WRONG NUMBER / CH

chptr 42

a/n: HEY SORRY I HAVENT UPDATED BUT LOL MY LAST UPDATE WAS OCT 1 AND NOW ITS OCT 31 HAPPY HALLOWEEN ALL HAVE A SPOOKY ONE!

It was three in the morning when Bohemian Rhapsody started playing from Luke's phone on Calum's desk. Despite his sleepiness, Calum recognized the ring tone as Leia's, so he immediately sat up and answered, rubbing his eyes.

The first thing he heard was a faint sob, but the sound woke him up instantaneously. She was talking in a low murmur. "Luke? Is Ca-"

"Leia? What happened? Are you okay?" Calum couldn't stop the panic creeping in his system. He was already on his feet, grabbing a t-shirt and pulling on a pair of jeans.

"Calum," she breathed softly on the other end. Then her breath hitched and she hiccuped, but it sounded like she was trying not to cry, and it broke Calum's heart.

She didn't even say anything but he wanted-no, needed-to go to her and make sure she's okay. "I'm coming over, okay?" he told her, already out the door.

"No, you don't have to do that, Calum, I'm-" She gulped on the other end and left her sentence unfinished.

His voice trembled slightly. "Wait for me." Then he hung up and left Luke's phone, leaving his apartment in the dead of the night to go see Leia.

Luckily there were still cabs driving around despite the late hour, so he easily flagged one down and promised to pay extra if the cab driver could get him there in less than ten minutes. The thought of Leia upset made him sick. When they arrived he practically threw his bills and raced to the side of her house, where her room's window was.

Since he was phone-less, he decided to go old school. He picked up a pebble and threw it at her window, hoping she did wait for him.

Not even half a minute later, she was peeking outside her window. Despite her obviously puffy eyes, she was smiling.

"Can I come up?" Calum whisper-shouted, afraid to wake her mom up. She nodded yes-and just like Romeo & Juliet's classic balcony scene, he climbed up a nearby tree and landed in her room swiftly.

Leia was still smiling. "I was gonna open the front door for you, but climbing works, too."

Calum returned a sheepish grin, but it quickly faded once he saw her in the moonlight: puffy eyes, red nose, tear-stained cheeks. Unconsciously he reached to wipe away her tears with his thumb. "Are you okay?" he whispered.

Leia sighed and took Calum's hand in hers. "I wish I could say I am."

He furrowed his eyebrows. "What happened? Unless you don't want to tell me," he added nervously. He didn't check his phone before leaving, so if ever Leia was ranting, he was completely clueless about it.

They sat on her bed, leaning against the headboard. Leia clutched her pillow sadly, still not replying. Calum respected her silence, and he didn't want to push her into thinking of upsetting things, so he stayed silent with her. And, when he couldn't resist it anymore, wrapped one arm around Leia in an understanding half-hug. She immediately melted against his body and buried her face into her small pillow. "Oh, no. I don't want to cry in front of you, Calum," she said in a muffled voice.

"It's okay to cry," Calum told her quietly, stroking her hair, thinking of ways to comfort her.

Without warning she set her pillow down and started a rapid recounting of the events that transpired that day, so fast Calum almost didn't catch some of the words. Like she just wanted everything out of her system as fast as she could.

She told him about her dad before they moved. Even though Calum already knew these things, he had to pretend everything was brand new information, which made him feel bad, although he kept it all inside.

"I thought he would leave us alone after we moved," she was saying with a slight tremble, "but today, he..."

So today was a Dark Day, as Calum coined it months ago. He was so relieved that he could finally be able to comfort Leia and help her get through this.

Leia fiddled with her fingers, growing quieter as the story progressed. Her dad had been blackmailing and threatening her mother for weeks now, and she only found out that day. He had been calling and texting nonstop, about how he would find them eventually and taking Leia and Warren away from her. Leia paused for a while after telling him there was even a death threat in her mom's messages. Calum could only stay silent, trying to absorb the shock of everything she was telling him. The hatred he had for her father multiplied with every second that passed until he was almost blinded by rage.

He was shaking from anger and sadness by the time she was finished, clutching her tighter against him, wishing he could protect her from every evil thing in the world. He didn't know what to say. He wanted desperately to be able to say something to make her feel better, but he found himself devoid of words. Only hateful and miserable emotions filled his brain.

Leia looked like she was out of words, too. She just closed her eyes and put her head on his shoulder, trying not to cry. She was intensely grateful for his presence, even when they weren't talking. She just needed someone with her so she could feel less alone.

"I hate your dad," he said softly, not bothering to hide his true feelings.

"Me too," she sighed, but a small chuckle escaped her.

They didn't speak any more after that. Instead Calum just held her tighter and held her hand with his free one, watching their fingers entwined. The only sound in the room was their even breathing and the magnified sound of their heartbeats. He stayed for hours with her, long enough that they saw the light of the sun creeping through her glass windows and announcing a new day with its bright rays.

Leia was intensely grateful that Calum had come over, listened to her rant, and didn't say anything about it save for one comment. This was one of the times silences could be just as comforting as words. She felt her heart gush with relief and happiness in that moment, sharing that quiet early morning with Calum.

Sometimes it's better to share your sadness than to overcome it.