inevitable entanglements » a.i. + l.h.

34

“It’s not true, it’s not true, y-you can’t believe him, h-he’s lying.”

 

Calum’s eyes darted around the room, landing on each one of them for a few seconds before shifting again. Panic was written all over his face, his expression emphasised by his ragged breathing and the unholy amount of tears.

 

“P-please, I’m begging you.”

 

Michael cringed at the words that left Calum’s mouth, all too familiar with the line. It hurt him that the boy thought he would ever have to beg for things, that he was worth less than the others. He crawled on the bed, pressing Calum’s head against his chest so he would stop moving so frantically. But the boy ripped himself away from his touch and looked him straight in the eye instead.

 

“Michael, you can’t believe him. Please, please. It’s not, it’s not true.”

 

Michael cupped his face with his hands, opting for wiping away his tears instead.

 

“I have no idea what you two are talking about, Cal. Ashton is the only one who talked to Nicholas. I don’t know what happened to your father, love.”

 

He pressed the boy against his chest again and let him soak his shirt with his tears. He glared at Ashton over the shocking shoulder, furious that he’d managed to upset him this much.

 

“I don’t know what to believe, Calum. But I’d love to hear what you have to say. What he said, it was so mean. It can’t be true. And even if it is, I won’t ever treat you like he asked me to.”

 

Ashton whispered, sitting down on the edge of the bed. Luke was frozen in his seat, his fingers grabbing the edges of his book so tightly his knuckles turned white.

 

“I don’t, I don’t want to talk about it.”

 

Calum heaved, his nails digging into Michael’s skin in desperation. Ashton grabbed his hair with his hands, pulling it in frustration. All he wanted was to find out the truth. But he’d been in this situation before, he knew it was better to wait than to push it.

 

“Calum, I understand if you don’t want to bring back sad memories,” Luke spoke up, taking a seat on the other side of the bed. “So if you don’t feel like talking about it, by all means, don’t. But please know that we won’t ever judge you and that sometimes, it can make you feel better. I used to bottle everything up inside and I suffered a lot from that. Ashton eventually managed to win my trust and I told him everything, albeit for the wrong reasons at first. He helped me put things in perspective.”

 

Luke’s voice quavered a little and Ashton looked down in shame. He’d rather not think back of when he had made Luke so desperate that he’d been willing to do anything. But then again, if he wanted Calum to think about the past, than maybe he should too.

 

“What I did back then was wrong and I don’t plan on ever doing it again. It’s just, you sounded hurt after your brother said something to you. I wanted to know what he said and why he said it. He loves you so much, so why would he hurt you on purpose?”