Casual Sabotage

Chapter Nine

Caleb forced himself through the door, his eyes glaring at me before they glanced towards Brian. He scoffs to himself, immediately stomping his way back into the bedroom. I chase after the man, coming to find him packing up a suitcase of clothes.

"Caleb, can we talk about this please?" I asked desperately, placing a hand to his forearm.

He tore himself out of my grasp and scowled at me. "You have to know that nothing happened."

"I know all that I need to, Sal." He groused, continuing to throw his clothes into the case. "As soon as I'm out of the picture, you can have Brian all to yourself."

"That's not what I want!" I shouted at him. "Brian asked to see me."

"Yeah, sure thing." Caleb dismissed, rolling his eyes in annoyance. "I don't believe anything that comes out of your mouth now, Sal."

"I promise you that nothing happened between us!" I argued. "You have to believe me!"

"NO." He yelled. "I'm not fucking stupid! As soon as you got me out the way, you called Brian over just to fuck him. You can't stand being alone!"

"That's not true!" I wept.

I stepped closer and began pulling his already packed clothes out of his suitcase, throwing the pile onto the bedroom floor. "Please stay so that we can fix this, Cal."

"What is there to fix?" He spat. "You already fucked up, I'm out of here!"

He closed the case and pulled at the handle, dragging the suitcase along the floor. I ran after Caleb to the front door, where he came to a stop. Slowly, Caleb turned to Brian, who was sat on the sofa with his head in his hands, and cleared his throat. "You'll be pleased to know that you are welcome to him."

"I have no idea what you are on about, Buddy." Brian raised his gaze to meet Caleb's. "I'm just his friend."

"Well, your friend here is now available, should you decide to get back together with him." He explained to Brian, soon growing spiteful. "You know, if you ever decide to act gay again...or are you pretending you're straight now with that girl you've been balls deep in?"

"Leave him alone, Caleb." I stepped in, soon being shushed by the man.

Brian stood tall, quick to tower over Caleb, wearing a confident smirk across his face. His hands grabbed hold of the sleeves to Caleb's jacket and lifted him up onto the tips of his toes. He struggled under Brian's restraint, but there was no point in trying to escape...I knew that fact all too well.

"I don't act straight." Brian corrected, his voice unnerving. "I don't act gay either."

He leaned closer to Caleb. "I fuck who I want to fuck, I like who I like. That little shit stood behind you was a pain in my ass, but you know what?"

"No." Caleb shook his head as his voice trembled.

"He was the best thing that ever happened to me." Brian expressed, avoiding looking at me. "I ruined my chances with him the moment that I treated him as badly as you are doing right now."

His eyes glimmered with emotion; my heart warmed to his words. "Don't make the same mistakes I did, Callum."

"Caleb." Caleb corrected.

"Whatever your fucking name is." Brian complained. "Listen to what I am telling you. When Sal loves someone, he does it with his whole being. He is clingy, I know that, but he loves everything about you. He told me so."

Brian glanced at me momentarily. "I was stupid enough to ignore that side of him and lost the best person I've ever known."

My lower lip began to wobble as tears filled my eyes. Brian was never a one to admit how he felt so profoundly as he was in that moment. Every word that fell from his mouth was sincere and he meant every part of it.

"I promise you; Sal and I have merely been catching up since that night of the show." He continued. "He is my friend and he needed me when he thought that he had lost you tonight."

Brian's grip at Caleb's jacket loosened, letting him back down onto his feet. "Don't be an idiot like I was and lose him. He is the greatest person I know."

Anyone can admit how they feel to someone, but it takes a real man to admit those emotions and still let those feelings go. Brian was giving in and letting me fix things with Caleb. He knew that it was the right decision to make, even if it was costing him another chance of our relationship to ever reignite. I didn't want to lose either of them, Brian knew that. He was willing to just be friends and put my happiness before his own.

Caleb cleared his throat and turned to look at me. He was tearful as he made his way back over to me. Sighing heavily, he took my hands in his and kissed at the back of my fingers, before his blue eyes locked onto mine. I could see the hints of a smile etch across his face, soon feeling his lips press lightly to mine.

"I'm sorry for not listening to you." Caleb apologised.

"I'm sorry for not being honest from the start." I returned. "Caleb, I love you. You have to know that."

"I do know it." He accepted sadly. "I should have given you a chance to explain everything instead of getting mad."

"You had every right to be mad at me." I explained sincerely. "So...are we good?"

"I guess so." He smiled, pressing a firm kiss to my lips.

Pulling away, Caleb turned to Brian. "I'm sorry for what I said just now. I was angry and took it out on you."

"I understand." Brian dismissed with a wave of his hand. "Remember what I said though."

Caleb smiled to me and took my hand in his, squeezing my palm reassuringly, responding to Brian. "I will."

"Great." Brian smiled. "Now, I'd best get out of here so you two can fuck until your heart's content."

"Brian." I groaned as he smiled at me.

I couldn't help but notice how it didn't reach his eyes like it normally did. I realised that he was sacrificing a lot, hiding his feelings well. But not well enough. I knew Brian more than he liked to admit that I did. Three years of dating him told me that he hid most of his feelings and to find out the truth from him was like getting blood out of a stone at times.

Brian stepped towards the front door, ready to get home. I whispered to Caleb and told him to wait for me in the bedroom while I said goodbye to Brian. He nodded and made his way out of the room. I opened the front door and let Brian and myself step out into the hallway of the apartment complex.

"You didn't have to cover for me." I appreciated quietly.

"If you love someone, sometimes it's best to let them go." He expressed emotionally, running a hand down my arm. "If it's meant to be, they'll always come back to you."

"I still love you, Brian." I revealed.

He didn't react, but I could see in his eyes that he was pleased to hear the words come out of me. Brian pressed a kiss to my cheek and smiled meekly. "When can I see you again?"

"I don't think that that's a good idea, Sal." He sighed regrettably. "Every time that I see you, I can't help but be drawn in. I want to kiss you, to hold you, to make love to you like I used to."

"But you can't." I finished for him.

"No." He agreed lowly. "Sometimes two good people can be bad for each other, Sal."

His arms wrapped around my waist. "I promise I'll always be here for you if you need me. You know where I am."

Brian tore himself away from me, giving me one last longing look, before he made his way down the hall and out of the building; I presumed that he was heading home to mull things over properly.