Spreading her wings

. Sierra's POV

Pulling up in front of my house, Callum kills the engine, turning in his seat to face me. He grabs my hand, stroking my knuckles with his thumb. He looks at me intently, before speaking, " so as you know, thanksgiving is in two weeks, I was wondering if you had any plans?".

I don't know what to say, my boyfriend of one day, wants to spend Thanksgiving with me. Ever since my dad left, holidays weren't really celebrated, birthdays were the only day acknowledged. Even that wasn't anything extravagant, usually just a small gift and a cake. No parties, no friends nothing.

I'm not telling him that though, so I put my mask on, the one I wear, when I go into self-protection mode. I smile brightly at him " oh we do a big family thing, my mum cooks all day, we eat together and then go to the parade".

He nods and smiles, God I feel like an ungrateful bitch He's been so good to me, and this is how I repay him, by lying to his face.

I unbuckle my seatbelt, reaching for the door handle, Callum grabs my hand, making me stop and look at him. I raise my eyebrows at him, he coughs, "is everything okay, you seemed really weird when I mentioned thanksgiving?". I feel like crying, "I'm okay, just tired, thank you for the lift, I'll see you tomorrow". I kiss him on the cheek, hurriedly getting out the car.

When I get inside, I peek out the window, Callum's still out the front, looking at my house. After a few more minutes, he drives away, I sigh in relief, he doesn't need to know what a shit show my life is.

I jump when I hear my mum, yelling out to me, I cringe, she's drunk again. I walk into the lounge room, where she's sprawled out on the couch. Empty Bottles of wine, scattered around on the floor. I start to clean them up, when a hand stops me, "What are you doing, I didn't ask you to take my bottles". She's slurring, her eyes glassy and bloodshot.

My mum was once a beautiful woman, when my dad was around, she always had a smile on her face. Toby and I were everything to her, until my dad came home one day, announcing he was leaving us.

Apparently, he couldn't live a lie anymore, he told me how much he loved my brother and me. He was sorry, but he needed to be true to himself. Turns out my dad is gay, he's been living in New Zealand, ever since, with his kiwi husband he met online.

My mum never got over the fact, my dad left her for a man, I think it hurt her ego to know, she wasn't enough for him. Ever since he left, we've had little contact with him. Mum would get really angry when he called, she said he didn't deserve to be a father.

I haven't seen my dad in 7 years, I really miss him, toby does too, he doesn't remember, much about him though. I keep cleaning up the room, she's still screaming at me. I watch as she stumbles, to get to her feet, she comes at me grabbing my hair roughly.

I screw my nose up, as her wine-soaked breath hits my face. "You think you're so fucking good, always strutting around like you're better than me, you're nothing. Your dad thought so too, that's why he left". She's laughing, her face twisted into an ugly sneer. I pull her hand away from my hair, turning on her " he left because he would rather have sex with a man than you ", I scream at her.

She charges at me, knocking us both to the ground, her fists are flying. I cover myself, with my arms, to block her blows, I can hear toby screaming at her to stop. I can feel myself losing consciousness, I hear a thud next to me. Seeing my mum, passed out on the floor, I finally give out, everything going black.

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Callum's POV

I'm sitting in my room watching a movie, not really paying attention. My mind is on my girlfriend, she acted really strange, as soon as I mentioned thanksgiving. When I think of it, I've never heard Sierra talk about her family. Toby is the only one she mentions, her parents may as well not exist.

I go into my bathroom, a shower will relax me, as I get out, I hear my phone ring. I see Sierra's name on the screen, I sit on my bed. "Hello, my beautiful girl". I hear nothing but silence, "hello Sierra, Tesoro are you there?". I'm starting to panic, I grab a pair of sweats, throwing them on. I'm slipping my shoes on when I hear a voice, it's not Sierra though, it's her brother "ca-ca-Callum, come quick, I can't wake her up, I'm scared Callum. I tried to stop her, but she's drunk, she's always drunk".

I can hear toby sobbing, I rush out my room, running out the front door. I jump in my car " toby listen to me, you need to tell me who's hurt". He sniffs " m-m-my sister, my mum hurt her, she hit Sierra really hard then fell over, she's sleeping now". What the fuck, what kind of mother, hits their child.

I need to call 911, that means hanging up, I slam the steering wheel, I'm only 25 minutes away." toby, listen to me. I need you to be really strong, got me?", He mumbles a yes. " I need you to hang up, you have to call 911, I'm almost at your house, do it for Sierra". I hear him hiccup, "okay, I'll call them ", the line goes dead. I toss my phone on the passenger seat, speeding to my girl's house.

When I get there, I see police and paramedics, Sierra's mum is handcuffed, being led to a cop car. I see a stretcher being wheeled out, my girl looking pale and bruised. I rush over when I see toby standing next to the ambulance. When he sees me, he runs over to me, jumping in my arms. I hold him tight as he cries, I watch, as they put Sierra in the back of the ambulance.

I feel a tear fall down my face, I grab toby, putting him in the car, I run back to where the paramedic is, they're about to leave. I jump up in the back, kissing my girl softly. I hop out getting in my car, heading to the hospital.

When we arrive at the hospital I park my car, toby and I head up to the Emergency department. We see Sierra being wheeled in as we walk in, the doctor sees me, he calls me over. Toby and I walk to where he is, he looks at me, " are you here for Sierra Bennett?" he asks. I nod, my eyes on the bed my girl is on.

The doctor leads us over to Sierra, I take a look at her she's in bad shape. Her right eye is swollen shut, her face has multiple cuts and bruises on it. I look at Toby, who's holding my hand tight. The doc looks at her, his face showing no emotion, fucking prick, he sighs ". She'll be fine in a few days, her body has gone into shock, that explains the concussion. If there's nothing else, I'll be on my way. With that he walks off, leaving me alone with my unconscious girlfriend, and her little brother.

I call the one person, who will know what to do, dialling the number, the call is picked up almost immediately. " Hello, Callum, is that you, where are you?", I take a breath, " mum I need your help, something bad has happened". I explain everything to my mum, she tells me to sit tight, she's on her way.

i sit down, next to sierras bed, grabbing her cold hand. I bring it to my lips, kissing it, trying to get some warmth into her. I turn when I hear my mum calling my name. I stand up as she walks over to me, pulling me close. I kneel down next to toby; the poor kid looks exhausted. He looks at me, his eyes sad and swollen from crying " I need you to go with my mum, I'm going to stay here with your sister, as soon as she's able to leave I'll bring her to you". He eyes me off, wariness on his features.

My mum sits next to him, " Amelia is so excited to have a sleep over with you, she's with her dad, buying snacks for a Harry Potter marathon". At the mention of my sister's name, he perks up, I hide my grin, little man's got a crush. He nods, getting up to give his sister a kiss. As they leave, Toby gives me a thank you for helping my sister, now I see why she loves you."

With that, he walks away with my mum, I settle down for the night, the word love, replaying over and over in my head.