Landon's POV
I walked into the motel room and was practically tackled by a crazy woman, also known as my lovely mother.
"Landon! Where have you been? I love you Landon, and you left me with these people!" She said grabbing my shirt and pressing her body against mine. I looked down and saw her eyes were completely bloodshot and her words were slurred. Her lips were all cracked and bleeding and she looked a mess.
"Come on mom, let's get you to bed." I said in a calm voice. Matty, Callie, and Tom were standing off to the side watching. I took her hand and she followed me into her room. I turned on the lights and led her to her bed. She sat down and I helped her to lay down.
"I'm going to get you some extra blankets okay. Don't move." I said slowly walking out of the room. I went into my room and reached up to the top shelf of my closet to pull down a heavier blanket. I went back into her room and saw she was asleep. I laid the blanket over her and went back to the others.
"When did she come back?" I asked sitting on the couch.
"Not long before I called you. She was going crazy, I didn't know what to do." Callie said. Matty sat down and patted his knees. Callie sat on his lap and I dug in my pocket. I froze. I pulled out my lighter and felt through my other pocket. I stood up and hurried to my room. I looked on the ground, through my little nightstand, and under my mattress.
"What's wrong?" Tom asked standing in my doorway.
"There are no cigarettes left."
"So just get some tomorrow." I shook my head and felt my hands getting clammy.
"I need one now." I said feeling a little shaky.
"Okay, okay we can go get some. Come on." He said grabbing my arm and pulling me out of the room.
"Anyone else want to come to the convenient store?" Tom asked. I grabbed my keys when Callie and Matt both got up. We locked the door and went down to the car. I opened the door and scrunched up my face. The smell of illegal drugs was overwhelming.
"We cannot drive in this." I said closing the door.
"Why?" Callie asked skipping over while pulling a Matty along. I motioned for them to open a door. Matty opened one and immediately turned his face away.
"Uh, yeah, I don't really want to get arrested." Matty said as he closed the door.
"I guess we have to walk then." I said locking the car.
"Yay an adventure!" Matty cheered and ran across the parking lot. I rolled my eyes when he pouted since the rest of us all walked over. "You guys aren't looking very adventurous." He started walking with us down the sidewalk.
"Sure we are." I tried reassuring. Matty glared over to me every time we reached a beam of light from the street lights. Otherwise it was too dark to see him. He kept running ahead and we were all joking around. It was about a mile walk, so we got there in about 15 minutes.
I hurried across the parking lot and went right up to the counter.
"Hey Steve, three packs of Marlboros." I said taking out the money. The others walked in a minute later and started wandering around the store. Steve gave me the cigarettes and I immediately opened one. He pulled out a cigarette of his own, and I lit it for him along with mine.
"How've you been?" He asked. I closed my eyes and blew out a cloud of smoke, finally feeling relaxed.
"Fine. My mom just came back high and drunk from NYC, so that's always a good thing." He nodded and rolled his eyes.
"Good luck with that man." He said as a lady walked in. I waved and went over to the others. I nodded to them and we walked out. When the door slammed shut behind us I heard a whistle.
"Look at that ass." I heard a male voice say.
"Mm, girl you looking for a quick fuck?" My head shot to the side and I saw a group of four scumbag men standing against the side of the convenient store.
"The fuck you just say?" Matty yelled pushing Callie behind him and into Tom.
"What, is she your sister? She looks like a good lay. I'll pay, not much but I will." He said pushing off the brick wall. The other three followed when they started walking over. Matty pushed the guy back causing him to stumble. The four were in grimy clothes. The guy who was talking about my sister was wearing a stained white wifebeater that wasn't so white anymore and a pair of sweatpants. He looked to be in his 20's, but his scruffy beard could fool you to make you think he was older. He got an angry look on his face and shoved Matty back.
"Don't fucking put your hands on me!" He yelled. One of the guys tried scooting around Matt and I to Callie and Tom behind us, but I grabbed the collar of his shirt and punched him in the gut. That did it. The two other guys came after us as well. The guy I punched hunched over for a second before his leg shot up into my side. I grunted and swung my fist into his face. It connected with a crack. His nose started gushing blood, but that seemed to make him more angry. He came after me fighting with another guy faster than I could keep up with. Their fists and legs were flying and I was just trying to block the hardest hits. A hard punch to the jaw is what brought me down. I looked over and saw Tom shielding Callie. The guys weren't bothering them yet, but Matty and I were both on the ground.
"Callie run!" I yelled. She looked torn until Tom pushed her. She took one last look at us before running down the road. I kicked out the legs of the guy over me causing him to fall on top of me. We rolled around before I kicked him in balls. He just curled into a ball and held himself. Tom had two guys after him now that he was done protecting Callie. I stumbled over to them and pulled one off Tom. When he turned to me I punched him in the throat causing him to fall immediately. Tom and Matty both got their guys and we stumbled down the road.
We were all a bloody mess, but at the moment none of cared. We all just wanted to get far away from the people who fought us. I was choking on the blood that was flowing into my mouth. I kept spitting it out into the road. Tom slowed down a minute later and we all stopped to catch our breath. I hunched over and grabbed my ribs as I spit out some more blood.
"Shit." I mumbled and straightened up. I ran my hand through my hair and saw all three of us were in the same state. I took out my phone and dialed Callie's number. I gripped my hair tightly and watched the cars pass. She picked up on the second ring.
"Are you guys okay?" I could hear the panic in her voice.
"Yes, we're fine, just a little beat up. Where are you?" I asked and looked over to see Matt biting his lip.
"I went to Matty's. I'm with his dad now."
"Okay, we'll be there soon." I said before hanging up.
"She's at your place." I said to Matty as we started walking again. He nodded.
"What did they think, that she was a fucking whore?! Callie doesn't go around sleeping with random guys, especially not low life's like them!" Matty was getting all worked up, but luckily we were back at the motel a few minutes later.
We hurried up the stairs, and down the hall to Matty's. The door was unlocked so we walked right in. Callie shot up from the couch and hurried over to us. She covered her mouth with her hand and she started crying. Matty pulled her into his arms when she started to turn away. She stood stiffly in his arms before relaxing and leaned her head against his chest.
"I'm so sorry." She whispered putting her hand on Matty's arm.
"Cal it's not your fault." He whispered and kissed the top of her head. She looked up at his face before looking over to Tom and I.
"Yeah, they shouldn't have said anything. It's their fault they're laying in a parking lot right now." I grit out through my teeth. People really shouldn't piss me off. She sighed and turned in Matty's arms to hug him back. I saw George, Matty's dad, standing in the hallway watching us. When he saw me looking he walked away.
He came back a minute later with a first aid kit. He put it on the table and motioned us all over. He had us three boys sit up on the table and he and Callie stood in front of us.
"Alright boys, what happened?" George asked. We all put our heads down, causing blood to drip from my nose onto my lap.
"These fucking scumbags were coming onto Callie." Matty said, still sounding angry. "They came up to us and we started fighting." George just looked at us and shook his head.
"Take your shirts off." He said. We all carefully and painfully pulled our shirts over our heads. Yeah, there wasn't a lot of blood there, but our chests and stomachs were covered in bruises. George motioned Callie over and handed her things she would need before grabbing some for himself. She smiled sadly at Matty before standing in front of me.
I watched her and she cleaned the cut on my forehead and cheek. It stung, but didn't hurt nearly as bad as that fight did. She then put pressure on the bridge of my nose to stop the bleeding. Luckily I didn't break anything.
When Callie stopped all the bleeding and assessed all the bruises, she gently kissed my forehead before moving onto Matty. George was still working on Tom. I slowly got up and painfully walked to the fridge to get some water. When I turned back I rolled my eyes. 'Oh we aren't dating.' 'Why would you think Matty and I have a thing?' Oh I wonder Matty and Callie, I thought, thinking back to all the times they reassured me there was nothing between them. Exactly the reason you're sucking face right now. Callie continued cleaning Matty with a slight blush and him with a small smirk.
"I'm gonna go check on mom." I announced before slowly walking over to my place. I unlocked the front door and went inside. It was silent other than the hum of electricity. I put the keys on the counter and walked to her room. I opened the door and saw she was still asleep. I then walked across the hall and made sure the bathroom door was open for when she needs to puke her guts up tomorrow morning.
I was debating on whether or not I should stay here to keep an eye on her or go back to Matty's when I was suddenly slammed against the wall and had cold metal pressed against my throat.
"Who the hell are you?" My mother spit out. She must still be high.
"Your son." I groaned, feeling the pain of my bruises hitting the wall. Just before she hit the ground after passing out again, I caught her and carried her back to her room. I locked the window and the door and got the hell out of there.
I walked back to Matty's and plopped onto the couch. They were all still in the kitchen and looked over to me.
"How is she?" Callie asked.
"She's still high. Came after me with a knife and then passed out." I covered my eyes with my arm and let out a shakey sigh. I really hate my life sometimes. This sucks right now. I felt tears stinging my eyes but quickly rid my mind of emotions. I don't cry.
"You need anything Lan?" Tom asked. I took my arm away and saw him leaning on the back of the couch.
"I want Alex." I said quietly.
"Why do you want Alex?" Matty asked confused. I turned over so my face was in the pillow and mumbled,
"I'm gay. And Alex is my boyfriend."
"Really!?" He asked sounding surprised. I nodded into the pillow and turned my head to see that Tom had moved so he was crouching in front of me. He held up my phone to me.
"Call him, text him, I don't care just have him make you happy. Trust me though, you don't want him seeing you right now." I sighed and took the phone. I dialed his number and held the phone up to my ear. I looked over and saw Matty's shocked face. That was the only emotion though, there was no anger or hatred which made me so happy. Alex picked up on the third ring.
"Hey." He said.
"Hi Alex." I said cursing my shakey voice. Sadly he noticed it.
"What's wrong?" He asked sounding worried.
"Nothing, well something. I just... I don't want to worry you."
"Really? That makes me worry more. Is anyone hurt? Are you okay?"
"Yeah, uh there was just an incident at the convenient store. Can you just keep talking? I need a distraction, and I want to hear your voice." I said closing my eyes.
"Um, okay. How is that essay on gay rights coming?" He asked. We continued talking and I started to calm down. I heard a yawn come from his end and my eyes shot over to the clock.
"Shoot, Alex I'm sorry I kept you up so late." I said seeing it was already past midnight.
"No, it's fine. I'm glad you called. I hope I helped." He quickly reassured.
"You did. Thank you."
"No problem baby." I smiled at the pet name that he obviously wasn't going to give up.
"Okay, go to sleep." I said quietly.
"Goodnight Landon." He said.
"Night Alex." I said before hanging up.
"Alex Littleton huh?" I looked over and saw Matty sitting in a chair with Callie curled up with him. He was running his fingers through her hair as she slept.
"Do you hate me?" I asked quietly.
"Of course not. He's adorable honestly, and it doesn't make a difference to me whether or not you're straight." I nodded and smiled. "Now go to sleep. We're all going to feel like crap in the morning." He said turning the TV off.
And that's exactly what happened. I woke up the next day, felt like shit, and went right back to sleep. All three of us sat on the couch all day, staring at the TV. The next day would be great though. Going to school all day, getting to see people, definition of excitement right there.
"Boys, it's time to get up." I heard a voice say quietly. I felt a hand on my shoulder and opened my eyes to see George trying to wake us up. Tom and I fell asleep sitting up on the couch, and Matty was in the chair next to the couch. I saw Callie come out of Matty's room stretching and walked over to us.
"Rise and shine losers, the bus will be here in a half hour." Callie said flopping down onto the couch between Tom and I. Yes, the bus actually comes over here in the morning. It's great cause that means we don't have to get up at 4 in the morning just to have time to walk to the center of town.
We all slowly got up and I put my hand on my back. Everything was sore, and sleeping sitting up probably didn't help. We just went through the motions, and when I was ready, I went over to our motel room. I unlocked the door and saw nothing out of the ordinary. My mother was sitting on the couch staring blankly at the television and didn't throw a hissy fit when she saw me. She didn't even acknowledge me. So I just rolled my eyes and walked out. I looked down at the parking lot to see all the south side kids in a group. The bus makes one stop over here, and lucky for us, that stop is the parking lot of our motel. I could see the bus coming, so I went back to Matty's to get my backpack, and we all went down to the others. There were a couple bro hugs and fist bumps before we all got on the bus.
We all walked to the back of the bus, because the other kids didn't dare sit back there with us. I love the fear we put into them just because we live where we do. The ride was short and we were soon at the school. We got off the bus and I looked around nervously for Alex. I was afraid of his reaction when he saw the cuts and bruises. We all walked into the foyer of the school and waited. I saw a couple people looking and whispering but a glare from any of us made them stop.
A few minutes later is when I saw them walk in. Alex was wearing a dark red sweater and a pair of black skinny jeans. He looked so adorable, and it was hard to contain the smile that was trying to creep onto my face. He looked over, and when he saw us his smile dropped. He grabbed Lacey's hand and dragged her over. I was surprised to see Lacey go straight to Tom and start fussing over him. His face turned a slight pink and he smiled down at her.
"What happened to you?" Alex asked nervously crossing his arms. I wanted to hold him tightly in my arms and never let go when I saw the tears gathering in his eyes. I motioned for him to follow me and led him to the bathroom. I made sure no one was in there and locked the door. I pulled him into my arms and held him.
"Landon, what happened?" He asked lightly pushing against my chest so he would have enough space to look up at my face.
"Tom, Matty, and I got in a fight in the parking lot of a convenient store." I said quietly as he brushed his thumb over my cheek so gently I could barely feel it.
"Are you in any pain."
"No." I lied, but he saw right through it.
"Don't lie to me Landon. I can tell when you aren't telling me the truth." He said sternly.
"Fine. I sat around all day and slept yesterday, so I don't know how a full day of school is going to be." He didn't say anything. He just ran his fingers down my cheek and softly pressed his lips to the bruise on my jaw. He put his hand on the back of my head to pull me down closer. He kissed underneath the cut on my forehead and moved to kiss my lips. He then placed light kisses down my neck to the bruise on my collarbone.
"What was the fight about?" He whispered as he went back to my neck. My eyes were closed and I was holding onto his arms as he did this. I was losing my focus because for some reason this felt intimate, and not awkward at all.
"Callie." I whispered. "These guys started talking and saying bad things about her." He moved his soft lips back up to my jaw when he made a noise letting me know he understood.
"You have to protect Callie." I nodded and leaned his head back so he was looking at me.
"I'm sorry, but I had to do it." I whispered. He pressed his lips to mine in a slow yet passionate kiss.
"Don't be sorry." He said after a few minutes. I smiled just as the late bell rang, signaling that we should be in our first class already. Alex's eyes widened and he pecked my lips before running out and saying,
"See you during study hall." I smiled and rolled my eyes when the bathroom door closed behind him. He's an angel, a perfect being, and he's all mine.
A/N
Hey guys, sorry this update took so long. This was a busy week. My poor doggy got hit by a car :( don't worry though, she's doing okay now. Just scared me is all. So there's my excuse, I hope you liked the update, even though it's a little short. :)