Catch Me If You Can | BoyxBoy Romance | Completed

Chapter Twenty-One

✏️ Nathan

My heart started pounding so hard.

"Caleb?..." Was the only sound I was able to get out.

Is this a fucking wedding ring? Was Caleb coming here to...

"Holy shit." I whispered as soon as the reality hit me.

"Nathanial, listen..." Caleb said scampering off the bed. Reaching for his pair of black shorts, he slipped them on before rushing over to me.

"You've got to be kidding me." I stepped back.

I dropped my eyes to the ground and searched for my shorts to slip on too. I wasn't having this conversation naked.

"No, you don't understand. I-Yes-I came here to propose to Sarah but-"

I looked at his face, as his eyes pleaded me to not move. I could see the desperation behind his words and it only confused me more.

He obviously didn't want me to find it but...why? Why to any of this? What were we doing if he was so serious about Sarah that he was coming here to propose to her?

I opened my mouth but quickly closed it all the same. What do I even say?

Caleb dropped his hands off my shoulders to his sides. His shoulders fell, defeated.

"Ask me." He stated.

I looked at him confused. "Ask you, what?"

"Ask me if I love her." He blurted.

I gulped. "Caleb...it's okay if you do-"

"I don't." He blurted. "I mean...I thought I did. I do love her but...Nathanial... I don't love her." He exhaled. That obviously was tough for him to say out loud. But dammit, it made me more confused. I ran a hand through my hair.

"Then why did you come here to propose?"

"You don't understand! I'm in a lot of pressure with my Dad. He really wants me to get serious about my life - about the business. Sarah said the same thing and I...I just acted. Impulsively." He trudged over to the bed and sat down in a huff. I watched him, shocked.

I knew he was impulsive but holy shit. To come propose to a girl? That's a whole other level.

But then...what was I doing? Was I any better? I mean, I was chasing the same girl. And did I love her?

I thought over his words and decided to come and sit down beside him on the bed.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you." He breathed.

I nodded my head slowly. "Why didn't you?" I said looking at his face. Fuck, he was so gorgeous. Even his teary eyes made my heart sink.

"I didn't want you to get scared away? I don't know." Caleb dropped his head and looked down at his hands. "I don't know what's happening with us Nathanial - but it's getting really hard for me to imagine going back to the way things were before." He looked back to me. His eyes piercing mine, searching for an answer. "I don't want to go back to not being around you. Knowing you. This has by far become the best weekend of my life and...I don't know, I guess you finding out about what I came here to do scared me. I thought you'd...stop this."

I pressed my lips together. "I guess I see your point. I mean - fuck, Caleb. A damn ring!" I smiled shaking my head. "I don't know what's going on with us either but...yeah, I guess I would've freaked out."

"Are you freaking out now?"

"A little...but I can't say I don't understand. We were both chasing the same girl, after all. I just didn't come prepared with a ring. You would've had me beat - Again." I winked, nudging him on the shoulder.

He smiled at that and looked back down to his hands. My smile vanished when I realized there was still a question sitting in between us.

"Did you still want to go?"

His smile faded too as he looked back at me searching my eyes for the answer that I clearly don't have.

I mean... I've been chasing after Sarah for the past four years of my life. When I sit and think about it, thats a whole lot of time to fantasize about someone. I've built her up so much in my head. Our friendship was one thing but my fantasy about us being together one day was another. I've wanted her for so long and then now... now, I'm confused.

One weekend with Caleb and he's completely turned my head upside down. Do I still want her or do I want him? Going back to never seeing him again makes my chest hurt. I can't allow that to happen. But, what does that mean for my old life? One where I'm straight? One where I'm counting down the minutes until I see Sarah again? That entire side of me just gone within a few days?

"I think we should go see her." I breathed. I watched as what looked like disappointment washed over his face. He nodded his head and a small smile quirked up on his lips.

"Yeah... let's go see my girl." He winked.

I rolled my eyes. "Shut up." I shoved his shoulder back. He ran his hand through his hair before dropping his hand to my shoulder.

"For what it's worth...This is the best weekend I've had in a long time."

"I know. Me too." I smiled looking down at his lips. This felt like one of those moments. One of those moments that I just wanted to lean in and take him by his face and kiss him until we both couldn't breathe.

But, I couldn't. Not yet. Not until I figure myself out. It's not fair to either of us until then.

I breathed in deeply and looked behind me at the bedside table. Grabbing my phone I typed in Sarah's instagram account.

"She uploaded a story." I said.

Caleb gave me a slight smile as he looked down at my phone.

There she was in all her glory. The woman of the hour.

Dressed in a deep forest green, floor length dress. Her blonde hair cascading down on her back. She looked glorious standing under an doorway of a greenhouse. Clearly she was at a wedding. This girl was always on the move!

"Celebrating Nick and Taylor tonight!" Caleb read out loud.

"She tagged the venue." I noticed.

"That's not far from here." Caleb said punching in the address into his google maps.

We both smiled as we looked back at each other. "I guess we have a wedding to crash." Caleb shrugged.