Ella's pov;
When I wake up, I can hear cameras flashing and people awing and cooing. I peak my eyes open and see Ashton staring admiringly while Luke snaps pictures. Michael is just sitting on top of the dresser in the room; I forgot that he and Cal share this room.
I let out a whine and roll over, burying my face in the crook of Calum's neck. He wraps an arm around me, pulling the blankets up over our heads as far as they'll go.
"It's too early for paparazzi," he mumbles, his voice even deeper and more raspy than it was earlier.
"Cute things demand to be captured via photography," Luke argues. I open my eyes and roll them upon seeing him smirking at us, before ducking back under the covers.
"I'm not cute, I'm punk rock," I say in a deep voice, imitating Michael.
"You're about as punk rock as Luke's tutu," Michael snorts. I huff and throw the blankets off my face, glaring at the colorful boy.
"If you consider yourself punk rock, then I can be punk rock too," I laugh.
"I am punk rock!" He argues in a whining voice.
"Yeah, as punk rock as a kitten," I mumble.
"I love kittens!" Cal shouts, bolting upright. "Almost as much as I love puppies." He grins to himself and I pat his cheek with a chuckle.
"Okay Cali, whatever you say," I hum.
"Oh, new nickname, I love!" He gasps, grinning like an idiot.
"CAL-I-FORNIA GIRLS, WE'RE UNDENIABLE! DAISY DUKES, BIKINIS ON TOP!" Ashton screams at the top of his lungs, flopping across the foot of Cal's bed. Luke pulls out his phone and starts snap-chatting his outburst. By the end, we're a laughing mess.
"We leave the house for ten minutes," Bry laughs as she and Autumn stand in the doorway, taking in the scene before us.
"I lava you," Luke hums as he skips over and wraps his arms around her waist.
"Mm, I lava you more," Autumn smiles back as he leans his head down to kiss her, and Cal once again covers my eyes.
"And I hate you all," I reply cheekily.
"False, you love me," Michael corrects, grinning as he pulls me into his arms.
"She loves me more," Cal whines, grabbing my hand. I feel myself starting to get worked up over all the human contact, and quickly shimmy out of Michael's grip and perch myself at the end of the bed, just wanting to break away from the people for a moment.
Luke, along with everyone else, looks at me in concern and Michael apologizes, but I just smile and shrug it off, wishing desperately for the attention to be off of me. Thankfully, Michael loves attention and decides that the best way to get it is by screaming very loudly. It makes me flinch, but I giggle half heartedly afterwards as all the boys slowly trickle out of the room. Michael gently lifts me onto his back and skips down the stairs, making my ride a bumpy one as I giggle. He sets me down in the kitchen where everyone else has gathered.
"What's on the schedule today?" I ask as I hoist myself up onto the kitchen counter. It's rather gloomy outside, and looks like it might rain. I don't mind the rain, especially since it's pretty scarce in California.
"I think we should go out and get pizza!" Michael cheers. I shrug, the idea of pizza suddenly very appetizing.
"I'm down," I reply, sliding off the counter and slipping on my converse. I'm already wearing a tank top and shorts, so I'm basically ready to go.
Once all the boys and girls agree, we pile into the black SUV parked in the garage and head off the the nearest pizza place.
"We should've just ordered it instead of driving way out here," Ash says. "What if we get spotted?"
"Then we get spotted," Cal shrugs back. "It's not the end of the world, besides, we need to get out of the house once in a while so we don't go stir crazy."
"This is true," Bry giggles, "you boys are enough to handle as it is."
"And you love every second of it," Ashton mumbles in her ear, moving his face close to hers. She hums in response and connects their lips, causing Michael to groan.
"Get a room!" Cal shouts. I laugh as Ashton flips him off without separating his face from Bryana's.
Once we arrive to the pizza place, we're seated and given our drinks. It obviously doesn't take long to decide what we want, considering we're in a pizzeria. Our food is delivered shortly and we all dive in.
"Oh my god, I am going to marry pizza," Michael groans happily as he continues to gobble down piece after piece.
"I think I'm having a food orgasm," Cal sighs as he leans back against the booth wall and closes his eyes.
"Oh shush, you can't even have orgasms," I sass and roll my eyes.
"You never know," Cal replies, wiggling his eyebrows.
"How very sexual of you," Autumn giggles, sipping her drink.
Our conversation is interrupted by Michael's phone vibrating. He lifts it up to check his notifications, then drops his phone back onto the table and groans. We send him questioning looks and he sighs in exasperation.
"My dad won't stop texting me. Don't get me wrong, I love him, but seriously. I'm a grown man," he huffs.
"He's just worried about his son," Ashton chuckles.
"His only son," Cal chimes in.
"But he's so annoying," Michael whines.
"At least he loves you," I mumble. Apparently, everyone heard, because it gets awkwardly silent and Michael gives me an apologetic look.
"Ella," Luke says in a warning tone.
I lift my eyes up to meet his and raise my eyebrows in confusion. "What?" He gives me a look and shakes his head, so I roll my eyes. "Well, it's true," I say quietly.
"Stop, you know he loves us," Luke sighs.
You've got to be kidding me.
"Oh yeah, okay," I snort, tracing invisible patterns on the table with my finger. "Tell that to my broken ribs and wrist and all the scars and bruises all over my body."
"Ella." Luke warns again, this time more shortly.
"What? Am I not allowed to talk about the countless times he beat me?" I say, starting to get angry. "Is beating your child and wishing death upon her what you call love?"
"Ella, that's enough," Luke snaps.
"You're the one who told me talking about it helps," I retort, confused as to why Luke is scolding me.
"Not like this," he sighs, giving me a warning look.
"Whatever," I scoff. "You wouldn't get it."
"What are you talking about?" Luke retorts.
"I'm talking about the fact that dad actually did love you. He cared about you, he was proud of you, you're the perfect poster child that he expected me to live up to, and imagine his disappointment when he realized that I'm not you," I snap. "So no, you wouldn't understand what it feels like to be neglected and beaten and insulted and told how worthless you are."
Everyone sits in silence, no one knowing what to say. The tension is tangibly thick; I could cut it with a knife. Not being able to take it anymore, I slide out of my booth and quickly walk out the door, ignoring the boys' protests and Luke calling my name.
It's raining when I walk out onto the street, but I don't care. It feels refreshing on my skin at first, but quickly causes goosebumps to arise as I continue to walk and the rain gets heavier. I'm soaked in no time, but I continue to walk, because I don't want to think about the boys or my father or my life or anything, really. I just want to forget. If I could run away from all of it, I probably would. But, I can't run away from my past, and I certainly can't run away from something that's still haunting me.
"Hey! Get back here, you're going to get sick," I hear Autumn yelling over the loud sound of the rain, but I keep walking. My body is shaking by this point, but I honestly don't care. I slow my pace a bit, and Autumn manages to catch up with me and gently stop me from walking.
"You're soaked. C'mon, let's go home," she says, eyeing me sadly. Too tired to protest, I follow her back to the pizza place where all the boys are anxiously huddled under the tent outside. Luke opens his mouth to say something but Autumn gives him a look, so he closes his mouth and remains silent. We all pile back into the van and ride home in silence, me staring out the window.
Upon arriving home, Luke gently takes my hand and leads me up to the bathroom, where he lets me change into dry clothes and then sets me on the bathroom counter and wraps a towel around me. We sit in silence as he dries my hair for me and runs his hands down my arms to try to help warm me up and stop my body from shaking. I stare at the wall behind him as he works, until he finally speaks up.
"I'm sorry," he sighs, looking up at me. "I was out of line acting the way I did and it was pretty shitty of me," he says softly, offering a tiny smile. I return one and sigh, shrugging my shoulders.
"I'm sorry I got so mad," I reply quietly. I've just been irritable and snappy lately. Maybe it's because I haven't been getting as much sleep. I'm not really sure, but I do know that the boys have probably noticed the change in my behavior.
"C'mon, let's go to bed," Luke says, gently sliding me off the counter. I remove the towel from my hair and follow him to his and Autumn's room. Autie graciously agreed to take my bed tonight, which was very kind of her even though I feel bad. I sigh and crawl into bed next to Luke and snuggle up close to him for warmth, falling asleep within seconds.
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I wake up shivering and pull the blankets closer to me. When I open my eyes and don't see the familiar window by my bed, I panic and my heart starts racing. I sit up and look around startled, sighing in relief when I realize that I'm just in Luke's room. I wince as my head starts pounding. I swallow hard, realizing that my throat is dry and it hurts to do so. As much as I want to lay back down, I also want to go find Luke, so I grab the throw at the end of the bed and wrap it around myself before standing up and wobbly walking downstairs.
Cal's in the living room with his feet propped up on the coffee table, watching a soccer game or something on tv. He turns his head at the sound of my footsteps and smiles at the blanket wrapped around me like a burrito.
"G'morning," he chuckles as he takes in my tired state.
"Where's Luke?" I ask quietly, looking around the oddly quiet house. It's never this quiet.
"He and Mikey went to do some recording," Cal says, looking at me in concern. "What's wrong bug?"
"I don't feel good," I make my way to the couch and curl up next to him. He coos and turns my body so I'm laying across the length of the couch with my head in Cal's lap. Autumn comes down a few minutes later, pouting when she sees me.
"Aw, does my princess feel sick?" She says in a baby voice, still pouting. I nod and she disappears, returning a few minutes later with some Tylenol, water, and a thermometer. I drink the medicine down and then put the thermometer in my mouth, pulling it out and handing it to Autie once it beeps.
"Well, you have a slight fever," she says, looking at the thermometer. "Hopefully the Tylenol will help it go down. Are you hungry?" I shake my head and sigh, closing my eyes and adjusting my head in Cal's lap. He runs his fingers through my hair and combs through the long blonde locks, helping to relax me.
"Just go back to sleep bugaboo," Cal whispers. I laugh half heartedly at the nickname. I have no idea where he got it from, but it's kind of cute, and I think I like it.
I manage to fall asleep for a little while and wake up later, still with my head on Cal's lap. He smiles down at me and twirls a lock of my hair around his finger.
"Hi," he whispers with an adorable smile.
I just let out a little whimper and hide my face in Cal's lap. "I still don't feel good," I croak, my throat burning when I talk.
"I know baby," Cal coos, rubbing my back. "You have a cold or something. What hurts?"
"My head and my throat," I whisper back, feeling my throat get tighter.
"I'll get you some more medicine," Autumn replies. I didn't notice she was sitting in the living room as I watch her return with another pill, water, and the thermometer.
"Your fever is starting to go up," she says worriedly when I hand the thermometer to her. I just lean my head against Cal's shoulder and a tear slides down my cheek. Crying only makes my head pound and my throat hurt even more, but I let out a few choked cries.
"Aw, Ellaphant," Cal sighs sadly, pulling me onto his lap. I'm sitting sideways so my legs go off his legs and I can lean my side and part of my face into his chest.
"I want Luke," I mumble, taking a deep breath and closing my eyes.
"I know sweetie, but he'll be back soon, I promise," Autumn whispers gently. She returns with a cold washcloth to put on my head. It makes me shiver a bit, but it does feel good.
"Just go back to sleep, okay princess?" Cal whispers, helping me lay down and rubbing my back again. Autumn lays a blanket over me and I fall into a restless sleep.
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Calum's pov;
I continue rubbing Ella's back even after her even breathing tells me she's sound asleep. However, she continues to toss and turn and let out little cries in her sleep. Autumn looks over worriedly as I switch between stroking her hair and rubbing her back, until my hand brushes against her cheek. My heart literally stops at the contact as I move my hand to her forehead.
"Holy shit, she's burning up," I whisper. Autumn gets to her feet and comes over, gently pressing the back of her hand to Ella's forehead. She face contorts in pain and she lets out another whine.
"It feels like it's only getting worse," she replies worriedly, going to get another cold washcloth.
"Is there anything else we can do?" I ask, starting to panic.
"It's probably best not to give her anymore medicine. The medicine will make her fever go down, but the reason it's so high is because her body is trying to fight off whatever infection she has," Autumn explains as she lays one washcloth on Ella's forehead and uses the other to run down her arms and lightly over her neck. She shivers, but she's still as hot as a sauna.
"I'm gonna call Luke again," I whisper as I watch Ella worriedly. This is honestly freaking me out. I hate seeing Ella sick or hurt. She's basically the little sister I never had growing up, and we've just always had a special bond that I never formed with the other boys' sisters. What Ella and I have is special, and I love that.
"Hey, is she doing any better?" Luke answers on the first ring.
"No, if anything she's getting worse," I sigh. "She's burning up and is absolutely miserable." I hear like sigh worriedly on the other line as he says something to Michael. Autumn stares at the thermometer again before grabbing the phone from me.
"Luke, you better come home. She has a 105° fever," Autumn says, clearly worried.
"Shit," I hear Luke curse quietly. "Mike, we have to go. Now," he calls out. "Okay, we're on our way," he replies, sounding stressed. We reply with an "okay" and hang up, and they're home in record time. I wouldn't be surprised if they sped the entire way home.
Luke makes a beeline for Ella, his eyebrows furrowed in concern as he kneels beside the couch and strokes her cheek. She whimpers and flinches away, causing Luke to let his hand fall into his lap sadly.
"Ella, it's okay. It's just Luke, he's home," I whisper. She lifts her head sleepily and Luke gently sets her in his lap once he's seated on the couch and she snuggles close to him.
"Shh, it's okay," Luke whispers, letting Ella lay with her head in his lap. "I'm here now."
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Ella's pov;
When I wake up again, I realize I'm in my own bed, and Luke is sitting in a chair beside me. He has his elbows resting on his knees and is covering his face with his hands. He perks up at the sound of me rolling over and gives a tired smile.
"Hey, feeling better?" He asks, running a hand over his face.
"A little," I reply, rubbing my eyes and stretching. "You didn't have to stay up with me," I add, taking in his frazzled and exhausted demeanor.
"I was worried about you," he sighs, giving me a slight smile.
"But I'm okay now," I reply, rolling over and hiding part of my face in my pillow.
"I'm glad," he sighs tiredly. "Are you up for something to eat?"
I shrug and decide to let Luke make me something because I don't want him to worry any more than he already has. I get up and slowly follow him downstairs.
"Hey Ella!" Ashton chirps. He's standing behind Bry on the other side of the kitchen with his arms wrapped around her waist.
"Feeling better?" Bry smiles.
I smile back and nod as Luke puts a waffle in the toaster for me. I lay my head on the counter and close my eyes for a minute, still a little tired. I feel much more refreshed after sleeping for so long, though. Hopefully this was just a cold I got from going outside in the rain and will pass quickly.
Luke hands me my waffles a minute later and I thank him, cutting them up and putting syrup on them before taking little bites. After I'm finished, I give Luke a light hug and tilt my head to look up at him.
"You should take a nap," I say, "I feel bad that you stayed up all night with me."
Luke shrugs and taps my chin, making me giggle. "I'm fine El, don't worry about me," he smiles.
"Well someone has to," I whine.
"How about you come take a nap with me," Autumn suggests as she walks into the kitchen. I look up at Luke with a huge, playful grin as he smiles at his girlfriend.
"I guess so," he drags out the syllables while raising his eyebrows. It takes everything in me not to laugh as he takes Autumn's hand and leads her upstairs.
"Speaking from experience, I can guarantee there will not be much sleeping involved in nap time," Ashton giggles.
I scrunch my face up and slide out of my chair, "ew, Ashton!" I squeal.
He shrugs, laughing along. "Sorry."
I roll my eyes and debate going back up to my room, but decide against it since Luke's is right across the hall from mine. Instead I decide to put on a hoodie and sit outside in my special secret place. I plug my earbuds in and put my music on shuffle, smiling as a Coldplay song comes on. Humming to the beat, I make my way down the path to the little clifftop and sit cross-legged, taking in the peaceful aura and soaking up as much of it as I can.
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A/N - wow! This chapter was super long! Thoughts?
I have school tomorrow :(
Have a nice night my loves
~ Em xx