bandages || calum hood

twenty-seven

"I told them this afternoon while they were both home. I stayed up all night last night to figure out what I was going to tell them but the time I saw both of them sitting in front of me, I forgot what to say." Belle sniffled, her voice getting raspier as she wiped her face with her cotton sleeve. "I just avoided the topic and out of nowhere, I told them I was pregnant. They couldn't even look at me."

"Did your mom yell at you?" Michael brought up probably the most sensitive subject at the moment. Chastising him in my head, I heavily sighed.

"She, uh, slapped me and called me a disgrace." Belle shook out quiet sobs as she struggled to catch her breath. "She'll never love me anymore."

"What about Rory and Carter? Do they know?" Michael was startled at her outburst, probably noticing how insensitive his question was.

"Yeah, I told them this morning. They were both nervous for me, but they told me that it was up to me on what I wanted to do. Carter was about to hurt someone, but I told him that it wasn't his problem." If Carter stormed in and beat the shit out of me, I wouldn't be surprised. Hell, I would expect Rory to tag along with him.

"So what happened to Rose? Is she okay?" It seemed as if Michael was about to fall out of his seat thinking that Rose was hiding a big secret too.

"I hid in her house during school hours so that no one in my family would notice. I told her not to tell anyone, I'm sorry," Belle apologized to Michael as he nodded in acceptance.

"No, I understand." Belle refused to make further eye contact with Michael, fumbling with her fingers as Michael took a deep breath, signaling to me that he could no longer speak for me.

"So you mean that there is a h-human inside of you?" I stuttered, the thought of fatherhood blinding me in the most terrifying way. I wasn't ready to be a father; I didn't even have a father myself.

"Look, Calum, things are moving way too fast, and I know we both can't take care of a baby. I already looked up abortion-"

"Wait what?"

"Calum, I'm going to abort this baby. I have to go to college, accomplish my future plans. I can't just stop because of one accident that we committed." Belle placed her frail hands on her thigh, her voice laced with certainty.

"You aren't going to abort the baby." Not processing the words that escaped my lips, I snapped instantaneously.

"Everything is moving too fast, Calum. I can't be a mother at eighteen." Belle was taken aback by my demand, but I could give less than a shit at the moment.

"I'm too young to be a father, but you can't just abort the baby." I wouldn't be able to live with myself if Belle got an abortion. I understand her reasons why, but abortion shouldn't have even been an option.

"Why should I keep the baby? It will only ruin everything-"

"Belle, that's not just a regular baby. It's our baby, and we created it so we keep it. I don't want you to kill our baby." My voice shook since I was also uncertain of what I was saying. Knowing that the life was created by Belle and me was pressuring.

"I have plans though. How can we support it? Where will it even live? Calum, it's not just something you decide. You have to think of all the problems that we will face." Belle sighed, attempting to win the argument.

"How could you even live knowing that you killed our child if you get an abortion? It's a life we are talking about." I couldn't believe Belle was even talking about this. "You can live with me. We'll make this work, Belle. You can continue to go to school and we have friends who can babysit the kid when we are out. Please don't abort our baby."

"I just-." Belle sobbed loudly into her arms, bringing her knees up to her chest. "I'm so scared, Calum. What's going to happen to me? What's going to happen to us? You're supposed to continue on with life without anything stopping you."

"Baby girl, you could move in with me. You will still be able to go to school and high school is almost over, so you can go to college and I'll watch him." Since Belle had quite astonishing grades in her record, and her piano skills were noted by some of the finest judges from around the world, there was no doubt that she would obtain a scholarship. Although her parents wouldn't support her anymore, she had to realize that she needed to support her own child.

"He?" A small smile made its way own Belle's tear-stained face. My heart slowed down a bit once the tension eased. Eliminating the thought of abortion from Belle's mind was the only thing I was focusing on at the moment.

"If you guys have a boy, name it after me, okay?" Michael interjected, twisting his eyebrow piercing between the pads of his thumb and index finger.

"I would never want my son to become like you." I scoffed as Michael rolled his eyes at me. There could only be one Michael Clifford in this world anyways.

"You just don't want your son to be punk rock." Michael drummed on the glass table with his fingers. He rejected a phone call before looking back at me. "Wait so does this mean that I can visit Rose?"

"Yeah, again, I'm so sorry about telling Rose to ignore you and not say anything." Belle had refused to cry again as she apologized again to Michael. She seemed quite jittery ever since she came over, and it hurt me to see her so vulnerable.

"No problem. You have an excuse; you're gonna give birth to Calum's child. Good luck," Sarcasm dripped from Michael's words during his statement about Belle giving birth to my child. He bid us goodbye before dashing out of the apartment, eager to see his own girlfriend.

"So are you keeping the baby?" At the end of the day, Belle was the one carrying him, so I had to make sure that she was happy with her decisions. I didn't want her to be miserable because I forced her to do something.

"What was I thinking? Of course I am, it's our baby." Belle started to tear up again as she placed her hand over her stomach. Standing up from my chair, I rushed over to her, kneeling down in front of her. My hands made their way to her stomach even though there was only a small bump; you couldn't really notice that she was pregnant. My eyes began to water as the entire situation started to crash down at me. I was having a baby. I would be able to make up for my mistakes and raise a child with the woman I love.

I didn't deserve any of this, but I swore to myself that I would never do anything to ruin it.

"I love you two so damn much. Don't ever fucking forget that."

~

IT IS MY BOYFRIENDS BIRTHDAY AJSJAJSHAHS HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY.

i hate this chapter

-kat hoodings