Carly's POV
"So you didn't mean it when you told me you loved me?" I see the look in his face change from hopeful to shocked.
"I-I"
"Calum, I really don't have time for this." I go to walk away but he grabs my arm.
"I did mean it. I meant every word of it. I understand if you don't feel the same way and I don't expect you to, but I thought that at least I'd still have a friend coming out of it." I feel my eyes start to water. "Carly are you-" I shake my head and he pulls me into a tight hug. It's nice to know that he's still by my side, even after everything I put him through. We pull apart and I wipe my eyes.
"God Cal, I'm so sorry."
"Hey," he tucks a piece of my hair behind my ear, "you have nothing to apologize for. You're hurting and I need to understand that. You can take all the time you need."
"I have a lot to apologize for and I don't deserve anymore time."
"Of course you deserve time and what do you have to be sorry for?"
"For being a mess and dragging all of you guys down with me. I'm sorry for leaving you guys and for thinking that I could do this without you. I need you and I was too stupid and hurt to realize that. So I'm sorry, I'm really fucking sorry." I start crying harder. I never would have thought I would be crying this much in my whole life, but these past few months, all I do is seem to cry. There hasn't been a day where I haven't cried. I end up spending the rest of lunch with Calum, pretty much crying the whole time, but he never left my side. He let me let everything out, everything that I held in for so long. I meet him outside the school and he drives me to my house so I can get a few things and then we go to his house. I can't stand to be alone right now since my mom is working overtime this week, so he's letting me stay with him. I set my stuff down on the couch. "Thank you again, for everything."
"You don't have to thank me Carly."
"So where's your parents?"
"Their on a business trip, they'll be home in a few days."
"So it's just us here?"
"Yeah, but only for a few days. If you aren't comfortable with that I can-"
"Cal, it's okay. I'll go put my stuff in Mali's room."
"About that, my parents took everything out of her room. She's been gone for a few months now and-"
"Just tell me where I'm sleeping." I say jokingly.
"You can sleep in my bed and I'll sleep in my parents room."
"Cal, I can just sleep on the couch, it's not-"
"I insist. Go take your stuff up there and I'll order a pizza." I smile and grab my stuff. I walk up the stairs and into his room. I set my stuff on his bed and begin to glance around the room. I've never been in his room before, but I'm glad he's letting me stay in here. I walk out of the room and back downstairs where Calum is on the phone with who I can only assume is the pizza place. I sit down on the couch and wait for him to get off the phone. When he does, he comes over and sits next to me. "It should be here in like twenty to thirty minutes."
"I'll go grab my wallet." I say as I get up.
"No it's okay, I can pay."
"It's the least I can do. I mean you're letting me stay here so I might as well pay for the food."
"How about we split the check."
"Fine." I say playfully. I run back up stairs and go to my backpack. I hear my phone going off so I quickly take it out of my bag. I look at the caller ID and see that it's Michael. I roll my eyes and decline the call. I stuff my phone back in my bag and get my wallet out. I run back down the stairs and sit next to Calum on the couch.
"I never asked you how Melbourne was."
"It was okay."
"You sure? You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to."
"I was just really alone over there. I had no friends and my grandparents weren't much help either. I spent a lot of time on my own and it made me realize that I really do need you guys. I went there to not feel pain, but that's all I felt. At least here, the pain goes away sometimes."
"I'm sorry. I wish that I would have called you more or tried harder to get in contact with you."
"I didn't want anyone to know. I didn't text you guys because I was too afraid that I was going to tell you about how I was feeling."
"What made you come back?"
"Michael showed up and told me that you weren't doing well and I knew that I had to come home." He smiles. We then hear a knock at the door and we both get up and answer the door. We pay for the pizza and sit down on the couch.