Fixing Our Problems || m.c. au

\iii/

Liane shifts slightly in Michael's arms, slowly waking herself up. She pulls away from him and slides off the large bed, keeping quiet so Michael could continue to sleep. After tugging her pajama pants up her legs, she exits the room, greeted by a silent hallway.

The scars on her arms start to burn while she makes her way to sit on the couch, and she finds herself roughly scratching at them through the thin material of her pajama shirt. She tugs up the sleeve before continuing to scratch them, letting her mind wander. What would Michael think if he saw her scars? What if he thought she was a complete freak? What if -

"You're bleeding." Her thoughts are interrupted by a soft Australian accent. She stops scratching and snaps her light colored eyes up to meet a darker colored pair. "A lot."

"Shit," she mumbles, noticing the blood seeping out of the now open cuts.

"Come with me, I'll help you." Liane reluctantly follows him out of the living room and into one of the bathrooms. He sits me down on the toilet and pulls out some sort of first aid kit.

"Is that supposed to be a first aid kit?" She laughs quietly as he pulls out a bottle of peroxide.

"Shut up, and just be glad we have it," he smiles up at her after kneeling on his knees in front of her. "By the way, what exactly are you doing in our flat?" He asks while working on cleaning up the cuts.

"I'm a friend of Michael's. I'm Liane," she smiles.

"I didn't know Michael had a girlfriend," he comments with a small smirk.

"'M'not exactly his girlfriend," she shrugs, wincing slightly at the stinging from the cleaning product. "What's, uh, your name?"

"Oh, yeah sorry, I'm Calum," he gives her a cheeky grin. "So, what's with ... this?" He gestures towards the scars marking her arm.

"It's a long story, but no one knows about the cuts. Not even Michael, please don't say anything," she begs quietly. He glances up at her, giving her a reassuring smile.

"Do you still do it?" He asks softly after letting it sink in for a few moments.

"No, I stopped a few months ago," she mumbles. "You have to promise me you won't tell Michael."

"You don't have to worry about that, Li, Michael hasn't talked to me in almost two years," Calum murmurs, a sad look in his eyes.

"Give him time, he's getting better," she reassures him softly. The two of them spend the next half hour - in the bathroom - talking about completely nothing. Calum rests his elbow on her thigh, leaning his head on it while Liane laughs at his previous comment.

"So, you're obviously American, what are you doing in Sydney?" He questions, tracing circles on her other thigh with his free hand.

"I'm starting college, well university I guess, in about a week." Calum opens his mouth to reply, but he's cut off by Michael's voice calling my name. "I'm in the bathroom," I call back. Michael appears in the doorway and Calum instantly pushes his body away from mine, discreetly pulling my sleeve down. "Hi," I smile, silently thanking the heavens Calum pulled down my sleeve.

"What are you two doing? In the bathroom?" He asks, leaning against the door.

"Nothing," Calum mumbles while pushing himself off the floor. He gives me a small, sad smile before quickly making his way out of the small room. I pout at his retreating body, feeling sorry for him.

"What's up?" I ask, patting my thighs and standing from the toilet.

"Were you bleeding?" He asks quietly, looking around at the mess next to me.

"Eh, I - yeah, I fell," I quickly lie with a small shrug.

"And you bled that much? How bad was it?" He scrunches his eyebrows, taking a few steps toward me.

"It's nothing, Mikey. Cal got it," I smile brightly at him, getting a slow nod.

*.*.*

hey there, sorry it was a crappy chapter, but oh well.

double update 'cause you guys are awesome xx