BABYLON //a.f.i//

• FLASHBACK PT. 2•

Calum knew how to hurt me, and I mean really hurt me. His words were far more painful than any bruise he could ever inflict. Tears ran down my cheeks as I felt my stability begin to falter. No matter how hard I tried, he would always end up with the power. "How could you say that." I whispered, my fists shaking at my side.

"Oh bullshit, Cora!" Calum yelled angrily, pushing me away from him. "I'm so fucking sick of you always playing the fucking victim! You're such a goddamn attention seeker! You want people to fawn over you! You love it when all eyes are on you, and what better way than to cry wolf every time we get into a fight!"

I felt my blood begin to boil as the sadness began to melt away and my own rage began to unleash itself. "How dare you!" I took two steps forward. "How fucking dare you! Playing the victim? You think I'm playing the fucking victim? Calum I spend every single goddamn day keeping you alive! I clean up your messes and I hold you when all you can do is cry! Sometimes you disappear for days or weeks at a time, but I have to act fucking normal every time you decide to show back up because I'm not allowed fucking ask questions! You won't let me in! Instead you get fucking wasted and you take whatever you're hiding out on me! Do you even know that? Do you even remember how many times you've thrown me down those stairs? How about all the black eyes or that time you got so angry you kept hitting me until my lip busted and blood ran from my nose!" Tears were streaming down my cheeks now. Everything stung. Everything burned.

"Cora..." Calum took a step forward, reaching out his hand, but I backed away from him.

"No! No just don't you fucking dare!". I dig my fingernails so hard into my palms, I felt the skin break, but I didn't care. Atleast the pain was real. "I've given you everything Calum! I've given you fucking everything! All I wanted in return was for you to love me! That's all I fucking wanted! Every fucking bruise, and I told myself the kisses were worth it!"

Calum said nothing. He stood motionless, and I could hear him breath. In. Out. Up. Down. His dark eyes held a stone cold gaze. "Do you know what it's like when you're high?"

"Excuse me?" I spat. "You're trying to make this about me?"

"No, you said what you fucking said, Cora! It's my fucking turn now! So I fucking asked, do you know what you're like when you're out of you're mind?"

My lips quivered as I bit on them to keep them shut. "What do you mean?"

He scoffed. "And you think I forget?" And then slowly he began to pull his shirt off, never breaking eye contact with me. He dropped it to the floor, and I gasped. A large cut snaked it's way up his ribs. Still slightly red, I could tell it had happened recently. I rushed forward, my fingers flouting over the gash, too scared to touch it. "Calum, oh my god! What the fuck happened?" I looked up at him, but his eyes weren't concerned. No, for the first time they seemed almost hurt.

"You really don't remember?"

"I don't understand, Calum what're you talking about?" I put my hand lightly on his chest.

"You had a bad night Cora. A really bad night."

I tilted my head, taking a step back. "What the fuck are you talking about?" I tried to process his words.

"I don't know what you took, but you were hurting especially bad that night. Whatever it was, you were far more out of it than normal. It wasn't wonderland this time, you completely lost your fucking mind. Screaming. Crying. You even scratched your own neck until blood ran down your shoulders." He took a step forward, trying to close the gap between us, but I immediately stepped away again.

"No." I whispered. "No I don't remember that."

"For the first time in a long fucking time Cora, I was scared. You were doing things, saying things, that I didn't understand. You think you don't know me? Well that night I could barely even recognize you."

"Stop." I brought my hands to my temples. "Calum fucking stop. You're a liar. Stop it."

He scoffed. "You think this is a lie?" He pointed to the jagged, ugly scar. "I tried to help you. To hold you. You were in so much fucking pain Cora. It bled from you. It hurt to see you like that, it hurt so fucking bad. But you were too far gone to understand. You took an empty bottle and smashed it against the counter. I could barely react before you jumped at me, dragging it down my side." Calum finally closed the space between us, and grabbed my hand, forcing me to press it against the scar. I wanted to pull away, but I was paralyzed. My heart beat so loud, I could feel it in every inch of my body.

Still with my hand on his side, Calum leaned in until I could gee his warm breath on my neck, and his lips practically touched my ears. "And when I looked into you eyes, it was like you didn't even recognize me. We were looking at eachother, but you couldn't see me. Not really. That's the odd thing though.

I think

that hurt

the most."

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Mmm how about that character development. We're finally getting a deeper look  at Cora. She's not  so much the angel anymore is she? Well I hope y'all enjoyed the chapter. Like I said before, the flashbacks are important to the plot, so I hope y'all read them. I also tried to make this one really meaningful and interesting, so I hope y'all enjoyed it. Please let me know what you think in the comments! Thank you all!