Chapter Text
Caleb hadn't let go of my hand from the moment Miss Josephine had saved us. He had stayed as close as he possibly could the whole time, even snapping at doctors who tried to separate us, in the end they gave up, letting us stay together while they fixed our wounds and checked for sickness and infections. I matched his need to stay close, clinging to him when his hand was torn away from mine. It was disorienting. the lights were bright. there were people running around and talking loudly. there were a lot of questions you didn't quite understand. And the tests they were doing scared both you and Caleb as much as Josephine tried to tell us it was ok. When it was finally over I was falling asleep while waiting for Miss Josephine to finish talking to the doctors and filling out paperwork.
"Are you tired?" Caleb asked next to me. I didn't even realize my eyes had fallen closed, but I immediately sat up straight and opened my eyes as wide as they would go.
"No," I lied.
"Yha you are," He sighed. I shook my head violently to prove a point, making myself dizzy. "You can sleep if you want, I'll keep you safe." I tried to stay strong but after a minute I gave up. My eyes were so heavy It was impossible to keep them open any longer and I leaned back against his shoulder. After a minute of trying to get comfortable on the hard chair with the sounds of the hospital drilling into my hears I felt a large hand on my shoulder. I slowly opened my eyes and met the soft eyes of Miss Josephine. She smiled, and for whatever reason I felt safe.
"Hi," she spoke quietly, "Do you two want to come home and live with me?"
"What?" Caleb exclaimed beside me sitting up. I wrapped my arms weakly around his and rested my cheek on his shoulder again. I was too tired to fully understand what was happening or string together a question so I just hummed softly in question.
"Well I assume you don't want to stay in the hospital," she continued, "Back at home I have a comfy bed for you, and food, and its nice and quiet, how does that sound?"
"Mhm..." I mumbled as my eyes started to close again. Caleb quickly moved to put his arms around me, clutching me like I was going to be taken away from him.
"You wont hurt her, will you?" he asked, defensively. Josephine was quiet for a second, then I felt her quickly wrap her arms around both of us. I opened my eyes just enough to see her warm brown hair half blocking the bright hospital lights.
"No one is going to hurt you anymore, no one, especially not me, you're safe now," She spoke with intensity. Caleb went completely still, I wasn't sure why. I was way too tired to feel the weight of what she was saying, I just wanted to sleep, it was all I could think about.
"I wanna go home," I said into her shoulder. she pulled away and I fell forward a little but Caleb tightened his grip enough to keep me upright. Josephine whipped away a tear I didn't realize she shed. I looked up at Caleb, who looked to be in deep thought. "Gege?" He looked to me, "Can we go home with her?" His gaze softened and he took a deep breath.
"Yha, we can go home," He reassured me. He ended up carrying me out of the hospital and into the car, where I sat pressed into his side dead asleep in the back seat until we reached her house. She gave us soft pajamas to change into and led us to her guest room, where there were two twin sized beds. She wished us a goodnight and turned the lights off as she went to her own room. I was so tired I was out almost immediately while Caleb kept watch over me from his bed.
But the rest was short lived. at some ungodly hour of the night I gasped awake after a dream that was now too far away to comprehend. The tears on my cheeks were already there from while I was asleep and they continued as I slowly sat up. I gazed around the dark room and remembered that this wasn't where I had been for however many years of my life, I was in Miss Josephine's house, with Caleb, and safe. I almost couldn't believe that. It couldn't be true. Images flashed in my mind, Flashing lights, Caleb's face filled with fear, blood, both his and mine, eyes that knew no empathy as I cried to deaf ears. At first I tried to stay quiet, covering my mouth and nose with my hands as my breathing became irregular. but I couldn't contain the pathetic whimper that escaped my throat. Almost automatically Caleb was out of his bed and at my side, his arms around me pulling me tightly against him.
"Its ok, its ok, I've got you, don't cry," He shushed me and stroked my hair. A part of me wondered If he had been asleep at all but that didn't really matter. Him telling me not to cry only made me cry harder as I pressed my face into his chest and griped his shirt for dear life. He had done this a million times before, but before there wasn't much he could say because of the situation you had both been in without hope. But now, he could tell you what he couldn't for years. "It's over now, were safe, I promise your ok." to be honest I couldn't tell if he was telling me that or saying it to himself but we both needed to hear that.
"What if they find us?" I mumbled into his shirt, now wet with my tears.
"They wont, I promise they wont, not with me looking out for us," he said confidently.
I sat up a little and whipped my eyes, smirking at him a little "Your not that strong, Caleb."
He looked hurt, "What? yes I am, look!" he let go of me and lifted his arms up, flexing his nonexistent muscles, "I'm the strongest!"
I giggled and reached out, shoving his arms down, "no your not! Not even close."
"Oh yha? then what's this?" he lifted up his shirt as if to show me abs he once again didn't have. I laughed and pulled his shirt back down.
"Ew, Caleb!" We both laughed. He wrapped his arms back around me and lied down next to me in my bed.
"My point is, I'll never stop protecting you, never ever, and no one is gonna hurt you as long as I'm around," He said, reassuringly. I lifted my hand with my pinky held out.
"You promise?" He pressed his forehead against mine and linked his pinky on my own.
"I promise, Pipsqueak."
I pulled away slightly, "Pipsqueak?"
"Yha! cuz your so small compared to me."
I hit his shoulder, "no, I bet when we get older I'll be stronger and bigger than you could ever be! And you're never gonna get abs!"
He laughed, "Ok, bet, If I win, I get to call you pipsqueak forever."
"Deal!" I said back. He had successfully distracted me for one night. we stayed in my bed and ended up sleeping there that night, and most nights after that thanks to continuous nightmares and late night panic attacks, but he was always there. and he kept his promise, just like he said he would.
I wake up thirsty at what feels like three am, maybe later judging on the sky starting to turn a dark shade of blue outside. I reach up and take a sip from my water glass, sitting up and holding it as I gaze out the window. I'm still tired from the long day of work the day before but sleep seems to far now. The man in the bed next to me shifts, turning over to face me and wraps his arm around my waist.
"Why are you up?" he asked, his voice thick with sleep, "bad dream?"
"No, just thirsty, go back to sleep Caleb." I shush him, running a hand through his hair. he tightens his grip around my waist.
"No, not unless you do too," He complains. I sigh, set the glass back on my nightstand, and lay back down next to him. he wraps his arms around me, holding me tightly to his chest. He sighs with contentment as he runs a hand through my hair. "We should do this more often."
"Your only here cuz I had another nightmare," I deadpan.
"We should do this more often minus the nightmare part," He corrects himself. I breath a lough and press my face into his full chest. I suddenly thought back to that bet we made all those years ago. I moved my hand out of his embrace to touch his bicep, feeling for any muscle. "What are you doing pips?"
"You remember the bet we made when we were kids? the one about you being able to call me pipsqueak?" I asked as my hand continued down his arm.
"Of course," He said, confused, "What about it." I then moved my hand across his chest. I could tell his face was red without looking. I sighed as I felt what I was looking for through his loose shirt.
"You win," I said, defeated.