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"Caleb, I can’t sleep. I had a nightmare.”
7 year old you stood at the entrance to his room, holding a blanket in your one hand and rubbing your eyes with the other. This wasn’t the first time bad dreams interrupted your sleep, and they wouldn’t be the last. Right now, you just needed someone to cuddle up to.
Caleb looked up from where he was sitting on his bed, reading.
“Bad dreams? I’m sorry pips, that’s no good. Wanna come lay with Caleb for a bit?”
He motioned for you to come over, pulling back his comforter to slide in next to him. You quietly padded over and climbed up onto the mattress, slipping under the sheets.
“Want me to read you a story?” You nodded, looking at the book he was holding in his hands.
Where the Wild Things Are.
You both loved this book. He’d read many different books to you a multitude of times, but something about this one was comforting. You often joked that the little boy in the book reminded you of him. He’d laugh back, saying he was more like the wild things. You shook your head in disagreement. Your Caleb wasn't a monster.
Wrapping his arm around you, he quietly read the few words across the big page, as your eyes slowly closed. He smelled really good, and his embrace was comforting. He felt like the strongest shield that protected from all the thunderstorms that plagued your life. You hoped it would always be that way.
“The night Max wore his wolf suit and made mischief of one kind. His mother called him a ‘Wild Thing’…”
“She may contain the urge to runaway,
But hold her down with soggy clothes and breezeblocks.”
You sit as far as you can from Caleb in the confines in his apartment, beyond furious at him. How could he trap you here?? His idea of ‘protection’ was almost laughable, if not for the fact he was keeping you here under his will and not yours.
He said it was only for three days, until everything calmed down outside. He lied. It had been a week and a half already. It angered you. You’re a deepspace hunter, very capable of facing the turmoils of Skyhaven. You were pissed at the farspace fleet, the shady business involving Caleb, and most of all, him.
When he walks into the room, you pointedly ignore him. Unfortunately your phone and other electronics have been confiscated, so you do the best you can to look busy so that you don’t have to talk to Caleb. He, however, obviously knows you’re not.
“Pips, talk to me.”
…
“You don’t have to ignore me, you know.” You say nothing. You have nothing to say that he’d listen to.
Caleb sighs, walking over to the couch you’re sitting on.
“It hurts my feelings when you give me the silent treatment.” Good, you think. Maybe it’s what he needs. Out of the corner of your eye, you can see how sad he looks, like a kicked puppy. He’s slightly hunched, like the weight of the situation is physically heavy to him.
Caleb puts his hand on your shoulder as another attempt to garner your attention, his frown growing when you shrug him off.
“Pips-”
“Take the hint and leave me alone Caleb!” You hiss at him, pure venom in your glare. “I clearly don’t want anything to do with you, but you just can’t help yourself can you??”
“Germaline, disinfect the scene,
My love, my love, love, love.”
Your eyes meet his, softening slightly. He looks like he might cry.
“You know I’m doin’ this for your own good, please try to understand-“
“Don’t give me that right now. I’m in no mood to entertain your savior complex. Just let me go.” You get up, brushing past him. Or, at least, you try to. Caleb snatches your wrist in his grip, a little tighter than comfortable.
“Why are you acting like this right now?” He snaps. “Everythin’ I do, I do for you. For us.”
“You do it for YOU, Caleb. Big difference.” You try to pull your wrist out of his grip to no avail. "Let go of me!"
“You don’t understand.” He pulls you to his room, despite your protests, and yanks open his drawers. There lay so many different things from your shared childhood. Pictures, trinkets, ticket stubs from a multitude of activities. Hair ties, old clothes, ratty books you used to read together. There were things in there you'd rather not mention too. A hidden shrine dedicated to the bond you once shared…
Before he died, anyhow.
“I love you so much it hurts. I’d do anything to protect you. And you just keep trying to leave.” He turns to you, loosening his grip on you finally. You meet his gaze, tensing when you see the wild look in his eyes.
“Why do you want to leave me? We finally reunited. I missed you, so, SO much. Didn’t you miss me?”
His words, intense as they are devotional, unconsciously having you take a step back.
“Please don't go, please don't go,
I love you so, I love you so.”
“I’d do anything for you, baby. Anything.”
You swallow thickly, eyes darting back and forth from him and his little collection. “Caleb…this isn’t the way.”
….
Wrong answer.
His eyes darken as you take another step back. He sighs heavily, flicking his hand in the direction of the door. With the help of his evol, it slams shut behind you. You jump at the sharp sound.
"I can see you don't understand. But it's okay, you will." The lock clicks in place, effectively trapping you both in the room. Caleb slowly walks to where you're standing, brushing his right hand against your cheekbone.
“Please don't go (Please don't go),
I'll eat you whole."
"You don't need to return to Linkon," he murmurs quietly. He wraps his arms around you, pulling you close to his chest. He rests his head on yours for a moment, inhaling deeply. You feel his face stretch into a wide grin, and something small in you breaks. You know you're not getting out of this one.
"I'll keep you safe, baby. No need for you to leave."
From the side where Caleb holds you to his chest, you can see your old copy of Where the Wild Things Are sticking out of one of the many drawers. You think back to what Caleb once told you, and for the first time you agree with him.
"I love you so,
I love you so, I love you so."
...
He really is like those monsters.