redefine | calum hood

twenty one

Twenty One

Calum

"I'm sorry I'm always sad," Maddie quietly apologized as I cut vegetables for dinner.

"Hey, there is no reason to apologize for that," I quickly told her, putting down the knife and leaning against the counter while she picked at her nails. "You're going through a tough time, it's perfectly normal to be sad,"

"It always feels like I'm moving backwards and never getting better, and it frustrates me because you give me everything I ever wanted, but I'm still never happy," she admitted. I moved around the counter and sat next to her, holding her hand as she held back tears, clearly not wanting to cry.

"These things are hard right now, but we'll make it past them. You'll redefine the world around you, and that is completely ok. Things are going to change, but you have so many people to lean on,"

"I just want to feel better and happy," she hiccuped as she wiped her cheeks.

"You'll get there, that's one reason why we talked to Aria today, so she can help. And when the time is right we'll get you back into school. We'll ease into things, there's no reason to rush into everything," Quietly she nodded, wiping her cheeks.

"Come on, let's go upstairs," I said and she agreed. We left her room and went upstairs. I had to finish cooking, finish some paperwork, and do laundry, but none of that mattered at the moment. All I wanted to do was comfort her, let her cry if she needed it, whatever she needed I wanted to help with.

Instead of her room she led me into mine and curled up on the bed, pulling the dog stuffed animal I had on the bed to her chest. I laid down next to her and held closely as tears fell down her cheeks. Though she tried to keep it together, she didn't, but ended up exhausting herself so much that she fell asleep. I wish I could take all of her pain away, make everything right, but I couldn't. I couldn't take away everything and make her feel perfect, no matter how hard I tried.

I let her rest and I scrolled through my phone until the door opened and Ashton came in. "She ok?"

"Tired, exhausted, frustrated," I listed off.

"Why don't you take her to check out that school you were looking into?" Ashton suggested. "We'll be moving next week, and she needs to be enrolled," he reminded me.

"Yeah, I should," I sighed.

"We need to start packing this weekend," he told me and I sighed, looking around my room that had absolutely nothing packed. Everyone else had been on top of it, but I was so absorbed with work and Maddie that I hadn't even bothered to pack.

"I'll take Maddie out this weekend. I've already finished packing, so I can take care of her,"

"Are you sure?" I asked and he nodded.

"Absolutely," he confirmed with a smile. "I'll take her to get school supplies and for lunch,"

"I hope I'm not pushing her too much about going to school,"

"We can't keep her at home forever," he reminded me. "We'll make the school aware of everything and go from there, but it's time to start moving forward. We need to get her back to a normal life,"

"Alright," I nodded, knowing he was right.
"It'll get better. It's hard now, but she is getting better. Especially today, I don't think we've seen her that happy in a long time," he said, making me chuckle.

"No, we haven't,"

"Come down for dinner, Michael and Crystal finished up what you were working on. Plus Crystal and Sierra haven't seen her hair," he smiled.

"Alright," I nodded with a smile. He left as I woke Maddie up, who grumbled and rubbed her eyes.

"Let's go eat, Mads," I said. "Crystal and Sierra haven't seen your hair either," I reminded her, but she didn't move from her spot, making me sigh. "Mads,"

"Can we eat later?" she mumbled. "I'm just really sad,"

"Alright," I agreed and kissed the top of her head. I sent Ashton a quick text, then held Maddie as she traced the pattern on the comforter. There was a knock on my door, then it opened and everyone came in carrying dishes of food.

"Mind if we all eat up here?" Luke asked with a smile.

"I don't, do you?" I looked at Maddie, who shook her head.

"Great," Michael grinned as he put some stuff on my desk.

"Maddie, your hair looks amazing," Sierra smiled.

"Do you love it?" Crystal asked and Maddie nodded. "It looks great, was it fun being there?"

"Yeah, it was weird to have someone else do my hair though," Maddie admitted. "But I like it,"

"Good, we're glad," Sierra smiled as she handed her a plate of food, then me. So for dinner that night, we all sat in my room and ate, not caring if there was a mess or not. But it was something that Maddie wanted and felt comfortable with right now, so we all wanted to do it for her.