Sugar Coated Pain [Boxer!Calum Hood AU] PUBLISHED -- SAMPLE ONLY

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"I STILL FEEL bad, leaving you here by yourself," Noelle worried, willing herself not to chew on her lips so she didn't eat off the lipstick staining them.

Her seventeen year old sister rolled her eyes in exasperation. "I'm gonna be fine, Elle," Andrea insisted. "I just found out Amazon Prime has all the seasons of Bones on it so I'm gonna binge watch the crap out of that and order food that I'm gonna eat until I pass out. It's gonna be a fun night."

Beverly descended the stairs that led right into the living room the other two were in. "Since when do you have an Amazon Prime account?"

Andrea grinned impishly. "Mom got sick of me begging for it and gave in. Perks of being the paraplegic child."

Both Beverly and Noelle scoffed and rolled their eyes, used to Andrea using her disability as a way of getting what she wanted, though Andrea didn't even have to use that as an excuse because they all babied her anyway. Still, Noelle and Beverly couldn't help but shake their head in amusement as Andrea giggled giddily. She's been paralyzed for three years now, and at this point she was fully capable of cracking jokes about her being confined to a wheelchair.

It had been a tragic accident, one involving Andrea and their father and a drunk driver, in which Mr. Simon died on impact and the driver was imprisoned for driving under the influence. It was one of the toughest times for Noelle and her family, trying to deal with their dad's death and helping the youngest of the family adjust to a life in a wheelchair. For the longest time Andrea was angry at everything in the world—for the loss of their dad and for the loss of feeling below her waist—and it wasn't until a year and a half after the accident where Andrea cracked the first joke in regards of her being a paraplegic.

"Okay, but if you need anything, call either of us, alright?" Noelle told Andrea with a raise of her eyebrows, unplugging her phone from the charger by the couch.

The seventeen year old nodded before waving her sisters off, telling them to leave already. It wasn't often that the girls left Andrea alone at the house; their mom had long hours at the hospital and while Andrea was fully capable of taking care of herself, they still worried over her. They couldn't help it; she was their baby sister. They'd been taking care of her long before she was ever paralyzed.

"So what's Ashton throwing this party for?" Noelle asked once she and Beverly slid into the backseat of the Uber, leaning her back against the door as she faced her sister.

Beverly ran her fingers through her blonde hair to push it back. "Cal won every match he had this week so Ash sometimes throws a little celebration type thing. Obviously no one really knows the real reason for the parties because of what Cal does but, you know, still fun," she explained with a shrug before grinning happily. "Now that you're back in town, I finally have someone to go with!"

Noelle smiled wryly, pulling her phone out to scroll through social media. "Joy," she dryly responded, though she was fine with accompanying Beverly.

Truly, Noelle was never opposed to a night out when she really wanted to go and from what Beverly has told her, Ashton's parties or get-togethers were always a fun time, so it was time Noelle attended one. Though, the fact that this particular party was for Calum, meaning he would be there, had Noelle's gut twisting nervously. Obviously, she hasn't seen him since she met him the first time three nights ago, but Noelle wasn't going to forget the disgruntled way he looked at her. She could only hope he wouldn't be irritated by her presence and make her feel embarrassed once more.

If she was someone else, it would be enough for her to reject the invitation, but Calum was too handsome for Noelle to not want to just get a glimpse of him again. Was that desperate? Maybe.