"It's Not Love If It Hurts" //5sos

/3/

  A/N: I don't want to focus so much on Annie's negative emotions. I want to get her through recovery, so it may seem quick but keep the time frame in mind.

  Calum had gotten her a phone. He was gone for most days, and he had decided she should have some way to get in contact with people if there was an emergency. This way she would also have something to do for the long hours he was gone.

  Annie didn't talk too much. She would say a few words in a conversation, always sounding very thought out. Calum hung on to every syllable. She gave him this sly smile, that made it seem like her thoughts were rushing a million miles an hour. She slept on the floor of her room. They ate at the coffee table in the living room. Calum would talk about his day, never mentioning Mikey. He wasn't always sure Annie could hear him, because she rarely responded. She'd just give him that sly smile.

  At night they would sit on the couch. Sometimes Annie would sit on the far side, as far away as possible, and other nights she would rest her head on his lap. They'd watch tv, and finally Calum would say he needed to go to bed. Annie wouldn't nod, wouldn't say anything, just would go back to her room. He'd go to bed, and hear her walking and moving around in her room. Sometimes he'd wake up in the middle of the night, and she'd still be up, moving around.

  Annie didn't ask for a lot, but she did need a lot of shampoo and conditioner. Calum would get up to leave some mornings and Annie would run to her room, returning with an empty bottle of the goop. She needed more shower gel than a normal person too, but not nearly as much as the shampoo and conditioner. She showered every morning, at the exact same time though she didn't have an alarm on her phone. Then, she'd sit on her makeshift bed on the floor until Calum got her. She'd have that sly smile on her face.

  She showered at night too. Midnight, on the dot. And some days, when Calum got home, her hair would be slightly damp from another shower that afternoon. Her red curls always reeked of flowers and citrus and vanilla, whatever scents the shampoos and conditioners were that week.

  One day Calum got home earlier than normal. He knocked on Annie's door, and she stumbled to get it. Her hair was still dripping from the shower, and her room was slightly more humid than usual from the steam. But what stood out to Calum even more was how her skin looked red. She had been scrubbing at it, too harsly apparently because all of her skin was bright pink. Calum asked her about it, but she didn't reply, just smiled blankly. He wondered if she understood what he was saying at all.