Her Persistence - Completed

Chapter 13

Calum's PoV

As soon as Poppy left the room, it felt like my world was ending. The one good thing I'd had in my life had now been ruined, all thanks to Naomi. How could I have been so stupid? How could I have said her name whilst Poppy was literally there in front of me, giving me everything I needed. I fell back onto the bed and put my head in my hands, trying to stop the feeling that the room was spinning as I thought about life without her. I couldn't. It was nauseating.

A soft knock on the door brought me from those thoughts and as I opened it, Ashton barged his way in quickly and shut the door behind him. As I, once again, fell into the bed in a depression, Ashton waited expectantly for me to explain myself. He didn't need to use words, he just gave me a look. I remained silent, not knowing the best way to tackle the situation but Ashton wasn't impressed. He folded his arms over his chest.

"Any particular reason why Bex and I just saw Poppy leaving in a state? Bex has now gone to find her and we're losing out on time as a couple. So I swear if you mention that witch..." Ashton never liked Naomi when we were dating. In fact, none of the boys did. Throughout my time with her they were constantly trying to warn me from her but I never listened. Maybe I should have. I sighed heavily, signalling to Ashton that he wasn't going to like my answer.

"I can't get her out of my head, man." I could barely look at Ashton as I finally vocalised my struggles. Ashton looked away from me for a second as if disappointed, then gathered the strength to look back at me. "She came over at the airport and she just fucked with my head. She put all those thoughts and feelings back in there, just slotted them in like a jigsaw puzzle." I sighed once again. "She even got me a drink on the plane, whisky, and I lied to Poppy saying I'd ordered it." I looked down at the floor, lacing my fingers together on my lap as I stared at my hand tattoos. My parents definitely wouldn't be proud of me right now.

"Cal, remember what that girl did to you,What she did to us!" Ashton sat beside me, putting an arm around my shoulders. "She wasn't good for you. She put you in a really bad place. Poppy got you out of that. Naomi is a siren, she attracts you to her and then ruins you." Every word Ashton said cut deeper but was also so true. Our relationship was only really physical, any time we encountered any stresses within our time together she took the easy way out; I was blamed, or she'd leave. Hours later she'd come back, wearing something nice and I'd accept her back again despite the torment I'd just gone through. "Years it took you to get over her. You didn't even want to let Poppy in because of Naomi."

"I know!" I whined, throwing my hands out in frustration. "But my brain won't switch her off. She tried to seduce me and she's made her mark. I'm a fucking fool." Once again I sighed, knowing I'd well and truly screwed everything up - again.

"You're not a fool, Calum. She knows just what to do to bleed you dry. She's an evil, manipulative bitch. Whatever fun she was having, it's finished and you're the new game." I pulled away from Ashton, rising to my feet unsteadily as memories clouded my vision. Some good times, mostly bad.

"What am i gonna do?" Panic set in. Naomi always won and if she did, that'd mean I'd lose Poppy. I began to hyperventilate at the thought. I couldn't lose her, not after everything we'd been through. She took a blade for me, she fought her past and I stayed by her side cheering her on. I couldn't get rid of that just because Naomi was back.

"Cal, Calm down!" Ashton grabbed me and shook me a little. "We will get through this just like we did last time, but you need to listen to us this time." Guilt bubbled inside me, reminding me of how I'd acted when Naomi was around. I pushed my band mates away when they tried to warn me of her, her lies clouding my thinking. I nearly left the band. I shouted at them, told them they didn't understand what it was like to be in love, told them to leave me alone. Naomi managed to get me to separate myself from everyone I loved, so why was I still thinking about her?

"I'm sorry. I know I was a prick. If I could turn back the time I'd never have even spoken to her." I ran my hands over my face, my body feeling drained already.

"Forget about that, you can't change the past. But you can alter where your future is headed. If you want Naomi there, that's one thing, but I'd you want Poppy in it, you need to work hard. And I mean from now." Ashton gave me a cold hard slap of reality with that sentence, making me realise that life will go on of I fight for it or not, but then I couldn't complain about how it had turned out.

"Guys!" The door banged loudly, making us both jump. It was Bex. My stomach dropped at the urgency in her tone. Please say Poppy was okay. Ashton leapt up and opened the door to a slightly dishevelled looking girl, out of breath from running. "I- Poppy, she- I, Naomi..." she said, making no sense.

"Slower, come on babe." Ashton pressed, making her take a deep breath in.

"I took Poppy to the restaurant to sit and chat but Naomi arrived, she said some snarky thing about losing some game and said she was staying in this hotel. Poppy stormed off and I came to warn you guys because Naomi could be here any minute." She said, her eyes wide in fear. "I don't want... you and Poppy are great... don't let her win."

"It's fine. We're sorting it out." Ashton put a hand on her shoulder to soothe her and she relaxed under his touch. Just as I would do with Poppy. My heart tugged heavily. They were all right. I needed to fix this. But just as my confidence grew, she appeared in the doorway, banishing every thought I had as I stared back at her in awe. She'd done it again. She'd dressed up, given me a flirty smile and roped me back in again.

"Hey baby."