Chapter Text
It’s still incredibly warm for the end of August. You grimace as a drop of sweat slides down the small of your back as you carry the last box from Caleb’s car into building about to become your new home. This will be your first time living alone. A new area of the city, a new batch of people, and a new era of your life. You were ecstatic when you were accepted into the Deepspace Hunter Academy, practically bouncing around the house as Caleb and Grandma chuckled and watched fondly. Caleb had already been at Skyhaven university for a few years, flying the nest and leaving you behind. And now it’s your turn to taste the freedom of your first apartment.
The elevator doors open and you stumble out, fingers slipping on the cardboard of the box. Caleb is right in front of you to catch it before it falls completely, lifting the box as though it weighs nothing.
“I literally had it!”
You grumble behind him as he carries it into the empty room, whistling a tune.
“Sure you did, Pipsqueak.”
He humours you good naturedly, carefully lowering the box to the floor. You couldn’t help but notice the way the muscles on his back flexed, fully visible through his white shirt, as he rearranged the boxes. What kind of training were they doing at that university? Every time you see him, he’s bigger and…broader.
“Is that the last of them?”
Caleb asks, snapping you out of your thoughts. You nod, avoiding his eyes, face heating up in a way that had nothing to do with the temperature. It was impossible not to notice the way he’d changed. His voice was deeper, he was so much taller. You know for a fact he’s popular with girls at university and you can see why.
“I could’ve done this myself, by the way. I don’t need you constantly mothering me anymore.”
You pout, arms folded across your chest. The embarrassment at being caught ogling your brother manifesting in a sharp tongue and grumpy tone. But he’s not really your brother, a twisted part of you whispers. You might have grown up together but you’re not family, not by blood. He’s more like a childhood friend, surely? And childhood friends can see each other however they want. It’s a back and forth you’ve had multiple times in your head and you fight down a deep sigh as Caleb reaches out to ruffle your hair. You try to dart out the way but he catches you easily.
“Don’t be ridiculous, Pipsqueak, you’re always gonna need me.” He chuckles as you squirm to get out of his grip. “Now, let's set up your new apartment.”
He heads back to the elevator so he can go lock his car, and you’re left standing in the bare living room of your new place trying to fix the mess he made of your hair.
Every time Caleb comes back for a visit, he always sticks to you like glue. No matter how much you pretend to be annoyed by it, you can’t help the warm feeling inside your stomach. He’s your closest friend and he’s never shy about showing his affection, although it does spill over into overprotectiveness sometimes. And you like that you can be so carefree and open with each other, you really do, but…
You sigh softly and shake your head. Does he realise that he’s now a man, and you’re now a woman? Caleb has always been touchy with you, but the last few years have been…different. It’s like he’s staking his claim on you with the way he winds a possessive hand around your waist when you’re out together, staring down the other men whose eyes even flicker to you when he thinks you’re not looking. He says it’s to protect you - to ward off men with bad intentions, but you see the self satisfied smirk on his handsome face every time people mistake you for a couple. The way he’ll help you pick out your outfits and allow his knuckles to ghost over the nape of your neck when he zips the clothing up for you.
‘There’s no way he doesn’t realise that the way he acts is more like a boyfriend, not a brother.’ You think, sourly. Maybe he does notice, but he’s just blind to exactly how much it affects you. You bend down to read your haphazard writing on the box closest to you and huff out a sigh. Picking up the box cutter from the floor you begin to slice through the brown tape sealing the cardboard shut.
“It’s not my fault I’m confused…” You whisper to yourself.
Caleb is soon striding back through your front door again, closing it behind him and turning to regard you on the floor. He claps his hands together,
“Alright, I’ll get started on building your furniture but your bed is definitely gonna be a two person job.”
You nod without looking up at him, busy rummaging through the box labelled “kitchen.”
He’s supposed to know you best, but he seems oblivious to your turmoil. Oblivious also, to the way his arms flex as he starts arranging the wooden slabs of what was about to be your dressing table. You occupy yourself with unpacking the boxes of kitchen utensils, filling your new cabinets with pots and pans and placing cutlery in drawers. Caleb sets up his small speaker on the floor for some background music while you work, and you lose track of time completely as you fall into your regular rhythm of banter and chatter. Before long, it’s time to break for lunch, the living room and kitchen area looking much more habitable. You stand up from where you were sitting on the floor to break down the boxes and stretch your arms up to the ceiling. As you arch your back, it makes a satisfying pop and you let out a pleased hum at the feeling. Arms still outstretched and feeling sated, you glance over at Caleb to ask what he wants to order for lunch but the words die immediately on your lips.
Caleb’s eyes, smouldering violet, are trained intently on the way your chest strains against the material of your shirt. Your breath hitches in your throat. You drop your arms dumbly down by your sides and barely catch the flicker of his gaze down to the sliver of skin that was revealed by your shirt riding up. As you tug the material back down, heart pounding in your chest, Caleb blinks and the predatory look is gone.
“Hm?”
He asks, cocking his head to the side. As though nothing out of the ordinary had happened, as though you weren’t suddenly feeling like his prey.
“I was just gonna ask if you fancied ordering burritos.”
You murmur, head reeling as you try to piece together what just happened. Caleb grins, just like always, and flashes a thumbs up.
“Charge it to my card, okay?”
“Okay if you insist.”
You reply. You’re somehow able to keep the quiver out of your voice as you grin weakly at him.
You spend the time waiting for the delivery setting out the instructions for the construction of your bed and checking that all the correct materials are present. Your new apartment is light and airy - so much more high tech than the house you shared with Gran and Caleb. Despite the confusion of your feelings, you’re glad Caleb is here to help you. You allow your eyes to flit over to where he’s standing on the other side of the room, only to find him already looking at you, an unreadable expression on his face. Your face reddens, as though you were the one caught staring.
“What?”
You question, voice thin and reedy. Caleb shrugs.
“Nothin’, Pipsqueak.” He pauses. “Just…I dunno, just thinking about how much you’ve grown.”
‘Did you observe that when you were ogling my chest earlier?’ You think sardonically to yourself but stay silent, merely furrowing your eyebrows in response. Caleb chuckles and stands the wooden slats in his hands up against the wall. He pads gently towards you, feet silent against the hard wood of the floor. He’s up in your personal space now like he belongs there, staring down at you - and fuck , when did he get so big? The way he towers over you has you biting your lip, and Caleb’s eyes instantly jolt down to watch the action.
‘What is going on today?’ The question bounces around your head. What’s with this charged atmosphere? It can’t just be your imagination, surely you can’t just be seeing what you want to see? But Caleb pins you to the spot with his gaze and you silently will him to say something, anything, to put a stop to your racing thoughts.
You’re saved by the sound of the doorbell, your forgotten take out choosing now to arrive. You flinch away from him and choke out some semblance of the words “door” and “food” and back quickly out of the room. Collecting yourself, you approach the entrance. God, your fingers are trembling, clumsy with the lock. The door swings open and reveals a man probably a little older than you hunting through his bag.
“Hey!” He greets you with a smile, “Do you have the order number? I have about four different bags here.”
Grateful for the intrusion and pleasant conversation, you match his smile as you recite the order number from memory. The delivery guy locates the bag with your food in and holds it out, peering behind you into your apartment as he does.
“Just moving in?”
He asks, gesturing to the pile of boxes still to be unpacked.
“Yup!” You respond, accepting the paper bag and giving it a little shake. “Hopefully this is gonna keep me going through the rest of the unpacking.”
The man in front of you gives a knowing smile as he starts to zip up his delivery bag.
“I understand the feeling all too well, I actually only just moved to this neighbourhood myself a couple of months back.” He gestures vaguely towards the window in the hallway, “Just around the corner, by the park.”
Your smile widens in surprise..
“Oh wow, that’s such a coincidence! Although I don’t actually know which park that is, I haven’t had a chance to explore yet.”
You add on the last part sheepishly.
The delivery bag is safely zipped up and secured on the man’s back when he replies.
“If you don’t have any friends in the area yet, I could be your first?” He suggests. “I wouldn’t mind showing you around a little.”
And talk about perfect timing! In a completely new area all on your own, someone to take you around is exactly what you need. You’re just about to accept the offer, free hand already digging in the pocket of your jeans to find your phone to exchange numbers when a warm hand claps onto your shoulder. You jump and twist your head to see Caleb leaning over you, his eyes glinting dangerously.
“That’s really kind of you to offer, but I was already planning on taking her around tomorrow.”
Caleb talks over your head as though you’re not even there. Your whole body tenses up, hackles raising. The man frowns a little and you can tell he’s sizing Caleb up, his eyes flickering between him and you. Caleb’s grip on your shoulder tightens and it only serves to piss you off more.
Accepting defeat gracefully, the delivery guy gives a wry smile.
“Understood. Don’t forget to show her Meow’s Cafe on 6th street, I have a feeling she’ll like it.”
Caleb returns his smile with a humourless one, his eyes cold and hard.
“I’m sure she will. Goodbye now.”
And with that, he reaches straight past you to close the door. You barely register it when Caleb slips the paper take out bag from your fingers, only coming back to yourself when he calls you, voice light hearted, to the table to eat. Vision blurry with rage, you stalk back into the living room and round on him.
“What was that?”
You demand, eyes narrowed and fists clenched. Caleb regards you coolly,
“What was what?”
“Don’t play stupid. You know exactly what I mean.”
It’s an age-old cycle. Caleb, through intimidation or otherwise, chasing every other male away from you. Even during your high school days, boys knew not to approach you. Your friends would fawn and squeal over how cute it was to have such a doting older brother, and at one point you would have agreed with them. But as you got older it became more stifling. Who did he think he was, acting like he had some kind of control over who you interacted with? He sure wasn’t your boyfriend, despite his efforts to ensure you never got one. Only after he left for Skyhaven did you finally get a chance to explore being a normal teenager. Every secret date you went on, you were constantly on edge that either Caleb would pop up out of nowhere, or one of his many friends would see and snitch on you.
You were the last of all of your friends to lose your virginity - a decidedly unglamorous affair born out of curiosity, teenage hormones and physical need. Any time the topic was brought up, Caleb would always preach to you that a girl’s first time should be loving and romantic, but you had a feeling that you would never have experienced anything at all if Caleb’s iron grip on you continued.
“I was merely trying to protect you against…” Caleb trails off with a sneer. “Unsavoury types.”
You throw your hands up in exasperation.
“What does that even mean? He was perfectly normal!”
There’s a loud clang as Caleb sets the glasses of water he’s holding down too hard on the table.
“You just don’t underst-“
You cut him off before he can get any further.
“Yes, I do! I understand that you see every man as a threat!”
You’re breathing heavily now, glaring daggers into Caleb’s stony face.
“A lot of them are.”
His voice is level but you can hear the anger simmering beneath it. You let out an incredulous laugh.
“And how am I ever going to learn how to tell the good ones from the bad ones if you never let me get any experience?” You place your hands on your hips. “It’s like…” You exhale violently, eyes rolling up to the ceiling. Caleb’s eyes narrow.
“Like what?”
You steel your shoulders and stare him down.
“It’s like you keep trying to treat me like-“
Caleb cuts you off,
“Like a child?”
“Like I’m your girlfriend!”
You spit the word out and it hangs between you, lingering like a mist. You hear the breath catch in Caleb’s throat and you feel the anger slowly seep out of you.
“Or,” You try again, voice suddenly brittle. “Or like…you want me to be…”
Caleb’s eyes drop to the ground, fists clenched by his side. You’ve had a similar argument countless times before when you felt like he was encroaching on your freedom, but you’ve never voiced this out loud. Despite the amount of times it had crossed your mind.
“Pip-“
He croaks, but you don’t let him make his excuses.
“You chase everyone away from me. No one is ever good enough in your eyes. It’s like you’re trying to keep me for yourself.”
Your heart is pounding in your chest, words you thought you’d never say, feelings you thought you’d never voice suddenly pouring from your lips. Caleb stands tortured in front of you. Time drags by sluggishly and he finally shakes his head, a softer movement than you expected, his hair falling into his eyes.
“But you’re not even transparent with me.” You continue, while you still have the chance. “You’ve changed since you moved away, sometimes I feel like you're hiding parts of yourself from me.”
Caleb’s whole body seems to deflate as he exhales.
“That’s not…” He clears his throat, “I just want to protect you.”
Silence falls over you for a few moments.
Surprisingly, it’s Caleb that breaks it.
“I’m sorry.” He slowly raises his head to look at you. “You’re right, maybe I do want to keep you for myself. And yeah, there are parts of me that have changed over the last few years - some that I’m not proud of.”
Your hands fall from your hips. Palms clammy with a nervous sweat, you wipe them discreetly on your jeans as Caleb continues,
“I sometimes worry that if you see me at my lowest, you won’t believe that I can always protect you.”
Your heart squeezes at the admission, but it also ignites a long-held frustration.
“I want to stand beside you, Caleb.” You hate how your voice comes out so whiny when you want to sound decisive. “Not behind you.”
He seems to take a few seconds to mull this over. You can almost see the cogs whirring in his head as he considers your words. Then slowly, he nods.
“You’re right. I’m sorry. I admit I get…carried away sometimes.”
You snort delicately, but you honestly don’t have it in you to argue any further. An apology and an admission of guilt is a great start, and you'll take what you can get. The atmosphere feeling lighter, you tentatively offer an olive branch.
“I want to see these other parts of you.” You allow yourself a small smile. “After all, there must be other sides to your personality than just ‘annoying’ and ‘dumb.’”
Caleb chuckles, grateful for the out you’ve given him.
“Very true. I’m also a glutton who’s about to eat both these burritos.”
“You’d better not!”
You shriek, and just like that the moment passes. Not forgotten, not wholly resolved, but it passes all the same.
-
It’s later on when both your stomachs are full and you’re slumped over the table tapping absentmindedly on your phone when Caleb nudges at your leg under the table. You look up at him quizzically.
“You shouldn’t forgive me so easily.” He murmurs, stroking your leg gently with his foot. “Or else I’ll want to keep testing your limits.”
You cock your head, cradling it in your arm on the table.
“I don’t think there are limits with us.” You muse.
You bring your foot up to rest in his lap and Caleb’s hands wrap around it immediately, fingers squeezing in a soft massage. He regards you tenderly, choosing not to respond.
-
Caleb was right. The bed absolutely was a two-person job. You almost curse your choice in bed frame as your wrist screams from the endless screws that need to be tightened. It’s a beautiful double bed with storage drawers to slide underneath and you know it’ll be worth it but right now you want to throw the wooden beams out of the window. Caleb is faring much better than you are, good naturedly cracking jokes to lighten your mood and offering to finish the rest of it himself. The bed is the last thing on the agenda today, the sun already setting over the buildings of Linkon City. Caleb planned to drive back to Gran’s house to catch up with her and sleep in his old room there. You'll be left alone to spend your first night in your new apartment, and then in the morning he’ll be right back here to help you set up everything else. ‘And go exploring together,’ you add to yourself, twisting the screwdriver for seemingly the eight millionth time.
“We’d be finished by now if you hadn’t decided you need such a huge bed, you know?”
Caleb teases as he hammers a thick wooden slat to the bed frame and reaches for the next. You stick your tongue out at him,
“I need enough room for all my plushies!”
You gesture vaguely to the five boxes marked ‘bedroom’ that predominantly contain your extensive fluffy family, most of which Caleb himself had won from the arcade for you. Caleb peers at you slyly out of the corner of his eye.
“Hmm?” His voice is teasing, “Not because you’re hoping to meet someone special at your Hunter Academy?”
He can’t possibly be suggesting what you think he’s suggesting. You glare at him incredulously.
“Caleb what did we literally just argue about?”
Caleb raises his hands in defense.
“Okay, okay, calm down! I was joking.” He brushes it off with an easy grin. “I just wanted to see you get all flustered.” He nods towards your rapidly reddening face.
You snap your head to the side and hide behind the curtain of your hair, busying yourself with the last few screws. Smirking at your reaction, Caleb continues,
“Don’t worry,” His voice is lower, breathier. “I know you don’t have any experience.” Caleb leans closer to you, eyes wide and mocking. “Would you even know what to do?”
Huh? Your heart stutters in your chest. Your face feels like it’s on fire, you don’t know why his words are having such an effect on you.
His tone is condescending and you deliberately keep your face turned away from him, seething. How can he joke so casually about something he’s usually super strict about? Usually any mention of the possibility of you being sexually active puts murder in his eyes, but here he is bringing it up himself? Embarrassment and irritation swirl in your lower belly.
“Of course I would!” You hiss, twisting the screw viciously. You can’t possibly look him in the face as you add, “I’m not as innocent as you think I am, you know.”
Caleb chuckles and leans down, hands on his hips and fake concern adorning his features.
“Oh?” He cocks his head in satirical confusion. “But I thought I prevented you from getting any kind of experience? Weren’t we ‘literally just’ arguing about that?”
He turns your words against you with a high-pitched imitation of your voice and you almost throw the screwdriver at him. God, he’s so annoying! He knows exactly what buttons to push to get a reaction out of you, and you know you shouldn't give him what he wants. But then also...for some reason…next to the humiliation, underneath the anger, you feel something else. A low thrum rising steadily in your stomach. This is turning you on. The condescension, the teasing body language…the entire topic itself…
You can’t help yourself, can’t help the desire that spreads sluggishly through your veins. The blush on your cheeks is now partly due to shame - guilt and mortification prickling your insides at your indecent reaction. You fidget a little as you feel a familiar ache, a wetness spreading at your core. You don’t even want to look at Caleb, don’t want to check if he’s noticed the subtle change in your demeanor. Bitterly, you figure he probably has. Nothing gets past his eyes. Eager to diffuse the tension before he has a chance to comment on your disposition, you scowl at the bed frame.
“Is this what you meant when you said ‘testing my limits?’”
You grumble, fixing your gaze pointedly on the last screw in front of you, willing your heart rate back to normal. You’re glad you didn’t allow yourself to see Caleb’s expression when he finally replies, his voice smooth and deep and promising.
“Oh no, Princess. You don’t know the half of it.”
-
You gradually manage to get your racing thoughts back under control, and to your reprieve the discussion is buried once again. Part of you is relieved that Caleb thinks you’re still a virgin - just the idea of the inevitable interrogation that awaits you if he found out you’re not makes you shudder. Back on light hearted chatty terms, you and Caleb (and a healthy helping of Caleb’s gravity Evol) navigate your new mattress into your bedroom and finally slot it down onto the bed frame. You flop down on top of it, sighing happily in satisfaction. Cracking one eye open you see Caleb staring down at you with a soft smile on his face. Your heart swells with affection in your chest. You really do miss him when he’s away.
Lips gently widening to mirror his contented expression, you reach your arms up to him. Caleb hesitates for a second and you make grabby motions with your hands with an exasperated huff. Caleb caves in quickly, lowering himself onto the mattress next to you and chuckling lightly as you immediately wrap yourself around him like a koala. Your head rests cozily atop his chest while his hand smooths down your hair. It’s definitely been a long and confusing day, but Caleb being your main source of comfort will never change.
Caleb rolls over to face you fully, pulling you further into him so your face is sandwiched between his pecs and wraps his arms around your frame. His chin rests on top of your head and you both stay there, comfortable in the silence as your breathing synchronises.
“What time are you coming over tomorrow?”
You ask, absentmindedly fiddling with the hem of his t-shirt.
“Maybe like midday?” He hums into your hair, “I know you’ll want to go for a run in the morning.”
You nuzzle further into his chest, marvelling at the plush softness of the muscle.
“You don’t want to come with me? You can shower here afterwards - I have a bottle of your shower gel in one of the boxes.”
Caleb puffs out a soft laugh and you feel his breath dance across your skin. He plays with your hair, winding a strand around his finger.
“Always thinking about me, huh?”
You know he’s joking, teasing you like always, but your cheeks begin to flush a deep pink nonetheless. You don’t think you’ve ever blushed so many times in one day in your life. The way your body cringes in on itself and tries to make itself smaller must’ve outed your embarrassment to Caleb because he presses a ghost of a kiss to the top of your head.
“Thank you.” He murmurs. “For thinking about me.”
Caleb hesitates, his next words dying in his throat. You try to raise your head to see his face properly but his grip keeps you firmly where you are.
“And,” He continues after a long pause, “For forgiving me for being so weird today. We’ve both grown up and we’re going through a lot of different changes. I want to be myself in front of you and show you the parts of me that sometimes I keep hidden away…” he trails off and wraps his arms tight around you. “I’m worried I might scare you, or that if you see my weaknesses then you won’t feel safe relying on me.”
Your fingers leave the front of Caleb’s shirt and you bring your arm around to rest across his waist, embracing him back.
“I think…” you start softly, unsure if you have the courage to say it. The different happenings throughout the day; the charged glances and teasing smiles float around in your head. Heart in your throat, you purse your lips and try again,
“I think we’re on the same page in terms of how we feel about each other.”
The words hang between you for a moment and you wonder if you should have said them at all. They’re vague - vague enough that if he doesn’t share your feelings after all, maybe he won’t think too deeply into the statement and discover your hidden desires. You can continue as this strange hybrid of childhood friends and adoptive siblings. But if he does? If he does feel the same - if his actions up until now, his behaviour today, the heated looks you keep catching…If your intuition is right, hopefully this will give him confirmation that you want it too. That you’re ready to accept this unexplored part of him.
It’s almost imperceptible but you feel Caleb nod against your head. Your next words come out as a whisper,
“And I know I can always rely on you.”
You stay, for how long you can’t tell, wordlessly wrapped around each other and legs intertwined. His heartbeat is loud and steady in your ear. The weight of his muscled arm around you is soothing and the scent of his skin caresses your senses. It’s Caleb who breaks the silence in the end.
“I’ll be over tomorrow at 9 am for our run. You should get some rest.”
-
-
You see Caleb out and promise to double lock the door and be careful in your new apartment. The silence after he leaves is stifling and it occurs to you that you’ve never properly been on your own for as long as you can remember. Now that you have some space to breathe, all the different scenes from today buzz around your head like flies. So many lines were almost crossed, so many desires almost acted on. You wonder if Caleb will always try to keep this small distance between you, or if there’s a way you can push him to throw that control away.
You’re unpacking the box filled with your shampoos and skincare products to stock up your bathroom as you imagine what it might be like when Caleb finally gives in. If he takes your words today at face value that yes, you want the same things, yes, you want whatever this is becoming. You place Caleb’s favourite shower gel in the bathroom cabinet and catch a glimpse of your face, flushed pink from the fantasies flooding your imagination. Would he ever actually claim you for himself? Or just keep the two of you in limbo forever in the name of “protecting” you? You let out a sigh.
Maybe you’re both just cowards.
You decide on a thorough shower before bed, the constant emotional turmoil (and sexual tension) since morning resulting in a stiffness in your shoulders. And the indecent thoughts all day on top of that…You briefly consider putting those thoughts and the heated memories to good use and letting off some steam before you sleep but you remember that your vibrator is still located in one of the boxes marked ‘bedroom’ and you decide against the hassle. While it wouldn’t be the first (or tenth) time you’d finish with Caleb’s name a breathy sigh on your lips, you opt to prioritise sleep.
The apartment is still too quiet as you lie down in your huge new bed so you put on an audiobook to fill the space. The unfamiliar ache in your chest might be loneliness, but you’re not sure and you tamp it down.
The comforter still smells faintly of Caleb from where he lay on it, and you inhale deeply. Amongst so many conflicting feelings and anticipation for tomorrow, sleep finally takes you.
Notes:
writing emotional turmoil is hard, guys.
i read through to check for mistakes but there might be some I missed
i also apologise for some of my grammar and wording - unfortunately i was raised speaking british english and sometimes i don't realise that not all phrases are universal
Chapter 2: Needs
Summary:
let me take you on a ride of ur life that’s what i said alright
(im not joking, this is an emotional rollercoaster)
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
You sleep fitfully, still not used to your new surroundings, and when you wake up it takes you a few moments to remember where you are. You’re in your own apartment. Despite not being fully rested, a smile breaks out across your face. This is the biggest bed you’ve ever slept on, and you stretch your arms and legs out like a starfish as you listen to the morning bustle outside your window.
Inside your apartment is devoid of the usual chatter and ambient noise that comes with living with other people, but outside is significantly louder than your old neighbourhood. There’s more traffic here, more people and more businesses in the area. You can’t wait to explore.
The sun shines in through your new curtains, picked out for you by Grandma, and you decide that it’s going to be a good day. You pad through to the kitchen to make a quick smoothie, fighting down a giddy smile at how all this space is completely yours. The sofa is due to be delivered later this afternoon, so you lean against the kitchen counter and sip your breakfast straight from the tiny blender jug.
Placing it in the sink and filling it with water, you head back to your room to change. All the boxes for your bedroom; your clothes, make up, plushies, etc. remain to be unpacked so you have to rip open some boxes and rummage around before you find something suitable. You have just enough time to brush your hair, run through some quick stretches and brush your teeth before Caleb arrives, as promised, at 9am exactly. He grins widely when the door swings open.
“Good morning, Pipsqueak!” He invites himself in and drops his shoulder bag on the floor. “How was your first night as an independent woman?”
“Sooo good!” You giggle, extending the vowels dramatically.
Caleb has already researched a good route around your new neighbourhood for you, and you set off together at a steady enough pace to keep up a light chat. He tells you that Gran misses you but she’s so proud of your independence, you let him know what time your new sofa is due to be delivered, and you also tell him about the strange bump you heard from the apartment above you in the middle of the night.
“I hope my upstairs neighbour isn’t a weirdo.” You chuckle breathlessly as you run. Caleb gives you a wry smile.
“Let me know if they are, I’ll come and talk some sense into them.”
Along the route you spot some cute cafes and make a mental note to check them out when you have time. There’s also a nice park, a school, and a bunch of convenience stores that you try to commit to memory. Your new neighbourhood seems great, you really lucked out.
Sufficiently sweaty, you and Caleb plod back to your apartment. The elevator ride to your floor is silent but for your heavy breaths and you try not to gawk as Caleb lifts the hem of his shirt, exposing his abs, so he can wipe the sweat from his forehead. You decide to allow yourself just one tiny peek but the second you do, Caleb catches you.
He arches an eyebrow at you coyly, and you’re grateful there’s already a flush on your cheeks from the exercise or else your guilt would be even more obvious.
Caleb directs you to take the first shower, saying he wants to get started on breakfast first. It turns out that he’d stopped off at the supermarket first to pick up some things to stock your new fridge. By the time you leave the bathroom feeling refreshed, Caleb has already started chopping mushrooms.
“I was thinking omelettes.” He offers as you enter the kitchen. You give him a salute and take his place.
“Mushrooms, tomatoes, cheese?”
“Absolutely.”
You advise Caleb where the towels are kept and shoo him out of the kitchen. Domestic moments like this are somewhat rare since Caleb left for Skyhaven, and you suppose they’ll be even rarer still when your Hunter training begins. Caleb is easily the closest person to you, he knows you better than anyone. You decide to treasure these moments you have together with him. The sound of the shower starts up again and you smile to yourself, cutting the tomatoes just how you know Caleb likes them.
‘But where did those abs come from?’ A voice inside you pipes up. You fight back a groan at the memory. You solemnly deign to give him an extra egg in his omelette, the protein is obviously doing him a lot of favours.
-
Breakfast is great – you sit across the table from Caleb, your feet bumping together every now and then as you share little anecdotes from your current lives. Caleb had visited one of his friend’s beach houses over the summer vacation and had some interesting stories to tell you. Your omelettes and toast are soon finished, and you both carry your plates back to the kitchen.
Caleb reaches for the sponge by the sink,
“I’m not sure which cabinets you want your plates in, so I’ll wash the dishes, and you can wipe them and put them away.” He proposes, and you nod gratefully.
Your playful chatter is punctuated every now and then with companionable silence – the kind of contentment you only get after years of knowing each other.
As you stack the plates back in the kitchen cabinet, you wonder if everything that happened was part of your imagination. Other than Caleb catching you peeking at his abs, both of your behaviours so far today have been totally normal. Not that you’re complaining, obviously you prefer your lively banter to arguments…But you’d gone to sleep last night with a coil of anticipation in your stomach. That maybe, today might mark the progression in your relationship that you’d been yearning for. That you were almost sure that Caleb was yearning for too.
Your sofa is delivered not too long later, and Caleb dismisses the delivery guy’s offer to help move it into the living room. Like many times before, you find yourself envious of Caleb’s Evol.
Gravity manipulation is such a convenient power to have. Inconvenient for you sometimes, as he’s used it to pin you in place and even hover you upside down during play fights until you beg for mercy. You snort to yourself at the memory and watch him carefully set the sofa down where you direct him to. Your living room is now complete! You lose the fight against the urge to squeal with excitement, practically skipping over to the sofa and dropping yourself down on it.
Caleb watches you with barely concealed adoration in his eyes and pat the space next to you.
“There’s room for two you know.” You tease and Caleb places his palm on his chest in mock surprise.
“Are you sure? I wouldn’t want to intrude on your moment.”
You pat the space next to you again.
“As the proud owner of this brand-new sofa, I am hereby permitting you to sit upon it for…” You touch your chin with your index finger in thought. “Six minutes.” You decide. Caleb chuckles and walks towards you.
“Wow, Pipsqueak. You sure know how to make a guy feel special.” The sofa dips slightly as his weight is added to it. He turns to face you,
“Pretty nice.”
You beam back at him.
“Sure is.”
It’s almost imperceptible, so much so that you could’ve imagined it, but you swear…just for a second…Caleb’s eyes flickered down to your lips. You’re so close now, shoulders almost touching as you sit side by side on the plush cushions.
It wouldn’t take much to close the gap.
You feel your breathing speed up a little and are suddenly aware of the heat radiating from Caleb’s skin. He’s always run hot – perfect for cuddling in the winter. He's so close that you can see some spots of stubble that he must’ve missed with the razor on his chin. You wonder how it would feel against your palm if you were to grab his face now, how it would feel scratching up your inner thighs. You were so pent-up last night but didn’t want the hassle of digging through your boxes to find your vibrator, and now it seems to have backfired magnificently. Maybe if you’d have just let off some steam when you had the chance, your imagination wouldn’t be running so wild now.
You swallow hard, throat suddenly dry. It’s a struggle to not rub your thighs together – the need to address the steadily intensifying ache at your core pushing urgently to the forefront of your mind.
Next to you, Caleb lets out a harsh exhale. You’re definitely being too obvious, unable to hide the incriminating signs of your arousal. You know your ears are bright red, can feel them burning. Caleb always gloats about how he knows all your physical tells, probably even ones that you don’t know yourself.
‘But this is his fault anyway!’ You complain to yourself, ‘He’s the one that looked down at my lips like he was going to do something!’
And God, you wanted him to. All the tension accumulated from the previous day suddenly hits you like a truck, the air in the room seemingly sucked into a vacuum. Your bright, spacious new living room rapidly feels smaller as if the walls themselves are closing in on you.
An unintentional squeak leaves your lips as Caleb snakes his arm around your frame, tugging you into him so your shoulders bump lightly. He’s still so much bigger than you, even when sitting, and you allow your head to rest daintily where it lands on the swell of his clavicle.
Caleb’s eyes are fixed intently on the wall in front of you, face stony as though he’s fighting a war within himself. His thumb gently strokes your clothed shoulder and after seconds of sluggish, painful silence he sighs softly and hangs his head.
“I’m holding on by a thread here, Pipsqueak.”
He murmurs, so quietly you could’ve missed it over the pounding of your heart in your chest. You have no idea how to respond to him, so you stay silent, your body tense and rigid as though the slightest movement could disturb the atmosphere. You chance a peek at his expression, but you can’t see it well when his fringe is hanging over his eyes like this.
“I’m…afraid,” Caleb continues, voice hoarse. “Of the look I’ll see on your face if I snap.”
Again, you don’t know what to reply. Words fly around your head, but none tangible enough to grasp. Your tongue is heavy and useless in your mouth, and you feel powerless. You opt to rest your hand in what you hope is a reassuring way on his thigh, feeling the muscles jump under your fingers. You stay like that for a while, your soft breaths mingling, the only sounds the ones seeping in from outside the building.
The mood promptly becomes stifling, and you decide that saying something stupid is better than saying nothing at all. You lift your head up from his shoulder and give him your best grin.
“I don’t know what you mean.” You chirp, “Those scenes in movies where the male lead finally snaps after a big build-up are always super hot.”
You throw in a wink for good measure and are elated when Caleb rewards you with a weak laugh.
“Oh yeah?” His eyes crinkle at the corner when he smiles, and your heart does a little flip in your chest.
“Yeah, your movie would be like 99% on Rotten Tomatoes!” You giggle back at him. “I’ll direct it, of course.”
Caleb humours you good-naturedly.
“Okay, Miss Director. And what is this blockbuster going to be called?”
Without even thinking you respond.
“Hmm…how about ‘My Sexy Older Brother Loses Control.’”
Caleb’s gaze hardens immediately. Where his hand was originally tender on your shoulder, his fingers suddenly dig in hard enough to make you gasp. His eyes bore into yours with a fierce intensity that has you transfixed. Like a deer in headlights, you stare back at him with wide eyes, your breath itself frozen in your throat.
“I’m not your brother.”
Caleb growls, a rumbling sound that you swear you can feel in your ribcage. The words hang in the air. They linger, dense and intentional, as you cower under the gravity of the situation.
Not daring to break eye contact, pinned in place by his molten glare, you reply – voice barely stronger than a whisper.
“I know.”
-
You somehow extract yourselves from each other’s grasp and end up stumbling out of the apartment in search of lunch. One of the cafes you saw on your run this morning calls out to you, and you find yourselves enjoying some ridiculously good coconut curry. Caleb flashes you a finger heart when you wordlessly remove the cilantro from his plate to add it to yours.
“You look so dumb doing that, you’re too old.” You snort.
Caleb feigns outrage, his jaw dropping dramatically.
“What are you talking about? I’m totally hip and down with the kids.”
You easily fall into your regular banter as you eat, playfully bullying each other basically second nature at this point. A tiny shadow of unease still lingers at the back of your mind, but you’re grateful for the conversation and good food. Like countless times before, Caleb tells you off for not eating your eggplant and you whine that it’s slimy.
“And you can’t talk either, you big idiot. You’re a picky eater too!”
“Yeah, but look how big and strong I got.” He boasts, flexing one of his arms obnoxiously. “You’re still tiny and frail so I guess it must be lack of nutrients.”
You kick him hard under the table and snort triumphantly when he gasps in pain.
“Just give me one year at the Hunter Academy and I’ll be taking down guys your size and bigger.”
Caleb holds up his hands in mock surrender.
“Oooh, I’m quaking!”
You split a mango sorbet, spoons clinking together as you chatter. (Caleb lets you have the last bite.)
The walk back to your apartment is comfortable, the streets becoming more familiar to you. You’re about to point out a sleeping cat to Caleb but out of nowhere he rests his hand on top of your head and leans down to murmur softly,
“You’re gonna be such a good Hunter, I just know it.”
You blush all the way home.
-
All that’s left to do now is finish your bedroom. Caleb sets to hammering together your new make-up table as you start filling your wardrobe with clothes. He’s brought his portable speaker again, so the room is filled with the sounds of you both singing along to goofy songs and clowning each other when you mess up the lyrics. The work goes quickly, and you stack the broken-down boxes against the wall. Caleb rips open the second last box and peers inside.
“This one might be for you to do, Pipsqueak! I dunno where you want this stuff!” He yells over the music.
“What’s in it?” You respond from inside the walk-in closet.
“Uhhh, some books, some makeup…” Caleb responds, presumably lifting each item from the box to check it.
“Just tip the box out, it’s probably just miscellaneous stuff that I’ll find homes for in a second.” You call back, hanging up the last two dresses on the railing. There’s no reply from Caleb, and when you walk back into the room, you see why.
Your vibrator – a pink wand for clitoral stimulation – lies incriminatingly amongst your other belongings where Caleb has emptied the box onto the floor.
Your heart nearly stops in your chest, eyes widening comically. You dart forward to grab it, but Caleb is too quick, snatching it before you can and jumping back out of reach.
“What’s this, Pipsqueak?” He teases, eyes glinting dangerously at your rapidly reddening face. Your voice is piercing when you scream,
“Give that back!!”
Caleb turns it over in his hands, inspecting it closely. Your heart is hammering in your chest, hot humiliation sending jolts through your body.
“Caleb!” You whine, mortified. Caleb whistles.
“Didn’t realise you were active like that, Pipsqueak.” You want the floor to open up and swallow you. In fact, where are the Wanderers when you need them - you’d give anything for an attack right now.
“I’m not! Well…not now…ah, I mean-“You cut yourself off before you say something too stupid but Caleb is already narrowing his eyes.
“Not now?” Fuck.
Your whole body goes cold.
“So, I guess you were being serious yesterday.”
Caleb muses, something dark simmering under his cool tone. Your brain is such a mess that you don’t understand what he means. Seeing the confusion on your face, Caleb clarifies.
“When you said you’re not as innocent as I think you are.” Fuck.
“I-I-“ You stammer, blood rushing in your ears, not quite knowing how to talk yourself out of this one.
“I-I-“ Caleb mimics, voice shrill in a cruel mockery of yours. “I was only gone a couple of years – when did this happen?”
Indignation shoots through you, embarrassment easily bubbling over into anger.
“That’s none of your business!!”
You bite out, stomping towards him. Caleb watches you approach him, so still it sets off warning bells in your head. You cross the room in a few strides, stopping directly in front of him and reaching out to snatch the vibrator. Caleb holds it easily above your head, further igniting the rage in your belly. You growl in frustration and jump to grab it.
“You’re being so ridiculous! Obviously if you even know what it is, that means you’re not so innocent either!” Caleb continues to hold the vibrator out of reach, hard eyes watching your pathetic efforts to get it back. You step back, breathing heavily.
“Didn’t you say- Didn’t you promise that you wouldn’t get a girlfriend at University?” You demand, jabbing an accusing finger into his muscled chest. Caleb snorts,
“Come on, Pipsqueak, I’m a grown man with an internet connection. I don’t need to be sharing my body with everyone to know what a sex toy is.”
“It was one person!”
You yell back at him, humiliated and furious. Eyes fixed on the vibrator in his hand, you make another swipe for it, not noticing how the gap between you and Caleb has closed completely – oblivious to how close your faces are and how your breasts push up against him.
“I’m an adult, Caleb! I have needs!”
Caleb drops his hand slightly and you’re finally able to close your fingers around the toy still in his grip. In your triumph you don’t notice the sudden change in his demeanour.
Slowly, deliberately, he lowers your linked hands, looking down at you with stony eyes. You gulp audibly, finally taking into account your proximity. The swell of your chest presses obscenely against Caleb’s body and somehow one of his legs has slipped in between your thighs in the scuffle.
“Needs?”
Caleb’s deep voice sends a prickle of arousal through you, and you silently curse your traitorous body. Trapped by his stare, you remain silent. Caleb lets out a humourless laugh. The forbidding sound echoes in the quiet room, the charged atmosphere amplifying it.
“You think you know what you need?”
Alarm bells are screeching in your head, but you’re rooted to the spot, paralysed and hypnotised by Caleb’s darkening gaze. He’s insanely hot when he’s angry; tightly corded muscles as though he’s ready to pounce, furrowed brows, narrowed eyes. Your previous anger dissipates, licks of dark anticipation instead turning your legs to jelly. You draw in a shuddering breath.
“I-“ You begin, but the words die in your throat as Caleb takes a step forward – slowly walking you back until your calves hit the frame of your brand new bed.
Ungracefully, you flop down on it with a yelp. At some point, Caleb had relinquished the hold on your vibrator, and it now sits heavily in your hand resting on your lap. Caleb looms predatorily above you, bullying between your spread thighs. His eyes, blown almost black, never leave yours.
“Enlighten me.” He whispers, “What exactly are these needs of yours?”
You open your mouth and stupidly close it again. Caleb bends down so that you’re eye to eye.
“Needs that obviously I couldn’t fulfill for you.”
He trails off and drags his warm palm up your sweatpants-covered thigh, leaving a trail of fire in his wake. For a moment, all you can hear is the pounding of your heart and your own ragged breaths. You can barely think, brain turned to cotton wool inside your head. You’re trembling under Caleb’s gaze like a small, frightened animal. He digs his fingers into the meat of your thigh, watching as you gasp, your face flushing impossibly pinker.
Caleb cocks his head to the side. His lips twitch up in a dangerous smile, cold and humourless.
“Show me how you use this.”
He taps the toy, almost forgotten, in your hands and your whole world stutters to a stop.
“Wh-what?” The breath leaves you in a rush. Your body is paralysed in place, flushed from head to toe. You must have misheard him, senses dumbed by the feelings coursing through you, there’s no way-
“Show me how you use this.”
Caleb repeats, as though he’s speaking to a particularly stupid child. His fingers slide around the toy to find the button on the handle, holding it firmly down until it turns on.
You jolt in surprise, a soft gasp unwillingly slipping from your lips. Caleb’s hand wraps around yours, keeping the vibrator firmly in your grasp as he guides it excruciatingly slowly up and down your inner thigh. You squirm and try to close your legs, try to get away but a solid force is holding you in place. Caleb, using his Evol, has you pinned and at his mercy. Stammering out a plea, you shake your head frantically. Unperturbed, Caleb presses your hand and the toy grasped in it firmly against your aching core, and your stunted words morph into a wretched cry. You clap your free hand over your mouth, wide-eyed as Caleb watches you hungrily.
You turn your head to the side with a soft whimper; an attempt to get away from that predatory look that threatens to consume you but Caleb’s free hand cups your cheek with a devastating softness and coaxes your head back. You open your mouth to protest but Caleb makes you press the toy against yourself harder. A whine, in protest, in disbelief, leaves your lips instead.
“Shhh, you’re an adult, right?” He murmurs, low and laced with heat. “Why are you so embarrassed, you’ve done these things before haven’t you?”
You fidget underneath the ministrations, vibrations muted through your clothes but sending flames through you all the same.
“Not like-“ You gasp, thighs twitching. “Not like this.”
Caleb regards you with feigned curiosity, lazily stroking your cheek.
“Really?” He muses, “What else haven’t you done?”
A yelp is wrenched from your lips as he removes his hands, momentarily lifting you from the bed and yanking your sweatpants and soaked panties from your body with terrifying precision. He pushes the hand holding the vibrator back on your now bare clit and watches you writhe.
“Is there anything that someone else hasn’t beaten me to?”
Soft, breathy moans leak unbridled from your mouth. Your cheeks burn as you struggle to catch your breath, hips jerking as though they don’t know whether they’re trying to get away from the sensation or press harder into it.
‘He’s being so unfair,’ you think defencelessly to yourself. If he was just honest with himself earlier instead of trying to keep you out of reach to everyone including him, none of this would ever have happened.
Caleb spreads your legs wider and uses two fingers to stretch your twitching hole, hungrily observing the accumulated wetness. His eyes flicker up and catch yours as he drags his fingers through it, spreading the slick and making you whimper.
“Did he put his mouth on this pretty pussy?” Caleb asks, voice guttural.
“N-no, ah-!” You let out a soft cry as he dips the pad of his finger into your entrance, not quite pressing in but a maddening pressure all the same.
“Did you make these sweet little sounds for him too?”
“Caleb!” You can feel your climax building inside you, the humiliation and danger of the situation only spurring it on. Caleb lets out a soft groan, his eyes fluttering shut.
“Fuuckk, that’s it.” He growls, “Say my name again.”
You obey, the syllables leaking from your lips like a faucet – a desperate chorus of “calebcalebcalebcaleb” as your body is assaulted with pleasure.
“I should’ve locked you away when I had the chance.” He snarls, short nails scraping a line down your inner thigh, leaving a trail of red in their wake.
The air in the room is thick and syrupy as you attempt to gasp it down, shivers wracking your body as your orgasm approaches.
“Caleb-“ You choke, “Caleb, please-“
Caleb laughs again, condescending and wholly at your expense.
“What, you need my permission to cum now?” He asks incredulously. “You didn’t need my permission to fuck some other guy, did you?”
You shake your head pitifully, tears building in your eyes.
“N-no, no, I’m sorry, I’m sorry-“ Your thighs tremble and toes dig into the carpet. You’re just dangling on the edge of the precipice, almost terrified to fall off.
“It’s okay though, Pipsqueak.” Caleb’s voice is deceptively soft as he lovingly caresses the marks he made on your thigh. “All of your orgasms from now on belong to me.”
You gasp, high-pitched and needy. Squirming, weeping and delirious, you break apart in front of Caleb’s eyes, hips rolling pathetically into the toy on your clit. Whines of Caleb’s name fill the air and your brain is so mushy from your high that you barely register Caleb pressing a gentle kiss on your cheek, his fingers extracting the still whirring vibrator from your hand.
“Let’s get you out of this, shall we?” He suggests, pulling your shirt up and over your head. Your arms flop back down on the plush comforter, and Caleb graciously removes his own shirt. You allow your eyes to rake sluggishly over his bare chest, tanned skin glowing with a light sheen of sweat.
“Take your bra off for me.”
Caleb orders softly, the malice from earlier gone from his tone but still deep and demanding. You unhook the clasp and let the straps fall down your arms as Caleb hungrily takes in your naked body, his eyes smouldering like the embers from a fire.
“Beautiful.”
He whispers reverently. Your pussy throbs, a wet hiccup leaving your mouth.
Caleb guides you down onto the bed, laying you flat with your head on the pillow. He smooths his hands over your skin, mapping out your soft curves as your breathing picks up again. As Caleb makes his way leisurely down your body, your stomach begins to tighten in anticipation. You let out a quiet gasp as Caleb presses his lips on your swollen clit. Your fingers grip the sheets as he presses the hot flat of his tongue against you, massaging the sensitive nub. Your hole clenches around nothing, suddenly desperate to be filled.
Caleb takes his time exploring you with his mouth, savouring your taste and drinking in every moan, every twitch.
“Caleb, please, inside-“
You try to draw attention to your neglected hole but Caleb ignores you. He digs his nails into the meat of your thighs, kisses your mound, squeezes your labia together to sandwich your clit so he can assault it directly with his tongue and you’re almost delirious. Inebriated by passion, desperate need to be fucked clouding all of your senses.
“Caleb, I need-“ You try again but he rains down a single, sharp slap on your pussy, the debauched sound reverberating around the room, mixing with your choked yelp. Caleb sighs and shakes his head.
“Honestly…”
He tuts, reaching for the vibrator again. Your eyes widen and you try to twitch your hips away, only to be held in place by his Evol again. Your whole body tenses as the wand is pressed to your clit once more, sensations multiplied tenfold by your increased sensitivity. You moan loudly, scratching at your sheets and writhing against the unrelenting onslaught.
“Stop- I don’t-“ You gasp; a wet, broken sound. Caleb regards you with amusement.
“What do you mean?” He asks, eyes wide with fake concern. “You don’t want to? But you’re twitching so much, baby, I thought you needed it?”
“No, no-“ you cut yourself off with a gasp “I don’t want to cum like this again, I want, ah, s-something inside...”
Caleb stares hungrily at your soaked entrance.
“But what if I like watching you clench around nothing? You look so cute like this, so desperate.”
Your legs are trembling now as you feel the stimulation consume you, red-hot pleasure licking at your insides and crashing over your body. The vibrations on your clit thrum through your being, making your toes curl and fingers clench in the sheets - all the while tiny, pathetic, pleas drop from your lips.
You try to squirm away, laughable attempts to close your legs met with the unyielding force of Caleb’s evol pinning them down. He watches you come apart on the bed, greedily drinking in each jolt of your body, the feeble little “no,no,no”s leaking from your mouth.
Who was this version of Caleb? When did he get so mean? You hiccup softly, eyes brimming with tears at the overstimulation. Caleb switches off the wand and puts it to the side, caressing your inner thighs lovingly.
“Aw, Pipsqueak. Was that too much?” He croons, sultry and mocking. You don’t know why it turns you on so much but it does.
“But didn’t it feel good?” He asks, bringing himself up to hover over you, trapping you between his arms. “Didn’t I take care of you?”
You nod, weakly. Your head is spinning, brain fuzzy. You’ve never had an orgasm like this before, never had it forced out of you.
“Well in that case haven’t we established that you don’t know what you need?”
Caleb’s voice is teasing but you can hear the steel beneath it. You’re finally able to catch your breath,
“No, I-“ Caleb shushes you immediately, stroking your hair.
“Ah-ah.” He cuts you off as though he’s reprimanding a child. “Wants and needs are two different things, Pipsqueak. You wanted me to stop after you came the first time, but it turned out that you needed me to give you two.” You try to hide your face in embarrassment.
“You thought you had ‘needs’ when you fucked that guy, but what you really needed was me, right?” You clench your eyes shut, shame coating your stomach.
“Right?” He prompts, and you have no choice but to nod your head, face burning.
“I know what you need, Princess. Probably better than you do.”
Then he’s sitting up, looking down on you from where he’s perched between your slick, shivering thighs. As he slides his belt off, his voice is dark.
“Let me educate you.”
He slips out of his jeans and you’re paralysed as you see him bare for the first time. You whine but he pays you no mind, giving his thick length a few firm strokes.
“You need me to look after you, you need me to protect you.”
He drags the flushed head through your swollen folds, spreading the wetness around lewdly. You gasp as the head catches against your entrance, not yet slipping in but applying enough pressure to send you spiralling. This is a line that, a few days ago, you honestly thought you’d never cross. If you really go through with this, nothing will ever be the same between you.
“Ca-caleb-“ You try to warn him but you’re silenced by a hand on your throat. He doesn’t put any pressure into it, just keeps it resting dangerously, possessively on the smooth column of your neck.
He thrusts against you with a rising urgency, your wetness making the glide impossibly slick. The head of his cock bumps into your abused clit and you can’t help the little noises that escape you.
“You need me to help you make decisions, you need me to keep people who wish you harm away.”
His eyes are boring into yours as he speaks, voice now tinged with a feral desperation as his pace picks up even more.
“You need me close to you.”
He continues, more frantic, his eyes bordering on manic as he starts to slap his cock on your soaked cunt. You cry out at the sensation, humiliated by the filthy sounds and the way it sends some of your slick flying.
You feel Caleb’s fingers twitch around your neck as he hisses out,
“You need me.”
All you can hear in the room are your heavy breaths, synced up and ragged as Caleb hangs his head. Slowly, he drags through your folds one last time to notch at your entrance. The anticipation is dizzying, this whole situation so surreal. You watch him, heart hammering in your chest as lines himself up.
When he finally raises his head to meet your eyes there’s something broken in there, barely concealed by a resigned kind of softness.
“And if you forget again, it’s okay.” He smiles sadly. “I’ll always be here to remind you.”
And he’s sinking in.
Inch by inch.
You struggle to sit up so you can watch the way he enters you with wide eyes. Can’t believe he’s actually doing this, can’t even breathe anymore for fear of the moment shattering.
When he bottoms out, he lets out a deep sigh, shoulders sagging in defeat. Your eyes flicker between where you’re connected, finally, and his scrunched up face. The stretch is delicious. Your heartbeat loud in your ears as your pussy twitches around his length. He doesn’t move. Neither do you.
“Caleb?” You whisper.
He brings his hand up to cup your cheek, terrifyingly gentle.
“All I've ever done is look out for you.”
He murmurs, caressing you lovingly with his thumb. The bed creaks as he lowers himself on top of you, removing his hand and softly nuzzling at your cheek. His weight is comforting, familiar. Despite everything, you think you still feel safe. Your arms barely fit around his broad shoulders but you smooth over them anyway, ghosting your fingers down his back as he inhales deeply into the hair, now damp with sweat, at your temple.
“Every decision I've made has been with you in mind, but you always fight me on everything.” He mutters. “You don’t listen, you don’t do as you’re told… You don’t understand the sacrifices I’ve made for you. The sacrifices I’ve yet to make…”
The air around you is fragile and brittle. You can feel his heartbeat with the way he’s pressed up against you. The crescendo of your two orgasms remains as electricity on your skin, and although he’s inside you, the moment has become something you could never describe.
Caleb places a soft kiss on your cheek.
“So let me have this.” He continues, “Let me have you. Just once, and then I’ll lock away the memory.” He breathes the words into your hair, lips so close to your ear that you swear you can feel them tremble. So close that you can barely make out the words when he whispers “where they can never find it.”
Before you can truly comprehend his words, he pulls back to regard you, hands caging your face on either side. His fringe falls into his left eye and you take one hand from his back to scrape it to the side for him, not quite trusting your voice yet.
The switch up of the situation still has your head reeling. This tortured Caleb of now a completely different person to the frantic Caleb from earlier who bullied your orgasm right out of you - and both of them a far cry from the gentle, teasing Caleb from your childhood. When did he change? Or was he always like this, under the surface? Your heart squeezes as Caleb catches your hand when you move to drop it. He presses his lips against your palm and your voice cracks as you try to speak,
“You can have me.”
You say, tentatively. Caleb’s fingers tighten around your hand and you continue, voice growing stronger. “As long as I can have you.”
Caleb lets out an anguished sound deep in his throat, but you don’t allow him to interrupt.
“Are you still my Caleb?”
You ask. All these different emotions, all these different sides of Caleb. Sides of himself that he was hiding and fighting down - you want them. You want him. All of him, no matter the cost. You want to understand, you want to accept, and you want to love every part. Caleb’s gaze is unwavering when he answers.
“I’ll always be your Caleb.”
You still don’t fully comprehend the series of events that brought you here, still unsure how to feel about this shift in your relationship, but you feel a deep rush of affection inside you towards this man who has endlessly been by your side. He might change or show you different sides of himself, but he’ll always be yours. And yours alone.
Then suddenly it’s like a switch is flipped inside your head and you remember what’s happening, remember that Caleb is inside you. The emotions clouding your mind seem to fade to the background as your body reminds you that you’re still absolutely soaked between your legs, thighs aching with the stretch as they accommodate the size of Caleb between them. You feel your pussy clench abruptly and your breath hitches in your throat. The corner of Caleb’s mouth twitches up in a knowing smile and he laces your fingers together.
“I’ll always be here for you.” He murmurs, and finally, finally, drags himself slowly out of you. The slide makes you gasp and squeeze his hand tighter. Caleb drives forward; a deep, measured stroke so you can feel every inch of him.
“No matter what happens, or who I become, I will always protect you.”
He’s moving with purpose now, agonisingly slowly, but the intensity has your vision fogging and breath coming out in soft pants. Your hand on his back scrabbles for grip on his sweaty skin as he fucks you, and you know your nails are going to leave a mark. Good. Let the welts be a reminder for him and anyone who sees.
“I’ll…always accept you.” You gasp, desperately trying to hold his gaze as waves of pleasure wash over you. “You don’t need to hold back, o-or hide parts of yourself from me.”
Caleb twitches inside you and you feel yourself get impossibly wetter. You offer him a weak smile,
“I need you, Caleb.”
The atmosphere changes in an instant.
Caleb’s eyes clench shut as he lets out a guttural moan. In a mixture of Caleb’s strength and his Evol, you find yourself manhandled and before you can even register how he got there, Caleb is on his back beneath you, his big hands gripping your waist and your thighs straddling his hips as he drives them up into you. The cry you let out is high-pitched and desperate, the breath being fucked out of you as Caleb uses his hold to grind you down onto him.
He heaves you up and crushes you back down, not allowing you a second to think as his hips shoot up to meet you halfway. Your mouth falls open to allow wrecked, helpless moans to tumble out as Caleb tosses you around like a ragdoll. He maneuvers your pleading body up and down on his cock like you weigh nothing and fuck. This is what you wanted, this is everything you’d ever dreamed of. Caleb, your Caleb, giving you what you’ve always craved. You feel yourself falling apart, fresh tears pricking your eyes as fire floods your body.
“I needed to see you properly,” You hear him explain, voice choked and thick. “Needed to see what’s mine.”
He isn’t faring much better below you, teeth gritted together as he pounds up into you. His eyes are reverent and adoring as they take in the sight before them. His Pipsqueak. His everything. Legs spread wide like a slut, taking his cock like you were made for it. Chest heaving and tits bouncing with every one of his thrusts, loud sobs leaking from bitten, abused lips. Caleb growls as he digs his fingers into your waist harder, hoping they’ll bruise and leave his mark on you long after he returns to Skyhaven.
“Fuck, Princess.” Caleb’s moan is gravel, the rough sound igniting your senses further. “You’re perfect. So perfect for me, god-”
He cuts himself off with another desperate gasp as you spread your trembling thighs wider and take him even deeper. Your slick is leaking out of you, dripping lewdly down onto the bed. Each stroke of Caleb inside you breaks you further, mindless moans dropping from your lips as you’re fucked open on his cock. You can feel your orgasm coiling in your abdomen, red-hot and dangerous, and your hips start to twitch pitifully.
“C-caleb, I think-”
You can barely get the words out, assaulted again and again by the fire licking up your body.
Caleb lets out a broken laugh.
“Yeah, baby, I can tell. You’re gettin’ so tight around me.” He grinds up into you again, and it’s mean. “Can barely move.”
He slips his fingers down the front of your body, pawing at the soft flesh of your stomach and pressing down firmly on your lower abdomen. The sensation is instantaneous, the new stimulation tearing a cry from your abused throat and sending you hurtling towards oblivion. Caleb keeps you bouncing on him with his Evol, his other hand heading first to his mouth where he wets his thumb, then back to your body so he can spread it on your clit, the slide of his calloused skin making you delirious.
You’re a mess. You’re ruined. A slave to Caleb’s ministrations as a third orgasm is wrenched out from you, his beloved lilac eyes never leaving you as you clench and wail as he fucks you through it. Your whole body is flushed a pretty pink, glistening with a sheen of sweat. Caleb mercifully slows down a little, allowing you to catch your breath. He gently ghosts his hands up and down your thighs as you let out little whimpers on your come down.
“That’s it, Princess. See what happens when you let me take care of you?”
You try to nod, your head fuzzy. To Caleb’s credit, he does give you a few more moments to recover. Sliding his hands up the curve of your hips, he places them back on your waist as though there was no other natural place for them to be. Your vision blurs as Caleb begins rutting up into you with his previous intensity, a combination of his strong hands and Evol holding your body still. Your thighs quake and fingers dig into Caleb’s forearms - your overused body now maddeningly sensitive.
But Caleb won’t let you go. He keeps you in place as he pounds over and over and over into your helpless body, a twisted grin on his face at how you can’t get away even if you tried. You squirm and sob above him, spent and used, your whole body thrumming and twitching with overstimulation.
“P-please, Caleb, I can’t anymore, I-“
You babble incoherently, and Caleb shushes you gently.
“Yes you can, baby.”
His eyebrows furrow in concentration as he chases his own peak, his hips stuttering and thighs shaking as he rapidly approaches. Wet cries are punched out of you as Caleb’s hips snap up into yours, seemingly the only thought in his head being how deep he can fuck his cum into you. After a few moments, Caleb releases his Evol’s hold on you and allows you to slump forward, burying your face in his neck. He wraps his arms around your shivering body, stroking your back as you let out broken little whimpers into his skin.
Caleb turns his head to sink his nose into your hair and inhales deeply. His arms tighten around you and you can feel the way his muscles tremble beneath you.
“You’re doing so well,” He groans breathlessly into your hair as his thrusts lose all sense of rhythm, “You’re doing so well, so well. Thank you. Thank you for giving me this, thank you for giving me you-”
He grinds into you deep, thrusting right to the hilt and whines. Uncharacteristically high-pitched and needy. His hips twitch as he empties himself inside you, arms crushing your bodies together as though he wants not a single atom of space between you. You let out a weak sigh as he floods you, chest straining as you still try to catch your breath.
You don’t know how long you stay like that. Chest to chest, skin to skin. Your breathing steadily synchronises and you soak up the moment together. Caleb rains soft kisses on top of your head, his arms a protective cage around you. A wordless understanding passes between the two of you that your whole universes have shifted. Your relationship will never be the same, but it’s a choice you’ve made together. Caleb makes hushed apologies for his words, for his actions, and you accept them because you love every part of him.
A promise, whispered into skin and sealed with feather-soft kisses, to be considerate through whatever may come next is shared.
As you lift yourself up on shaky arms to gently place a kiss on Caleb’s lips, you absently think about how all that you’ve suffered and overcome together has culminated in this moment. In this feeling of belonging in your chest, in this feeling of everything falling into place. There's a satisfaction, you think, in the person who knows you the best in the whole world, allowing you to truly know him too. His impurities, his dark sides - the parts he usually hides away in order to protect you from himself.
Caleb breaks the kiss and presses your foreheads together, his fingers threading through the hair at the back of your head. He allows his eyes to open and meet yours, scrutinising as though he’s committing the tiny flecks of colour to the deepest part of his memory. Outside your window, the sky is illuminated with the colours of dusk. Above Linkon, Skyhaven looms - beckoning - a shadow in the distant above.
Caleb presses your lips together again, featherlight and unhurried. As you sigh softly against him, he tells himself that everything he’s about to face, all the burdens he’ll take on,
All of them will be worth it.
For you.
Notes:
pussy so good it puts him through all the stages of grief
m8s I can’t lie, I started imagining this with just the part of the sex scene where Caleb is going psycho and I was like awwwww yeeeeeaaa prime gooning material but then when I sat down to actually write it, I accidentally started writing ANGST!!????? So then I spent the next three days writing a whole story around it so that the angst didn’t seem like it came out of nowhere so I was rly careful to try and make the INSANE 180° switch ups of the mood and Caleb’s personality as canon and realistic as possible but I’m only human and essentially i only wanted to write this so I personally could goon to it so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ HOPE U LIKED IT ANYWAY
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