WRONG NUMBER / CH

chptr 44

Calum watched Leia as she tucked her hair behind her ear and laughed gently. He felt a grin already tugging his lips just by looking at her. "Your turn," she told him.

"My favorite person in the world is you," he said without hesitation. They had been playing a round of twenty questions about favorites in Leia's bedroom on a lazy Saturday afternoon. She laughed again and pushed his shoulder playfully with a shake of her head. Sighing, Calum conceded. "Fine. Maybe it's Will Smith. Or my sister."

Leia's eyes widened with a sparkle. "You have a sister?"

Calum found himself surprised when he realized he hadn't told Leia that he had a sister. "Yeah, oh my God. I can't believe I didn't tell you." He inched a little closer to her, partly so that she could hear him better, mostly because he wanted to brush his arm against hers.

It was still an exhilarating feeling for him, even after a month.

"Her name's Mali," Calum said. A softness had risen in his voice at the mention of his sister. He had always looked up to her, in a way. He was probably the proudest younger brother in the history of all siblings. "She's great. She's like, the best singer ever. I mean, I can't even stress that fact enough. She's so talented."

"Where is she?" Leia asked. She mimicked the hushed tone Calum was using, like some sort of reverence and awe towards Mali.

"Everywhere. She's travelling, you know. Seeing the sights. Building her career. She's gonna get big one day, I just know it." Calum sighed happily, staring at the tattoo on his arm where her name was engraved.

Entranced, Leia traced his sister's name against his arm gently. "That's amazing, Calum. I can see you really love her," she told him.

A blush unexpectedly rose to his cheeks. He didn't say I love you to his sister often. His love was the standard, little brother type. Only present when his sister's not there.

Suddenly the room went quiet, but not with the comfortable silence they always shared. He sensed something different in the atmosphere. Impending doom.

Her voice was low, but it wasn't a whisper. "I don't know if I've told you this, but I have a sister, too."

Calum's heart froze.

"Had a sister, maybe. I don't know anymore." She heaved a miserable sigh, which Calum recognized as her I-don't-want-to-cry sigh.

He struggled with himself. He had to say something. But he was afraid of his own thoughts. He didn't want them to creep back in his head and suffocate him again. He was finally happy, and he didn't want to ruin it. He had learned to ignore Leia's texts to her sister and to focus on Leia's texts to him.

It felt like centuries before he mustered up the courage to speak again. "What do you mean?"

"She's gone now. Not dead or anything. Or maybe she is. I don't know," she replied in a clipped monotone. Her face was devoid of all emotion. Like she was talking about an inanimate object rather than her family. Calum felt a sudden lurch of sadness. For her and Anna.

He was cautious he wouldn't give anything away. "What happened between you guys?" he asked in a concerned tone.

I should be an actor, he thought.

Then she told him. Everything. Most of it he knew, some were new information. But every word she said made him sick to his stomach.

She told her about her sister named Anna, who was three years older than her, and was her best friend in the entire world. They did everything together, and she loved her as fiercely as a sister could. She looked up to her older sister like she was a hero or something. She literally never lived in a world without her.

Until she left.

And it nearly broke her, since Anna was the only one she really trusted: not her own mother, and especially not her lowlife father.

Leia didn't mention anything about the texts, which, for some reason, made him feel worse than before. That meant it was a private thing for Leia, something she never told or never will tell to anyone. It made him want to throw up, knowing that he had violated her trust and her privacy from day one.

He wanted to tell her everything.

But he looked into her faraway eyes, which were shiny with tears, and he felt like the biggest coward in the world.

She shook her head and managed a small smile. "Sorry for ruining the mood. I just felt like you needed to know that about me," she told him, not meeting his eyes.

Calum cleared his throat of the nasty things that were sitting in his tongue, the lies and nonsense he would've spouted just to save Leia from hurt. But he found himself lost as to what he'd tell her, so all he replied was, "It's okay."

His mind was thrumming with opposite thoughts. I'm sorry. I should've told you a long time ago. You're not texting your sister. She's gone. I never wanted to hurt you. But I fell in love with you through those messages, and that's what stopped me from coming clean. I'm selfish. And I don't deserve you.

"You're the only one I trust anymore, Calum."

Calum squeezed his eyes shut and didn't reply, desperately wishing she hadn't said those words.

It destroyed him.

Instead of saying something, he leaned forward and took her into his arms in a fierce hug, burying his face in the crook of her neck in his own silent sorry for her.

They stayed like that for a while, occasionally rocking back and forth. For her it was a source of comfort, a hug that said he was here for her.

But for him it was an apology for everything he didn't say.

a/n: hello all im still figuring out some stuff since we're at the beginning of the end(!!!!!) and imso thankful for U guys and ur support it means so so so much to me!!!
i hope u guys continue to support me in my future novels (and if u have any requests/ideas for future fanfics, let me know!)
ALSO I JUST GOT MY SLFL TICKETS SO IM SEEING THEM NEXT YEAR SO IM SO SOSOSOHAPPY :D sorry if this note's so long i just wanted to share lol