Best friends // Calum Hood

So many questions so little time.

Calum's P.O.V.

The drive there is pretty silent. I can't believe she's done that to herself. I'm not sure I'll ever get the sight of it out of my head, it's so horrific. I just, I can't wrap my head around it, but at the same time all I can envisage is her, alone and sad.

I couldn't help but feel it was all my fault. If I were there to help her none of this would have happened. I could have helped convince her that first time to leave and he wouldn't have had this devastating affect on her. I keep apologising because I'm not sure quite what else to say and she keeps telling me it's not my fault, but of course she would, she's too kind.

I keep sneaking glances at her as we drive and all I want to is to tell her how much I love her, and I know she'd say she did too, but I'd tell her it was more than that and it had always been more than that, but I can't, So I don't.

As we arrive and exit the car, I take her cold hand in mine, lacing our fingers together with ease, they fit perfectly. But then again, they always have.

We begin walking through the restaurant in a comfortable silence and she's so nervous, I can tell, she keeps biting her thumb nail and looking down at the ground like she always does when she's nervous.

"Hey, there's nothing to be scared about we're best friends remember? You know you can tell me anything, I love you no matter what." I say reassuringly squeezing her hand slightly.

I watch as her pale lips ease into a smile, gently releasing her thumb nail from them.

My heart swells when she looks around the smart restaurant in awe but I see the panic in her eyes. She turns her head to mine worriedly but before she speaks I stop her.

"I'm paying, don't worry."

"But Calum-"

"I don't care that you don't like it, I'm paying."

She huffed and followed me inside in a grump before sitting down opposite me.
How do I approach this? Do I dive right in? Do I wait for her to start?

"What's the best way to get this over and done with?" she asks clearly reading my mind.

I know she isn't somebody who likes talking about her problems too much because she feels like she's being attention seeking or boring, but she isn't. It's so important she talks about things, if she had done that in the first place instead of bottling things up, we would almost definitely not be in this situation.

"Should I just ask the questions and you can answer them, and I know you won't want to, but please answer them in detail. This," I say gesturing with my hands. "Is something I need to know everything about so I can help you."

She thought about something for a moment then nodded slowly.

"Okay . . . go ahead." She sighed in defeat.

Throughout our conversation it became clear how manipulative Derek was, he'd managed to wean his was into her life, gain her trust and then used that to just completely control her life. It was heartbreaking to hear. She was so brave to tell me all of this. I told her as such.

Her cheeks flushed red causing my stomach to tingle with the butterflies that always loomed with her presence at how adorable she was.

"And Derek, he's the reason you quit your job?"
I tensed at the mere thought of Derek and her sharing a house and a bed and pondered over how anyone could be so heartless, especially to such a caring and sweet person.

"Hello, can I take your orders?" The waitress interrupted Elizabeth in a bored tone before looking up, she must have known the band because I saw the recognition in her eyes.