bandages || calum hood

thirty-one

"You're gonna regret even looking at me, motherfucker." Slamming his body into the tables, the chairs tumbled down, hitting some people nearby. "I'll fuck you up."

"What the fuck?" A New Yorker aided the unconscious boy with blood pouring out of his nose and cuts on his face. The gang clenched their jaws, glaring at me as a warning.

"You better watch your back, boy. You don't know what you just got into." A dark skinned man pointed his finger at me, his black eyes narrowing. He had a clean cut face, a scar and sleeves of tattoos to add to his intimidating aura.

"I never know what I'm getting into." I smirked as I stumbled back since the room seemed to be spinning around. "That's what makes me Calum Hood."

"Well, Calum Hood, I would watch your back if I were you. I'm not able to guarantee you that you'll survive the streets from now on." The man picked up the unconscious boy with one arm, slinging the body over his shoulder. The gang escorted them out, spitting slangs at me on how the fight wasn't over. Little did they know, a fight would be the best therapy for me, whether I live or not.

After a few hours in the bar, Michael decided to take me home since it was already dawn. My fingers wrapped around the toilet bowl as the bile rose up my throat. The stinging feeling caused me to gag and throw up all the contents in my stomach. Tears burned my eyes as I hovered above the toilet.

"Hey buddy," Michael rubbed my back as he set down a glass of water next to me. "Are you feeling better?"

"I miss her, Michael." I sobbed as I fell onto his lap. Michael wrapped his arms around me, rocking us back and forth as I continued to cry. At the end of the day, I would never actually hate Belle. I loved her too much to do anything but miss her right now. The distance was killing me, and I avoided even looking at her in school when I went back -I eventually dropped out of school because I could care less.

"She had no fucking right, Calum. You have to know that." Michael rubbed my shoulder as he handed me the glass of water. The ice cold water ran down my throat, soothing the sore pain that was caused when I kept throwing up for the past hour. Michael constantly reminded me that Belle was the one who fucked up.

"I love her, Michael." My tears blurred my vision as I coughed onto my arm. Bile rose up my throat, burning my insides as I hurled in the toilet. Gulping the clean water to clear my throat, I harshly set down the glass as I curled into a ball, biting my lip as my eyes blurred with tears. "Why doesn't she love me?"

"Kid, I've known Belle for quite a long time, and she did love you. Both of you were in love with each other, but some people make mistakes that not even love can fix. If she already made one mistake, she's going to make another one. You deserve better." Michael patted my back as he ruffled my hair. Though Michael was a dick -an unbelievably egotistical, greedy one- he never failed to help me through my problems.

"Why would she do something like that?" I sniffled and pulled my sleeves over my hands. "I've done nothing but love her."

"She would do anything just to be the perfect child, Cal. If you gave her the choice between love and her parents' approval, she would obviously choose her parents. Some people are addicted to the feeling of pleasing others, not in a kinky way." Michael chuckled while he tried to brighten up the room. A little bit of sunlight crept through the window, the room cool and quiet. He was right; Belle always wanted to please her damn parents.

"I've wasted time loving someone who doesn't even love me back." My body shook with cries, my eyes squeezing shut due to the fact that I only wanted to see pure darkness. I know Michael said that Belle loved me, but if she really did, she would never do that.

"You really loved that baby, didn't you?" Michael sighed and pulled put a cigarette, placing it between his teeth. He lit it with his lighter, the smoke fogging up the bathroom. Blowing out the smoke, Michael faced me and offered one.

"I loved both of them so much. I don't give a shit if that baby was unborn at that moment, but he or she meant the world to me." Taking his offer, I blew smoke from my cigarette, blankly staring at the wall as I sat up.

"I wonder what would happen if I had a baby. Like, I would probably name it Thomas." Michael twirled his cig in between his thumb and index finger before he turned to me.

"Like the train," I deadpanned, rolling my eyes. I didn't get what was so important about my middle name. "For the sake of humanity, please don't have a child."

"I want my child to be an astronaut, so he could see booties that are out of this world." Michael wiggled his eyebrows causing me to punch him and wipe the remaining tears rolling down my cheeks.

"What if you have a girl?" No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't imagine Michael with a baby even near him; I thought he hated them. The topic was still sensitive to me, but Michael always tended to lighten up the subjects.

"I don't want a girl. They're too dramatic." Michael groaned as he crushed his cigarette on the bathroom floor. Interrupted by the ringing of his phone, Michael stared at the screen before hesitantly answering.

"Hello?" He coughed to clear out his voice as he put the phone on speaker. The number was unknown, but Michael usually answered them since he had some customers who liked to buy anonymously.

"Hello, mom?" Rose's voice cracked through the phone, shaky with fear laced in it. I haven't heard from Rose in a long time, which was probably a good thing since she obviously reminded me of Belle ever single damn time.

"Rose what happened?" Michael jumped up, his eyes widening at her tone. I felt anxious about what was happening too; we usually used that code to cover up who we were actually talking to.

"I got into some trouble, and I need help getting out." She cried as she spoke out, sniffing occasionally. Her voice was raspy, probably from being tired. "I only have two minutes on the phone."

"What do you mean? Where are you?" Michael pulled his gun out of the bathroom counter drawer -he kept some around just in case- and loaded it up.

"I-" Rose stopped to allow herself to cry a little more, coughing as she whimpered. "I'm in jail."

~

okay this is gonna get good i swear

-kat hoodings