Walls||CTH AU||

Chapter 21- Rebuilt

With Bailey slowly rebuilding and reinforcing her walls again, Calum was finding it exceedingly difficult to get through to the girl when he tried to talk to her. He realised was she was doing almost straight away and he understood that if he was going to continue to try and be her friend he was going to have to put up with her shutting him out but somedays he just wished she would let him talk to her, even if she didn't answer. All she had to do was listen.

Though he understood what Bailey was doing, he didn't understand why she wasn't just telling him to piss off like she had before. It would probably hurt him less if she did so, because not knowing where he stood with her made Calum anxious and confused.

"What's wrong Calum?" Liz asked when Calum got home from school on the third day of Luke being off school sick. He sighed and dumped his bag under the kitchen table.

"I don't know," Calum lied, staring at his interlocked fingers. "Well I do but I don't know how to explain it, or where to begin."

"The beginning is usually a good place," Liz replied, sitting down across from him.

"Well, there is a new girl in our year and she doesn't really talk to, or seem to like, anyone. She hardly comes into school at all, I think she's been in for about half of the term so far all together."

"Uh huh," Liz said nodding, signalling for Calum to continue.

"Well, I approached her on the first day, because she was in my reg. class and she looked a bit lonely at the table on her own. She wasn't exactly friendly towards me, but there is something about her that stops me from leaving her alone." Calum explained, avoiding eye contact with his second mother. He couldn't believe that he was spilling his emotions out onto her but he needed advice and Liz always had something helpful to say.

When Liz didn't say anything, he continued.

"So recently we've become, I wouldn't say friends because she's still not friendly towards me, but we get along okay and she tolerates my presence."

"I guess that's a start," Liz mumbled.

"She's got walls higher than the Empire State, higher than I've seen anyone have before and I know that underneath she's crying out for help, from some of the stuff she's said I think her mum's at least part of the problem."

"On Monday I thought I was getting somewhere with her, but as soon as she realised she was opening up to me, she shut herself down and now I don't know where I stand anymore, because although she still allows me to be around her, she doesn't talk to me or appear to take in a word I say. I don't know whether she wants me around or not and I guess that's what's bringing me down, the uncertainty."

"I think the fact she's still tolerating your company says a lot. If she didn't want you around she would have said something. As for the not responding, and this is just what I think, she's probably trying to make sure that you don't damage the walls you mentioned. It seems to me, from how you've described her, that she is a girl who has had a lot of hardships and had her trust broken a lot. You, having already gained her trust enough to be "tolerated", are getting too close for her liking and she is desperately fighting to keep you out."

"What do I do Liz?" Calum asked, looking up at her desperately.

"Exactly what you've been doing, being there and showing her that you're not going to give up. That girl is troubled and you just need to be there for her when her walls do eventually break down."

"Thank you Liz," Calum said quietly.

"It's perfectly okay Cal, and if you ever need to talk again, I'm right here."

Calum smiled at her gratefully and stood up, picking his bag up off the floor, and headed up to his room.

"And here was me thinking I'd heard the the worst of the girl trouble," Liz muttered.
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As soon as Bailey saw Calum approaching her in the corridor the next day, she shot him a glare and turned on her heel, walking as fast as she could away from him. She did not show up to reg. and Calum did not see her around the school until lunch. There was something extremely weird about how she was behaving. Calum was sure that something has made her upset, but he knew he probably wouldn't be told what it was.

"Bailey, please talk to me." Calum pleaded at lunch, throwing himself down on the bench across from her.

"Leave me alone." Bailey muttered, hiding her face in the crook of her arm, which was rested on the table.

"Bailey.."

"What part of leave me alone don't you understand Tattoos?" Bailey snapped, lifting her head out of her arm.

"Nobody wants to be alone Bailey, not all the time."

"I do!"

"Do you want to know what I don't understand?" Calum exclaimed after a few seconds of silence.

"No but you're probably going to tell me anyway."

"What I don't understand is why you apologised to me for pushing me away and less than a week later you're doing the exact same thing."

"What I don't understand is why you still stick around and annoy me when I clearly told you to piss off! Where are your friends, I'm sure they would love to be graced with your presence?" Bailey growled, shooting Calum a cold glare.

"I thought we were getting somewhere Bailey. This friendship took two steps forward and three steps back."

"We aren't friends." Bailey scoffed. "I don't do friends remember."

"Why are you being like this? You were fine on Monday."

"Because you're you!"

"I'm not following."

"I don't want to trust you but I do! I act like I don't care but I reality I care too much. You're so close to breaking down my walls and that scares me!" Bailey yelled. When she realised what she said, she clamped her hand over her mouth and stared wide eyed at Calum.

"There you go again, making me say stuff that i don't want to say. You make me trust you without trying. You've climbed my walls and that wasn't supposed to happen! They were supposed to keep people out, to stop me from-"

"From what?"

"This is the problem!" Bailey yelled, jumping to her feet. "Just go Calum, I can't deal with this today."

"When will you be able to deal with it, I'll schedule it in my diary?" Calum snapped, also getting to his feet.

"Piss off!" Bailey yelled, gripping at her newly dyed hair.

"Can you please just tell me what I've done wrong?" Calum asked gently, noticing her distress.

"You haven't done anything but be nice. Now please just go away."

I found the original drafts of this story in my drawer this week and I was shocked at how good they were. Bailey's mum in the drafts was so much stricter and more business like in the drafts, which I'm going to try and incorporate into the story. There were also a lot of good arguments which I'll add in too.  I'm glad I found them.