NYCTOPHILIA

Chapter 44

I huffed as I heard his words in my head.

Why do I even listen to him anymore... Asshole!

I looked around one last time as I waited for Lilly to answer, then froze once I saw a familiar silver car.

What is he doing here?

"Hello?" Lilly's voice spoke through the phone.

"Oh, hi! I was just ringing to see if you could pick me up, but Asher's here now..." I lied as I looked into his green eyes.

"Oh, okay... ring me later and tell me how your first day back went."

"I will. See you later."

"Byeeee!"

I ended the call then walked over to his car, and got into the passenger side.

"Callum... what are you doing here?" I asked, keeping my eyes in front of me whilst he looked at me.

"What do you think Celeste? You're the only high school student I know at the moment, and I'd honestly like to keep it that way..." he growled as he started the car.

None of us said anything as he began to drive away from the school.

This is awkward...

"I heard you got married... well, I saw it on some shitty teen drama accounts on Instagram... For some reason, people can't get enough of that asshole." He muttered, keeping his eyes out the window.

I sighed as I looked at him nervously.

"Callum, I'm sorry... you're probably wondering where I've been..."

I've been a really shitty friend.

"You leaving made me realise a lot of things Celeste..." he said as he glanced over to me.

"Like what?" I whispered as I looked down at my hands.

The car stopped at the traffic lights, and he looked at me again, his eyes lingering for longer.

"That... I missed you... a lot more than I thought I would." He mumbled as he began to drive again.

Oh... I wasn't expecting that.

I smiled at his words whilst I picked at my nail polish.

"I missed you too... I was in Spain... I had a miscarriage, and I wasn't coping very well, so my dad sent me to this place for some help."

He tensed up and looked over to me with sympathy in his vibrant green eyes.

"Shit, the baby... I'm so sorry Celeste... did Asher... you know..."

"No!" I said quickly, in shock at what he was implying. "Asher would never..."

That's a lie...

I shifted uncomfortably as I now remembered the few bruises that were littering my body right now, because of him.

It's not the same though... he'd never hurt me if I was pregnant, I know he wouldn't.

"Celeste you and I both know that's a lie... why did you even get married? And I'm not gonna shout at you or anything... I'm done trying to put some sense into you."

I sighed and crossed my arms, holding them tightly.

"Because we love each other..."

He glanced over to me, then clenched his jaw as he looked down at my arm.

"Is that love, Celeste?" He said through gritted teeth as he held up my arm, and let the sleeve fall down to reveal the small purple bruise.

I quickly snatched my hand away, and pulled my sleeve down whilst my face burned in embarrassment.