Let Me Keep You Safe - 5SOS boyxboy

Chapter Fifteen

 "Michael, honey, are you sure about this?" Joy asks for the thousandth time.

Calum had been home from the hospital now for three days, and his parents had hardly left his side. Mali had even come back from university for a few days to spend some time with her baby brother. But now none of them could afford to miss any more days of work and Mali had to get back to her classes. They refused to leave Calum at home alone, but Calum refused to stay in the hospital. So Michael had volunteered to stay at the house with Calum during the day while his parents were at work. This, of course, means that he would be missing school, but he assured Calum's parents over and over again that he was planning to do summer school anyways. He was failing most of his classes by this point so not showing up wouldn't hurt him.

Michael just nods in response to Joy's question. She gives him a hug and wraps her arms around the tall boy's shoulders so that she can lean into his ear.

"Take care of him, please," she whispers.

Michael nods again. "I will, I promise. You don't need to worry."

She lets out a sarcastic laugh as she releases Michael from their hug. "It's a mother's job to worry, dear," she says, a sad smile spreading across her lips.

Pretty soon, both Joy and David have left the house and Michael is alone. Well, Calum is here also, but he's still asleep. Michael debates sitting in the living room and watching some t.v. while he waits for Cal to wake up, but he just doesn't want to leave him by himself even for a second.

Michael quietly makes his way up the stairs and pushes Calum's door open slowly. He expects Calum to be sleeping, so he's surprised when he sees the smaller boy lying in bed with his eyes on the ceiling.

His attention snaps over to Michael as soon as he notices his presence, and he sits up and smiles.

"Good morning," Calum says sleepily.

Michael walks over to him and seats himself on the edge of Calum's bed. "Morning, baby. How long have you been awake?"

Calum shrugs, "Not too long. Are you my babysitter today?"

Michael laughs and shrugs. "I'm not 'babysitting' you, Cal. I'm just here to reassure your mother and make sure that she doesn't worry herself to death."

Calum smiles and looks down at his blanket. He lays back down and lifts up the blanket slightly as he looks up at Mikey with puppy dog eyes. "Cuddle?" He asks.

Michael has to stop himself from awing at how adorable his boyfriend is. He immediately kicks off his shoes and slides underneath the blanket, pulling Calum into his chest and running his fingers through his hair.

Michael was still very nervous when it came to touching Calum. His arm was no longer in the sling, but his body was still covered in bruises. Michael knows that bruises have to get worse before they get better, but every time he sees one it only reminds him of all the ways in which he's failed as a boyfriend. The one that Michael notices the most is the dark one around the small boy's neck. It's a constant reminder of the worst day of Michael's life.

Calum seems to notice Michael's hesitation to touch him, so he scoots closer to him and cuddles himself into Michael's chest. Michael's arms hang loosely around Calum's back as he continues to stroke the boy's hair.

Calum sighs loudly and Michael pulls away a bit so that he can look at Cal's face. He is clearly frustrated, so Michael gently pushes Calum's chin up so that they are looking into each other's eyes.

"Everything okay?" Michael asks, his voice laced with concern.

Calum just groans and sits up, removing himself from Michael's arms. He winces slightly as the familiar pain flows through him, but he doesn't pause for long before climbing over Michael and getting out of bed.

"Baby what's wrong?" Michael asks, sitting up and reaching out to gently grab Calum's hand.

Calum slaps his hand away and begins pacing around the room, clearly agitated about something. He finally stops pacing after a few minutes and turns to look at Michael, anger in his eyes.

"I'm so sick of this!" He yells, his voice louder than Michael has ever heard it. "Everyone is treating me like I'm made of fucking glass and I'm so tired of it! I'm not some fucking snow globe that'll break if you drop it the wrong way, okay? I'm a human fucking being. Yes, I had a meltdown and yes I tried to fucking kill myself but that doesn't mean that I'm going to try it again if someone says the wrong thing or moves too quickly! I am not crazy, and I am not fragile." Calum's breathing is increasing rapidly while Michael just stares at him with wide eyes. "How the fuck am I ever supposed to move on from this if all anyone does is remind me of it? I don't want to be treated like the boy who tried to kill himself. I'm still me. I'm still Calum. Please just fucking realize that and stop treating me like I'm going to break."

Calum finally stops yelling, and almost immediately afterward all of the anger on his face is replaced by guilt. He starts to shake violently and before Michael can figure out what's happening, Calum falls to the floor, sobbing and shaking.

Michael instantly collects himself and crawls over to where Calum has collapsed. He pulls him into his lap and begins slowly rocking him back and forth.

The doctor had told them to expect severe mood swings in the coming days. He said that different people react in different ways when it comes to these situations, but one of the most common effects is confusion when it comes to their emotions.

Even though he'd had fair warning, Michael still wasn't sure how to react when Calum actually had an outburst. He'd never ever seen Calum get angry like that before, and he wasn't sure how to soothe him.

Right now, he's just rocking him in his arms and shushing him every so often, trying to get him to stop crying.

Calum eventually calms down and the two boys are left sitting quietly in the middle of Calum's dark room.

"I'm s-sorry," Calum finally whispers, breaking the silence.

Michael doesn't stop rocking Calum back and forth in his lap as he answers, "For what, baby? You don't have anything to be sorry for."

"F-for screaming at you like that," Calum says, sniffling slightly. "I don't know what came over me. I just got so angry and I c-couldn't control myself. I didn't mean to yell at you."

"Shh," Michael soothes as Calum's tears start up again. "Don't cry, Cal. You don't need to apologize, okay? You were right. We need to stop walking on eggshells around you."

"I understand why you do," Calum says quietly. "I'd probably be doing the same thing if the roles were reversed. It just sucks, you know?"

Michael is silent for a minute before he speaks up again. "Why don't we get out of the house today, yeah? We can go for a walk and get some ice cream or something."

"I thought the doctor wanted me to stay in bed for at least a week?" Calum asks quietly, his eyes wandering up to meet Michael's.

Michael just shrugs. "We can do whatever you want, baby. We can go out, we can stay in, we can do a little bit of both, if you're up to it, of course."

Calum smiles widely, nodding his head. "Yeah, come on, let's go," he says excitedly as he stands up and grabs Michael's hand.

Michael laughs and lets Calum help him to his feet. Michael sits on the bed for a few minutes while Calum chooses an outfit and combs through his hair. Calum frowns at the mirror and Michael can tell that he's unhappy with all of the bruises that are marking his face.

Neither of them say a word, but Cal finally tears his eyes away from the mirror and they make their way out of the house and toward a nearby park.

They've almost made it there when a familiar voice starts talking from right behind them.

"Hey, look at this guys! It lives!"

Michael stops immediately in his tracks and tenses up. He'd recognize that voice anywhere. Jake.