At the beginning of the holidays, Bailey spent three days packing her stuff into cardboard boxes, only leaving the essentials that she would need for the last few days until she left. It was hard work but with a little help from Jac, she managed to get it done.
She avoided her own house as much as she could during her last week. Her mother was spending more time with Jason and was arguing with her aunt about everything under the sun, so Bailey went to the Hemmings' or Calum's to hang out with them while she still had the chance to.
"You know, I'm going to miss you Bailey." Jack Hemmings told her the day before she left as she was leaving the Hemmings'. "Your part of the family now, it's going to weird without you."
"I'm going to miss you too Jack." Bailey said, fighting the lump that formed in her throat. "Keep giving Luke hell for me."
"Like I was ever going to stop." Jack laughed, but Bailey saw the glint of tears in his eyes. "I'm sorry I can't be there tomorrow to see you off."
"Don't worry about it Jack." Bailey said with a small smile. "You'll be there in spirit." Bailey had never hugged Jack before, despite considering him a brother, until that night. She didn't want to let go as she clung to him.
"Goodbye Bailey." Jack whispered as he let go.
"Goodbye Jack."
Like many nights before it, Bailey's last night in Sydney was a sleepless one, but this time it wasn't because she was scared of reliving the past. She was scared of imaging the future. At 7, Bailey rolled out of her bed feeling groggy and exhausted.
"Today's the day." She mumbled under her breath, a heavy feeling of dread settling in her chest. "Today's the day."
Her aunt was already awake, cooking bacon at the stove. She sent Bailey a small smile as she wandered into the room.
"You don't look to good." Jac told her honestly.
"I didn't sleep last night."
"Is it because we're leaving?" Jac asked, placing a plate of bacon in front of her.
"It's because I've got insomnia." Bailey replied quietly. Jac nodded and piled bacon onto her own plate.
"It's going to be okay Bailey, in the long run."
"I know." Bailey mumbled, shovelling bacon into her mouth. "I just- I like it here. I didn't at first but it's grown on me."
"I understand Bailey. Eat up, we've got a long couple of days ahead of us."
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Calum showed up at 11 with Luke and Michael to help Bailey pack the boxes full of her belongings into the back of her aunts car. There weren't many boxes, so between the four of them it was done in half an hour. Jac wanted to leave before noon so they could make it back to Adelaide by late afternoon the next day with a stop overnight, which left the group with half an hour to hang about for one last time.
"It's going to weird without you Bailey." Michael said as the sat down on Bailey's now empty bedroom floor. "Who is Calum going to go on and on about now?"
"He'll probably go on about her more." Luke replied with a small smirk. Calum's cheeks flushed bright red as Bailey raised her eyebrows at him.
"I do not go on and on about her." Calum argued sulkily. "Not anymore."
"I can just picture it now. We'll be hanging around, probably having lunch or something and he'll just chime in with I wonder how Bailey's getting on in Adelaide." Luke continued, completely ignoring Calum. "I bet it'll take two days for him to start asking that."
Calum hid his face in his hands to conceal his embarrassment.
"I hate both of you." He mumbled.
"I bet it'll be one of you two first actually." Bailey said, making all here boys look at her in surprise. "No one said I was going to cut contact with you and Calum's the only one with my number."
"That'll be worse." Michael groaned. "He'll just tell us all about how you're getting on and how he's glad you're settling in and all that shit."
"I'm offended that you think that's a bad thing." Bailey replied.
"That's not what I meant." Michael said quickly, turning bright red as the other two laughed at him.
"You're backtracking babe." Luke said through laughter. Calum was too busy laughing to notice but Bailey heard and saw the anxious look Luke and Michael shared. Bailey didn't bring any attention to it, instead she tried to figure out when the hell it had started and how she'd missed it.
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"This is it." Bailey exclaimed standing in front of her three friends with tears in her eyes. "I guess this is goodbye and thank you, all three of you, for being the greatest people I've ever had the pleasure to be friends with and making the last couple of month some of the g..greatest of my l-life." Bailey's voice cracked as she neared the end of her sentence and tears began to roll down her cheeks.
"Thank you Luke, for being like the brother I never had and letting me stay at your house and have dinner with your family every night." Luke nodded at her, his own eyes filling with tears.
"Thank you Michael, for being one of the funniest people I've ever met and making me laugh every time we spoke." Michael's lip quivered as he saluted her, something he'd started doing the first time she'd hung about with the whole group for lunch.
"And thank you Calum, for everything I guess. For taking me under your wing and being my first real friend in years, for being the kindest human being on the planet and being there for me even when I didn't want you to be, and finally for being the one who made me want to get better. I love you so much Calum Thomas Hood, so so much." All four of them were crying by the time Bailey stopped talking and Calum reached his arm out and pulled her into a group hug.
"I'm going to miss you guys so much." Bailey whispered.
"We're going to miss you too Buttercup." Calum whispered back as the group hug separated. "Good luck in Adelaide." He pulled her closer, wrapping his arms around her waist and kissed her. When they broke apart, he shot Bailey a small teary smile.
"See you later Tattoos." She said as she climbed into the car and shut the door. Her aunt was watching through the rear view mirror, with tears in her eyes as well.
"See you later Buttercup." Calum mumbled as the car pulled out of the driveway and drove down the street. The three of them waved her off before Calum walked off to cry and Luke buried his face into Michael's shoulder, sobbing.
Even Kylie who was watching from her bedroom window had a tear rolling down her cheek.
I've successfully made myself cry while writing. Just the epilogue to go now and then this is finished 😭.
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Walls||CTH AU||
Fanfiction"Well stop caring! Nobody else does." "Someone has to." Bailey Winters hates everyone, and wants nothing to do with anyone, until Calum Hood comes along and breaks down her walls, brick by brick. Warnings: •Contains scenes of violence and abuse •Men...
