Pretending (C. H)

Chapter 9: False Hope

The next morning, Calum woke up to find that he and Nia were still outside, lying on the hammock. She was peacefully asleep on top of him which made him smile. Memories of last night flooded back to him, clear as ice. He knew he wanted to be with Nia and to protect her from anything that can hurt her.

Calum realized that it can't happen without her getting hate from fans. Nia already had a break down about it two days ago and he knew that it was gonna get worse if they did end up being together, whether they make it public or not.

"Nia?" He said, tapping her shoulder which woke her up.
"Yeah?" Nia said. "You meant what you said last night, right?" She asked.
"Of course. Honestly, I love you, I want to be with you and I want to protect you from anything or anyone that could hurt you." He said, kissing her cheek. "Did you mean it too?" He asked.
"Yeah, I love you alot too." She said.
"And this is why I can't be with you..." He said quietly.
"Wait, what do you mean?" She asked. "Y-you just said you wanted to be with me." Nia said, feeling herself cry again.
"I do but, that isn't possible without you getting hurt from the hate you're gonna get and I don't want to see you like that." He said.
"W-we can make it work. This happens to every celebrity couple, Calum. I can do it." She said, cupping his face.
"And, how do you know that? The first time we were seen together, fans physically hurt you and you cried because of the excessive hate you got online." He said. "Nia, it can't work." He said.

Nia had enough.  She got off of Calum, his flannel falling to the grass off her back and ran back inside the house. Calum pulled himself up, his face falling to his hands as he started to cry too. He continued to remind himself that it was for the best and that Nia would give up eventually too. He decided to leave and walked through the side garden and got in his car before driving away.

Nia collapsed into the couch, breaking down in tears. She thought she could finally move on and love someone again but no. She wept and wept, crying her heart out at the fact that Calum wasn't even giving them a chance. Rena went downstairs and found her sister crying. She rushed next to her, pulling her into her lap.

"What happened?" She asked softly, running a hand throug her hair.
"H-he said he loved me but he said we c-couldn't be together." She said, stuttering every now and then.
"Did he say why?" Rena asked.
"He said that he didn't want me to get hurt because of the hate on the internet if we did get together." Nia said as she cried harder.
"He loves you, Nia. That's why he doesn't want you to get hurt in any way." Rena explained.
"If he d-does love me, why doesn't he want to give us a chance? W-why did he give up before anything could happen?" Nia said.

On the other hand, Calum went back home to find that the boys weren't home. He didn't mind, he just wanted to be alone anyway. He rushed upstairs to his and Michael's room and locked himself in there. He lied on top of his bed, sulking at the ceiling. Calum wanted to be with Nia more than anything, It's just that he didn't know what the fans would say and that's the scary part. He didn't know what their management would say either, would this be a good thing or not? He considered calling William and asking if this was good or not but then he remembered that they might be forced to be together again which wasn't a good idea right now. He heard a knock on the door.

"Calum?" Michael said.

He sighed, standing up to unlock the door. He flopped back onto his bed, refusing to say another word.

"Where've you been last night?" Michael asked.
Calum didn't want to talk about it.
"Hey?" Michael said.
"Leave me alone, please." Calum said sadly.

Michael got the hint and left the room and met with his other bandmates in the living room. He sat down beside Luke.

"What happened to Calum?" He asked Luke and Ashton.
"Calum's here already?" Ashton said.
"Yeah, he's in the room but he's refusing to talk." He said.
"Hang on." Luke said, standing up and going into the kitchen, calling Rena. It took a few tries but she picked up eventually.

"Hey, Rena." He said.
"Hi, what's up?" Rena said.
"Is there any chance that Calum was there last night?" He asked.
"Actually, he was here. After he talked to us about the thing that happened with his mum the other day, Nia and him just got all comfy outside and slept together." She said.
"Ew, really?" Luke said.
"No,not in that way. They literally slept together, cuddling." She said and laughing at Luke's dirty thoughts.
"And then what happened?" He asked.
"So, according to Nia, they said they had feelings for each other...." Rena said.
"Nice, I knew it." Luke said, smirking to himself.
"But he can't be with her wihout her getting hurt because of the hate. So, she left him and cried." She said. "Is Calum there yet?" She asked.
"Yeah, but he doesn't want to talk to us and I think he doesn't want to leave his room." He said.
"Oh, okay." Rena said. "Just call me if something happens." She said.
"Okay, thanks. Bye." Luke said and hung up.