waste the night [c.h.]

thirty-four

I was sat on the couch, my legs draped over Calum's leg, his arm wrapped securely around me, one hand on my knee. My head was against his shoulder, eyes droopy with sleep. 

He rubbed reassuring circles in my back, humming a soft song to me. I closed my eyes and breathed, my heart pounding against my chest. 

Calum leaned down, his lips moving close to my ear as he pulled me closer. "He's going to be fine, Alex."

I pulled back to look at him, my forehead resting against his as I sighed, tears starting to burn my eyes. "I can't lose him."

"You won't," he said, meeting me eyes and wiping the tears from my cheek. "He's going to be fine, if he's anything like you, he's strong as hell."

I smiled softly, sniffling as my eyes fell to my wrist. Sun. The light. Ben was going to make it because he was strong. He couldn't let himself go out like this, Ben has to die in some stupid big explosion or saving a dog. Something completely extra and ridiculous.

I laughed softly at the thought, looking over and meeting my mom's eyes. She narrowed her eyes, anger still evident in them. I looked to Calum, sending him a soft smile before kissing his lips and moving from my seat.

I sat next to my mom, her head turning not to look at me. I reached over and grabbed her hand, squeezing it tightly. "I know you're mad at me. I know you hate that I'm an adult now and I'm going to make decisions that you don't like. But I love you. And right now, we need to stick together. For Ben."

She turned to me, her eyes filling with tears as she pressed a kiss to my hand. "For Ben."

She got up, moving to standing in front of Calum, pulling a tight smile. "Hi, I'm Alex's mom, you can call me Molly."

Calum quickly stood up, taking her hand and shaking it softly. "This isn't exactly how I would liked for us to meet but I lo-really like your daughter and I plan to spend a lot of my time with her, Mrs. Taylor."

"Although I am not happy with the decisions she's made since you two have met, you make her happy, something we haven't been able to do since she was young," my mom smiled before pulling Calum into a hug, shock flashing across his face as his eyes met mine. "Thank you."

Calum patted her back softly, pulling back and smiling at her. "Your daughter has and always will be the most beautiful person in the world, the brightest girl in the room, and the smartest student at school, you did something right."

My mom laughed, squeezing his cheek between her fingers. "Thank you, Calum."

"No, Mrs. Taylor," he smiled, wrapping an arm around my waist. "Thank you."

My father stayed in his seat across the room, disappointment and anger written across his face. I shrugged it off, turning to Calum. If my mom liked Calum then surely she could change his mind.

He leaned down and kissed my lips softly, pressing another kiss to my forehead before heading to the bathroom.

The doctor came out, all of my family moving to their feet. He moved so that he was looking at my mother, his lips moving downward into a frown.

I felt like I stood there forever, waiting for the man in the white coat to open his mouth and tell me how my brother was. I felt my ears start ringing again, my skin breaking out in goosebumps as I began to feel numb. He was frowning, why was he frowning? Was Ben gone?

"He's okay."

I breathed out a breath I didn't realize I was holding in, falling backwards and onto the couch. 

"There were a couple complications during the surgery but he's going to be completely fine, he should recover in a few weeks," the doctor said before turning to me. "He told me before we put him under that he wanted you to be the first person he saw."

The doctor nodded to me, gesturing for me to follow him. Calum returned and I grabbed his hand, pulling him along.

The doctor cracked open the door quietly, turning to me. "He should wake up in a few."

I smiled softly at him. "Thank you."

He nodded as I sat in the chair beside the bed, reaching over for my brother's hand.

Calum pulled a chair up beside me, moving a hand to my shoulder, rubbing it softly. Soon, Ben started to wake up, his eyes roaming the room before falling on me.

"There she is," he smiled, smiling sleepily at me. "Where's this boyfriend I heard of?"

I smiled, nudging Calum with my elbow. 

He leaned forward, a soft smile pulling at his lips. "I'm Calum."

"I'm Ben," my brother said, shaking Calum's hand weakly. "You hurt my sister and I'll punch you in the throat."

Calum chuckled softly, his fingers curling around my knee. "Of course. Glad to see you're doing alright, mate."

I reached out and squeezed Ben's hand softly, ignoring the tears in my eyes. "Yeah, me too."