Stay || c.h. *completed & editing*

Chapter 13.

Dear Laurie,

I've done it. I finally gave in and broke up with Calum.

And I don't think I've ever made such a horrible mistake in my entire life.

Love,

Ellie.

~~~

"Ellie, please, you've been locked in your room for the past 3 days, just listening to music or whatever else and you've barely come down to eat meals," my dad sighed, sitting on my bed. I was currently occupying myself with staring at the lines on my left palm.

I just shrugged merely, not moving my gaze from my hand. 

"Can you at least tell me what's going on?" he asked.

"I just don't have anything anymore," I said quietly. "I've officially lost everyone who has meant something to me."

"What are you talking about?" he asked gently.

"Laurie's dead, you're never around and Calum..." I stopped, feeling my eyes stinging again. As if I haven't already cried enough in the past 3 fucking days.

"Did you and Calum break up?" he asked.

I nodded, chewing on my bottom lip as I willed the tears not to fall from my eyes.

"Why?" he asked. "I didn't think there was anything wrong with your relationship."

"There wasn't." I shook my head. "My relationship with him was perfect. Not in the sense that we never fought or argued or anything, because we did, but we had a perfectly healthy relationship and..."

"Then why did you break up?" he asked.

"Because mom said that if I didn't break up with him then she would disown me and kick me out of the house," I whispered, pulling my knees up to my chest. 

"What? Why would she do that?" 

"Because she doesn't want me to be happy," I had now given up on not crying and the tears were flowing freely down my cheeks. "For some reason she thinks she's helping me by forcing me to break up with Calum when he was the only thing that brought back what Laurie took with her."

"I'm going to have a talk with her because--"

"It's no use, dad," I sighed. "She's stubborn and she's just going to tell you the same thing she's been telling both of us for the past who knows how long."

My dad opened his mouth to say something in reply but was interrupted by my cell phone buzzing on the table next to me. I ignored it, not even bothering to look at who it was. 

"It's Calum... Don't you want to answer it?" he asked, glancing at my phone.

"No," I said quietly. "Just let it ring."

"Why don't you try talking to him?" he asked.

"Because mom doesn't want me hanging out with him anymore," I said. "She doesn't want me around him and if I go and try to hang around him again either she's going to disown me or she's going to know that you were the one who told me to, and you guys are going to be constantly fighting again, like you have been. Things are better this way." It almost seemed like I was trying to convince myself more than I was trying to convince him.

"Just go, please. I just wanna be by myself right now," I said, more calm and less harsh than my tone before.

My dad stood and left the room without saying another word. And I sat in my room, feeling emptier and lonlier than I ever had in my life.