Part 6

Hay Lin raised her hand to knock on Will's front door, but quickly stepped back when the door opened, surprising her before she had the chance to actually knock.

Hay Lin wasn't the only one surprised. Will's mother stopped at the sight of her daughter's friends on her doorstep. What were they doing here so early on a Saturday morning? she wondered. "Morning, girls," Mrs. Vandom greeted them and then asked the question running through her mind.

"We came to take Will out for breakfast," Hay Lin responded cheerfully. "You know, to cheer her up since she broke up with Matt."

Irma snorted as she leaned back against the wall across from the door, rolling her eyes. She didn't think Will needed cheering up; she had seemed fairly happy the evening before…with Caleb. Although she did think that Will needed a good talking to. Unfortunately, she hadn't had the chance to do that yet. Hay Lin had called her early that morning with her brilliant idea to cheer Will up. Irma had spent half an hour trying to change Hay Lin's mind, but had been unsuccessful. So…here they were.

"That sounds like a great idea," Mrs. Vandom replied. "But Will's still asleep." And she didn't want to wake her. As much as Will had tried to hide it, she knew her daughter wasn't sleeping well…if at all. On the other hand Will had been keeping to herself lately, and maybe it would be good for her to spend some time with her friends. "Okay, but don't push her if she wants to rest. She hasn't been sleeping very well lately." Mrs. Vandom glanced down at her watch, noting the time, and realized she was going to be late for work. She said goodbye to the girls and left as they entered the apartment.

Cornelia headed straight for Will's bedroom while Hay Lin and Taranee entered the living room, sitting on the couch, and Irma went to the kitchen for a glass of water. Irma leaned back against the kitchen counter reminding herself that she needed to act normally around Will, and pretend like she hadn't seen anything… It was going to be a long day. Moments later she heard a scream from Will's bedroom, and Irma set her glass down running towards the sound.

"How could you!" she heard Cornelia yell before she ran out of the room and down the hallway, pushing Irma out of the way. The front door slammed, and Irma glanced at Taranee and Hay Lin, who shared a confused look. Sadly, Irma had a horrible feeling that she knew what had upset Cornelia.

Bracing herself, Irma turned and entered Will's bedroom groaning at the sight before her. Her eyes swept over Will pulling clothes out of her closet and across the room before landing on Caleb sitting on the unmade bed, pulling on his shoes and socks. She stopped in the doorway and shook her head. "Lucy, you got some 'splainin' to do," Irma said imitating Ricky Ricardo. Will and Caleb both turned to look at her with faces red from embarrassment.

"We'll be waiting in the living room," Irma continued. "The story better be good, and it better start with what really happened when you went to Meridian last week." Because she definitely didn't believe their story about being trapped in the Infinite City, she thought as she turned her back on them and headed for the living room.

Once Irma was gone Will glanced at Caleb, who was now standing, meeting his eyes. At least they had been awake when Cornelia had entered the room, Will thought gratefully. She had woken up that morning with her head resting on Caleb's chest with his arm around her. The sound of Will's mom moving around had woken them up and Will had started to panic. Luckily, her mother hadn't opened the door to check on her, and Will wished she had thought to lock the door when she had asked Caleb to stay. Unfortunately, Caleb hadn't been able to untangle his legs from the sheets quickly enough when they heard someone approaching the bedroom door. Of course it had to be Cornelia. They had hoped to have a quiet morning to discuss their…situation and figure out what they wanted to do, and what they were going to tell everybody. So much for that plan…

"Let's just tell them what really happened," Will finally said quietly.

"Everything?" he asked just as quietly. Caleb sat back down on the bed, his eyes never leaving hers as she shrugged and slowly nodded. "I thought you didn't want them to know about it," he said, referring to the battle and her…injuries.

Will sighed, rubbing her eyes tiredly. She didn't want them to know, but… "I just don't want to lie to them anymore."

"Okay," he replied, agreeing with her. He was tired of lying, too. Breaking eye contact, Caleb's eyes wandered around her room before settling on two framed pictures on her desk. One was of all the Guardians in their human form, although he knew that hidden behind it was another picture of them in their Guardian forms. The second photo was of him, Cornelia, Will, and Matt…but looking at that picture now it appeared that he and Will were the couple. He and Cornelia were holding hands, and so were Will and Matt, but when Taranee had taken the picture she told them to get closer so Caleb had wrapped an arm around Will's shoulders, and Will had leaned into him. Caleb's eyes focused on the image of Cornelia for a moment longer before turning back to Will. "Do you mind telling them on your own? I should go find Cornelia."

"What are you going to tell her?"

Caleb shrugged. "The truth," he finally said as he bent over and finished tying his shoes.

Will crossed her arms over her stomach silently watching him with a slight smile on her face. He really was just…beautiful, she thought as he finished with his shoes and ran his fingers through his hair in an attempt to straighten it out. Caleb's eyes met hers and returning her smile, he waved his hand for her to come to him.

Will took the few steps across the room and stopped in front of him, standing between his legs. As he rested his hands on her hips, hers went to his shoulders. "What's wrong?" Caleb quietly asked.

Will shrugged. "You seem awfully calm about going to find Cornelia."

Now it was Caleb's turn to shrug. "The hard part's over," he said. "I've already decided what I want…I want you. Part of me has always wanted you," he explained. "Now I just need to go tell Cornelia that."

Will raised her hand gently resting it against his cheek. Caleb smiled and leaned into her hand as he wrapped his arms around her waist, lacing his fingers together at the small of her back pulling her closer. Will smiled again as she lowered her face to his, gently kissing him. Caleb lightly ran his tongue over her lower lip, and she opened her mouth against his allowing him to deepen the kiss. Caleb slowly stood without breaking the kiss. After a few minutes they slowly pulled apart, but kept their arms around each other, and Caleb lowered his head, resting his forehead against hers.

"I should go find Cornelia," Caleb finally whispered, not really wanting to leave Will yet.

"Good luck," she replied.

"Ahem."

They hastily pulled apart and turned to find Irma leaning in the doorway again. "Sometime today would be nice," she stated sarcastically.

Caleb rolled his eyes and glanced back at Will. "I'll talk to you later," he promised softly, leaning down to kiss her goodbye. Irma cleared her throat from the door again, and Caleb raised his head and glanced at her sheepishly. What had he been thinking kissing Will right in front of Irma? But kissing Will goodbye had felt like the natural thing to do. Instead he smiled awkwardly as he gently squeezed Will's arm before leaving the room.

Will's eyes followed Caleb, smiling, and then met Irma's, watching her for a minute. "You weren't surprised when you came in, were you?" Will asked calmly, realizing that Irma seemed more annoyed than surprised or upset.

Irma crossed her arms as she shook her head. "I saw you last night," she replied just as calmly. After a moment Irma turned, heading for the living room where Hay Lin and Taranee were waiting for them.

Will stared at the empty doorway for a minute thinking. Irma had seen them? Where? In the alley? Will had been sure that they were alone. She wondered how much Irma had seen and heard, both the previous evening and that morning. She shifted her attention to the still unmade bed, wondering how they had ended up here. After another moment, Will shook her head to clear away her thoughts, and quickly changed before following Irma into the living room.

Taranee and Hay Lin kept sharing looks of confusion, completely unsure of what was going on. First, Cornelia screamed and left, and then Caleb left, obviously attempting to avoid them. And what was Caleb doing here anyway? Now, Irma was storming into the room, followed by Will a few moments later, and neither appeared to be very happy.

"Okay," Irma started once they had settled themselves on the couch. "What really happened on Meridian? Because I don't believe that story about being trapped in the Infinite City."

Will sighed. "We did get trapped, but not the way we told you…"

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"Cornelia!" Caleb yelled as he finally caught up with her, and even as he approached her he didn't think she was going to stop.

Cornelia slowed down, and without warning spun around to face him, her long blonde hair flying everywhere. "You lying, cheating-" she shrieked anger and hurt obvious in her voice.

"Just let me explain," he said interrupting her. "It's not-"

"Let me guess," Cornelia yelled, cutting him off. "It's not what it looks like?" she sarcastically asked. Caleb just stood there staring at her for a few minutes before Cornelia yelled at him again. "Say something!"

Caleb's mind raced as he tried to think of something…anything to say. He knew what he needed to say to her, but couldn't seem to find the words. How do you tell your girlfriend that somehow he had fallen in love with one of her best friends? Caleb stopped at his choice of words. Fallen in love? he thought to himself. Was he in love with Will? The thought that yes, he was popped instantly into his mind. Trying his best to conceal his smile, he glanced back up at Cornelia who was still seething.

Caleb finally shrugged and held out his arms helplessly. "It is what it looks like."

He stood in stunned silence for a minute, shocked that those had been the words to come out of his mouth. "I'm sorry," Caleb continued quietly. "I didn't…I didn't mean for this to happen."

Cornelia crossed her arms over her stomach regarding him coldly, and trying to decide which emotion was stronger at the moment: hurt or anger. "So…what? That's all you have to say?" she asked, shaking her head in confusion. "How long?"

"Just a few days, but…I think…I've…I've always loved Will," he stuttered, admitting how he felt for the first time out loud. Caleb shifted his weight nervously. "Are you happy?" he suddenly asked.

"Oh, I'm thrilled," she answered sarcastically giving him a death glare, as she started pacing.

"No, I don't mean right now. I mean…have you been happy…with me?"

Cornelia, puzzled by the question, opened and closed her mouth a few times, unsure of how to answer.

Caleb wearily sat down on an empty bench, and glanced at her. "Because I'm not…I haven't been…and I don't think you've been happy with me for a long time," he said quietly, watching as she sat next to him. "Not that that makes what I did okay."

He was right, Cornelia thought. It had been months, maybe longer, since she had last really been happy. And if she was honest with herself she had known that he wasn't happy either. And although it wasn't his fault that she was unhappy she had been taking it out on him. In fact, she had been horrible to him, but she never thought he'd cheat on her.

"She's one of my best friends," Cornelia whispered, staring into space.

"I know," he whispered back. "I'm sorry.

Cornelia started thinking back, searching for some sign that this was going to happen… Any clue that Will and Caleb had been behaving differently towards each other. "How did this happen?" she finally asked, unable to think of anything.

Caleb took a deep breath and ran his hand through his hair nervously. "Something happened last week…on Meridian…" he started, and then proceeded telling her everything that had happened while they were there. And when he was finished he finally glanced over at her. "When Will was unconscious, I would just sit there watching her, hoping she would wake up… And the only thought that kept running through my mind was that I didn't think I could live without her. I had never realized that I felt that way about her before," he explained quietly.

"You're in love with her?" Cornelia asked as she stared at her hands, although she already knew the answer.

Caleb simply nodded, not noticing that she wasn't looking at him, and then whispered, "yes."

"Are you the reason she broke up with Matt all of sudden?"

"Yes and no," he replied, thinking back to the conversation he and Will had had the previous evening. "She hasn't been happy with him for a while. She was tired of lying to him, but didn't really want to tell him the truth. Will said that what happened with me just made it easier to break up with him," Caleb quietly answered.

"Were you planning to break up with me, too?" Cornelia asked even though she knew the answer to that question, too.

"I went to your house last night, but no one was home."

Cornelia took a deep breath in an attempt to suppress the tears that were threatening to fall. She couldn't believe this was happening…her boyfriend was breaking up with her because he had fallen in love with one of her best friends. In the two years she had been a Guardian, Cornelia had seen a lot of strange and horrible things…but a lot of wonderful things had happened, too. Finding Caleb and her friends were two of those things. And while Cornelia knew that she and Caleb had been having some problems lately she certainly never expected this to happen.

"So…what?" Cornelia asked angry again. "When you couldn't find me, you went and slept with Will?"

"Nothing happened. After I left your house I went back to the restaurant, but I couldn't sleep. Will and I haven't really slept in a week…we keep having nightmares," he explained. "I keep seeing Will being killed by Cedric or Phobos, and I can't move or do anything to help her." He shook his head trying to clear his mind of the image. "Wills' dreams are the same, only she sees me. Anyway, I couldn't sleep so I decided to go for a walk and somehow I found myself standing in front of Wills' apartment building. There was only one light on and I knew it was hers. The next thing I know I'm climbing in her window. We talked and realized that we had slept fine when we were together…and we both desperately needed to sleep…"

Cornelia sighed as she mentally reviewed the past week. Why hadn't she noticed how tired they both were? Or how different he seemed to be?

"So, that's it then…" she said quietly. "I guess there's nothing more to say." Cornelia turned to Caleb and met his eyes, no longer trying to hide the tears.

Caleb shook his head sadly. "I guess not…I'm sorry," he apologized again, having a feeling that he was going to be saying that for a while.

Cornelia took a couple of deep breaths before standing. With one last look at Caleb she turned and walked away from him.