Arms||Cake AU||

Chapter 1

Calum and his older sister Mali used to be close. They used to help their mother make beautiful cupcakes, and hid in a fort they made out of blankets in the living room. Mali used to take her younger brother to the park and play football with him and his friends. She was the best person in Calum's life, and he wished they could go back to that.

He wished that he didn't have to leave his own home every time his sister came home from uni, just to avoid a conflict. He wished he didn't have to listen to her say the things that he thought about himself out loud. Most of all, he wished he didn't know exactly why she hated him.

On the weekends when Mali did come home, Calum usually disappeared for a few days, normally to his best friend Michael's house. The Cliffords welcomed him with open arms and looked after him until it was safe for him to go home again.

"CALUM, MALI'S HOME!" His mother yelled upstairs, hoping that maybe, this time, after many failed attempts, her two children would get along. Calum had forgotten his sister was coming home that weekend, and Michael and his parents were visiting family on the other side of Sydney.

"Calum, come down and say hi to your sister please," Dave, his father, shouted.

"Why would I want to do that?" Calum shouted back, opening his bedroom door so they could hear him.

"You haven't seen her in 2 months Cal!"

"And what a wonderful two months it's been."

"Calum!"

"Dad!"

"It will take you 5 seconds Calum." Dave argued. "Please, just say hello and then you can go back to your room and ignore her."

"If it wants to see me, it can come up here but I am not moving for it." Calum yelled and slammed his door shut. He heard his father sigh loudly as he began to climb the stairs. There was a knock at Calum's bedroom door shortly afterwards.

"What do you want Dad?" Calum grumbled, sliding down onto the floor behind the door.

"Can you please try to talk to your sister? It wouldn't hurt to try, would it?"

"And have it all thrown back in my face like all the other times I tried to talk to her; To have her tell it's my fault despite everyone saying it was an accident; to hear the things I've thought everyday for the past 4 years out loud. I don't think so Dad." Calum replied, slamming his hand into the wall in frustration and splitting his knuckle open.

"I just thought you'd be the bigger person Calum, like you said, it's been 4 years."

"I tried Dad. I tried so hard when I was 13-14 to convince her that it wasn't my fault but it didn't work. She hates me, and I don't blame her."

"Calum Thomas Hood, you listen to me. It wasn't your fault. It was an accident." Dave said sternly. "Let me in so I can talk to you Cal."

"Just leave me alone Dad." Calum said, leaning his head against his door sadly.
Dave smiled sadly at the blank door in front of him, knowing that his son was behind it, carrying the guilt of an accident that wasn't his fault. It broke the man's heart to think about him in that state, but Calum would never open up to him, he would never show his family how he was feeling. He would just stay shut up in his room all day, or go to Michael's house, never letting his emotions show.

He didn't need to, Dave and Joy could see the sadness behind his big brown eyes whenever he walked into the room, and they could sense the guilt that was slowly eating away at their son from the inside. They tried their hardest to convince Calum, that no matter what Mali said, it really wasn't his fault but nothing seemed to work. It seemed to them that Calum was getting more distant as time passed.
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"Calum, tea's ready!" Joy shouted upstairs to him. Calum sighed loudly, blinking at the ceiling.

"I'm not hungry!" He shouted back, pushing himself off the floor. He brushed the dust off his shirt and looked in his bedroom mirror, smiling sadly. Swallowing the lump that had formed in his throat, he slammed his already messed up fist into the wall again in a moment of blind fury, ripping a couple of posters and knocking a photo of the shelf. It hit the floor and smashed, scattering shards of glass across his room. He swore under his breath, staring at the broken pieces.

There was a soft knock on his door, which snapped him out of his trance.

"If it's Mali, fuck off. If it's Mum, I'm sorry but no and if it's Dad, I'm not interested."

"I've got food?" Dave said questioningly from the other side of the door. "It's spaghetti, your favourite."

Calum sighed and opened the door, standing in front of his father awkwardly. He massaged his bust up knuckle, and smiled at his dad.

"You really need to stop doing that son," Dave stated, as he walked into the room and placed the spaghetti down on the bedside table. "It's not good for you."

"I know but.."

"I understand Calum. Just eat your dinner and bring the plate down when you're done. No, you won't have to talk to her."

"Thanks Dad." Calum said quietly as Dave left the room, shutting the door gently behind himself.

It was nice, sitting in his room on his own, enjoying his favourite food, with the sun peeking through his window but deep down, it hurt him to think that if the accident hadn't happened; that if Mali didn't hate him, they would be sitting round the kitchen table as a family, enjoying his mother's excellent cooking.

Once he'd finished, he slouched downstairs, listening to the scraping sounds of knifes and forks coming from the kitchen. He tried to sneak into the room, place the plate down in the sink and leave again unnoticed, but he caught his mother's attention as soon as he set foot in the room.

"Did you enjoy your tea Cal?" She asked, looking up at him hopefully. Calum nodded, placing his plate in the sink and turning to face the table. He caught Mali's eye and they glared at each other.

"Here was me hoping you'd been locked up." Mali scoffed, breaking the eye contact. Calum clenched his fist, taking deep breath to control his anger.

"Well I'm sorry to disappoint." Calum responded sarcastically. David shot both of his children a warning look and Calum turned on his heel to leave. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Mali smile sweetly at him and wave. He flipped her off and walked out, ignoring the shouts of annoyance from his mother.

"Stupid bitch." He muttered, slamming his bedroom door shut. He took a step towards his bed, hearing a loud crunching noise under his feet. Lifting his foot, he saw a shard of shattered glass, one of the many scattered across the floor.

He sighed and tiptoed over to where the picture had fallen, and picked it up. It was photograph of him and his little sister taken a year before she died. She was holding a pink balloon, with a bright smile in her face, showing off her gappy front teeth. Her skin was practically glowing as she held onto her older brother's hand tightly. Calum smiled down at his 12 year old self, who was beaming back at him. He looked younger, happier, more innocent. The photo was taken long before the tattoos, piercings and anger even existed, but that Calum was long gone, and Calum doubted if he was ever coming back.