Oh I slipped.

____

A shrill noise followed by a vibration sounded through the room, pulling me from my slumber.

Sara let out a groan as she snuggled closer into me. "Turn it off," she muttered as it continued to ring.

Peeling back an eye and grimacing at the fact the room was barely alight, I reached for my ringing phone to turn it off.

But as my sleepy eyes read the name blaring across the screen, I sat up.

Looking to the floor, I noticed Callie's bed was empty—she hadn't come back last night.

Heart pounding in my chest and fully expecting the worst, I pressed answer on the phone and brought it to my ear.

"Hello?" I asked, voice shaky.

"Lexi," Callie's voice croaked on the other end.

I let out a slight relieved sigh to know it was actually my sister calling me and not that something bad had happened. "What's up?" I asked, now wary of the slight sniffles on the other end.

"I'm sorry," she then said.

"Sorry?" I asked, confused. Glancing over at Sara's bedside clock, I checked for the time—6am. "Where are you?"

"Aunt Jojo's," she said back, voice still shaky.

"Why?"

"I snuck out from Flynn's this morning."

"You snuck out... Wait. Is he why you're crying?" My tone was beyond mad now as I began to imagine every way I could hurt the guy for potentially harming my sister.

"Not exactly... I mean yes but... it's not his fault. Do you think you can come get me? I'm in no state to go to Sara's and I need you."

The three words that had left her mouth rang in my ears. A phrase I'd never thought I'd hear my sister utter again.

She needs me...

"I'll be there shortly," I whispered.

And with that, I hung up the phone and peeled myself away from Sara. 

"Where are you going?" she mumbled, eyes still clamped shut.

"Callie needs me. She's at my aunt's."

"Why is she there?" Sara responded, though I wasn't sure how much she was following the conversation.

"No clue. But I'll come back later, okay?"

"Mmmkay."

Bending over, I pressed my lips lightly to her forehead before brushing some locks from her face. "Sleep well, beautiful."

"Mmm. You too."

I breathed a chuckle at her response, realising she definitely wasn't following. "I love you."

"You too," she whispered, snuggling closer to her pillow that was now forming my replacement.

With that, I changed out of my clothes, slipped on my shoes, and headed out of the house, ready to jog to Jojo's.

Jojo grumily opened the door for me when I arrived, not keen to be awake. But once I entered the house, she mentioned something about going back to bed and pointed to the room Callie was supposed to be in.

Heading to one of her spare rooms, I pried open the door, finding my sister sitting in the middle of the bed, prosthetic off, eyes wide and alarmed.

"What's up?" I asked as I took a spot next to her on the bed.

"I've really screwed things up," she squeaked, still staring at the wall.

"How so?"

"I... I think I confessed to Flynn last night. And he also helped me shower. And he held me all night. But he likes someone else."

"He likes someone..." I repeated as my brain lagged in processing everything she said. It was way too early for this... But eventually I caught up and my eyes narrowed. "He said he likes someone else?"

"I know he does."

"Did he explicitly say it's someone else?"

"No."

"Did he reject you?"

"It's clear in his face."

I heaved a sigh. "You should hear him out."

But Callie was shaking her head. "That's why I called you here. I need your help planning how I can run away. Or perhaps convince mum and dad to let me be homeschooled. I can't ever face him again."

"You should hear him out," I repeated.

She paused in whatever terrified response she was about to give, turning to look at me, eyes studying my face. "Why? What did you and him talk about on our birthday too? And how come he was in your room?"

Brows shooting up, I said, "That's a lot of questions at once."

"Well... start answering?"

Heaving a sigh, I shimmied onto the bed, pulling the blanket over my lap as I wrapped an arm around my sister. "You two need to talk to each other. But let's just say I think running from Flynn because you're scared of rejection is the exact thing you shouldn't be doing. Because I really don't think it will go that way."

"Why? Did he say something to you?"

"Again... something you two should talk about."

Her eyes were still searching me—for deceit, for truth, for answers. But eventually she looked away and back to her knees. "I can't handle the idea of him looking me in the eyes and saying it will never work out."

"I don't think it will go that way."

"Why do you think that?"

Pressing my lips together, I wondered how I could ease her worries without overstepping here. "Let's just say... as your sister, I take great responsibility in sussing out the guys you like. And that's why I pulled him aside. I grilled him, checked him out for you... and I approve, Cal. And I really think you should talk to him."

"But what if—"

"Callie."

She heaved a sigh and then rested her head on my shoulder. "How can I face him when I ran away from him this morning?"

"Why did you run?"

"I didn't want to see him opening his eyes only to be disappointed it was me beside him."

"Disappointment is certainly not the right word," I muttered under my breath, causing Callie to respond with a, "What?" Shaking my head, I then said, "You need to confess your feelings to him openly and honestly." I took another deep breath, smelling her hair in the process, noticing a familiar scent lingering in her. "And sober? Did you drink last night?"

"I did," she groaned, head burying between her knees again. "I saw him talking to another girl... and I drank way too much and threw up everywhere and he took me back to his because I didn't want to get Sara in trouble with her parents. And then he helped me wash the puke off me while I was in my underwear and I wore his clothes to bed and he held me all night and I woke up to him still holding me and... I don't know if I can handle my heart breaking any more than it has, Lex."

"Oh Callie," I sighed, brushing her hair as she nuzzled into me for comfort. "This is Flynn we are talking about. The last thing he ever wants to do is hurt you. You mean so much to him." Yes... I can say that much, at least.

"As a friend, maybe, but—"

"Just confess. Trust me. I know you haven't trusted me on anything else, but I really have a good intuition on this one." Intuition... or insider scoop. Same thing, right?

"Okay," she whispered.

"And we can spend the whole weekend brainstorming exactly how you can tell him. Then you can go to his house on Monday or ask him over and tell him. How about it?"

She shrugged, arms wrapping around my waist. Yet rather than acknowledging the conversation at hand, she then said, "I'm sorry, Lex."

"Sorry?" I asked in response. "What for?"

"I thought... I thought you and Flynn were having a thing and that's why I've been mad at you again."

"A thing?" I gasped. "Oh no. Oh no, no, no. Never, Callie. Never ever."

"Why? What's wrong with Flynn?" she asked, pulling back, that familiar defensive crease worming between her brows. The same one she sported yesterday when Noah had a crack at him in Sara's bedroom.

"Nothing is wrong with him..." Well, he's a boy and he's not Sara. But I can't tell her that right now. Things have to work out between her and Flynn first. "It's just I know that you like him, and I would never do that to you."

"But do you think maybe you like him too? And you're just holding back because of me?"

Heaving a sigh at her stupid worries, I said, "No, Callie. I have absolutely no interest in Flynn. It's not because I think he's bad. And it's not because he isn't an okay-looking guy."

"He's more than okay-looking," she grumbled back.

"Yeah yeah, sure. Whatever. But I barely know him. And he's not exactly my... type."

"Your type? Is it because he's—"

"Callie, I just don't like him, okay? I like... really pretty people. The feminine type." Yes... that will work.

"Feminine... Like girly boys?"

"Something... like that." I'll tell you the full truth eventually, Cal. Let's just get you through this hurdle first.

"Okay," she then breathed, arms wrapping around me again. "But maybe instead of the weekend to think about it, we take the whole holidays. I can't bring myself to face him knowing he saw me in my polka dot undies."

I struggled to hide the amusement clouding my face at her mortification "Hey... at least it was your good pair."

Callie groaned as her head fell into my shoulder. "I'll never recover from this."

It took some hours to coax Callie from bed. After a lengthy breakfast with Jojo later and avoiding revealing anything that would get either of us into trouble, eventually our aunt drove us home.

"So," I said as Callie and I walked to the door. "How did you manage to get your leg on without having worn your compression band over night?" She was currently supporting her weight completely on me, prosthetic gripped in her free hand.

"With great difficulty," she muttered. "And pain. It only just squeezed on."

"You have to be careful with that, Cal. You might cause blisters or something."

"I know. But running from embarrassment was more important."

Embarrassment... please. Yet as we pushed open the door, we both stopped in our tracks as we met our parents' judging gazes.

Did they know? I wondered.

"Where's your things?" mum asked first.

"Still at Sara's," I dumbfoundedly replied, not thinking this cover story further.

"And why were you at my sister's?" dad then asked.

Shit... they saw who dropped us off. "Callie... wanted to see Aunt Jojo this morning," I made up. Though we could both tell neither parent believed us.

And as their eyes trailed over us, I knew what they were assuming.

"We will talk about your behaviour some other time," dad said, eyes flickering between the two of us. "But right now, Callie, you have a visitor."

"A visitor?" she asked, brows knotting together. "Who?"

"He's in your room," was all dad said back as he crossed his arms over his chest and looked away from us in disappointment.

I helped Callie over to her chair that was parked in the corner of her living room, all the while her eyes frantically met mine at the same time as reality sunk into me as to who could be waiting for her.

"No," she mouthed at me, shaking her head.

But I couldn't stop the devilish grin forming on my face.

Rounding her chair, I began to push her forward.

Callie's hands shot down, gripping at the wheels to stop them. But thankfully, my legs and body had more strength than her hands. I continued pushing her down the hallway until we finally reached her room.

"Confess," I whispered in her ear before leaning over her chair and pushing the door open, allowing for both of their gazes to meet.

Will they confess?

Will they not?

Do we want them to? :O