Gabriella Hart
I held on to him as tight as I could. I didn't ever want to think about letting him go.
"Let's get you home," Caleb said to me before kissing the top of my head as he pulled me with him out of the cafe, leaving some money on the table for the trouble that had been caused in those few short minutes.
We walked out into the brisk wind that whipped my hair in front of my eyes.
He had one arm around me as we climbed inside a taxi he must've come here in. "Airport please," he said to the driver as we sat down and he held me in his arms again.
This was the first time in a while that he had genuinely held me and had shown real compassion towards me. I was glad he came here, otherwise I would've had to be on the plane back home, completely alone and still terrified about the last words my father had said to me.
Part of me regretted what I had said to him, because I knew I had only made the situation in our family a lot worse. But then I knew that inviting him back with open arms would be a mistake. He wasn't stable enough to be a father figure to Kylie and I.
"Thank you for coming," I whispered, hoping he had heard me as my face was on his chest and his arm was around me. No matter how uncomfortable it looked, it was the comfiest and safest I had felt in a long time.
He replied by squeezing my arm lightly and kissing the top of my head again, sending butterflies through my stomach.
The car journey was short, but it felt longer being next to him. I couldn't help but think that Caleb was either changing or that he actually liked me a lot more than he had ever let on before.
"The gate closes in twenty minutes, come on," Caleb snapped me out of my day dream as he paid for the taxi and sprinted to the airport doors with my hand intertwined with his and two bags of luggage in his other hand.
I felt extremely bad as he dragged me along at a running pace I was unable to keep up with.
We rushed through security, pulling off the necessary items and throwing them into trays before placing them back on again on the other side. "Ten minutes," he shouted back to me as I tied my shoe laces and grabbed onto my bag.
I ran after him, giving up breaths every time I stepped. This just signalled to me that I needed to get fitter. I couldn't even run ten metres without being completely out of breath. God didn't give me the natural gene of exercise, as you could probably have guessed.
"Gate four to LAX will be closing shortly," the woman on the intercom spoke to everyone as we rushed towards her.
The next plane wasn't for a few hours so we really needed to get back. "I told them we were staying at a friends but they should expect us home later tonight so we need to get this plane," Caleb shouted back to me, holding my hand again as we sprinted towards the gate.
Luckily enough, they were still open.
"You're lucky," the woman said almost sarcastically but gave us a wide smile and a wink anyway as she took our boarding passes and IDs before handing them back to us.
"Have a safe flight," she said to the both of us as we walked calmly to the plane, catching our breaths back. We found our seats just in time so we slouched down, although I needed to sleep off the marathon I felt that I had just run.
Then again with the amount of exercise that I do, which is nothing, that probably was my idea of a marathon.
Caleb lifted up the annoying arm rest in the middle of us and pulled me towards him so we were in the same position as the taxi, sending me straight back into my relaxed state after everything that had happened.
It allowed me to slowly fall asleep, needing the rest I so desperately craved.
• • •
"Can I get you two anything?" I woke up as the flight attendant asked Caleb.
It seemed that we were almost half way through the flight and I was still wrapped up in Caleb's arms, just how I needed it to be. "Can I have a diet coke, please" I asked almost as a whisper as I opened my eyes better.
"Sure, anything for you sir?" She replied as she handed me a can and a cup. "Can I have a water please?" He asked and soon he was handed with a bottle of water and a cup. "Thanks," he said to her as she turned to the next passengers.
"You alright?" He asked as my face was still buried in his arm. "Yeah, I'm fine, just exhausted," I replied as he shuffled around to get us into a better position.
We laid together for the next few hours, falling in and out of sleep whilst also talking to each other. He would continued to reassure me about my father, although I'm sure he was the last topic I wanted to be talking about.
"Thank you for travelling with us today, I hope that you had a peaceful flight and we hope to see you on another journey with us soon," the intercom woke me up as I had missed the landing but I was still slouched in Caleb's now awake arms.
"Hey," he said as he checked the time. I smiled up at him and for the first time in a while, I just wanted to kiss him. We were sat in the perfect position, but I just couldn't force myself to do it, especially with not knowing how he also felt.
We both sat up as he stood and collected our bags. I took my bag from him and smiled happily. "Thank you," I said as he stood with his arm round me again, sending shivers round my back.
We waited for a few minutes until we were finally let off and able to walk to where people normally pick you up.
"My cars down the street from here, we can walk to it," he described as we started walking out of the airport towards where his car was parked.
"Did you tell anyone you were coming here?" I asked Caleb, but before he was able to reply, a familiar voice interrupted both of our thoughts.
"Well, what a surprise this is."
Slowly, my head lifted to see Jake standing in front of us by the airport doors, mainly where people waited for the arrivals.
"We could ask you the same question?" Caleb almost growled at him as his grip on me tightened. We were definitely in the shit now. It would be impossible to convince Jake to keep this a secret from their parents.
"I'm waiting for Annabelle if you must know, she's staying with us whilst our house is being refurbished here." The word here stuck in my mind and obviously in Caleb's mind as well as he spoke up before I could.
"You're moving here?" Caleb asked as I turned back to look at Jake, now smirking over at the both of us.
"Yes," he replied bluntly and looked between the both of us and at our hands that were currently intertwined. "What are you two doing here?" Jake smirked and stepped forwards, trying to act tougher than Caleb.
"We needed to get somewhere but now we're back so it doesn't matter," I was watching the encounter unfold but I just wanted it to end and I wanted to go home. It felt like eggshells around them that I was quietly standing on.
"Yeah, we better get going, see you at home Jake," I attempted to move Caleb's tough physique but he wouldn't budge. "Come on," I whispered and soon enough he walked off, giving Jake an evil glare as we walked out of the automatic doors and out towards his car.
• • •
"I'm so tired," I said to Caleb as we walked though the front door, straight after giving a sigh of relief from not seeing Katherine's or Mike's car in the drive way.
"How can you be tired? You slept and drooled on me the entire journey!" Caleb shouted whilst laughing at me. He continued to laugh as my face contorted into that of embarrassment and anger. "Did I drool?" I almost screamed as I ran to the mirror in the hallway to check if I had any dried marks down the side of my face.
"I was joking," He laughed as we walked upstairs to get to our separate bedrooms.
However, before we both opened our doors, I called him again. "Caleb?" I asked as he turned and gave me a questioning look. "Thank you for coming to get me, I'm sorry I ran off to meet him," I said as quickly as I could to make the apology less agonising than it already was.
"Don't worry, I had fun," he replied, "minus everything about his father." I rolled my eyes before I looked at him seriously again.
"What if he goes after my mom?" I asked, remembering that my mom was still out there.
He stepped towards me and wrapped his arms tightly around me again for reassurance. "He doesn't know where she is." Caleb spoke as he hugged me tightly and I replied with the same gesture and tightness. "Everything will be fine."
The hug lasted long enough until we finally separated and went to go to sleep. Caleb had been a changed person whilst we were in Florida.
It just made me wonder how long it would actually last.