never again | calum hood

eighteen

"Is this my fault?" I asked looking away. We were standing in the parking lot so we could have some privacy.

"No! Calum, Jesus", she said quickly.

"Are you sure? Because I know I messed up and made Josh upset but I didn't- I would never-"

"It's not your fault, I swear", she sighed, putting her sunglasses on again. "And, technically, it wasn't Josh either".

"Okay", I said.

We stood there for a while, not looking at each other, people walking by us every few minutes.

"It was my mom", she finally said. "I had a fight with my parents, and she kinda lost control".

"No shit", I said.

"I know", she sighed. "I knew something like this was going to happen".

"But why did she freak out?" I asked.

"I, uhm, I broke up with Josh", she nodded and my heart skipped a beat. "I told my parents I couldn't do it anymore and they lost it. My dad started yelling, telling me that I was pretty much a selfish piece of shit, so I started yelling back. At first my mom was just crying but at some point she stood up and just threw her fist at me".

"I'm sorry, Adelaide", I said, shaking my head. Why did this have to happen to her? What kind of fucked up parents did that? I had to get her out of there, somehow. I'd figure something out. "So what did you do?" I asked.

"Well, I left and crashed at Michael's, because staying at Ashton's meant bumping into them at all times and I rather avoid that", she said folding her arms.

"And you're not going back there anytime soon, are you?" I said. She needed to get the fuck out of there, forever.

"It's not like I can", she shook her head. "My dad called me the next day. He told me not to go back. They don't want to see me. Apparently he lost his job".

"Who gives a fuck about his job", I spat.

"Yeah, well, I don't, but they do", she shrugged. "So now I'm homeless", she laughed, but there was obviously nothing funny about it.

I had to do something, anything. I couldn't tell her to go live at my house, could I? That'd be weird and too much compromise, right? Maybe she could live with Michael for a while, pay him some money? I could help her with that. I could even get a job and find her an actual place, an apartment.

"There's gotta be something I can do", I said.

"Calum", she said putting her hand on my arm. "It's okay, I'll be fine. Michael says I can stay with him for as long as I need to, and I'm planning to get a job so I can afford my own place. I'll be alright, I swear", she assured me.

"Fuck, Adelaide. This is so fucked up, it's so unfair", I said. I didn't realize how upset I was until I felt myself getting weak.

"I'll be fine", she gave me a sad smile.

Silence surrounded us again and we hugged. It was our first real hug, one with no hidden intentions or unsaid things, a hug that said it all. I felt like I could cry right there, but it wasn't my place. She was going through probably the worst moment of her life and I couldn't just broke down in front of her because of it. I had to be her support, not the other way.

-

Since that day we pretty much hang out with each other everyday, sometimes with Luke, Ashton or Mike, and sometimes by ourselves. Adelaide eventually stopped talking to Natalie, as she realized she wasn't exactly a good friend, and we found out later that Natalie was now into Josh, but we never spoke about it. She never went back to the house and became really good friends with Michael, since they were officially roommates. Mike's place was nice, as long as you avoided Mike and Marissa's wild nights. She usually crashed at Luke's when she knew she wouldn't be able to sleep there. I would've told her to stay at my place more than once, I would've loved it, but since my mom knew what had happened it felt kind of disrespectful, even though we weren't exactly a thing.