Prove You Wrong // Cake AU [complete]

27: Numb

A/N: Jenna McDougall from Tonight Alive (aka Jenna in this story) tweeted me and I'M STILL SHAKING I LOVE HER SM

The POVs change a lot in this chapter, I apologise, I was super distracted

[Calum.]

The drive back home was agonisingly long. It seemed so much longer than our way here.

Ashton said it's because I didn't want to leave. Of course I didn't want to leave! Luke was here. What did I have back home? Yeah, I mean, all my friends and family are there, but...

Honestly, I was scared. I didn't want anything bad to happen to Luke. I wanted to hold him in my arms and protect him from all the douchebags he went to school with. Oh how I wanted to keep him safe from the world, but sadly that's just not how life works.

When we got home, I immediately called Luke to let him know, and we talked for an hour. I didn't want to hang up but my eyes were closing against my will, and I had school tomorrow. Ah, screw school.

I had expected to be exhausted the next day, and that every little thing would be getting on my nerve.

What I didn't expect was getting a phone call from Jenna after school while in the midst of talking about Timothy's party.

[Luke.]

School, again. I was dreading today. I didn't want to go back - I just wanted to be with Calum. But he was 4000 kilometres away, in a town I'd much rather be in, so I had to do what I could to make it through the day.

However, that was proving to me incredibly difficult.

When I stepped into school, I knew something was up. Everyone was glaring at me, more than usual, and Jenna was nowhere to be seen. I kept my head down as I walked to my locker, but when I got there, I wished that I still had my head down.

The word 'fag' was spray painted across it, and taped to the locker was... A photo of Calum and I. My heart sunk, sunk, sunk until I was positive I could feel the beat in my shoes.

I ripped the photo off, staring at it intently. It was the first day Calum got here, when he kissed me on my doorstep. How did they see this? More importantly, who saw this? No one that I knew lived in my neighbourhood. How could this be happening?

A million different questions ran through my mind as I ripped up the photo, blood boiling inside me. I was scared, but mainly, I was angry. Angry that my happiness, that my everything was such a big deal to these people. It was like my parents' divorce all over again, except this time, I had no consolation in being forgotten. No, this would be remembered, and I would be paying the price of these people's memories.

I only had one thing to do. I had to get out of this place, and fast. I couldn't risk being seen by anybody.

I ducked my head down and hurried for the doors. I didn't care who was staring, I didn't care about the people yelling at me and calling me names. All I cared about was getting out of here and never coming back.

But life doesn't always work out the way we want it, does it?

One minute, I was heading for the doors. The next, I was thrown painfully against the lockers, held up by a pair of strong hands.

"Going somewhere, Hemmings?" he spat, his face entirely too close to mine.

Ah, Adam. It was always a pleasure to see him. I remembered how I bumped into him on the first day of school, and how he hadn't left me alone since. Today wasn't going to be pretty.