Every Little Thing

Wavering Composure

This is getting a little ridiculous. She's persistent, I'll give her that. I have to keep reminding myself that it's not real. The night she took me home, she constantly tried to get as close to me as possible. Shoulder to shoulder on the couch, resting her head on me, linking her arm with mine. All I wanted to do was to give in, to hold her close and kiss her. But, I had to protect my heart from the inevitable hurt. I knew the time would come that she would realize I was right, that what she had said to me the night of homecoming was how she really felt. I never want to put her in a position where her options are hurting me or settling. That's how toxic relationships happen.

Going back to school was sort of the same. She would link arms with me on the way to class, leave little poems in my locker, though I have to admit they were adorable, and lean her back into my chest whenever we were just hanging out in the hall. Then there was first period, and is sitting next to each other. She would put her hand on my leg, tracing light patterns over my thigh the entire hour. That one nearly broke me. I had to bite my tongue and use all my willpower not to react.

Now, it was the night of the playoff game and we were winning by a field goal. There was ten seconds left, and the other team was on their fourth down, forcing a punt. Thank God they weren't in range for a field goal themselves. Jace was standing next to me, a sly smirk on his face. "Who ever catches this, better hang onto that ball for dear life." Jace stated, crossing his arms over his chest. "They will." I retorted, giving him a smirk of my own. It was odd, not being in uniform with the team. Being injured I had to wear dress clothes while sitting on the side lines. My arm was in a sling to keep me from moving my left side to much and to keep from brushing against the wound in my abdomen. I had done that a few times the last couple days, and it didn't feel great.

Watching as the other team snapped the ball and punted it away, my eyes glued to the little brown ball as it soared through the air. My jaw clenched as one of the twins, Adam, caught it and took off like a bat out of hell. I watched as his brother, Kole and Dante blocked the other team going after him, my smile growing the closer he got to the end zone. Jace and I started jumping and yelling at Adam to run faster, to not stop as we made our way down the side line, waving my good arm at him. Ignoring the pain in my side I let out a loud yell of victory as Adam dove over one of the other teams players into the end zone as the final buzzer rang out, signaling our victory.

In the midst of us jumping and screaming, I heard Lily behind me. "Caleb! Caleb, stop!" Her voice sounded worried, and her hands grabbed my shirt to get me to stop jumping. "What?" I questioned with a wide smile as I looked down at her worried eyes. My smile faltered slightly, my head tilting as she grabbed my shirt, holding the bottom out for me to see. When the small red stain came into view on my sky blue shirt, I suddenly felt rather stupid for getting so worked up. "Shit..." I hissed, lifting my shirt to see a blood-soaked bandage.

"Come with me." She stated firmly as she took my right hand and started leading me back to the locker room. There wasn't much I could do to argue. My wouldn't needed to be looked at, and the bandage needed to be changed. As we got to the locker room, Lily let my hand go and grabbed my duffle bag. She had convinced me to bring extra bandages, good thing, I guess. Grabbing my hand again, she led me to the sink and started grabbing what she would need out of the bag. "Take your shirt off.." she mumbled as she wet down some paper towel.

Raising a brow at her, I took my sling off first before unbuttoning my shirt and slid it off, setting it on the sink next to me. Lily carefully took the bandage on my abdomen off first before lightly gripping my hips to turn me. Feeling her take the bandage off my back as well, I let out a breath, nearly jumping when she started to dab the blood away from my back. "Is it bad?" I questioned, glancing over my shoulder to look at her. "Well... you thankfully didn't bust your stitches back here. Though, it looks like your skin opened a little. The scab for sure came off." Sighing, I nodded slightly and looked at the ground in front of me. Feeling her put antibiotic ointment on me before applying a fresh bandage, I turned myself around and leaned against one of the sinks.

"You really need to be more careful. The doctor told you not to get to worked up." She half scolded, making me smirk slightly. "I know... I got carried away." I stated as she cleaned the blood away from my abs. I tried really hard not to look at her, keeping my eyes on the floor as she worked. Though, when she reached up and lightly touched around my stitches, I couldn't help but shift my gaze to her. She was inspecting the wound to make sure my stitches didn't bust open, but dammit did she look stunning. The light makeup on her eyes, the jewels that complimented it, her lips slightly parted, and the few strands of hair framing her face perfectly.

"No busted stitches." She stated before applying the antibiotic and new bandage. "That's good..." I said softly, unable to take my eyes off her now. Watching as she threw the old bandages away and washed her hands I slowly put my shirt back on, leaving it unbuttoned and kept my eyes on her. Seeing her glance at me she smirked, drying her hands slowly. "What?" She questioned, a light blush forming on her checks. "Just... thank you for taking care of me." I said softly, giving her a light smile. "Anytime, handsome." She quipped in a flirty tone as she packed my bag back up.

"Here..." she nearly whispered and started slowly buttoning my shirt back up, making my heart jump. "I can do that." I breathed out, tilting my head slightly. As her eyes met mine, my breath caught in my throat. "I know you can... but I wanted an excuse to touch you." She teased, a sly smirk on her lips. "Changing my bandages wasn't enough?" I questioned with a raised brow. "Not even close." Her voice was breathy, seductive, and sent a chill down my spine.

"Lily..." I breathed out, taking hold of her hands on my shirt. "Caleb...why can't you believe me?" She questioned, stepping closer to me. "What more can I do?" Her eyes darted to my lips, and I knew exactly what was on her mind. "You know why..." I whispered, though my body was betraying me. I felt myself leaning closer to her, and she gripped my shirt to pull me closer still. I could see she was about to say something more, but the sound of the door swinging open and the team charging in. Lily stepped back from me and let go of my shirt as Jace ran over to us.

"You good, bro?" Jace questioned, eyeing the blood on my shirt. "Yeah... Scabs came off." I stated quietly as Lily quickly made her exit from the locker room without a word. "And with that situation?" Jace questioned with a raised brow. ".... no comment." I grumbled before grabbing my bag and headed for the bus.