum Thomas Hood," Michael says sternly, trying to make his voice gentle at the same time. "You do not deserve this, okay? You are amazing and beautiful and funny and talented and you bring so much light to my life. You don't deserve to get hurt."

Calum doesn't respond, he just continues looking down at the bed sheets. "Can you please stop cutting off the circulation in my hand?" He asks quietly, nodding down toward their interlocked hands.

"Oh, sorry," Michael says, quickly loosening his grip.

"You know who did it," Calum says quietly, answering Michael's question from before.

Michael nods, his suspicions confirmed. "But was it just him? Or were there others?"

Calum swallows loudly, a few tears forming in his eyes as he recalls everything. "There were others. I don't know who they were, though, other than his friend Matt."

"How many?"

"Including Jake and Matt, there were seven," Calum answers quietly.

Michael is struggling more and more to contain his anger at this point. He suddenly stands up from the chair he's been sitting in and releases Calum's hand. He begins pacing back and forth across the small hospital room.

"Seven against one," he mutters. "That's bullshit."

Calum nods in agreement, and reaches his hand weakly toward his pacing boyfriend. "Please calm down, Mikey," he begs.

Michael softens at these words and sits back down, reclaiming Calum's hand in his own. "I'm sorry," he sighs, trying to keep a better hold on himself.

Calum shrugs, "If it makes you feel any better, I fought back," he says, smiling weakly.

Michael's eyes are still filled with tears as he manages a smile back at Calum. "That's my boy."

"And I figured out why Jake hates me so much," Calum adds softly.

A confused expression washes over Michael's face. "Because he's an asshole," he says.

Calum nods, "Well yeah, there's that. But he has another reason."

"Which is?"

Calum sighs and lays his head back against the pillow, his eyes wandering up to the ceiling. "Apparently he used to have a best friend in middle school who came out as gay. His name was Micah. He got bullied a lot and ended up killing himself. Jake told me that if Micah couldn't live, then I didn't deserve to either."

Michael can hear the heart break in Calum's voice. "That's the most ridiculous fucking thing I've ever heard," Michael growls. "I mean, it's sad about his friend, but what fucking right does that give him to take it out on you? You haven't done anything to him!"

Calum just shrugs. "I don't know."

Michael sits in silence for a few minutes, fuming over the information that he's just been told. He can't believe that somebody could be so heartless. Calum is the most beautiful person. Why would anyone want to hurt him like this?

"W-when are my parents coming back?" Calum asks quietly, breaking Mikey from his thoughts.

"They said they'd be back by eight," Michael says as he glances up at the clock on the wall. "So in about five hours. I can call them, though, if you want them to come up here."

Calum shakes his head. "I don't even know what to say to them. They must be so disappointed in me."

Michael immediately reaches out and gently cups Calum's cheek in his hand. "They are not disappointed in you at all," he says. "They're upset, understandably, but more so at themselves than at you."

Calum's eyebrows furrow together in confusion. "Why would they be upset with themselves?"

Michael shrugs, his eyes roaming anywhere but Calum's eyes. "We are all a little bit upset with ourselves right now. We weren't there for you. We let you down."

Calum's mouth falls open and he starts trying to sit himself up. Michael gently pushes him back down and attempts to calm him.

"Cal, don't sit up, you can't strain yourself right now," Michael says softly.

"P-please don't think this is any of you guys' faults," Calum says, tears finally falling down his cheeks. "It's not your fault it's m-mine. It was m-my decision. Please."

Michael just nods, trying to sooth him. "Okay, Cal, okay," he whispers. "Just calm down, baby."

Calum finally lays back down and closes his eyes, frustration obvious on his face.

"We're gonna get through this babe," Michael whispers, hoping and praying that he's not lying.