bad for you

ELEVEN.

CHAPTER ELEVEN.
"JUST LET ME KNOW, I'LL BE AT THE DOOR, HOPING YOU'LL COME AROUND"
Meet Me In The Hallway - Harry Styles

Calum pulled into the parking lot of a shitty motel. His car had stalled on the highway only miles before, and this was the closest they were going to get to any residence before breaking down.

"Welcoming," Ariana mumbled to herself as she hopped out of the car. Calum took her hand in his, squeezing it tightly before leading her to the entrance. There, they were met with a homeless man asleep on the dusty couch and a lady sitting at the front desk, smoking a cigarette.

At the sound of footsteps, the lady looked up. Her name tag read Julia as a blank expression was drawn across her face. She snapped her gum before speaking. "How can i help you?"

"Have you got any rooms available?" Calum asked, releasing his grip on Ariana's hand to instead slide his arm around her waist. The lady looked at her computer screen before back to Calum, eyeing him up and down. Ariana scoffed as the lady's eyes trailed over to her judgingly.

"How many beds?"

"Uh, one," Calum answered. The lady typed something into her keyboard before reaching behind her to grab a key. After they paid and exchanged a multitude of awkward side-glances, Calum and Ariana made their way to their room, which was on the top floor of the rickety motel.

The inside of the rooms weren't any better than the outside of the motel itself. The carpets were stained, wallpaper peeling off, and Ariana could have sworn that she saw a rat scurry across the floor.

"I know it's not ideal," Calum said, closing and locking the door behind them. "But it's either this or we sleep on the side of the road again."

"It's fine," Ariana said with a smile, trying to convince herself more than she was Calum. She let out a breath, wrapping her arms around his neck. "As long as I'm with you, I'm fine."

"So you're not mad at me anymore?" Calum questioned, slipping his thumbs in the belt loops of Ariana's jeans. She shrugged, smiling small.

"There's no fun in ignoring you when there's nothing left to distract me," she teased, earning an eye roll from the boy before he playfully pushed her down onto the queen bed in the middle of the room. Between all the giggles, the bed squeaked and churned underneath the couple as Calum laid kisses all over the girl's neck.

"Get some rest, baby," Calum whispered as he pulled away. He pecked her lips softly, smiling. "I'm gonna go make a few calls."

"Hurry back," Ariana said, lingering her lips on Calum's before he could pull away. Once Calum was out the door, leaving a cold breeze behind from the sudden change in temperature, Ariana rolled onto her side and grabbed her phone from her bag. There were a million unread messages, but Ariana hadn't really checked it much to begin with.

There were a bunch of texts from her group chat, that was really only her and Gia at this point since Luke was throwing a tantrum, and a few from her siblings. Ariana skipped over those and went to check her other messages.

Gia had asked where she was at school, Ariana didn't have the energy to respond. So she went on Instagram instead, scrolling aimlessly for a few minutes before checking the time. Twenty minutes had passed and Calum wasn't back yet, so she crept out of bed and looked through the curtains. Calum was leaning against the railing, his phone held to his ear. His voice was muffled but could be heard faintly through the thin walls.

Ariana heard her name mentioned a couple times but couldn't make out the sentences. Eventually, she gave up, sighing as she slumped down onto the torn up couch. She sat down, feeling the springs bulge underneath her. Resting her head back, Ariana closed her eyes. She wondered how long they'd have to be gone for. If they were truly on the run, then did that mean she could never go home?