WRONG NUMBER / CH

chptr 52

Leia let out a frustrated groan. "Did he tell you guys to come to my house to talk to me?"

"He doesn't know we're here, chill!" Michael barked out, a little harsher than he wanted it to be.

After a few more seconds of their door war, she had had enough: without warning, she let go of her hold and caused the boys on the other side to topple over each other slightly. Seeing their helpless sight made her smirk. But now Luke had his grip on the door and he managed to open it entirely. There was no escape.

"We...just wanted...to talk," Michael wheezed.

Ignoring him, Leia crossed her arms. "Mom, I told you I didn't want to see Calum! You should've told me!" she called out in annoyance.

"But they aren't Calum, dear," her mother replied softly from another part of the house.

Leia sighed. "They're his friends. They lied to you." She turned her attention back to the three boys, who were observing their conversation with unease. "I guess birds of the same feather really do fly together," she said.

"I know you know how sorry Calum is," Michael began. "We know he never meant for it to go this far, Leia–"

She was already shaking her head. "But that's just it, he did let it go far, and for that he's an asshole–"

"No, shut up," Michael interrupted, which shocked pretty much everyone. He was gritting his teeth, and their was an obvious vein throbbing in his temple: he was beginning to get angry. Luke and Ashton exchanged worried glances while he continued. "Calum's anything but. And I'm sorry to say this but you both need to get your fucking shit together and talk about this. Stop avoiding him. It's killing him. It's killing you, don't deny it. And we know he fucked up by not telling you he was in borderline stalker-mode on you for a few months, and that's a real shit thing to do but he's desperate for your forgiveness. That guy's starting to go crazy without you. He's going all ancient Bible times and putting on burlap sacks and running around the streets begging for your forgiveness because a man came out of a fish—" Michael blinked once, like he just only realized what he was saying. Seeming to forget his purpose, he turned to the other boys, who were just staring with raised eyebrows and slightly opened mouths. "I think I blanked out for a second," Michael muttered. "I'm starting to tell Bible stories."

Clapping Michael's shoulder encouragingly, Ashton stepped forward. "What he means to say is, Leia...Calum's sorry. He's more than sorry, and he doesn't know how to fix it without pissing you off even more. I mean, come on. If you were just texting a random stranger you wouldn't be this mad, right? He said that you said you'd probably just be embarrassed and you'd probably apologize to that person. So I don't get why you haven't forgiven him yet."

Leia looked at them like she was on the verge of tears. She threw her hands up frustratedly. "Honestly, Ashton? I..." She bit her lip, unsure of what to say. "I want to. I want to just forget this ever happened. But for some reason, I just can't stop thinking about it. I look at Calum, and..." She pauses while a small, sad smile breaks out of her face. "When I met him, he made me feel so safe. He made me feel like he'd never lie to me, never leave me. I trusted him. And after everything I've been through, my family and all that crap, it was pretty hard to trust people, but I trusted him. And I believed it was some kind of divine intervention, the universe's way of telling me things are going to get better, because good things like Calum still exist in this world.

But when he told me that the only reason he met me was because of those goddamn messages, I just...crumbled. Those were meant for the only person I trusted. Sometimes those messages were so personal and private that it just kills me thinking of Calum knowing so much about me before I'd even met him. Because what if he isn't the person I think he is? What if he's just he person he thinks I'd want him to be because of those texts? What if I'm not the person he thinks I am?" She drew a shaky breath, feeling the familiar sting in her eyes and the lump in her throat. She fanned herself with her hands while the boys stared quietly, unsure of what to do. Things were getting really deep really fast.

Finally, after a few more moments, she spoke again. She was hugging herself, looking down like she didn't have the strength to put on a brave face anymore. "I just...it's so hard for me. I used to think someone like him was too good to be just a coincidence– and now I know that's true."

There was a stretch of silence afterwards. It wasn't awkward or uncomfortable. It was more of a sad span of time used to absorb the truth behind it all, and for them to realize there was more to love than loving someone. Leia was still looking down, but then she looked up. There were tears brimming her eyes.

Surprisingly, Luke stepped forward. Despite saying nothing during the whole duration of their talk, he quietly walked forward and stood right in front of Leia, towering over her.

Then he wrapped his arms around her in a warm hug.

Leia was surprised, and so were the two other boys. But she welcomed the warmth and the comfort of her sadness being acknowledged. She hugged back carefully, determined not to lose her shit in front of Calum's friends.

But Luke softly said, "Calum misses you so fucking much, you know," and she just lost it.

She started crying on Luke's shoulder. She was crying her heart out for Calum. It's only been a little over a week, but the space between them was like a fist around her neck: she couldn't breathe without him. She was sobbing, shaking slightly. "I miss him. I miss him so much, Luke."

Michael and Ashton exchanged glances. The pale boy just mouthed wow. Ashton nodded, fresh out of words. This whole thing did not go as expected. It was definitely better than what they thought would happen; she confessed to missing him and possibly loving him, and that mattered the most.

Leia calmed down enough to pry herself away from Luke and step back into her home. Her eyes were puffy, but she had a small smile on. She sighed when she saw the mess she made on Luke's shirt. "Sorry."

"Don't mention it," Luke said with a nonchalant wave. "I mean, seriously. If Calum found out we hugged and stuff he'd be all pissy over me," he added with a small laugh.

Unexpectedly, Leia stepped outside to hug Luke again; then Michael, than Ashton, each whispering a small thank you in their ears. She backed up shyly afterwards. "I needed this, I think. I've had my thoughts pent up for so long, so...thank you guys." She put on a more sincere smile, which lit up her eyes. "Calum's lucky to have friends like you."