Push Me Away : Book 2 of the Teeth Series

11

The lump in Calum's throat felt huge.

Since restarting their communication they had really only danced around the reality of their circumstances, never daring to bring up the rather large elephant in the room. In all honesty Calum supposed he had chosen to avoid the topic as frequently as possible for as long as possible so that he wouldn't have to confront and actually work through his feelings about it.

"I—I.."He fumbled over his words, his tongue refusing to work properly.

"Well?" Fallon demanded.

"Geez, Fal. You gotta give me a minute. You can't just come at me with a question as loaded as that one and then give me no time to process and demand an answer. This isn't what Dr. Stevens asked us to talk about."

"Maybe not but it's what we need to talk about. We can't just go on pretending it didn't happen until you randomly decide to remember and come for my life. I can't just be walking around on eggshells forever."

Calum let out a laugh and she stared at him incredulously as the chuckles continued to pour from him unhindered.

"What the fuck is so funny?" she blared. Her eyes were wide, her eyebrows knit together in the middle of her forehead, obvious irritation showing.

It took another full minute before Calum could pull himself together enough to look at her and speak. "The tables have really fucking turned, haven't they?"

The meaning of his words was clear and she stared at him, gaped mouth and all, as she tried to think of a single thing to say. He didn't give her long to ponder instead continuing on.

"I mean, God, the irony of it all. A year ago I was begging at your feet practically to get back together. I had you up on this pedestal like there wasn't a single thing in the world you could have done to make me look at you differently."

Fallon's throat began to tighten and close at the sight of the far away look in Calum's eyes as tears began to form.

"But it was stupid. Because after everything we went through..." His voice changed then. Going from something somber to something interwoven with malice. "After everything we went through you were always lying to me. Was there anything you didn't lie about Fallon?"

His face had darkened, his tanned skin showing red as his anger built, his eyes changing from their gentle amber hue to a murderous black. Fallon had known he held this level of anger inside of him. They had known each other for too long for her not to sense that this had been looming beneath his almost too pleasant surface for far too long.

"Do you know how stupid I feel? How embarrassed I am that I let you make such a fool out of me? And you know the worst part?"

He had stood from the couch minutes before and now paced the length of the living room where they were. Fallon foolishly hoped he would simply continue on his rant until he had finally gotten everything he wished to off of his chest but he had decided that she needed to be an interactive part of his tirade and so he waited, staring at her as a new lump built in her throat and she finally forced out a shaky "no."

"The worst of it all is that even after you've made an absolute mockery of me. Made me out for a fool, a gullible imbecile, I still can't force myself away from you."

His shoulders heaved as he caught his breath and then dove right back in. "I tried to date you know?" He said. She clenched her jaw to prevent it from dropping open.

"I thought you'd told me you couldn't bear it?" She gasped.

"Did I? I certainly don't remember saying that but if I did it was a lie. Something you're more than familiar with." He quipped.

Oh she had truly uncaged the beast.

"Calum.." she started, her lower lip quivering and her eyes already becoming watery. She dug her teeth into her lip. If there was one thing she hated, it was crying in front of others. The absolute last thing she needed in the moment was to look weak in front of Calum.

"No. You wanted to talk about this so let's fucking talk about it. I tried to date. Ashton set me up with a friend of KayKay's. She was gorgeous, if I had a type she'd be it. Dark hair and tattoos. Had me laughing the whole night and even though I had a great time something was still. Fucking. Missing." He paused just behind the couch and slammed his hand against the back of it between each of the last three words.

There was only so much Fallon could do to hide her emotions and so silent tears slid from her eyes and down her soft pink tinged cheeks.

"Don't cry. You don't get to cry right now." He said, his words rough and frustrated. "You wanted to know so here it is. I took her home. Took her back to my place and let her meet Duke. That's when it all started to go downhill because my fucking dog is obsessed with you and she wasn't you and so he was a dick and almost bit her. I took her upstairs and thought it would be just like the last time we broke up, where I could fill my bed for a night and pretend my heart and lungs and every fucking organ in my body that only wants you didn't exist. That I could just be numb for a while but I couldn't even do that. I couldn't even get it up."

The next silence that followed was resounding. Calum's confession was monumental. When Fallon finally worked up the courage to look at him he looked devastated and it cracked her heart completely in two.

"So I apologize if I've been a bit hot and cold. I'm sorry if my actions are confusing to you. It's just that...well, Fallon. I'm a bit fucking confused myelf."

He had lost his gusto somewhere amid his monologue and now he just felt defeated and sad. Fallon was crying and though he knew he had only spoken the truth he hated that he had made her cry. The anger within him was still very real and there was a zero percent chance that the two of them were going to get anything accomplished so he stood, grabbing his keys off the counter where he had left them and storming out of Fallon's apartment without so much as a goodbye.

An: so everything Cal was holding back imploded.

What did you think about his rant?

If you were Fallon how would you respond?

What happens next?

Let me know!

I love you all!
Sav🖤