A slow fall

Chapter 25 - Lucas

    I spent most of the night speaking to Caleb, and while part of me felt bad for neglecting Bates, he seemed to slot himself into the group easily. He laughed and joked around as if he'd been friends with everyone for a lot longer than a couple of hours. It was one of his skills, to make everyone feel seen.

Caleb seemed better today. Maybe that wasn't the right word, but he was out of his darkened room and the occasional smile lit up his face in a way that had me internally swooning.

I wasn't sure what Wednesday meant, and while I had an inkling, I didn't want to assume or pry. So I'd just be there. I'd show him he could come to me, confide in me, if he ever wanted to.

That's all I could really do.

I debated calling Adam, telling him I was worried and maybe he should call more. The latter I would do, but I wouldn't elude to why. After Caleb mentioned he missed his brothers, having them reach out to him more, even if he doesn't answer, might help.

We had sat across two tables, overlapping voices, jeering and laughter taking up the next hour as we ate.

Time went by all too fast and suddenly it was nearing half ten—Caleb's curfew. No one else had one, and their hesitancy to leave was obvious. The Wilkins parents had always been on the more cautious side, but Caleb seemed to have faced the worst of it. Having only one child at home must have pushed them further into overprotective mode.

I was all too quick to forget rationality and offered to drive him home. The fact I no longer lived next door to him, or even in that direction? Irrelevant. And Bates? Who even was he?

The car ride was short, Bates had happily taken the backseat and Caleb stared out the window the entirety of the ride. His relaxed posture slowly got more tense as we neared our cul-de-sac, so I put on his playlist and hoped that would help.

"I always forget you guys are neighbours." Bates commented as I pulled up to the curb. The front room in both houses were lit up, the drawn curtains offering privacy to the people inside.

Caleb glanced at his phone, his eyes widening slightly. Saying goodbye to everyone at the bowling alley had taken a little bit too long, but five minutes should be fine.

"Want me to walk you up?" I offered, hoping maybe I could sooth some of his growing anxiety.

"No, don't worry about it. What's five minutes?" His voice wavered and I didn't understand. "Anyway," he began walking away, "thanks for the lift." I wanted him to come back.

"No worries." Bates and I walked towards my door. I still watched Caleb over the fence, our steps in sync as we headed towards our houses.

"Still," he paused before walking up the steps to his porch, "thanks. See you soon, yeah?"

"'Course."

"Me too!" Bates shouted.

"Yeah, you too." Giving us one final wave, he opened his door and stepped inside.

I didn't realise I was standing staring after him until Bates began complaining.

"Dudeee, I get your love sick and everything, but open the goddamn door, please."

"I'm not love sick." I argued, shoving my key in the lock and twisting. Bates just scoffed. "I won't let you in."

I moved quicker than he did, my body inside and pushing against the door before he even reacted. His foot stopped it from slamming shut and what commenced was a lot of complaining. I only let him inside when my mother got up to find out where all the racket was coming from.

Their unbotheredness was slightly concerning.

"Hey Mrs Jordan." Bates shouted once he'd made it inside.