Every Little Thing

The Talk

Caleb's P.O.V.

The rest of the week went by surprisingly fast. Lilly kept trying to get me alone to talk but I expertly avoided it. I would either make sure Jace and Amy were around or I would bolt the other direction when I saw her coming towards me. Honestly I didn't think I was ready at all. Every time I look at her I have to fight the urge to tell her everything. From the pain of losing her as a friend to the way that I'm hopelessly in love with her.

Standing in front of my gym locker I verbally groaned, trying to get my brain to stop spinning. It was a few hours until the game and I just want to be alone to clear my head.

Hearing the door to the locker room open I figured it was one of the guys and ignored it. I pulled my shirt off and grabbed my cut off T from my locker. "Caleb?" I froze at the word, knowing exactly who it was by the sound of her beautiful voice. I felt her gentle hand on my arm and all I could do was stand there like a damn statue, frozen by her light touch.

"Jace told me I could find you here..." she said softly to me and pushed on my arm to try to turn me, and me being the giant pile of mush that I am when it comes to her, I let her. "Of course he did." I said quietly and looked into her eyes, still really not wanting to have this discussion with her. "Caleb I'm sorry. I don't have a good explanation as to why I stopped talking to you. I could say it was better for the both of us that way but I know it's not true. I never wanted you to hate me...I just thought it would be less painful for us rather than still talking and not being able to see each other." Her words cut through my heart like a knife, knowing that it pained her as well shifted my reality in a way I didn't expect.

"Not being able to talk to you was much worse than not being able to see you. It broke me in a way I can't describe." I said quietly to her and nervously played with the shirt in my hands. "You were my best friend, and I never wanted to lose you completely." I could see the tears forming in her eyes, threatening to spill out at any moment. Slowly reaching out my hand I cupped her cheek gently and lightly traced my thumb along her soft skin. "You meant more to me than you could ever know." I whispered out as she leaned into my hand. I swear she was like a magnet to me, I felt every muscle in my body fighting to move closer to her but I forced myself to not move, knowing I would do something stupid if I got any closer.

"Caleb..." she whispered as the tears started to fall. My heart broke at the sight of her crying, knowing it was partially my fault but I had to remind myself that she was the one who left. She was the one who cut ties and while her reasoning was fairly valid, it didn't make it hurt any less. "You were my best friend Lilly. I know we were young...well I guess we still are young...but you were the one person I could count on to always be there...and then you weren't. My trust in you was broken...and I guess seeing you again brought all that pain back."

Her eyes shifted in that moment, turning from a kind of sorrow to almost pleading, her hand slowly reaching out to touch my chest. The only thing I could feel from her light touch was heat, starting from where her fingertips grazed my skin and spreading out like a sort of wild fire through my body. "I know.." she whispered out, her eyes staying dead locked on mine. "It wasn't easy for me either, Caleb. I could tell you everything and in your eyes I felt so safe...I was wrong for what I did and I'm so sorry. I wanted to reach out so many times..." without missing a beat I cut in, "Why didn't you? My number hasn't changed...you could have easily called." I was trying so hard to hold my ground, but the feel of her touch on my chest and watching the tears fall from her beautiful eyes was slowly breaking me.

"I know I could have...I was just so scared. I was sure you would hate me...honestly I'm pretty sure you do." She nearly whimpered out, her bottom lip quivering slightly. "I could never hate you Lilly." I said softly to her as I brushed her tears away with my thumb. "Being upset with you? Oh yeah that's a for sure thing, but hating you? Never in a thousand life times could I have that kind of feeling towards you. All I ever wanted was my best friend back." Watching as a sort of relief filled her eyes I tilted my head and pulled my hand away from her as she spoke, "I will do everything and anything I have to to gain your trust back, I promise Caleb. I'm not going anywhere this time." Her tone was rather confident, like she was absolutely certain she wouldn't walk out of my life again. "I'm going to hold you to that." I teased with a slight smirk.

"You should finish getting ready. Can't have you feeling rushed right before a game." She said softly as she moved away from me. "Hey now, you have to get ready to." I nearly whispered as I stuffed my hands in my pockets. "Oh I know, but I'm not the one with all the pads to put on." She teased with with wink, "See you out there, I'll be cheering for you!" I heard her call out before she disappeared out of the locker room. Slumping over on to the bench I tried to process what had just happened, she was my friend again, but I wasn't sure if that was good enough. I wanted her to be mine completely, to bad I'm a chicken shit. 'Get a damn grip...' I thought to myself as I audibly groaned.

A/N: Thanks for reading and let me know what you guys think!