Saved [boyxboy]

Chapter 3: Catching Up

If Declan and I were Cow and Chicken, then Declan, Caleb and I were the three musketeers. Best friends. Spirit brothers. We all grew up together, figuratively and literally. We went to the same kindergarten and middle school, even starting at the same high school. We went through a lot together. Caleb was the first person I came out to, the first person that I told that I liked Declan. Caleb was also the first call I made after the crash, once my Mom managed to calm me down enough.

Caleb and my situations were always similar, which gave us a bond that Declan did not and could not have with me or with Caleb. My Mom was a single mother while Caleb’s dad was a single father. His mom died from cancer, my dad died from complications sustained in a car crash. I guess that’s the reason I took Declan’s death so hard.

At the time, I had felt that the males in my life were subjected to a gruesome end. Two of the most important males in my life died in car crashes. Caleb tried to be the good friend and comfort me in my time of need, especially seeing as Declan was OUR friend and not just mine. But with my messed up thinking, I didn’t want the same thing to happen to him. I pushed him away, with the guise of it being for his own good. We eventually lost touch after I moved away and after enough therapy and time to heal, I realized how stupid I was for pushing him away and have regretted it ever since.

He released me, holding on to my shoulders. “How are ya? I mean, considering,” he said, catching himself after, trying to save the situation. 

“I’m fine,” I replied, still staring at him. I became overwhelmed with a sense of relief and gratitude. I lunged at him and hugged him tightly again. “It’s really good to see you Caleb.” 

He lost his balance for a minute with my sudden lunge but he steadied himself and chuckled, hugging me back. “Whoa, when did you get so strong?” We hugged in silence for some more time until he said “It’s really good to see you too, Jace.” We broke the embrace. “So what’s been going on?”

I was about to answer him when there was a knock at the door. We looked to find Debra smiling at us. “Back together again, I see. We’re about to start.”

“Okay,” I said and looked at Caleb. “Promise we’ll catch up after?”

“Oh most def!” he said. “We’ll discuss everything after.”

We reached the room just as Don said, “Thank you all for coming…”

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Don and Debra were gracious enough to extend an invitation to the crowd to stay, but after Debra’s breakdown during the service, I’m pretty sure everyone wanted to give her and Don some grieving time. Caleb and I managed to catch up briefly after the memorial.

We sat in the swing set in the backyard of the Wiltshire’s house and just…talked for a bit. He was no longer with his girlfriend Jenna, although they did date for almost a year after the accident. This came as a shock to me as we all thought that they’d last much longer. Caleb explained that she couldn’t deal with his grief of losing his two best friends in two completely different ways. She began resenting him for “not paying her enough attention” and “dwelling in perpetual unhappiness.” Ouch. Bitch much?

I also learned that he picked up sports to help him cope as per the request of his grief counselor, mainly swimming and tennis. He also got a new step mom after encouraging his dad to get back in the dating pool. He told me that she wasn’t a step mom from hell, that she was really nice and cared about him and his dad a lot. She couldn’t be at the memorial that day though, as she was on her way back from a business trip.

So much had changed in the two years I had been away. When his dad, Gerard, came to get him to go pick his step mom up from the airport, he gave me a hug and told me that he loved what I had to say about Declan and that I grew up into a “fine young man.” Caleb and I promised to hang out to catch up more and Gerard invited me and my mom over for dinner the next Friday. I hugged both Gerard and Caleb and promised to be there on Friday.

As I watched him walk away, I found myself feeling…something. I wasn’t quite sure what it was. It could just be a feeling of comfort, due to our familiarity, as nothing changed when we talked. At least I’m hoping that that’s all.