The End Is Only the Beginning

28. Acceptance

28. Acceptance

- Aaron's POV -

"Caleb, I'm back! Did you taste the cookies I made?"

We sprung back from one another like we had suddenly become toxic. Caleb put his hand on my chest, keeping some distance between us when all I wanted to do was touch him again.

"Shit," Caleb hissed.

He stepped back even further.

"Hey-," I tried, but Caleb held a hand up to stop me from continuing.

I tried not to be offended as he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "You said slow," he stepped back again, now stood directly behind the door of his room, "this isn't slow."

"I asked you."

"Shit."

There was a knock on the other side of the door, and both Caleb and I fell completely silence. Even our breathing seemed to pause. "Caleb, are you in there?" Mrs J asked, way too close for comfort.

"Yes mom, I'm in here. I'll be out in a second."

"That's it?" I hissed, still expecting Mrs J to barge through the door - Angie never cared for boundaries, and my dad held a 'we're all men here, there's nothing I haven't seen before' approach.

Caleb shrugged. "I'm a teenage boy, she's not going to come in." Caleb ran a hand over his face, breathing out heavily through his mouth. He paced in the small space at the foot of the beds. "Holy crap," he grumbled, rubbing his hand through his hair this time.

"It's fine, we're fine."

"No we're not, we're supposed to be taking things slow," Caleb said, stopping pacing, "this is not what was meant to happen."

"We didn't really have a plan."

Caleb sat at the end of his bed, taking a deep breath, "not helping, Aaron." He gripped his thighs, looking up at me with concerned light blue eyes; the stress on his face seemed too real. I suddenly felt bad. "Shit, shit, shit," he spat.

I sat on the bed next to him, making sure we weren't touching. "Caleb, it's ok," I tried.

"No it's not," Caleb replied quickly. "We supposed to be taking this slow, to be learning for this, yet the second you kiss me I roll over."

"I asked if you wanted to do this-."

"You could ask me to jump from a bridge and I'd do it," Caleb said, sighing heavily. "What am I supposed to tell my mom?"

I put a hand on Caleb's shoulder, part of me expecting him to shrug it off. "Cay, you can tell her whatever you like - this is completely up to you. Tell her we're together, tell her we're just friends, tell me you want me to leave; it's your choice now."

"I don't want you to leave."

"So I'll stay."

Caleb put his hands over his face, groaning loudly in frustration. "I don't know what to do," he said into his palms.

"Just take your time, there's no rush."

Caleb just nodded before falling back onto his bed. He stared up at the ceiling blankly before closing his eyes. I sat quietly at his side, watching him wallow in his own frustration.

Minutes had passed, and then half an hour had passed. Caleb still lay on his bed, staring up at the ceiling while fidgeting every so often. I had nothing to say but only felt slightly uncomfortable while sat next to him.