Author's Note: Once again thanks to all who reviewed. I really appreciate your comments. This chapter's a little short but I hit a good ending point. I've hit a bit of a writer's block, so it might take me longer to write the next chapter. I know where I want to go; it's just a matter of getting them there. Hope you enjoy!
Part 5
Cornelia, Hay Lin, and Taranee surrounded Irma, all of them asking questions at once. Unfortunately, she didn't really have any answers as to why Will had broken up with Matt. All she knew was that Will hadn't been happy with him for a while, and for the past week she had simply avoided him. And all Will would say was that it was something she had needed to do. When the others realized that Irma didn't know anything they gave up.
Cornelia was the first one to notice that Caleb was gone, but no one gave it any thought. He had a tendency to disappear when the girl talk started, and Cornelia remembered him mentioning something about looking for Blunk. It was starting to get dark, and the girls decided that it was time to head home…except for Irma. She decided to go and check on Will.
As Irma approached the area where they had practiced she was able to hear quiet voices, but was unable to make out the words. Then she heard Caleb yell, "It changes everything!" and she stopped just around the corner from the voices. Why had Caleb come back here? she wondered. Was he talking to Will? And if so, what changed everything?
"What does it change, Caleb?" she heard Will's voice yell in response. Well, that answered one of Irma's questions.
Their voices dropped, and Irma moved closer straining to hear their words, wishing she had Hay Lin's power to hear things far away. However, all she could make out was something about Cornelia and breaking up. Was Caleb planning to break up with Cornelia? Why were he and Will apparently arguing about it? What was going on? she wondered.
After a few minutes of silence Irma's curiosity got the better of her, and she poked her head around the corner…and couldn't believe what she was seeing. She immediately covered her mouth to stifle her gasp, and with eyes wide open in shock she quickly ducked back behind the corner. Will and Caleb were kissing! She stood in shocked disbelief while her mind raced.
What was she going to do? Should she step around the corner and confront Will and Caleb? Should she tell Cornelia what she had seen? Or pretend that she hadn't seen anything? Before Irma had the chance to decide anything Will and Caleb left the practice area, and headed in separate directions.
Irma took a couple of steps to follow Will, but then stopped. She still didn't know what she should do. Part of her thought that she should go tell Cornelia what she had seen, but the other part didn't want to be the one who told her that Caleb was cheating on her…with Will.
But maybe it hadn't been what she thought. Maybe there was a perfectly good explanation…although at the moment she couldn't think of what that explanation could be. With a sigh Irma decided to talk to Will first; maybe it wasn't what she thought… She hoped it wasn't what she thought…
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Caleb sat on his bed watching the clock as the minutes slowly ticked by. It was one o'clock in the morning and he had yet to fall asleep…although, to be fair, he hadn't really tried. Between his fear of the nightmares and his thoughts of Will he didn't think he could sleep anyway. Just thinking about her made his heart race. After glancing at the clock again he decided that he needed to get out of the basement. It felt like the walls were closing in on him.
Caleb dressed and grabbed his coat before prying open the basement window and climbing up onto the street. He wandered aimlessly around town for at least an hour before he found himself standing in front of Will's apartment building. There was only one light on in the entire building, and Caleb knew that it was Will's. He stared at the lone light for a few minutes wondering if she had slept at all. Then, before he realized what he was doing, Caleb found himself climbing the fire escape until he reached Will's window.
Caleb gazed at her through the closed window, and smiled at the sight of her sitting at her desk studying. After watching her for a few minutes he lightly tapped on the window, causing Will to look over at him in surprise. She set down her pen, and slowly walked across the room in her pink pajama pants and matching pink tank top. As she opened the window a grin spread across her face. Caleb grinned back as he climbed into the room.
"What are you doing here?" Will whispered as she glanced towards her bedroom door to make sure it was closed.
Caleb stepped closer to her and rested his hands on her waist. "I couldn't sleep…I couldn't stop thinking about you…"
Will sighed. "Did you sleep at all?" she asked quietly as she rested her hands on his arms.
Caleb simply shook his head in response. "What about you?"
"About an hour…then I had a nightmare." Will leaned forward resting her forehead against his chest, inhaling his scent…a scent that was uniquely him. Why had she never noticed how comforting it was just to be near him? she wondered. "Did you talk to Cornelia?" she mumbled against his chest.
Caleb shook his head and then realized that she couldn't see him. "When I got to her house no one was home. I waited around for a while, but…" his words trailed off as he shrugged. Will pulled back and met his eyes. "I'll talk to her tomorrow," he promised as he leaned down and placed a light kiss on her forehead.
Will raised herself up on her toes and gently pressed her lips against his. After a moment she lowered herself back to the ground. How had this happened? When had they reached the point where this had seemed so natural?
Caleb swayed a little and closed his eyes as if he was dizzy. "Are you all right?" Will asked concerned. She led him over to her bed, forcing him to sit down, and then sitting next to him.
"I'm all right. I'm just so tired," he replied, raising a hand to rub his eyes.
"Me, too," Will whispered in response.
Both were silent for a few minutes before Caleb spoke again. "I don't understand why the nightmares didn't start until after we were back on Earth. I mean…they didn't start until four days after Cedric…after…" Caleb turned his head to look at her, unsure of how to word it. He didn't want to say "until four days after you almost died." Reliving it in his dreams was bad enough, but talking about it was much harder.
Will nodded, understanding what he was trying to say. She had been wondering the same thing for the past couple of days, and thought she had found the answer. "I don't know for sure," she finally answered. "But…I think…on Meridian we were almost always together…and I felt…safe. Then we got back here and it was like going through withdrawal or something."
Caleb sighed thinking that what Will had said made sense. He leaned forward and rested his arms on his thighs. Will could see that he had passed the point of exhaustion, and wondered how no one else had noticed…especially Cornelia. She reached up and gently rubbed his neck as she smiled sadly.
"We need to sleep," she whispered.
Caleb raised his head, met her eyes, and nodded in agreement. Will stared at him for a few minutes, thoughtfully chewing on her bottom lip. They were both exhausted and desperately needed sleep. But, there was only one way she could think of to ensure they both slept. Without saying a work she stood and walked over to her desk, turning off the lamp. Then Will turned to face Caleb.
Caleb stood, confusion evident on his face. "What are you doing?"
Will smiled slightly and walked past him to the bed. She climbed into bed and scooted over against the wall. After she had situated herself she turned to look at Caleb, meeting his eyes.
"Are you coming to bed?" she quietly asked.
Caleb took a deep breath and nodded before taking his coat off and laying it over her desk chair. He bent down and took off his shoes and then climbed into bed next to Will. Within minutes both were asleep.
