Zero

Chapter 21

Molly's POV

"Jesus Molly," Calum whimpers as I kiss along his neck, my hands scratching along his back. I smirk to myself at my accomplishment. Calum's hands run along my body before moving to the zipper on the front of my crop top. Before we can get any further, his bedroom door is swinging open, making us both jump. My heart races as I spot Luke standing there, clearly embarrassed.

"Hey Calum I need to- oh sorry. Wait a second. Is that Blaze?" Calum and I break apart and turn to look at him. My older brother looks up and meets my eye. I slowly slide off of Calum's lap, my heart racing as a I stare at him, a lump forming in my throat.

"Luke-" Calum stops himself, clearly unsure of what to even say.

"Hey Luke," I choke out, my body shaking. I see recognition flash in his eyes. He stumbles backwards, his back slamming into the wall.

"No," he mutters, shaking his head, "No, no, no."

"Luke-"

"No!" He screams, running his hands through his hair, "You're supposed to be dead. You're dead! You died! You-" Luke turns and leaves Calum's room, breathing heavily.

"I need to go now," I mumble to Calum, starting to crawl off of his bed.

"No!" He yells, grabbing my arm, pulling me back, "Molly, you need to go talk to Luke."

"I can't-"

"You need to," Calum snaps, his jaw clenched, "You don't understand the severity of this situation, Molly. Luke is still in therapy because you fucking died five years ago. It messed all of us up, but it really, really fucked Luke up. You need to go downstairs and talk to him and calm him down because this might break him for good." We hold each other's gaze for about half a minute, trying to see which one of us will break first. I do.

I sigh, lowering my eyes to the ground, "Fine." Calum nods but doesn't release my arm as the two of us head downstairs to find Luke.

When we get downstairs, we see him curled up on the couch, clutching a pillow to his chest as he counts softly to try to calm himself. He looks up, sees me, then squeezes his eyes closed again.

"Luke-"

"You're not real," he cuts me off, his voice shaking, "You're not. You're not Molly. My sister died in an explosion five years ago."

"I didn't die. I just faked my death. I had to. I had-"

"You had a daughter," he cuts in, "You had a fiance, you had a brother, and friends, and family. You didn't have to do shit, Molly. You chose to leave all of that, all of us, behind."

"Inferno-"

"Inferno was dead!" He screams, tears running down his cheeks, "You said Inferno died for sure. You said-"

"I lied," I admit, hanging my head in shame, "I told you guys I watched his body burn and was sure that he was dead, so none of you guys would ever suspect that my death was faked. I did a lot of stu-" The front door creaks open, making all three of us turn to look.

"Daddy!" Zara's excited voice shrieks as she runs inside.

"Shit," Calum swears, "You need to go Mol-"

Zara turns the corner and sees me, her face lighting up,"Mummy!" A grin breaks out across my face as I sink down to my knees, pulling her into my arms as I kiss all over her face. Ashton and Michael walk in as well. They see me and freeze.

"Daddy I told you I see mummy," Zara brags, staring up at Calum.

"She knows you," he connects, his frown deepening, "She's met you before. When did she- Felix. You'd go meet her at Felix's apartment. You've been seeing Zara this whole time."

"Cal," I plead, still holding my daughter, "I-"

"Are we a family now, mummy?" Zara interrupts, twisting my red hair around her tiny fingers. Luke gets up and leaves, shoving past Ashton and Michael, who are standing there silently, their eyes trained on the ground.

"I, um, I have to go, princess," I whisper to her, my throat burning as I feel everyone's eyes trained on me. "I love you."

"No!" Zara screams, clinging to me as she starts to sob, "No mummy no! Don't leave! Don't leave me! Daddy stop her!" Calum pulls her off of me, watching silently as I turn and walk out of his house before willing myself to just go invisible, feeling more miserable than I ever have before.