REHAB [5SOS]

REMEMBER

[A/N: This chapter is a bit scary. Hope you don't mind. Enjoy.]

REMEMBER

Calum

When Perrie moved out of Rehab, everyone's mood got worse.

Ashton and Hazelle were already in a bad mood because of Harry. Michael was upset because Clover was unhappy Perrie had moved out, and Luke was upset because Michael had broken one of his favorite pens in frustration. Calum, already worried out of his mind about Rose, who still hadn't returned, was driven mad by Zayn, who was furious that he couldn't see his girlfriend anymore.

"Tell me about your tattoos," Zayn said for the millionth time.

Finally fed up, Calum snapped, "Tell me about your damn tattoos, how about?"

Zayn raised an eyebrow, his face set in an unhappy scowl. But, to Calum's surprise, he assented and jabbed a finger at the tattoo of the girl, whom he'd learned was Perrie. "This is a tattoo of Perrie I got shortly before we got into rehab," Zayn said. "I got this tattoo as an apology and a reminder. Let me tell you, this one hurt like hell.

"Perrie and I have been dating for a couple of years now, but it wasn't for a few months that I realized there was something off about her, sometimes. Some days, she'd be super excited and bubbly, and she'd want to do the most ridiculous things. Other days, she'd be surly and morose, and she wouldn't want me to go over or even talk to her on the phone. She'd draw away from everyone. She finally told me she'd been diagnosed as bipolar.

"We dealt with it. So she was bipolar. It wasn't the end of the world. It didn't change the way I felt about her, and she assured me it didn't affect the way she felt about me. So we dealt with it. I learned to keep track of her mood swings. It was just a thing in our relationship.

"Except one day, I got high, and she got annoying. I was just trying to have a smoke, but she was bitching about it, complaining about how I always smoked even though she didn't like it, and how if it came to it, I'd put a smoke before her. I never would. But I was high, and she was in her depressed phase of bipolarity, and she wouldn't shut up." Zayn took a deep breath. "So I hit her. I kept hitting her. Somewhere in my mind I knew it was wrong, but I couldn't stop myself until she was literally begging for mercy."

Calum frowned slightly. His drugs had detached him from his world. He'd been numbed, not provoked. But maybe Zayn reacted to his drugs differently.

Zayn's voice was shaking when he said, "They took her straight here, and took me straight to jail. I was released with an order to go to rehab. Before I checked in, I got this tattoo. An apology. A reminder." He sighed. "Getting off drugs is hard, but thinking about how I hurt Perrie is harder." He lay back on his bed and sighed. "I hope you're happy you got your damn story. Now tell me another story about Chiefy."

Calum sat there, stunned. "I-"

"Chiefy, mate, come on. I need something to get that out of my head, and unfortunately, I don't have drugs."

Calum rattled off a story about Chiefy defeating a dragon, and Zayn slowly relaxed on his bed.

"Can you tell stories other than Chiefy?" Zayn asked absently.

Calum shrugged. "I told a turtle story when I was younger."

Zayn sat up and grinned at him. "Do tell."

Calum grinned back. "Do you think I'm so pretentious that I memorize my own work? I only remember that the turtle laid an egg and blew up."

Zayn laughed out loud. "You know, as much as I hate being here, and it sucks even more with Perrie gone... You make it a little easier."