Misfits - Chapter 7 (Patreon)

I tear the page out of my notebook in frustration. No matter how hard I try, my mind refuses to focus. I've been sitting in the library the past 5 hours trying to study but my mind keeps wandering back to Cal.

"Yeah it's handled." Cal's words keep running through my mind. And that image of his face. What could that have possibly been? It was only on one side of his face too. Could I have imagined it? What could he have possibly been doing at 3 in the morning that was handled?

The next morning he acted perfectly normal. Or Cal's form of normal. He made me breakfast and took me to class, but when he asked to pick me up I somehow convinced him to take me home.

I decide to push my thoughts aside. I had an exam to study for, and I couldn't let Cal be a distraction for me. Especially now when I was so close. Cal asked if he could pick me up again today, but I declined. I understand him caring about me getting hurt, but I didn't want him keeping me from going places just because he felt like it.

I hadn't seen him in a few days. Each day he tried to see me, I would come up with some kind of excuse as to why I couldn't. Eventually I just stopped charging that phone he got me and so now he has no way to contact me. Honestly I was a little freaked out by my feelings. The fact that I kissed him and slept in his bed all in the same night was something that I still couldn't wrap my mind around.

I place my fingers over my lips remembering the feel of his against mine. He was so gentle, but possessive as if he was claiming me.

I look at the clock on the wall in the library. I had to get to the bus stop before it left me again. I quickly gather my books and head towards the exit. The sun was setting casting an orange glow across the sky. I'm walking for about 5 minutes when I take notice of a dark figure looming ahead of me. I slow my pace. I knew that form.

Cal was standing in front of the building, leaning against his car, a cigarette in between his lips. His bright eyes are focused on me as I get closer. I can feel my heartbeat speeding up and excitement coursing through me. In that moment, I forgot why I was even avoiding him in the first place. All I knew was that not seeing him the past few days and seeing him now was making me extremely happy.

He takes a long drag of his cigarette and drops it to the ground once I reach him. His face doesn't grace me with a smile and I cant help but feel the tension between us as I approach. He stands at his full height crossing his arms over his chest.

"You're avoiding me," he says it as if he's telling me. And he was. Cal knew everything. He could read me like an open book and even though I hated it, it still fascinated me to some extent. He's still staring down at me and I don't know if he's expecting an answer from me, or an apology. But I can't give him anything. So I just look away, unable to hold his stare any longer.

"Wh" The question lingers in between us. How did I answer that? How did I tell him I was afraid of my feelings, as well as what I saw the other night?

I feel his hand against my cheek and he pulls my gaze around to meet his. His eyes soften as he takes in my face. His voice comes out gentle.

"Why are you avoiding me, Rue?"

I open my mouth to give him some kind of answer but I can't, so I just close it again. He gently brushes his fingers up and down my face, I can feel my skin beginning to tingle from the contact. It was in that moment that I realized how much I craved contact. Especially from him. I don't even realize that my eyes are closed in bliss until I feel his fingers being replaced with his soft lips.

He kisses my cheek slow and gentle, and moves each time kissing closer and closer to my lips. I feel his lips touch the corners of mine, and then he brings his mouth against mine. His lips are hesitant at first but after a moment, he takes complete control, kissing me with such a burning passion, I'm beginning to feel warm.

I don't know how long we sit there in the parking lot kissing each other but when he finally pulls away we're both breathing a little hard. He pushes my curls out of my face, his eyes studying me like you would a puzzle.

"Don't avoid me, princess." My eyes are wide and all I can do is nod my head. My lips are still tingling from the kiss. He steps away from me opening the door to the passenger side of the car. He doesn't even ask me anything. He automatically expects me to get in the car. And that's exactly what I do.

"Are you hungry," Cal's voice breaks the silence. I honestly just wanted to get home so that I could plan my avoidance. I'd been locking myself in the bathroom since my father took the door to my bedroom. And I had to get there before he did. But I push that to the back of my mind, because I wanted to spend time with Cal.

"Rue." Cal's voice breaks through my thoughts and I realize I hadn't answered him yet.

"Oh... uh, yes," I murmur. The car is enveloped in silence once again. Cal seems to be in deep thought about something which was a first.

"Rue, it's 60 degrees outside." I glance at him questioningly, wondering why he was telling me this.

"Huh?" I ask.

"Your jacket. Where is it?" My eyes widen and I realize once again that I had slipped. In my defense, I had no idea Cal was going to be here today. But now he was, and I wasn't wearing a jacket. Mine was gone. My father didn't like the fact that I didn't come home the other night. He tore my jacket to ribbons. So I had been wearing my old and tattered long sleeved shirts that weren't even warm.

"I.. wasted something on it, and had to take it to the cleaners," I say not wanting to watch his face.

"You're lying." 

I don't even bother defending myself. But I can tell that the fact that I had lied made Callum very upset. His grip was tightening on the steering wheel.

We arrive at our destination quicker than we probably would have due to Cals fast driving. I reach towards the door handle.

"Don't. Touch the door handle," he growls out. He gets out of the car walking to my side and opening the door. Once I step out he pulls his dark jacket over his head and hands it to me. I watch it with uncertainty and look back at him but his expression is blank.

"Just take the jacket princess."

I reluctantly grab it pulling it over my head. It was still warm from Cals body heat. And it smells like him too. I have to reign in all of my will power to keep from closing my eyes and inhaling it over and over again.

My eyes begin to fill with tears. It seemed that every time Cal did something nice for me I would start crying. And now wasn't the exception. I hear a small chuckle escape his lips and he places an arm around my shoulders pulling me into him as we walk into the restaurant.

It was the exact same thing for this place as last time. We didn't have to wait , and were immediately seated.

"Cal, can I ask you something?" I say quietly. He nods his head.

"What is it that you do for a living? And don't say deal with people," I say looking at him. His face is emotionless and he begins lightly tracing a pattern atop the table.

"I don't want to talk about work." 

"Why not?"

"Do you want to tell me where your new cuts and bruises came from?" he says nonchalantly. 

I shake my head no. He had me there. I didn't want him knowing this part of me and he didn't want me knowing that part of him. I guess I would have to respect that.

"I'm going out of town," he says. I look at him in shock completely caught off guard.

"Why?" I ask.

"Work." His eyes study me carefully as he speaks.

"For how long?" I ask.

"A week." I can't help my jaw dropping in shock.

"A week? For what? When are you leaving?" I ask.

"Tomorrow," he says simply. As if he hadn't just dropped a bomb on me that he was leaving me for a week.

"Maybe if you hadn't been avoiding me all week, I would've been able to tell you before now. I was gonna ask, did you want to stay at my place while I'm gone?"

"W-what?" I ask shocked. He quirks an eyebrow at me.

"I said, did you want to-"

"Yeah, I heard what you said, I Just... Are you serious?" I ask. He barely knew me and was willing to let me stay in his house for a week?

"Well, yeah.. I wouldn't ask if I wasn't," he says as if I was acting strange for no reason. I shake my head not believing that he was asking me this.

"Thank you, but no."

"Why."

"You don't even know me, Cal. I could be a thief." He laughs at my comment.

"Well, I know that you're not. Besides, I'd be more uncomfortable if I knew you were safe at my place," he says it so nonchalantly.

"I'll be fine, Cal." He rolls his eyes and leans back in his seat.

"I have class anyway, and you don't live anywhere near a bus stop," I say trying to give him some peace of mind. He cuts his eyes at me.

"You can take one of my cars." I stare at him and feel my jaw drop. He was going to give me his car to take to school? I look down at the table feeling my face heat up in embarrassment.

"I...I don't know how to drive," I say. I never learned. Never had the time to or anything like that due to my current situation. Hell, I didn't even have a license. It made me realize how far behind I was in life when Cal spoke to me as if I had all these things that people normally had.

I didn't even want to look at Callums face. He always said otherwise, but I'm sure he thought I was pathetic. I didn't know how to do anything. I was so behind in life.

"Princess." His voice breaks through my thoughts. He places his hand over mine and when I look up he's giving me a gentle smile.

"I can teach you ok, princess?" I take in his features and manage to return his smile.

Once again Cal orders an unopened drink for himself but doesn't eat anything. He orders for me but that's about it. I watch him curiously as my food arrives.

"Why don't you ever order anything?" I ask. I was genuinely curious. He only shrugs.

"I don't trust the people around here." He says simply. He said that same thing last time but I didn't understand what he meant by that.

"Why? Scared they might poison you?" I say it as a joke but Cal only shrugs his shoulders not offering me an answer.

* * * * *

We reach the road in record time, Cal still wanting to take me all the way home but I once again refused.

"I want you to charge your phone princess. I want to talk to you everyday," he says. He turns his burning gaze to me and I nod my head in understanding.

"I'm serious. If you need me, just give me a call and I'll get you out of here. ok?" I nod my head once again in response. He looks as though he's about to say something else when his phone begins vibrating. He growls in irritation but when he looks at the screen he answers it anyway.

"Yeah." He pauses as if listening.

"Yeah I'll be heading out in an hour."

"I know."

"Ok." He pulls the phone off his ear hanging it up and looks back to me. I look at him in confusion expecting some kind of explanation but he gives me none.

"What are you doing next Saturday," he asks. I don't know why I even bothered to think about it. If my father was in a bad mood it might be spent recovering from his attacks.

"Nothing," I say. He grabs my hand in his and begins tracing a light pattern over my knuckles with the pad of his thumb. I can feel my skin beginning to tingle from the contact.

"I have a party I'm going to. I want you to be my date." His gaze is still lingering on my hand. A part of me wants to shout yes. But logically that was impossible. I had nothing to wear, period. I couldn't even afford a jacket.

"I- I can't, I-"

"You said you had nothing to do," he says.

"I don't but-"

"Then just say you'll come. I'll handle everything else." Finally, his gaze travels up to my face, and I'm once again caught in his beautiful stare. His eyes were so mesmerizing, I couldn't help myself.

"Ok," I whisper. A slow smile spreads its way across his face, and it looked amazing on him.

"I'll see you in a week, princess," he smiles at me, and I can't help but smile back.

"Are you sure you don't want to stay at my place?"

I shake my head and he seems to get a little irritated but holds his tongue. His hand leaves my hand and he goes to rubbing my cheek with his thumb.

"You can't protect whoever it is you're trying to protect forever princess. You try and hide the truth from the world but you stand out." He pushes my stray curls back from my face and I can feel his fingers gently massaging my scalp.

"You're like a diamond trying to hide in a box of dirt. You're just too beautiful. You stand out no matter what." He's studying me with such an intensity. I can't help but wonder what he's thinking. I don't have to wonder long. After what seems like forever he pulls me in for a deep kiss. He finally pulls away from me.

"I'm going to protect you. No matter what," he says with such a serious tone. I nod my head and move to get out of the car.

"Oh, do you want your jacket back..?" I ask. He gives me a funny look.

"No. You keep it princess." I can't help the small smile that appears on my face. I get out of the car feeling better than I have in a few days.

The cold air is biting at my nose, but I ignore it. Cal's jacket was keeping me warm through my trek to my house. As I get closer, I pull off the jacket stuffing it in my backpack. I didn't want my father to notice it and take it from me.

I can feel the void in my stomach getting deeper and deeper as I get closer to the apartment. I step up the stairs and open the door, closing it behind me and my heart drops in my stomach. My father was sitting on the couch waiting for me.

"Rue." I blink back the tears immediately not wanting him to see them.

"Y-yes sir..." He stands from his seat and stalks closer to me. He roughly grabs a fistful of my hair and I swear can feel some strands being torn from the scalp. I cry out in pain.

"I'm sick and tired of you coming in this house late at night," he growls out. I could smell the liquor coming off of him. It wasn't even late, it was only 9 o clock. He just wanted another reason to beat me within an inch of my life. Before I can even think he's pushing me towards the door and roughly pushes me out into the cold night air.

"Maybe now you'll learn," he snarls and slams the door behind me, The freezing cold air is biting at my skin and gasp as I hear the locks going into place.

He locked me out. He locked me out in the middle of the freezing cold night. I had nowhere to go. No one to turn to, even if I wanted to call Cal I couldn't because the phone was dead. So I trudge to the nearest wall, pull out Cal's jacket and snuggle deep into it, trying to find some kind of peace.