A/N: Don't kill me! Sorry, I know it's been over a month and I swore I'd never do that! Anyway, here's this quick chapter and I'll work on putting more together soon! *Disclaimer* I don't own anything
After speaking to Caleb about his circumstances, Dave felt that their friendship had, well, not exactly changed, but more like shifted. There weren't any more shared naps, nor 'almost kisses,' but hand-holding had become more than occasional between the two. Thanksgiving, which found Dave back in Lima for a long weekend with his father, had come and gone, and midterms were a thing of the past already. Quicker than he had ever imagined, Christmas was approaching and Dave was about to complete his first semester as a college student.
He closed his textbook, leaving a post-it on the page where he left off, checked the time on his phone and then grabbed a sweatshirt and knit cap from his closet. Pulling them on, he patted his pockets for wallet, keys, phone, then left the dorm to meet Caleb in the courtyard.
Dave had never asked if Caleb used the card he gave him to call Dr. Bevotti, and the therapist told him that by law he would not discuss whether or not he had. Dave assumed the other two had spoken- after all, Caleb had been remarkably casual about it, always knowing what to say and seemingly catching himself before making any potentially off-color jokes or comments.
Azimio had only been back to visit once, when there was a particularly good football game being played at the stadium and Caleb, who didn't want to go, offered to use his ID to get a free ticket that Azimio could use. Yes, right now Dave was happier than he'd been in ages, which was why he was disappointed to realize that he was no longer looking forward to Christmas.
Finally, the whirring of automatic doors startled Dave out of his thoughts and a grin split his face as Caleb stepped out.
"Hey," they greeted one another.
"Got your stuff?"
"Yep," Caleb gestured to his own skates which had been purchased a few weeks previous- they were now slung over his shoulder.
"You know you can just keep those in my locker," Dave offered.
"Hm," Caleb considered it. "That'd probably be convenient. Wouldn't have to lug them back and forth that way."
"Mhm."
They each kept their hands to themselves, tucked securely in pockets to avoid the cold Ohio winter.
"Can I ask you something?" Dave queried.
"Sure thing."
"I'm not sure if it's kind of rude."
"Just ask, David."
Dave bit the inside of his cheek. "Well, the winter holidays are kind of long," he began.
Caleb smiled to himself. "I'm aware. Next Thursday til January 28th. That's more than a month."
"Uh-huh," Dave agreed. "So there's sort of two issues I'm dealing with. First, um, when I talked to my dad yesterday, he said he's been talking to my mom a lot recently... And after thanksgiving apart, well, they want to spend Christmastime together, so my mom'll be back at my dad's house. He said she swore she'd be, y'know, civil, since it's the holidays, but still."
Caleb nodded in understanding, reached out and opened the entrance to the athletic center.
Dave thanked him, walked in, and continued airing his grievances.
"So that might be hella awkward... But anyway the other problem is that I thought it'd be kind of cool we could hang out a bit over the break, since well, it's a long break."
Caleb cut him off with a laugh and a tug on his arm. "Dave, you don't have to justify wanting to spend time together during break. I thought it went unsaid, and I was sort of already expecting us to. I guess I don't see what has you thinking this conversation is rude."
Dave smiled. "I know, I know. Here goes. Basically I was thinking, I'm only going to be able to handle so much of my mother. And as much as she hates me, she still loves my dad and they've been together for twenty something years so they deserve to be able to spend time together without me being a problem."
He continued talking quickly as Caleb tried to interrupt saying something like 'you're not a problem'.
"So anyway, the rude part comes when I invite myself to spend the second half of the break at your place," he finished in one breath.
Caleb stopped walking and looked at him, studying his face carefully. "Well I'd have to ask my parents," he began.
"Oh, right," Dave muttered, ducking his head a bit.
"That doesn't mean no," Caleb assured him. "I honestly don't know if we're having guests or something, so I'd need to see if we'll have room."
"I could take a couch," Dave said hurriedly, but then he put a hand to his forehead. "That sounded really desperate and pathetic, I'm sorry."
The pair of them detoured to a small corridor near some waterfountains, where no one was milling around. "You're really torn up about this, aren't you?" Caleb asked quietly.
"She hates me," Dave whispered. "And I'm finally feeling really good, I don't want to be stuck with her for sixty days treating me like I'm better off dead."
"Oh, Man..." Caleb sighed and leaned against the wall, very close to the other man. "Look, I'll call home tomorrow and ask. If it seems like we're going to have a full house then you can just bunk with me."
"Your parents would be okay with that?"
Caleb raised an eyebrow and smirked. "That depends. Am I inviting a friend who needs a place to crash for a few weeks? Or,"
"Or what?"
"Orrrr, am I asking if my new boyfriend can share my bed for a month?" Caleb finished with a tongue-in-cheek tone and David admired the flit of mischief across his freckled face.
"I kind of like the second one," Dave said with a shy grin.
"Me too, but it's much less likely to get us parental permission."
"How ok are your parents with the idea of you having a boyfriend?"
"On a scale 1-10? I dunno. 7? How okay is any parent with having their kid date? They've sort of been expecting it for a while, it's not like they're in denial, so. I guess like most parents they won't care much as long as nothing inappropriate is going on."
"Would the odds of permission be better if we could promise to keep things appropriate then?"
"Like I said, Dave. It's really just a matter of if we have the space. I'm sure my mom won't have a problem with you coming for a while."
David smiled, feeling a weight on his shoulders lessen a bit. "Ok. Can we skate now?"
Caleb nodded. "Sure."
Note: Okay, some of you might be curious, but basically things aren't so great in my world. Mom's admittedly very sick, but we try our best to continue on as normally as possible. We've had lots of family visiting which is nice, but in the back of your mind you sort of know that everyone's visiting because they think it might be their last chance to. This is really a painful thing to deal with. On top of all this, I'm leaving to go to England in about a month and I'll be gone until December. Obviously, I'm spending as much time with my mom and family as possible.
For years now, fanfiction has gotten me through a lot. That sounds silly, but I escape here the same way that I do by reading Harry Potter or other books, or throw myself into TV or movies. On this site, I can explore alternate universes (almost literally, haha) and even create my own. With all this stress though, I've been finding it easier to read rather than write, which is why I've been so slow in updating this. Hopefully I'll be able to force myself to focus a bit more. Please stay tuned!
-darkestAngel13
