Firefly

26: 5 hrs after 4 yrs

Chapter 26: five hours after four years.

Justin

Dallas offers me a can of soda and I shake my head. "Seriously? Now you're on a soda diet too?" He laughs as he takes it away.

Agreeing to have a boys' night today at Dallas Brown's house was my first mistake. Turning up late and staying silent was my second mistake. Dodging Holden Baxter's suspicious eyes, my third mistake. Hoping with all my heart that Caleb Reed isn't texting her is my fourth mistake.

Multiple flames have kindled in my mind since the second I dropped her home. Anger, for everything that the dead man did to her and her mother. Sadness, for every time she's let out tears. Guilt, for mocking her, for strangling her, for hurting her so much in my time of knowing her. Worry, I seem to be having a lot of it when she tried to induce a panic attack in herself by asking me to speed. Urge, because I want to fucking hug her again. I want to touch her, hold her close to me, and keep her hidden inside my arms. Fear, that someone might hurt her again.  

"Something wrong?" I break out of my thoughts assuming Holden posed that question to me. But his eyes are pinned to Caleb so I let out a heavy breath. 

Caleb chugs his phone, screen down. "Nope. All good." His face tells otherwise. I observe him.

He keeps checking his phone every twenty seconds. He smiled a few times but his face is painted with worry now. Either he's texting Spencer or he's texting--fuck, no. The thought alone makes me want to hammer his phone into pieces. I'm getting overprotective now. I need to phase out before I do something uncontrolled. 

He doesn't know everything she's been through. She clearly hasn't told him because no one with that knowledge would even consider letting her go the way he did on the homecoming night. I was the one who encouraged Caleb to talk to her because I know she likes his company. He's everything she's looking for. 

But a different ache pierces through me at the mere idea of her with him. I know how she felt in my arms. I know how delicate she is. She doesn't show but she's too easy to break. I don't want her getting broken. Not again. I understand why Dylan is so protective of her. Heck, I've known her for three months and I'm fucking protective. 

"He's waiting for a text," Dallas teases Caleb. Caleb turns pink instantly as he folds back a smile. "She probably slept, dude." 

Caleb throws a pillow on Dallas, hitting him square in the face. "She doesn't sleep without saying goodnight." 

Who she? 

"How much do you exactly like her?" Holden throws in another question to fuck up my chaotic mind. His eyes cut to me again and I realize he's not trapping Caleb, he's fucking laying out snares for me. 

Caleb shrugs, throwing his phone away now. "I don't know." Wrong start. "She's hard not to like." The 'she' is confirmed. "We share a warm vibe but I think she's holding back after homecoming." 

"So Spence has no issues with whatever you've got going on here?" Dallas does an eyebrow wave and I fail to understand why. 

Caleb scratches his jaw as he lets out a smirk. Fucker, since when has Caleb started juggling two flowers in one hand? Holden must have rubbed it off on him. "I honestly have no clarity with Spencer. She's confusing me so much." That's it. He can forget whoever he's texting because she doesn't deserve to be an option.

"I'm pretty sure you're confused, Reed." Dallas holds out his beer to Caleb. "You made out with Spencer. Twice." Buddy, you can say your goodbyes to Elena Summer. "You can't let go of Spencer Velvet, but you can't completely claim Elena Summer either. I'd never thought I'd see a day where Caleb Reed is struggling to choose."