Turn Away | c.h

Chapter 53 - I Got You

I tucked my legs up to my chest, feeling the warmth of the fire hit my body. The night was still around me, a gentle breeze making me feel even colder.

Calum placed himself beside me, his hands wrapping around my cold skin. I was shivering in his arms as he pulled me close, lips touching my uncovered shoulders.

"I'm sorry Stel," he mumbled. "I didn't realise it was going to be this cold."

"It's fine." I breathed, leaning into him. I needed warmth desperately, the fire and Calum combined, wasn't even enough. I was stupid not to at least pack some goddamn clothes that would cover me.

"I'll go back tomorrow, and grab some stuff." He lowly spoke, dragging his lips across my skin as his hands ran up and down my arm. I softly nodded against him, closing my eyes as I cuddled to him.

"I know one way to warm you up." He mumbled against me, a smirk on his lips. I only let out a small laugh, shaking my head at his words.

"Cal, I can't feel anything from my chin, under." I lightheartedly joked. But jokes aside, my body was incredibly stiff and I was losing feeling in my fingers.

He pulled away from me, untangling himself and moving behind me. The absence of his heat made me shiver even more as I waited for his arms to return back around me. His legs moved either side of me, arms wrapping around my waist as he brought me in closer. I was tucked up in his body, hands shielding me from the cold as much as they could.

I relaxed into him, trying to steady my erratic breathing as he rested his head on my shoulder.

"Is this better?" He softly said to me. I softly nodded, my body more protected from the cold as he tightly held me. My eyes closed, limbs leaning into him in such a blissed out way, that despite the cold, I could fall asleep at any given second. It was probably because of how exhausted I was from all the walking- we'd walked for a solid three and a half hours, before we stopped here. Calum reassured me we'd get to a destination he refused to tell me about, soon.

"You can sleep, Stel. You need to rest up for tomorrow." He sweetly said in my ear, pressing soft kisses to these in just below my ear. I softly nodded against him, feeling myself grow more tired by the second.

It was when he gently traces patterns against me that I was lost in the void of slumber, and I realised I didn't want to return. Reality was too much; my life was too much at times. But being in his arms, listening to his heartbeat, whilst I laid fast asleep, was almost everything I'd ever dreamed of.

«Calum's pov»

Stella's blue eyes peered up at me, before a lidded gaze returned. Her cheeks were flushed pink and had a golden glow as the morning sun casted onto her skin. I traced my fingers over the creases on her hand, smiling down at my beautiful Stella.

"Good morning." I said, as she reopened her eyes, slowly sitting up. She gently nodded.

"Where... Are we?" She slowly mumbled, eyes scanning around the forrest that surrounded us. A pit sat in front of us where the fire had burnt out last night. Apart from that, the area was unrecognisable- I'm sure that Stella had probably never walked this path before.

"We're a few hours out of Woodlends." I said, pulling away from her. Stella looked up at me, watching as I moved to sit beside her, eyes following my every movement. They then glanced around once again, her hands pressed flat to the earth. She was lost and confused, and probably very hungry. I felt so guilty for making her leave with me- it was another days walk before we got to the house.

See, there was a family house that was stocked for every occasion. There was an emergency house that in almost every state in Australia, I had no use in it before today. It was a place for Stella that I knew was thoroughly protected- I could only hope that no one was currently occupying it. I needed to get her to safety, and into a safe space. Somewhere she could rest before we could discuss where we were going and what we were doing. Because I knew that Stella had to return home at some point soon, and I knew she'd struggle against the thought. But this Forrest was somewhere she didn't belong- being around me, was somewhere she didn't belong. Not for the time being.

"Tell me when you're okay to head off," I said, her magnificent blue eyes returning back to mine. "We need to leave as soon as we can."

"Where? Where do we possibly have to go?" She spoke, running a hand through her hair. I could sense that she was stressed out, probably because of all the night terrors she had last night. I tried to embed myself into her dreams to calm her down, but for some odd reason, last night I couldn't. It was as though she was blocking me out of her dreams, she denied me access for the first time.

"There's a house not too far from here."

Stella's eyes drifted down to my lips, fingers intertwined as she gently nodded. I watched as she slowly moved to her feet, tired limbs unfolding until she stood in front of me. I did the same, moving towards her as she shyly looked away.

"What's wrong?" I asked, placing my hands on her. Stella gently shrugged, her body easing up under my touch. She gently rolled her head back, eyes fluttering shut momentarily. I could feel the stress radiating into my hands, I wanted to touch it out of her. Rid her from any problems that may be in her beautiful mind.

"I'm just tired." She mumbled, blue eyes looking away from me as she gently pulled away. My touch left her, as I watched her step away from me.

"Stella, you know not to lie to me about stuff like this."

"Calum... I just ran away from my home. My life, of course I'm going to be a bit lost. I'm not adjusting to the fact that I have no home at the minute, no clothes or no food. I left everything behind, so let me be a bit lost and confused for a while- please." She spoke, a tiredness in her voice that I'd never heard before. Stella was truly lost in this world, in more ways than one. She didn't know what to do- in fact, I don't know if she knew who she was anymore.

"This is all temporary," I gently said, stepping towards her. "We'll get to the house, and we'll sort out our next movements. If you want to go home, then I'll take you home. If you want to stay, then you can stay- with me. I'll keep you safe, Stel. I always have."

"I don't know." She breathed, shaking her head at me. I furrowed my eyebrows, gently touching he arm. "I don't know what I want anymore."

I looked down at her, trying to figure out what she meant by that statement. Her thoughts were clouded by troubles and worries, I couldn't read them clearly. It's as if she was blocking me out and shutting herself down to me, and the thought terrified me to my core. What if I was slowly losing my Stella?

Where was she going?

"Come on." I said, taking her hand in mine. "Let's get you to the house and rested. We'll talk about it then."

•

I am SO SO SORRY FOR THE LATEST UPDSTE EVER
I was meant to update like 3 weeks ago but my god I have the busiest life ever

I'm so so sorry!!!! I hope you guys enyor anyway.

Ps I'm really drunk and I felt like updating so YA PRIORITIES

also I'm really done with fake friends you know?