"Where the hell did you get that from?" Calum asked, reaching across the table in the kitchen to poke Addy's nose ring, which was still a little sensitive. She winced a little bit when he touched it but forced a smile, trying to decide whether or not to tell him the truth.
"Oh this?" she asked casually, trying to brush it off. It would never work, though, and she knew it; Calum could always see right through her. "Remember that little place you got your lip pierced? I got it done there." Addy bit the inside of her cheek. It wasn't a complete lie; she just didn't want to tell the complete truth either. Calum hated Michael and had warned her on more than one occasion not to get involved with him, which is why Calum finding out about their night together would only create a domino effect that left everyone pissed at Addy. Calum cocked his head to the side and raised his eyebrow in confusion, cracking a smile.
"How the hell did you convince your parents to let you get that?" he asked, still staring at it. They both knew that her parents would never in a million years agree to something like that, which made explaining this to Calum that much harder. Hiding her nose ring from her parents that morning was relatively difficult, as Addy's mother always questions everything Addy does. When she held her hand over her nose and skipped breakfast to run out the door, she knew her mother suspected something. Oh well, though, because she had all day to come up with excuses for when her mom confronted her about it later.
"They didn't let me get it," she replied, looking down at her hands to hide the smirk on her face. Calum would be proud of her for finally doing something on her own, but less proud of her when he found out Michael was part of it. "I got it myself." Calum opened his mouth slightly in surprise and started clapping from across the table, laughing a little bit when Addy's cheeks tinted pink. She glanced up at him for a second and he smirked.
"Addy Ellis finally did something against the rules," he said, shaking his head and laughing. "I can't believe you! You're turning into a low key bad girl." Addy laughed nervously along with him; the burning desire to tell Calum everything that happened that night eating her up inside. She really had no one else to tell besides Luke, who was out of the question. He was already pissed off at her for lying to him that night, and had texted her when she got home saying he knew she ditched him for Michael and he wasn't happy about it. To be honest she was surprised Luke hadn't told Calum, because they always told each other everything. Long story short Luke was already mad, and Calum along with her parents were about to be pissed off too.
"Yeah," she said softly, glancing around the room trying to prepare herself if Calum started yelling. It didn't really matter, though, because once he started she couldn't really stop it. "Um, Calum, can I tell you something? Promise me you won't get too upset." Calum looked confused but he nodded, signaling her to go on. She took a shaky breath, closing her book and resting her elbows on the table. "I went on a sort of, um, date, I guess? The night I got this done," she started, pointing to her piercing. Calum just nodded, his eyebrow raising as he ushered her to continue. "It was with someone, though, I mean, it was unplanned and stuff but it was still a date I guess. He sort of came to my house and just picked me up and we did a lot of random stuff." Calum subconsciously leaned forward, resting on his arms that were folded and set on the table.
"Yeah, with who?" he asked, but he already knew. Calum predicted exactly what was gonna come out of Addy's mouth next, and he was just waiting until she admitted it to say anything. She closed her eyes and took in another deep breath, mentally preparing herself to get yelled at by Calum.
"Michael," she said softly, and Calum put his head in his hands, sighing loudly. Addy leaned back in her chair, feeling her cheeks go red and closed her eyes. To be honest she didn't think this was such a big deal, Calum shouldn't care who Addy dates, as long as she's happy. That was how friendships were supposed to work; as long as Addy was happy then Calum should be too no matter what happens.
"Do you ever listen to me, Addy? I told you he's not someone you want to get involved with. He'll only hurt you, damn it!" He was stood up now, running a hand through his messy hair while he stared at Addy. She got sort of angry at this; why did Calum give a fuck about who she dated? She could do whatever she wanted with or without Calum's approval. Michael hadn't done anything to prove to her that he was such a horrible person, which gave her no excuse to believe the things everyone else was saying to her. If someday Michael screwed her over and walked out of her life forever, she could expect an "I told you so," and tell Calum he was right. But for now, she wasn't about to break things off with Michael on a hunch that they might not work out.
"Why do you care?" she spat back, raising her voice a bit. She'd never risen her voice to Calum before, because this had never happened. They just didn't fight with each other, it was how things had always been. Calum and Addy just didn't get into fights, and when they did it was just a little bit of bickering that ended in laughter. Fighting for real was something that rarely ever happened between them.
"Why do I care, Addy? I care because you're like the sister I never got to have! I care because I'm sick of seeing the people I love get torn in two by someone who they thought loved them back. It's happened to my mom, Luke, me, and I'm not fucking having it happen to you too." His voice got low, and his eyes became a darker shade of brown. Addy was still angry - really angry - but she felt a sort of pang of regret that she knew would be in the pit of her stomach sooner or later. Calum had lived his whole life watching others break at the hands of people who didn't believe in love. His parents had divorced when he was younger because his dad left his mom for someone "younger," and "prettier" than she was. Luke's ex girlfriend admitted to cheating on him, which fucked his life up pretty bad for a while. And finally, Calum had the worst of the stories. His ex girlfriend had cheated on him for years, insisting that he was the only one she'd ever loved this way. She made him believe that love was all anyone ever needed; that if you had love you had everything. It tore Calum apart in a way that was unfixable.
"You can't keep everyone under your control, I know you care and I'm sorry this is happening but I'm okay, Calum, I'm okay. I'm seventeen years old, I don't need you to help me if I scrape my knee anymore," Addy said. Calum always tried to keep everyone under his protection, he always tried desperately to keep everyone on the right track and felt personally responsible for anyone he loved getting hurt. It was both his best quality and his biggest downfall.
"You can't protect me from everything," Addy said, her tone equally as low as his. He leaned down, studying her face with his jaw clenched tightly.
"I can try."
YOU ARE READING
reckless | mgc
Fanfiction"Guys play rock music for two reasons. One, to get laid. Two, because they have anger. And to be honest, I'm a little bit of both right now."
