Catch Me If You Can | BoyxBoy Romance | Completed

Chapter Three

♫♬ Caleb

4 years later

"Dude, come onnnn. You can't be serious. It's Rascals! We've been wanting to play there for years." Tony begs.

"You think I want to go to this stupid work thing? If I miss it, my dad will literally cut me off."

"Your dad threatens to cut you off every other fucking day. It's not healthy dude. You have to stand on your own two feet at some point. Start living your own life." Tony huffs, throwing his sweatshirt across the room of our condo living room.

I bang my head back on our sofa and breathe out hard.

I know he's right. This is yet again another gig I can't make because my father holds these work meetings at the worst times. I feel like I can't breathe 99% of the time. He does it on purpose, I swear.

I thought after graduating college, it would have gotten better. It has only gotten worse.

"He literally pays for this place Tony. What am I supposed to do? New York is expensive. We couldn't do any of this without him, admit it." I sighed, defeated.

Realistically, apart from playing in the band, I really was living the dream. I live a pretty extravagant lifestyle. Fancy car, sporty bike, expensive gym, girls on girls coming in and out of the condo. What more could I really want?

Other than living on my own terms, I guess. Fuck. I know the clock was ticking and my father was going to be expecting an engagement soon.

I've been on and off with Sarah since high school. After prom, we never stopped seeing each other throughout college. She was surprisingly such a cool girl. Funny, witty and smart. Plus, she was sexy as fuck. After dating me she really pulled away from her "good girl" shtick and settled into her own. She gave off such a Margot Robbie vibe and I was into it.

We fought though. A lot. I could never truly be faithful and she knew that. Part of me thought she didn't care and loved me for it anyways. Honestly, I think it was the reason we kept coming back together. I could never be with a girl that couldn't full accept that part of me. I liked to explore and I always want more, I can't help it. Sarah gets it, I think. She keeps up with me.

But to get engaged? Now, that's really too real. Am I ready for that?

As though she read my mind, I received a text from the one and only. She was in the city today for work. She's a photographer and travels all the time for her work.

Sarah: Hey babe. Dinner tonight? I need to see you.

"Hey dude, are you good for dinner tonight? Sarah's in town." I called out. Tony was rummaging in the kitchen fridge at this point. Fool never stops eating.

"As long as you bring something back for me to eat. You know the drill." He mutters over a container of rice and ground turkey. He was an even bigger gym rat than I was. I rolled my eyes, hopped off the couch and headed to my room to take a shower in my ensuite bathroom.

Me: Let's do it. Meet you at Gusto at 6pm.

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I love New York in the spring. The sun is shining, everyone is just coming out of hiding after the long winter and the streets are booming again.

I settled on my usual black button down and beige pants combo. Smoothing the sides of my dark hair back, I don't bother fussing with the strands that always slip down in front of my face over my brow. I know how much Sarah likes it when my hair does that so I always decide to leave it.

I stepped into the restaurant. It's cool in here and darkly lit. It's one of our favorite spots to come to. I see her sitting there in the middle of the restaurant. She stood out in a sleeveless yellow sundress. She's so perfect.

"Hey, darling." She sings, standing up from the chair. I smile, pulling her into a hug. I didn't realize how much I missed her. It's been a couple weeks since I saw her last. That's normal for us though. We've never been that kind of couple to see each other all the time. She knows how it is. It works for us.

"How's it going, babe." I kiss her on the top of the head as I tickle the nape of her head with my fingers.

She slinks away from my hold and crawls back into her chair. Okay, weird. I can immediately tell something's strange. After being together for four years, you can pick up on the subtle things.

"What's wrong?" I mutter sitting down.

Sarah opens her mouth and closes it again. She's starting to scare me now.

"Caleb..." She fiddles with the silverware.

"What is it?" I breathe.

"I...want to break up." She breathes.

I'm struck silent. We haven't gotten into a fight for the past few months now. Our love burns pretty hot and heavy but what the fuck? "What?" I breathe.

A cute waitress strides over to us with a beaming smile. She obviously takes in our expression because she quickly says, "I'll give you a few minutes to get settled!" Before turning and leaving the table.

"Where is this coming from?" I manage to get out.

Sarah clearly has tears in her eyes. This is weird. Even when we break up, we usually always know we'll be getting back together shortly after. This feels different.

"I need something different, Caleb. I need...more." She breathes out. She reaches across the table and holds my hand. I can feel my clammy hands touch her soft ones but I can't begin to care right now. This is really happening.

"We've been doing this on and off thing for four years and I'm tired. I want something real. I want something strong. Something I can count on."

"You can count on me. You know that."

"Caleb, you know that isn't us. It's not you. It's never been and I don't want to change you. But, I need a change and I'm ready for it." She rubs her thumb on the back of my hand. This gesture of hers usually soothes me but right now all it's doing is making me feel more uneasy.

I get what she's saying but... I'm shocked.

"I don't know what to say." I breathe.

She gives me a faint smile. I can't help but feel like I'm messing up right now. She's so great and here I am completely quiet. Why am I not saying anything?

"Say we'll still be friends. Because you're one of my best friends, Caleb. You always will be." She squeezes my hand harder.

I can't do anything but nod my head slowly.

I hear what she's saying but that's as much as I can muster.

Sarah Lockwood is walking out of my life and I'm frozen.

I wonder if this is how Nathanial felt when I stole her from him years ago.

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Authors Note:

It's been years and you're still thinking of Nathanial? Weird, Caleb!