Guarded: Sequal to Broken

Twenty-Three

Calum's POV

"Hey Cal, your flight is in three hours. You ready?" Ashton wraps against the guest room door softly.

"What if I don't go?" I sigh as I pull the door open to meet his eye.

"Cal, we talked about this." Ashton frowns, "You need some time away from LA, time with your family."

"But they are all going to ask about her, about us, about what happened... I can barely get myself out of bed and it's been weeks. How am I supposed to face all of my family, how am I supposed to face the looks of pity, or pretend to be having fun when all I want is for her to be there enjoying the holidays with me. We were all supposed to go... Me, Maddie, Sam, Grams, Gramps, the whole family. Mum was going to host everyone for the week."

"Cal, you can't stay cooped up in our guest room forever. Let's get you on a plane to Sydney and see how you are feeling when you come home in a few weeks, okay? Your mum and Mali are going to take great care of you. I know you don't want to disappoint them by not showing up, they haven't seen you since summer."

"Ya, alright." I concede, knowing somewhere deep down I'm being irrational, collecting my suitcase and Duke into my arms before I can overthink things again.

"That's it, Christmas at home is exactly what you need, Cal." Ashton smiles, taking the suitcase from me as we head down to the car.

The flight is uneventful and long, my anxieties growing as the small plane on the screen in front of me moves closer and closer to Sydney. I'd attempted to nap, but woke as my dreams turned to Maddie. Trying to distract myself I'd flipped through the movie options on the screen in front of me, only to find Flubber as one of the options. The stupid movie was Maddie's go to when she needed a laugh, and despite never understanding her obsession with it, seeing it on the screen turned me off from the idea of watching anything. So instead I sat silently, playing redundant puzzle games on my phone for fifteen hours to keep myself from wallowing.

By the time I exit the plane into the mid summer heat of Sydney I'm not so afraid of the pity looks I will be receiving, but grateful to have someone to talk to and things to do to keep my mind occupied.

"Baby brother!" Mali grins as soon as we make eye contact across the baggage claim zone.

"Hi." I try hard to muster up a suitable smile, I am happy to see her, though my body does collapse into her open arms as soon as I reaches her.

"Still bad?"

"So bad." I nod into her shoulder.

"Well come on then, let's not lose it here. We have the safely of mum's house waiting." She smiles, keeping an arm around my middle as she pulls me to find my luggage. "So who has your dog for the next few weeks?"

"Michael. He and Crys didn't want to travel with Arabella still being so small, so their families are headed to LA for the holidays, and they offered to keep Duke with them for me."

"Good. We are going to make this a good trip, Calum, just you wait. Nothing you can say will stop my determination to enjoy a Hood Christmas with you this year. No matter how heart broken you are."

"Good Luck. I'm pretty sure Ash and KayKay were happy to kick me out today. They have been kind enough to let me move in with them for the last month, but I think my sadness is rubbing off. I'm afraid I'm pulling Ash into my depression with me. I think I have to move back home once I go back to LA for his mental state."

"Worry about your mental state too. Move in with someone else if you need to." Mali sighs.

"Mike has an infant, and Luke and Si are preparing for one, maybe Mitchy or Roy will agree to move back in with me or something. I think you're right. I'm not ready to live alone, especially not in our house, but I can't stay with Ash either. I refuse to drag him back into a mental illness fight when he's doing so well for himself."