Toxic Valentine (Kellic) - boyxboy

Chapter 18: We All Fall Down

He presses call and puts the phone on speaker. It rings for a while until finally someone answers.

"Hello?" a woman's voice says.

"Hey Mom." Kellin whispers.

"Kellin? Is that you?" she asks.

"Yeah, it's me." Kellin sniffs.

There's a little silence before the woman speaks again.

"Where have you been? I thought you were dead! You changed your number and picked up and left without a word! Did I do something wrong?" She rambles, sounding half mad, half really concerned.

"No, you didn't do anything. I'm so sorry." He chokes out.

"Talk to me. What happened? Where are you?" She asks.

"I'm in San Diego. I moved here a few months ago. Do you remember Calvin?" Kellin's voice is shaky as he speaks so I take his hand in mine, to let him know that it's okay.

"Of course, I remember Calvin. Are you still together?" she questions.

"No, he, uh, he hit me." Kellin stammers out.

There's a small pause.

"Did you have an argument or something? Why did he hit you?" She says sounding confused.

"No, I mean he hit me for years. He was very violent towards me and he made me move and he wouldn't let me talk to you or any of my friends." Kellin starts crying so I take the food from his lap and place it aside before pulling him into my arms.

"Kell, are you alright? Why didn't you come to me?" she gasps.

"I was too stupid, too naïve, too scared. I'm okay now though. I left him a few weeks ago." Kellin sniffs.

"Do you need anything? A place to stay? Some money? I can fly you home if you'd like." She offers generously.

"No, I should be fine. I'm staying with a friend currently. He said I can stay with him for as long as I need. I'd love to come home but I have school here. C-can I come home for Christmas?" he says nervously, slowly pulling away from me.

"Of course. I'd love that. We all would. Everyone misses you so much." She says and another wave of tears cover Kellin's face.

"How is everyone?" Kellin whispers.

"They're good. Harper just started school..."

She goes on to talk to Kellin and I can't help but to listen intently, just wanting to know as much about his family as possible. They all sound really lovely and it sounds like Kellin was close with his family before he met Calvin.

"I'm rambling. I want to know about you. What are you studying at school?" Kellin's mom chuckles after a while.

"I'm majoring in fine arts. I also have history studies as my minor." He explains.

"I'm so proud of you, Kell." She says, an obvious smile in her voice.

"Thanks Mom. I'm going to go. My friend made me dinner and it's going to get cold." Kellin says, seeming a little saddened but happy mostly.

"Okay. Please call again." She pleads hopefully.

"Of course, I'll call tomorrow. Maybe I can talk to dad." He says.

"Yeah, I think he'd like that." She says. "Bye Kell."

"Bye Mom. I love you."

"I love you too." She replies then hangs up.