Caleb woke, suddenly. The darkness around him was nearly suffocating. He flipped on the lamp next to his bed, his alarm clock blaring the early morning time at him. He thumped back against the pillows and stared at the ceiling. There was a restlessness stirring beneath the surface. He could feel it in the others too. Since he ascended, he could feel the other three, but especially Reid. If he didn't know better, he would've thought that Reid was nearby.
Caleb threw off his covers and spun his legs out of bed and onto the cool, wooden floor. He was drawn to the cool air of the early summer morning. He pushed through the French doors onto the stone balcony. The air licked at his skin, sending gooseflesh across his mostly naked body.
He heard a small chuckle from behind him. On the far ledge of the balcony, Reid was sitting with his back against the wall of the house. His left leg was dangling off the second story balcony railing. He wore the same playful smirk he always seemed to carry even when he was angry. His blonde hair was secured by a black knit hat.
"What are you doing here?" Caleb's voice was gravelly from having just woken up.
"Couldn't sleep," Reid muttered.
"Do you feel it too?" Caleb crossed his arms over his chest and turned to face Reid.
He shrugged. "Just couldn't sleep." He hopped off the stone railing and stood a few feet away from Caleb. "I'm surprised to find you alone. Where's Sarah?"
"She's with Kate mending her broken heart. Pogue broke up with her."
Reid's brow raised. "Why?"
"Not sure. Haven't seen much of Pogue lately."
"Everything's changing," Reid muttered.
"What do you mean?"
"High school's over, we're all going our separate ways, and we don't even see each other anymore. We haven't met in the circle for ages. Tyler's about to ascend and then what?"
"I don't have all the answers, Reid." Caleb turned and headed back into his bedroom. He felt Reid hot on his trail.
"You have to know something. We have to stick together, don't we?" Reid yelled.
Caleb turned around so fast that Reid collided with him. "Last year you didn't want anything more than to do whatever the fuck you wanted." Caleb grabbed Reid's arms and steadied him. "Suddenly, you want to be a brotherhood?"
"Look, after what happened to you after the fight with Chase…" Reid hesitated when he saw the flicker of hatred and anger flicker in Caleb's eyes. "I don't want to be out in this world alone where no one knows the real me. I can't stand being as divided as we are now."
Caleb was still gripping Reid's upper arms. He was struggling with the overwhelming need to bring Reid into his arms and the urge to want to shake him.
Reid leaned into his grip, his intense gaze never wavering from Caleb.
"I'm still fighting the addiction," Caleb started. "Everyday. I can feel the power, sometimes it burns inside of me." He released Reid and stepped away.
Reid stood impossibly still for a long moment, watching Caleb's muscles along his bare back as he moved. He sat on the bed, his back still turned. His shoulders slumped forward.
"We've always known that the power seductive, Caleb. That's why you were always hammering my ass about using. You had to use a lot of power to destroy Chase, and now you're paying for his abuse." Reid moved toward him, stopping at the foot of the bed. "Don't cut us out, that's just going to make things worse for you. It does for me. I feel it, too, ya know?"
Caleb moved his head as if he were going to peer over his shoulder at Reid, but he stopped. Reid could see his profile in the dark and he moved another step toward him.
"Do the others?"
"I don't know. We don't talk about it anymore, not since we watched you nearly die to stop using. I think Tyler's scared shitless to ascend, and who could blame him?"
"Pogue dumped Kate because neither one of them has been the same since Chase nearly killed them both. Pogue refuses to use his powers."
"We've all reexamined our lives and it's like we forgot to include each other. Weren't we all going to go to college together and raise some hell wherever we went? That was the plan, and now I don't even know what anyone's doing. Aside from you, it was always a given that you were going to Harvard, that's legacy."
Reid sat behind Caleb's turned back; his hip pressed against him. Caleb sat up and leaned back against Reid's shoulder. Reid leaned back his head resting against Caleb's.
"Fuck legacy," Caleb grumbled.
To be continued...