A slow fall

Chapter 28 - Lucas

    The house was still quiet when I arrived home. I could hear chatter in the kitchen, footsteps somewhere upstairs and the shower running, but it wasn't rowdy yet.

It was only half four. I'd finished what I wanted to do sooner than I expected and decided, instead of carrying on with other things, a nap was in order, the early morning and Bates late night ramblings made sleep a lingering thought in my mind.

My room was clean, besides the papers and designs scattered across my desk. Even when I attempted to organise it, the next day I was back in that seat sketching until my pencil stubbed and arms ached. Organised chaos, that's what I'd claim.

I wondered what Caleb saw when he stepped into my room. I wondered if he noticed the picture of us four, wide smiles and frozen laughter, that was hung on my wall beside the design prints I'd spent time cultivating. I wondered if he noticed the sloth teddy that sat proud in the corner, a gift I was still yet to give him after all this time.

I didn't want to sleep for too long, I didn't want Caleb to arrive and me not be there, so I set a timer. It was a blaring alarm that made my ears hurt and my head ache.

Perfect.

I had a habit of sleeping through alarms. Bates had taken to just pulling me out of bed so I was ready in time for practice. It wasn't the way I wanted to wake up, but it worked. It was better than what Adam used to do occasionally, not so stealthily pouring cold water on me to shock me awake.

I turned my ringer on as well, just in case Caleb called. It wasn't long after that I drifted, only waking up when my door opened and music broke the silence.

I sat up quickly, attempting to blink away the grogginess as I tried to make sense of my surroundings. A soft laugh, so sweet and warm, dragged me out of my daze.

"Sorry," Caleb was definitely not sorry as he turned the light on smiling from the doorway, "I didn't realise you were sleeping." He'd closed the door behind him, but stayed watching me from where he stood.

"Hm," I let out a yawn, scrambling for my phone to see how late I'd slept. I frowned when the time read 6:27. "Sorry, I thought I'd set an alarm." I'd somehow managed to sleep through the angry siren, a testament to how tired I was feeling. "Have you been here long?"

"Nope, only a few minutes."

I smiled, "and you came to find me straight away?"

He finally moved closer only to flick me on the head. "Idiot."

With him within arms reach I took it as an act of war and pulled him down onto the bed. Our play wrestling was questionable, but once I realised he was ticklish that was it.

Caleb caved quickly after that, tapping out as he gasped for breath, but he was smiling, and I loved that smile.

We'd ended up side by side, staring up at the ceiling in the hopes it told some truth we'd never know. Our bodies were close, but not too close.

"How was your nap?"

"Fantasic. How was yours?"

"I slept for like two hours, so I'd say pretty successful."

"That's good. I'd say pretty successful as well."

"Yep, yay body." Cute.

The silence that settled over us was nice. I could hear life outside, talking in the distance and music thumping through the floor, but that didn't reach us here. My door was a barrier to the world beyond.

"I had to hang up earlier 'cause my mom rang me." I wasn't sure why I confessed to such a thing, how the words had managed to escape from my lips, but I couldn't take them back now. It was the truth after all.