Aftershocks | Calum Hood

20

16 weeks

The last week had gone by quickly for Calum. He'd felt a little better after actually getting to see the baby and hear it's heartbeat. He used the motivation he got from that to push through the difficulties he was still having with the boys.

He had thought they would have come around by now. He wasn't used to fights between them dragging out for so long. He wasn't budging on how he felt about forcing Mack into a paternity test and they weren't moving either.

The result was a feeling of isolation he'd never experienced. His relationship with Mack was back on track but every other relationship in his daily life was strained. That made the thought of being away from her for four months sound horrific.

He had only hours left with her before he had to be at the airport to set out for their tour and she hadn't returned home from her latest audition. He wanted to spend every moment he had left holding her.

The doorbell rang and he stared over to the door, confused and wondering who it could  be. He stood from the couch and walked over, swinging the door open. A postman greeted him with an electronic signature device.

"Just have a package you need to sign for." The guy said and Calum nodded quickly scrawling his signature on the pad. Mackenzie had mentioned ordering some maternity clothes so he figured that was what it was so he was surprised when instead of a box the man reappeared only with a yellow envelope.

"Have a good day." The postman called as he returned to his truck.

"You too." Cal mumbled flipping over the envelope to find the sender. American Genetics Testing. 

What the actual fuck.

He was livid. They had discussed this. They had made a decision. He had accepted that he would have to live with the not knowing at least until the baby was born. He had given himself a bubble of protection in the time that he still had to spend pretending that the baby was his for sure. 

Now the answers all rested in the yellow envelope he held in his hands.

"Hey babe!" Mack called as she breezed into the front door, unsuspecting of the anger that he was harboring only a few feet away. 

He didn't respond. Instead, he fumed silently while he waited for her to find him in the kitchen.

"He-What's wrong?" She asked stopping herself as she entered and found him seething. 

He glared up at her as she seemed to notice what lay on the counter for the first time.

"What the fuck is this, Mackenzie?" He asked, straining to keep his voice even. 

"Um, it's the paternity test results." She said, her voice small, scared. 

"We agreed not to have a paternity test until the baby was born, did we not?" He asked, glaring at her.

"Well, yeah, Cal we did. But then I saw you at the ultrasound and you were struggling so bad and I know it's put you in a bad spot with the band. I know you guys have been fighting and I just wanted to fix it for you."

"Did you even think that that might be a decision we should make together?" He asked, his voice raising.

She cowered away from him and for a moment he felt guilty for letting his emotions get the best of him. He knew he had a tendency to let his anger flare. 

"Well- I just wanted to"

"I thought I had months before I had to face this, Mack." He said, his voice still louder than was necessary and she flinched away from the sound. "You know this was fucking illegal, right?"

"Right, because you've never done anything that was!" She yelled back, finally seeming to locate her own anger. 

"Anything I've done didn't affect anyone else's entire fucking life, Mack!"

"I'm sorry, okay! I'm sorry that I thought this would help. I'm sorry that I-"

"Maybe if you had talked to me about it!" He roared. "But you didn't. You never fucking do. If I pulled the shit you do you'd never talk to me again and it's bullshit, Mack. I'm getting really sick of it." He paused, letting his words sink it. "Just open the damn results, Mackenzie."

She stared at him for a moment, her bottom lip tucked between her teeth trembling, before sliding the package across the counter towards herself.

She looked up at him and breathed deeply, her shoulders rising and falling dramatically as she pulled the seal open and removed the letter from within. Her eyes flitted across the page as she searched for the pertinent information. He studied her as her face fell and she lifted her eyes to his. 

Behind them he saw pain, and pity. 

"Cal. Cal, I'm so sorry." She said, tears already falling from her eyes. 

"Mack, I um." He said fighting through his tears. "I think it would be best if you could move in with Harper while I'm gone." He forced out.

"Wh-what?"

"I just think we could use some space." He mumbled not meeting her eyes. 

She was mad. He could sense it. She had a right to be, but so did he.

"So all that stuff about staying by my side no matter what. Saying you loved me and the baby and you didn't care if it was really yours or not. All that was just a fucking lie?" She spat at him. "You fucking promised, Cal." She said, her words coming out as a whimper as she saw her world begin to fall apart. 

For what it was worth Calum's world was also crumbling. He had built an idea of their future in his head and with just one look, a few words on the page he saw them all crumble. He still wanted to be around for the baby, but now he questioned everything about he and Mackenzie's relationship. What she had done was an immense invasion of privacy. If she was willing to steal his DNA and forge his signature, what else was she capable of?

"I made those promises to you when I intended to keep them, when I was certain of how I felt about you and where you and I were headed." He said firmly, turning away from her, unable to look her in the eyes. "Things are different now. This changes everything. I can't trust you, I don't trust you. I'm afraid that damage may be irreparable. Go run back to Tanner or something. You've been up  his ass lately, shit, you told him about this but left me in the dark, so that's a pretty clear display of where your loyalty lies. I just can't deal with this while I'm away for work. I don't know Mack, maybe when I get back things will be different but this, this just sucks." He said honestly. "I never thought you'd hurt me like this." He choked out. 

"Cal, I swear I was just trying to help." She sobbed, the realization that they were ending things seeming to hit her as her tears flooded her cheeks. 

 "I'm going to get my things. they're already packed, and go stay with Ash tonight. Take care of yourself, Mack." He said as he brushed by her and headed for the bedroom. He grabbed his things and moved towards the door, leaving her behind in his home to pick up the pieces of both of their broken hearts, never looking back. 

AN: well that was painful to write

Sad time in the world of Macklum :(

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