Luke opened the door without knocking, and closed to before freezing in place. Calum was laying in bed, as expected, but Annie was beside him.
"Why's Annie here?" He whispered loudly. Calum scowled at Luke's inconsideration. He couldn't exactly respond, and Luke was acting like Annie being there was a bad thing.
Huffing, Calum got out his phone, doing his best to hold it in his cast as he typed with his hand. Ass.
Luke looked at the message on his phone, then at Calum, unbelieving. "What the heck? I just asked why she's here. And besides, she shouldn't be touching you, your stomach!"
Calum wasn't in a good mood, and Luke definitely was making it worse. I'm fine, he typed aggressively.
"No, you're not! Dammit Calum, you're not okay, and you need to take care of yourself! What if she makes it worse?"
Get out.
Luke threw his hands in the air, leaving the room. No one was in a good mood after the live cast, but Luke was angry that Annie was there. He had hoped that she wouldn't come back to their house, especially not after everything she'd done, taking Calum from him. From them, he corrected himself. But that's not what he meant.
He wanted to be the one to comfort Calum. Calum was in need, and Luke was going to help him. They'd text back and forth, laughing, and he'd make Calum feel better. He would feel better. But no, Annie had to sneak in and cuddle up to Calum, and now he was in a bad mood. Great.
Fucking wonderful.
****************************
Later that day, Annie had just jumped out of the window and was hiding in the shrubs when the boys came in.
"So Cal, we figured we should figure out where you'd be staying while you are still recovering." Mikey said. He'd been the one to really take initiative, talking on the live stream, getting Calum the new phone, and now this. Ashton and Luke both felt too helpless about the whole situation to do anything- they all felt helpless, even Annie and Johanna, and especially Calum. But Mikey had done his best to try to do everything he could to help.
Annie peaked in the window, so she could watch what was going on. Luke added to hat Michael had said, saying "that way, we can know if we need to go and get your stuff from the other house."
From 'the other house'. Luke was more than just bitter.
Calum typed, and they all waited anxiously. Finally, he handed the phone to Michael. "I want to go home with Annie, he said."
"You sure?" Ashton asked. "We can help you better here."
"And that's not your home," Luke grunted, and Calum cast him a glance, before typing again. "I'll read it," Luke snapped, grabbing the phone before Michael could. "He says 'I miss- I miss Annie'." Luke pushed the phone back into Calum's hands, huffing. "Fuck you," he said sharply, giving Calum the finger and leaving. Calum waved goodbye meekly.
"I've got it!" Michael exclaimed. "How about Annie comes and stays here during some of the days, that way we can care for you the best way and you still see her!"
Calum's expression dropped. You know why, M he typed.
Mikey looked at the screen and scowled, but only slightly. "Fine. But I still think it'd be better this way."
Annie will be at home all day anyways.
"Fine. Ashton, help me get him into the car."
No. Get the crybaby, you stay here Mikey.
It was Michaels turn to huff and leave, and as soon as he left Ashton looked at Calum intensely. "Where is she?"
Calum didn't have to type his words. He simply raised his eyebrows.
"Oh come on, Annie, come out of hiding."
Annie stood up from her slouched position in the bushes, smiling at Ashton. "Nice observation skills. I was wondering if either of you would get that. It seems as though Luke figured it out first though."
Ashton sighed. "Wait hidden out front. We'll load him in the car, then you can jump in the backseat with him. That way, Mikey will never know you were here."
Annie grinned. "Sounds good. Thanks, Ashton." She face a look to Calum, and left.
It was almost as if Calum's heart ached, hearing her voice. They hadn't talked all afternoon, so that way Calum didn't feel alone in his muteness. Then they would just text, or exchange facial expressions. But now that he heard her voice, he realized more than ever how beautiful it was. He would hate it if she lost it.
Calum wondered if that's how Annie felt. Probably worse, actually, since she used to be a fan. She didn't just love his voice because she loved him- she loved his voice because she loved his music. The whole ordeal was just too scary.
