Chapter Text
Calum waited, but his parents still weren't coming. With a small sigh, he dragged himself out of the bed. As soon as his feet touched the cold floor, his head started spinning. Everything was still slightly blurry. He wasn't sure how much he ended up taking the day prior, but it had to be a lot.
He started walking towards the bathroom, which was connected to his room. He opened the door and stepped in, and as soon as he did, he almost jumpscared himself. The mirror on the other side of the wall showed a person he barely recognized. He furrowed his eyebrows and stepped closer.
The dark circles under his eyes were bigger than usual. His lip was split, with a patch of dried blood over it. He had a black eye, and his eyebrow had a small cut on it. His hair was all over the place and messy. He stared at himself in disbelief. Zayn was right. He did look like a zombie.
He hesitantly reached down and grabbed the bottom of his shirt before he pulled it over his head. More bruises were covering his belly and sides. He noticed some scratches on his arms, too. He had no idea when all of it happened or what happened at all, really. He sighed and shook his head. Whatever happened wasn't good. He wondered if Zayn remembered anything about it.
He turned away from the mirror. He couldn't keep looking at himself. Deciding to make himself look a little more presentable, as much as it was possible, he took off the rest of his clothes and took a shower. It was a quick one. He had absolutely no energy to spend more than a few minutes there.
Once he deemed himself clean enough, he dried himself up and put on a pair of grey sweatpants and an old band t-shirt. At this point, the clothes were good two sizes bigger on him. He was way too skinny to find himself pretty anymore. He decided not to torture himself with having to look at himself anymore, and he headed back in his room.
He froze in the door as he noticed Dean leaning against the wall while his mom was sitting on the chair by his bed, that Dean left there, and his father was standing behind her. They all turned their eyes to him when he entered, which made him quickly avert his eyes. He walked over to his bed and sat down. Here they went again, with the talk.
"Care to explain why Dean found you passed out on the street?" His father asked, raising his eyebrows as he put his hands on the back of the chair in front of him that his mother was sitting on. She seemed to have tears in her eyes.
"I already told Dean. I don't remember." Calum groaned. He was tired of these talks. They weren't going anywhere. They never did.
"How can you not remember, Calum?" His father asked, raising his voice slightly.
"Maybe we should take him to the doctor. He looks sickly. Maybe something is wrong." His mother suggested, despite sounding rather doubtful herself.
"He doesn't need a doctor, Joy. He isn't sick. He is a damn junkie." His father's voice grew even louder. Calum cringed at his words.
"I am not a junkie." He said, frowning as he looked up at his father.
"Don't even start with that again, Calum. I am not fucking stupid." His father responded angrily before he ran his hand through his hair in frustration.
"There were pills in your jacket, Calum. What were they?" His brother suddenly asked, crossing his arms over his chest. He was still leaning against the wall, on the other side of Calum's room.
"Painkillers." Calum shrugged nonchalantly as he looked at Dane.
"Bullshit." His father spat out, gaining Calum's attention once again.
"It's not bullshit. It's also none of your business. I am 18. I am an adult." He growled, frowning. He was seriously tired of everyone trying to get up in his stuff.
"You are nowhere near being an adult. If you wanna be one, act like one." His father responded just as angrily. Calum rolled his eyes and pushed himself further on his bed, until his back was leaning against the headboard.
"Whatever." Calum mumbled, crossing his arms over his chest as he stared at the foot of the bed.
"Why are you beaten up?" His father asked, only receiving a shrug from Calum. When he still didn't respond, his father spoke up again.
"You don't want to tell us who's doing all of this? You don't want to tell us what's going on? Suit yourself." His father said angrily, raising his hands in defeat.
"But I don't want you in my house anymore. Maybe it will make you understand how well we treated you and how much you've lost."His father said, before turning around and leaving the room without another word.
This wasn't the first time those words were spoken in the house. Calum didn't give them much weight. His father wasn't the type of person to kick his own child out of the house, and he was sure his mom would never let him. Speaking of his mom, she silently left soon after his father. She seemed shaken up, and yes, Calum felt a little bad. But he didn't say anything.
"You really messed up, Cal." Dean spoke after a moment, before he pushed himself off the wall and headed towards Calum's bed. He sat down on the edge of it.
"I am going to talk to them. But you need to pull your weight too. You need to stop this." Dean said softly. Calum wasn't having any of it, though. He was tired of them all acting like he was the problem. They weren't perfect either; none of them was.
"Whatever. I don't care." Calum mumbled, shrugging, which received a sigh from Dean.
"Just try, Calum. I miss the old you." Dean said after a moment. He leaned in and pressed his lips against Calum's cheek, making him freeze. He hated this; he hated when Dean got too close to him.
Once Dean pulled away, Calum let out the breath he didn't realize he was holding. His brother stood up and walked out of the room as well.
Calum shifted until he was lying down. He pulled the blanket over himself, bringing it up to his chin. He was exhausted. His head was still throbbing from the previous day, and his whole body felt weak. Not that it was anything unusual.
He felt a little bad. This wasn't what he wanted. He didn't want to spend the rest of his life being seen as a failure. But he loved Zayn, and he was sure he would break up with him if he told him he didn't want to do this anymore. He couldn't do that.
Sighing, he closed his eyes. He was supposed to stay in his room anyway; he might as well catch up on sleep. He only woke up a few hours later. Everything was still the same; he was still alone, and it was still bright outside. He slowly sat up, wincing as he did. Whoever hurt him the day prior did a good job.
He pushed himself up to his feet and slowly walked over to the door. He opened it and looked around to see the hallway empty. As he could hear voices coming from downstairs, he took a few steps towards the stairs to hear better.
"... which isn't anything he couldn't deal with. I will pay him; we will stay in contact; everything will be great." His father said. Calum seemed to catch them mid-conversation, and it didn't take him too long to realize the conversation was revolving around him again.
"I don't know, David. We haven't seen him in forever. Who knows what he is like now?" He heard his mother say. He frowned slightly in confusion; he had no idea what they were discussing.
"Wouldn't some kind of boarding school be a better option?" His mother asked, making Calum's frown deepen. Hell no, there was no way he was going to boarding school.
"Joy, those places are terrible. What, do you really think putting hundreds of troubled boys together is a good idea? It might look like they have it under control, but there is no way those boys aren't fucking around. Ashton will be able to keep an eye on him 24/7." His father said, suddenly making Calum's eyes widen. Ashton was a name he didn't hear in quite a while. Now he was really confused.
Ashton wasn't a bad guy, at least from what he remembered. He was just four years older than Calum and used to be great friends with Dean, as they were roughly the same age. He was the son of his father's business partner and best friend. That's probably why he spent so much time hanging out with Dean and thus Calum as well. Which didn't explain why he was being brought up now, years after he moved to a different city. Calum walked downstairs and followed their voices into the dining room.
"I am not going to a boarding school." He said as soon as he entered, making everyone look up at him. Dean was sitting at the table, and so was his mother, while his father stood near.
"Dean told you to stay in your room, Calum." His father said, annoyance clear in his voice. But Calum ignored him.
"Why are you talking about Ashton?" He asked, raising his eyebrows questioningly.
"They want to send you over to him. I told them it's a stupid idea." Dean huffed, clearly unhappy with the plan. Calum frowned in confusion and turned his attention to his father.
"Why?" Was all he could ask as confusion set in.
"Because he is trustworthy and responsible. We all know him, and he is a great family friend. He is a teacher too; he might help you with your grades." His father said, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Okay? And?" Calum raised his eyebrows, mimicking his father as he crossed his arms over his chest in a similar fashion.
"And I already discussed this option with him before. And he wasn't opposed to the idea of you moving in." His father stated. Calum suddenly grew slightly nervous. Was he serious about sending him away this time?
"Wait, you actually want me to move away?" Calum asked in disbelief, which made his father snicker.
"I have given you more than enough warnings, Calum. And I tried to deal with you, but you are impossible lately. You need to fix your life." His father stated, which only made Calum more annoyed.
"This is bullshit. I am not moving in with Ashton. Doesn't he live like two hours away anyway?" Calum asked angrily.
"Language, Calum." His mom reminded him in a strict voice, which only made Calum roll his eyes.
"That's the point, Calum. I don't have time to babysit your grown ass to make sure you don't run off to that friend of yours again. You will be far; Ashton will keep an eye on you, and there won't be any distractions to keep you away from your studies." His father explained, only supporting Calum's opinion; it was bullshit.
"Well, I am not going. It's fucking stupid." Calum huffed.
"Language, Calum!" His mom said, louder this time. Calum had to force himself to overcome the urge to roll his eyes again.
"Good thing that the decision is not up to you, like at all. You are going. And if Ashton denies, you are going to a boarding school. That's final." His father said sternly, which only annoyed Calum more.
"I am an adult. You can't just fucking send me away!" Calum said angrily, raising his voice as he stared at his father with a look that could kill.
"You are a goddamn teenager, Calum. You have no money of your own. You are still in high school. And you still live in our house. So yes, I can just send you away. And I am going to." His father matched his angry tone, raising his voice again. Calum was furious.
"I am going to call Ashton tonight. If he agrees, we are taking you there as soon as he sees fit." His father continued speaking loudly. Calum looked over at his mom. She didn't say much, but she wasn't arguing about the idea, so he figured she agreed. His eyes moved to Dean, who was sitting across the table. He was visibly against the idea, but it's not like he had a say in it. His eyes landed back on his father, who still seemed just as angry as Calum himself.
"You're such assholes!" Calum yelled before turning around and leaving the room angrily. He heard his mom call his name again, but as he could tell it was only to scold him for bad language, he ignored it and headed back up to his room. He shut the door loudly before walking over to his bed and falling down on it. It hurt, but whatever.
He couldn't believe it. They were seriously considering sending him away. He would be so far from Zayn... Tears suddenly stung his eyes as the realization hit him. He would be far from Zayn. It was over. He wouldn't get to see him again, maybe ever. He looked over at his nightstand from where he was laying. Of course his phone was gone; his parents have surely taken it to restrict his contact with Zayn.
He groaned and put his arm over his face. This sucked. Everything did. It was so unfair and so shitty, and there was nothing he could do to stop it.
He was really being sent away, to Ashton of all people.