Chapter Text
The sound of Skyhaven’s patrons filtered around you, giving a nice white noise for you to focus on as you read through your paper. You were curled up in a tiny corner of the cafe to focus on your work.
You were a little more familiar with Skyhaven now. You’d moved here as soon as you finished your graduate degree, both because there were many job opportunities up here and because you wanted to shake the dust of your past off your feet.
Greyson—bless his heart—was relentlessly fussing over you as you were packing your things to move out. You had to dedicate a completely new box just to fit the food he’d made for you to eat when you made it to Skyhaven.
You smiled as you recalled how he kept wailing about how you’re ‘all grown up’ and that ‘his little girl was leaving the nest’.
Yvonne was asking you to hook her up with anyone cute in Skyhaven so she could have an excuse to go on vacation. You agreed, but you were wary about your different definitions of ‘cute’. You just sent a whole array of guys you thought were cute to her, and she just sent a medical notice for your optometry visit. You countered with a ticket to visit the psychiatrist for her.
You both stayed up late last night talking about the recent gossip in your hospital.
Zayne was… You think he was sad… You couldn’t tell with the way he steeled his face when you told everyone that you were moving to Skyhaven for a new job opportunity. He helped you clear out your things and just asked simple questions about your new life. He asked if you were excited, if you had a place to stay, and if you knew the important resources up there.
He also asked if you were happy. You couldn’t give him a concrete answer that day. You weren’t sure if he was asking about your decision or if he was asking about you being happy in general.
You just said, “We’ll see.”
The last time you texted was a month ago when you first landed here. He just asked if you made it safely.
You blinked the memory out of your mind and refocused on your paper. You scribbled another note on your paper, still hunched over the manuscript.
“Hey.”
Your attention snapped as you looked up from your notes. Your eyes widened when you saw him. “Caleb?”
“Long time no see,” he said, giving you a big smile. His eyes crinkled up into little crescents, and two little dimples dotted his cheeks. “How have you been?”
You nodded, “I’m good. I’ve been good.” You couldn’t help but run your eyes over him.
You’ve always remembered him being obnoxiously tall, literally lording it above you. It wasn’t that hard to forget the times he purposefully hid something of yours on a high shelf and refused to help until you either groveled or threatened to break his beloved Star Wars figurines.
But now, he was bigger. Your eyes narrowed slightly as you tried to measure his bicep. It’d take about two of your hands to make the circumference of that damn thing… Or one and a half? What did he eat to get this big?
“My eyes are up here, doll,” Caleb laughed.
“What steroids did you take?” You asked, ignoring him. You looked up at him and narrowed your eyes more, “What drugs are in your system? What contraband are you on? Why are you so damn large?”
Caleb laughed loudly, the sound booming from his chest and washing over you like a thick wool blanket. He drew the attention of the other patrons as he kept laughing.
You smiled softly. He still managed to attract the attention of the entire room.
“The only ‘drug’ I’ve been on,” he used finger quotes, “Is kale.”
“That’s disgusting,” you sneered. “Just do crack.”
Caleb barked a laugh again and shook his head, “You want me to lose my job?”
“Yeah. Then I can be better than you,” You huffed with a smug smile.
He tilted his head slightly, his sunset-amethyst eyes sparkling as he stared at you. A smile graced his lips. “You’ve always been better than me, doll.”
Your mind blanked. His smile was soft, but it wasn't as breathtakingly soft as his tone.
You realized the space that was still trapped between you two. You got up and your mind began to scramble for your next move. You knew you wanted to close the distance, but you were suddenly unsure how.
Should you hug him? Give him a fist bump?
You took another step toward him, your arms moving as if you were going to hug him. He did the same, and you both paused, as if you were waiting for the other person to make the move out of politeness.
Caleb suddenly looked so unsure of himself. All the suave nature he had when he walked up to you was gone. He looked so anxious.
You sputtered a laugh. “Oh, what the hell,” you sighed. You walked up to him and hugged Caleb, shoving yourself into his space to override your overthinking. “It’s so good to see you again, Cal.”
He wrapped his arms around you, “It’s good to see you too,” he squeezed you into a firmer hug. “I missed you so much.”
The words made you tear up. You hadn’t expected that reaction and hid your face into his chest. Those simple words brought you back to before things in your life got so complicated.
“I missed you too,” you whispered, trying to absorb his warmth into your body.
Caleb’s arms formed a shield around you, and the sound of his heart beating brought you home.