Cheeseburger Delivery [Caleb]

[scarlett]

Scarlett was not a happy camper. Why had she dropped everything she was doing to go get a friend a cheeseburger? Not that she'd been doing anything in particular, anyway. Actually, she hadn't been doing anything at all. She was just sitting there, flipping channels while chatting online. There had been nothing better to do, so why was she so frustrated with getting him a cheeseburger? Though really, Scarlett was incapable of being in a bad mood for more than a few minutes. By the time she actually pulled up at her old best friend's house, her slight anger had already vanished and she was back to her regular, always optimistic self.

She always parked on the curb because she wasn't a big fan of driveways. Especially ones that were on a hill, because she didn't trust her emergency brake. Either way, she parked on the curb by Caleb's house in Grady Hollow, and then walked up to the front door and knocked lightly to the rhythm of the song she'd just heard on the radio. Even though she really didn't mind going and getting Caleb a cheeseburger, she was planning on thoroughly going through his kitchen to see if he was telling the truth. Was there really nothing else to eat in the house that didn't involve cooking? She doubted it. There must've been some chips or some snack somewhere. After all, no one ate healthy anymore. Not even Scarlett herself. She survived off of chocolate and spaghetti. Not that spaghetti was unhealthy...

The only other things that she’d brought with her besides the burger was her iPod and some potato chips. Why potato chips? Because most people eat something else unhealthy with their burgers. She had never met anyone who just ate a burger without some sort of junk food to go with it. Her iPod she brought just in case there was some awkward silence that she’d need to fill. She doubted there would be a silence with Caleb, but she brought it just in case. Even if there was a silence between them, it wouldn’t be awkward. They’d known each other since toddlerhood, so what was the reason to feel awkward? There wasn’t one. While she waited for Caleb to come open the door, she looked around his yard at all the trees. It was a nice neighborhood, but she wasn't jealous. She enjoyed her small apartment. After a while of standing she sighed and raised her voice just loud enough to be heard through the door and into the room beyond it. “Do you want the burger or not?”

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[caleb]

Why should it be awkward? It shouldn’t be awkward. Caleb let out a low sigh. This wasn’t even fair. Caleb had known the girl his entire life. She was basically one of his best friends, and nothing should be awkward between them. That was kind of the whole point of having close friends wasn’t it? Now though, because of her stupid relationship with his other freaking best friend, Caleb felt guilty for having Scarlett over. It was all completely innocent. Shit, of course it was. She was bringing him a cheese burger for god’s sake. There really wasn’t anything romantic about that now was there? So why on earth did he feel that flutter in his stomach, and guilt twisting in his chest? Okay.. Well he did know. The fact he had feelings for her was a huge factor. Hell it was the only factor. It was just. Well. The less he spoke about that, the better off things would be for everyone.

You just didn’t cut your neighbours grass. It was in the bro-code, you know? It was even worse when it was your main bro. Not like he was going to act on any of these feelings. Of course he wasn’t. Not unless some sort of alien invaded his body and he stopped having control over his own actions. It was just... Hell. He wanted to. So badly. Everything about Scarlett.. It was perfection. Her smile, her lips.. Her hair.. And he didn’t even like blondes! That was saying something. It was more than her looks though. It was her laid back personality.. and how she put up with his crap. It was how she wasn’t afraid to be honest about her thoughts and feelings. It was.. It was just everything about her. Caleb just couldn’t put it into the words. Again, it was better if he didn’t try to put it into words, because it made him want to pull her into his arms and just never let her go.

Running a hand through his messy locks, Caleb picked up his X-box controller. He just needed to get his mind off things for a while. Or, well, at least until the woman got there with his noms. Un-pausing his game, Caleb settled into the couch as he moved his player through the virtual game he had been playing before he had so charmingly weaselled his way into getting fed by his best friend. Oh that was another thing to love about her. She couldn’t resist his charm. Blah. He should use that charm to get her to break up with her boyfriend. No! Caleb mentally slapped himself for that thought. It was really not okay to think like that. If he wanted to be a real friend, he needed to respect the relationship. It was selfish if he just acted on his own desires. And honestly, he cared about both his friends too much for that.

When the knock on the door came, Caleb had been drawn back into his game. He was in the middle of a really important play, and he figured he could get through it like, really quickly then answer the door. Speeding up his movements, the young man leant forward, trying to get what he was trying to achieve at rocket speed. Just as he was about to score a goal, he heard Scarlett’s voice. It was enough of a distraction for him to lose focus; and miss. Cursing under his breath, Caleb sighed and put down the controller. “Hold your freakin’ horses.” He mumbled towards the door as he eased himself up from the couch. Once he was up, the young man wasted no time in bounding towards the front door and pulling it open. A grin tugged on his lips as he saw her. She was a vision. A vision with a cheese burger. “You, are my hero.” He proclaimed, pulling her into a bear hug.

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[scarlett]

Scarlett would have said something else, though a few seconds after she spoke she heard her best friend’s bounding feet. What had he been doing? She sighed, letting the thoughts go as he pulled the door open with a broad grin. He has a nice smile, she thought, though she didn’t return one. Before she could even argue to his happiness, he pulled her into a hug and called her a hero. A part of her was so glad that her boyfriend wasn’t here to see this. Caleb was, however, his best friend, but that didn’t mean he had the right to hug her like that. Once he let her go, she rearranged her shirt and handed him the cheeseburger. “Yes, well, enjoy,”

[/b] she hadn’t really known what else to say, so she just stuck with that. It was kind of like a thank you, a very humble thank you, and she thought that fit her personality fairly well.

What she should’ve done was make sure she’d gotten the order wrong. She smirked slightly at the thought. Then he’d either eat nothing or a messed up burger. That would’ve been what he deserved. She wasn’t his maid, she didn’t have to go out and get him dinner just because there was nothing in his house to cook. Once she’d stepped in the house and closed the door behind her, she perked up at the thought of rummaging through his kitchen. She hadn’t been to his kitchen in a long time. Most of the time, if she was eating at a friend’s house, it wasn’t Caleb’s, it was her boyfriend’s. Not only did she want to see it again, but she wanted to see how truthful he’d been on that chat room.

Before he even had the chance to say anything else, she was already walking down the hallway towards his kitchen. She knew he’d probably follow her in confusion, or just stand there at the doorway calling after her about where she was going. Even then, he’d probably follow her after that. She knew exactly what he thought of the whole idea of her bringing him a burger. She really didn’t mind at all bringing him anything, she just liked giving him a hard time. He was her best friend, always had been and always would be. At least, she hoped so. That depends on how much more time she started spending with him, and how suspicious her boyfriend got. She pushed those thoughts away as she reached the kitchen and looked around. Hmm… where would he keep food that didn’t have to be cooked?

She looked around some more and then found a closet, and pantry, sort of, in the back. Aha, she smiled. She opened the door then to see what he had in side. Mostly junk food, but still, it was something to eat that probably wasn't much unhealthier than a burger that he had sitting right here. Potato chips, Fritos, poptarts… she sighed and turned back around to face Caleb who she figured had followed and was now behind her. “You call this having nothing to eat that doesn’t involve cooking?”[/b] her tone didn't sound to angry, not that she ever sounded angry. It was just a calm, almost emotionless tone. She could never stay mad at anyone, and especially not Caleb.[/blockquote][/blockquote][/justify][/font]

[caleb]

It wasn’t fair. Caleb found himself thinking that a lot when Scarlett was around. Things that came naturally to him- hugging for example (he was a hugger okay? Whatever), now felt out of line with the girl. Normally, he wouldn’t have cared if some guy didn’t like the way he interacted with his female friend. However, this time it wasn’t just some guy now was it? It was his best friend. His bro. He couldn’t just tell the guy that it was too bad if he didn’t like it. That would be a sure-fire way to piss his friend off. Not to mention there was the small fact that a hug was never just a hug when Scarlett was involved. While he never hugged her for any other reason than she was his friend, he couldn’t help how he felt when they hugged. He could try, oh God he tried. But there was just no way to stop emotions like that.

Frowning, he watched as the young woman made her way down the hall. Where the hell was she going? And with his burger! Rolling his eyes, Caleb bounded after her. If not only to get his cheeseburger, but to see what she was up to. Of course, she was free to make herself at home at his house anytime she liked, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t be curious about what she was doing. Heh, the kitchen. Should have known. She wanted to see just how true it was about the food situation. Well, let her. He already had what he wanted, and Caleb knew from personal experience that she wouldn’t actually get that upset at him. Even times when he probably really deserved it, she never really punished him. Well, she told him point blank he was acting like a jerk. Which at times hurt than anything else anyone could dish out.

Tugging at the paper bag, he pried his dinner from her grasp while she was distracted with looking around. As long as he had the burger, he was fine. Pulling himself up onto the kitchen counter, the young man pulled out his cheese burger and started to un-wrap it. It was probably impolite to start eating without the person who had brought you the food (she had some for herself right? Because if not, that was super awkward), but Caleb didn’t car too much in that moment. He was hungry, and who knew how long Scar would search for food? Shrugging off the thought, Caleb bit into the burger. God. It was so good. He could have dreams about this freaking burger. Well.. Maybe not. He was just really hungry okay? Don’t judge him.

Caleb’s mouth was full of food when the girl turned on him. His eyes grew a little, and he hurried to chew and swallow what was in his mouth so he could offer her a sheepish grin. “What? What’s in there? Did mom go shopping and not tell me?” Yes, he still lived with his parents, but considering he wasn’t studying and had no real job, there wasn’t much of a choice for him now was there? His coaching job was all just voluntary. He had it easy at home though. Free food, someone to wash his clothes.. What more could he want really? Chucking, Caleb stuck his foot out to poke the girl with his toe. “Come on babe, want some cheese burger? It’s so good!” He smiled again, this time much like a puppy trying not to get yelled at. It was a look he used a lot.

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[scarlett]

A smirk came across her face as she heard him following her into the kitchen. Of course, she hadn't given him the bag with the cheeseburger just to make sure he wouldn't just stand there munching on it while she went rummaging through his junk food closet. He did manage to take it from her while she was rummaging, though, which she really didn't mind. She wouldn't have let him take it if she had. Even though he was not only much taller (and buffer) than her, she knew he highly underestimated her tiny, petite strength. She had always been small for her age, even when she was born she was severely underweight. She had to stay in the hospital for over a week when she was born, until she gained enough weight to be considered normal. That was just about given her overprotective mother a heart attack. Even then, she was already overbearing. So even now that she was graduated, she was the height of a seventh grader, and probably the weight of one, too. She couldn't deny that she could fit under the category of “skinny mini” even though during meals she seemed to eat a fairly decent amount. Though her parents always pushed her to eat more.

Pushing those thoughts away, she went to the fridge and pulled out an apple. That would be enough to hold her over for now, she thought. Again, another food that was there that didn't involve cooking. Sighing, she pulled off the sticker and ran it under the water in the sink. Then she went to lean on the counter across from him. He had a nice place, she could understand why he'd just stay there instead of getting his own place like she did… though her parent's house wasn't all that much nicer than her new apartment. If her parents owned a house this nice, she might still be living with them, too. Biting into her apple with a loud munch, she tilted her head to the side slightly as he chewed the burger like it was sent from heaven straight to him, just for him. She rolled her eyes. There was no way a gross drive-thru burger could be that good. There just wasn't. She'd tasted burgers from drive-thrus herself. They were nothing special, though she'd never been much of a meat person. She was a fruit and chocolate person, if anything. She wasn't judging him, though she was eying him curiously as he ate.

When he brought up his mom going shopping she just rolled her eyes again. He was such a boy. If she hadn't grown up with him and known him all this time, she would probably be avoiding him. Though, he couldn’t help being so... typical, she supposed, for lack of a better word. Biting loudly into her apple again she shook her head when he offered her his burger. No way in hell, she thought, though of course she didn't say that. Although by now she thought he'd have figured out that she was practically a vegetarian, except for some chicken here and there. And dairy, she was in love with milk and cheese. "I'm very content with my apple, thank you."

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[caleb]

Caleb sat, somewhat confused, as she moved away from the cupboard and towards the fridge. Practically ignoring his words, and not to mention the foot nudge. Had he done the wrong thing? Caleb raised a small eyebrow. He was just joking around, and to his knowledge he hadn’t said anything completely offensive. I mean, even for him. The boy (because, let’s face it, he really wasn’t a man) was often saying things that upset other people but that wasn’t him trying to be mean. That was just an epic case of foot-in-mouth. What had he even done this time though? Caleb tapped his tongue on the roof of his mouth while he went through everything he had said since she had arrived. Trying to work out what it was that had upset his friend enough not to talk to him. Was it because he offered her a bite? Wasn’t that supposed to be the polite thing to do? How could she be mad at that?

Maybe she was mad that he’d made her get him food in the first place? Caleb frowned deeply. If she didn’t want to get him the food than she shouldn’t have! Caleb hated feeling like he had made her do something she didn’t want to do. That was never his intention ay all. To be perfectly honest, most of the times when he asked her to do things, he fully expected her to just turn around and say no. Or well, at least make him work for it much harder. She was way too nice to him, Caleb decided. He needed to stop asking her for things, if she was just going to say yes but not mean yes and resent him. He really just.. Couldn’t handle it if Scarlett resented her. Damn. Since when did he let this girl turn him into such a sap? And she wasn’t even his girl.. Yet. No! Bad Caleb.

Mentally hitting himself over the head, Caleb watched as she cleaned her apple. People actually did that? Huh. Caleb had never really been the sort to wash his fruit before eating it. Or well, he wasn’t much of a fruit eater anyway but still. If he was to eat fruit, he’d probably just pick it up and eat it. No one had ever really explained to him the pesticide thing. He thought that the whole thing on that singing show with the cute red-head needing to wash her fruit (shh, yes he watched Glee okay?) was just one of those made up things that TV shows do. Not something that actually happened in real life. As Caleb watched his best friend though, he noted that she didn’t seem as obsessed as the ginger woman. Just a quick wash and she was done and ready to eat her apple. Maybe she had just a mild OCD thing?

Finally, she was responding to him. Caleb rolled his eyes at his best friend. Chuckling in good-humour. “Wow, way to have a delayed response, babe.” He teased her, wriggling his eyebrows. “Did you need to wait ‘till you had the apple to prove a point or something?” Rolling his eyes once more, the young man slid off the bench. “Whatever. Come on, lets go watch TV or something. The kitchen is boring.” Tugging at her free hand, Caleb pulled the girl along behind him as he took himself and his beloved burger into the living room. His game was still paused on the fairly decent screen of his parents TV, though he knew his chances of being allowed to keep playing were very slim. Picking up the remote as he flopped onto the couch, he flipped over to the cable TV stations. “Anything you wanna watch?”

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[scarlett]

Before he spoke, she could see that she'd gotten to him. He was in deep thought as she was getting her apple. Very deep thought. That type of that she herself does into when she's trying to figure out what she did wrong, or if she's trying to find the answer to some trivia or a math problem or something. Unless it was just one of those dazing off into space, she rarely ever looked like she was in deep thought. She had actually been called an airhead before, although they always saw that they'd offended her and called her a "smart airhead." The only reason they really said that was because she was blonde and was sometimes impulsive. Scarlett, no matter how tough she seemed on the outside, was not really that hard to offend. I mean, there were some things she didn't care about. But if you just so much as mention picking on her skin (when she was in high school she had awful acne) or her grades or something, she wouldn't lash out. You know when you've really offended her because she shies away and seems to disappear, or hide away behind her hands. It's a good way to get apologies and take backs out of people, though, by looking so miserable and upset.

She smiled and barely held in her laugh as he spoke about her long hesitation. She had definitely gotten to him underneath all that tough. That's why she'd done it. "No, I was just messing with you. I don't mind getting you a disgusting burger at all."

[/b] After a moment, she thought a moment as she bit into her apple again, "And I know you were thinking about it, so I just want to say this. Yes, people do actually wash off their fruit before eating it."[/b] It had been clear that that had been one of the many things running through Caleb's mind as she waited to answer him. She liked delayed responses, it gave the person she was talking to plenty of time to add anything else they wanted to say, and it also gave her time to come up with an interesting way to word her reply. "And don't call me babe."[/b]

She let him take her hand and pull her into the living room. TV wasn't really her thing. The only thing she liked about it was movies, especially old ones from like 1942. Those old timey war movies were amazing to her for some reason, though most recent movies were fine too. TV shows, however, she could never stay with. SOAP operas were terribly lame, and so were most of those stupid high school related series. She did, however, find a pure love for SpongeBob. Anything else on those kid channels were pretty much repulsive to her. Unless they were showing super old shows, like Tom & Jerry or Dastardly & Muttley. Gotta love them.

Sitting down beside him on the couch (not close enough to actually lean on him, but close enough that she could be considered next to him), she bit into her apple again. When he asked if there was anything she preferred to watch, she only shrugged. After a moment of thinking about it, she remembered a show she'd come across while flipping a while ago. It was the stupidest thing she'd ever seen, and for some reason they felt the need to give fish legs.... "As long as it's not that gumball show, I'm fine."[/b]
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[caleb]

Wow. How did girls do that? Caleb hadn’t even said anything about her being annoyed about getting the cheese burger. Or the washing fruit thing. Yet there she was, bringing it up like she knew exactly what had been on his mind. She was always reading his thoughts like that. What was it with girls? Did they all have special mind reading abilities or something? Or were men just more transparent than they realised? Probably the latter. Girls were so complicated and had such strange thought patterns, so compared to that, men probably were pretty simple. And well, Caleb wasn’t exactly the brightest crayon in the back now was he? It wasn’t as though he was the sort to sit and contemplate the great questions of life. The biggest thing Caleb normally considered was what the best flavour Doritos. Or if he wanted to sleep for an extra few hours.

Pouting, Caleb looked down at his feet. Why was she so against being called Babe? Really he just didn’t get it. It was his favourite pet name, and he didn’t want to stop using it. I mean, he would if she really, like really hated it. So far though, the girl hadn’t given him any real reason behind not wanting him to use it. At least not a good enough reason for Caleb to stop. She’d have to give him something really good if he was going to change that part about himself. I mean, who was it really hurting? Unless.. Was his bro upset by it and just too, I dunno, upset or whatever to tell him? Was this their way of trying to get him to stop? Man. Now he didn’t know what to do. Caleb would have hoped if that were the case that his friends would be honest with him.

Caleb was still thinking about it when he started flipping channels. It wasn’t the case was it? Maybe he’d just ask her about it? Would that be too awkward? Him just asking if it was her boyfriend that put her up to the whole babe thing. It would be awkward, and probably ruin the whole afternoon. Deciding against it, the young man settled a little further into the couch. He’s bring it up with his bro. That would be better. Men didn’t try and talk about feelings or anything. Which would be easier in this sort of situation. The last thing he wanted was Scarlett to start asking about his feelings and what not. The more she messed around in his head, the more likely she was to figure out his feelings for her and that was just bad. The last thing he wanted was for Scarlett to get freaked out because of his feelings and stop hanging out with him. He’d really hate that.

Flipping to the children’s stations (He liked cartoons okay?), Caleb flicked slowly to see what was on. Oh man! Phineas and Ferb! He loved that show! Grinning to himself, Caleb put the remote down and started to eat his burger once more. Man, he loved that little platypus. Frowning, he glanced over at Scarlett. “Huh? Gumball show?” Raising an eyebrow he looked at her. He had no idea what she was even talking about.

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[scarlett]

Scarlett was very much satisfied with the shocked look on his face when she seemed to have read his mind. It was obvious that she’d nailed it, and she couldn’t control the smirk on her face. She knew that he was staring at his feet because she told him to stop calling her babe. It was clear that he liked calling her that, but she despised it. Any kind of nickname like that… honey, baby… darling wasn’t so bad, but the only reason she didn’t hate that was because that was the last name in Peter Pan. She was Wendy Moira Angela Darling, which Scarlett always thought was the coolest name ever when she was a child. Ever since she’d wanted to marry a man whose last name was Darling. Mr. Darling, she still like that after all these years.

And she knew what the reason was he was thinking, because as soon as she said it, she put herself in his position. That was always how she could figure out what people were thinking. She took what she knew about their personality, (which, since this was her best friend since toddlerhood, she knew his personality pretty damn well), and put herself in his shoes. She had no idea that he had feelings for her, of course, but she knew that it would be awkward if either one of them brought him up while they were along together. Even though there was nothing between them, Caleb’s best friend was Scarlett’s boyfriend, and that made everything pretty complicated. Scarlett would never under any circumstances cheat on anyone, and definitely not her current boyfriend. But boys, when they had feelings for girls, got all stubborn and might get jealous even though there was nothing there to be jealous over. She knew this from past experience.

Hesitating, she thought about telling him that it wasn’t what he was thinking, but decided against it. Not only would it probably cause an awkward silence, but it ruin the rest of their evening together. She swallowed down another piece of her apple as she followed him into the living room and he flipped channels. It was quiet as he flipping through all the kiddy channels. He went through Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, and then Disney, which he stopped on. Munching on her apple some more, she looked at him kind of surprised when he stopped on Phineas and Ferb. Of all the shows, he picks this one…? That wasn’t what she expected, though she didn’t mind it. She would prefer SpongeBob or something, but that works too. She was also shocked when he said he didn’t know the gumball show. She just stared at him for a while, hoping that it wouldn’t make him too uncomfortable. “The Amazing World of Gumball, it’s on Cartoon Network. One of the kids I babysit it obsessed with it. I can’t stand it.”

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[caleb]

Caleb raised an eyebrow, considering her for a moment. He honestly couldn’t believe he’d never heard of the show before. It actually seemed like it was right up his alley. Generally, there were three things that the boy liked to watch; Sports, horror movies, and cartoons. Sure, it probably just proved people right when they called him immature but he didn’t care all that much. They were right anyway, so why should he care? Growing up was over-rated. It meant you had to take on responsibility and do things like watch the news so you could ‘converse with other adults about current events’. Also fart jokes were probably frowned upon. Fart jokes were hilarious and if he wasn’t allowed to use them, then he wouldn’t be a happy boy. So yeah, no growing up. He’d stay stuck in his man-boy state forever if he had to. It was fun there.

Nodding a little, he chuckled. “That actually sounds really awesome. I’ll have to check it out.” He paused, then flashed her his best grin. “Not now though, because you are here and you don’t like it.” He watched her hopefully, still smiling like a fool. He was like a dog who had just done something they thought was really special and wanted a reward from their master. In fact, a lot of what he did could be seen as dog-like, but that was a whole different thing. Caleb liked positive recognition from Scarlett. He always felt like he was doing the wrong thing, so when he did the right thing he needed some sort of metaphoric pat on the head for his deeds. Or a real one. Caleb shivered a little at the thought. He loved it when girls played with his hair, and he could only imagine how nice it would feel if she was to run her beautiful fingers through his- No! He could not go there. Danger, Danger!

He could not afford to indulge in such fantasies. He also shouldn’t use such wanky language. Even if it was in his own head. Come on Caleb, keep your head in the game. He told himself, a mental pep talk- that was what he needed. He needed to just re-focus. They were just two friends, watching cartoons and eating a cheese burger. There was nothing at all attractive about that and the boy was set on keeping it that way. He was not going to jeopardize two friendships by letting his feelings get in the way of things. Taking a deep breath, he turned his attention to the television. Staring at the screen without really concentrating on it. Why did she have to sit so close? And why was he suddenly over aware of her presence? Running a hand through his hair, Caleb just about jumped up. “You thirsty? Want a soda?”

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[scarlett]

Scarlett couldn’t help but a smile a bit at his big puppy eyes after he spoke. Why in the world was he looking at her like that? She quickly thought back over what it was he had said, and then barely stopped herself from laughing. He wanted some sort of praise, didn’t he? He wanted her to thank him or pat him on the back for not making her watch the gumball show. Rolling her eyes slightly, she decided only to give him what he wanted so he’d stop staring at her like that. It was a rather corny thing to say, but she figured it was kind of sweet as well. Shaking her head slightly with a uncontrollable smile, she patted him on the shoulder playfully and laughed once or twice, “Thank you. That’s very thoughtful.”

[/b]

Most people by his age were at least a little more mature than this, weren’t they? She couldn’t help thinking it with the cartoons, the puppy dog stare, the needing her to get him a burger and still living with his parents. Guys his age were usually living on their own by now. Scarlett was. She watched him out of the corner of her eye while he watched the show. It didn’t seem he was really watching it. It looked like his mind was far away and he just happened to be looking in the direction of the television. After a moment he ran his hand through his hair, which snapped her thoughts and caught her attention. She watched him for a moment, almost worriedly. He never did that unless there was something wrong.

Then, before she could even say anything, he shot up out of his seat and said (probably a little bit louder than needed) something about a soda. Surprised a little confused, she just nodded, her mouth sort of hanging open a little. Most people probably wouldn’t have really thought anything of it, but Scarlett had always been pretty sensitive toward people, and she’d caught his shiver a minute ago. Clearly that shiver was no from the cold. He’d been thinking about something, something that Scarlett found herself very curious about but knew it probably wouldn’t be appropriate to ask. As he vanished into the other room to get the sodas, she got up and stood in the doorway, watching him closely. At this point it didn’t seem she needed to worry about making him uncomfortable. She’d already done that. Now she was worried about him though. Why was it that he was uncomfortable? He seemed a little better now that he was up and walking around, but that still didn’t help answer her question. Sighing and leaning her hip against the wall, she gnawed on her lip as she watched him with curious, narrowed eyes, “Are you alright, Caleb...?”[/b]
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[caleb]

A soda! Good! Yes! She was nodding. Caleb could do that. He could busy himself getting them some sodas. Hell, he could busy himself getting a million sodas if he thought it would help any. Trouble was, it wouldn’t. Not in the long run anyway. I mean, it would certainly be a good distraction. He’d get tired after a while of pouring and he’d have that to focus on and complain about. When the job was done though and his shoulder recovered from the constant repetitive action, he knew his mind would probably find its way back to Scarlett. They always found their way back to her. No matter how hard he tried to keep her from his mind, there she was. Her smiling and laughing in his mind’s eye just looking so perfect. Then her snuggling into her boyfriend and looking so happy it literally made Caleb want to tear out his heart. He should be happy for her- she was happy, and his best friend. He should be, but he just couldn’t bring himself to be unselfish.

Darting into the kitchen without another word, Caleb let out a deep breath. He had the strongest urge to punch something. Perhaps the kitchen wall or the counter top or something that would make a loud, satisfying sound. He knew better than that though, at least, in the back of his mind he remembered that Scarlett was only in the next room and that any sort of loud noise would attract her attention. Besides, if he hit something so hard that he damaged his hand, she’d naturally want to know why, and he wasn’t sure if he could deal with those sorts of questions. It wasn’t as though he could just casually explain to the girl that he had needed to hit something because his desire just to be close with her was so strong that he needed some sort of release. Yeah.. That would go over real well. She’d probably think he was crazy and back away, never to return. Ha, maybe he was crazy for putting himself through this?

Letting out a sigh, Caleb ran his hands through his hair again. He just needed to re-group. That was all. Moving over to the cupboard, the young man pulled out two glasses. He then busied himself in filling them with ice. Taking the time to count out each cube. It was a good way to well.. Cool down. Someone had once told him that counting to ten would help curb his anger. Well, he always seemed to get distracted with that, so counting actual things was a good second option. He was so intent on his task that he hadn’t noticed that Scarlett had followed him into the room. Or well, to the doorway at least. Putting the ice away, Caleb opened the fridge and started to search for the soda cans he was sure he’d seen earlier. Her voice interrupted his search though, and caused the young man to jump just a little. Standing up straight, he turned to look at Scarlett. Pulling a forced smile to his lips, he attempted to laugh casually. “Yeah, ‘course babe. Why wouldn’t I be?”

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[scarlett]

Scarlett couldn’t help but be a bit suspicious. Why in the world would he suddenly hop up in the middle of Phineas and Ferb just to get a soda? Everyone liked soda but Caleb looked almost panicked. He was messing around with some ice cubes, very carefully sorting them as she leaned against the doorway in waiting. She could’ve sworn that he’d never counted the ice like that before. Besides, did it really matter how many were in her drink? Was he giving both of them the same amount or something? He seemed busy at work, though, so at first she didn’t say anything. He was a curious young man, wasn’t he? He hadn’t seemed to notice her until he put the ice away and then acted as if nothing weird had happened only a minute ago.

There was always something that Scarlett could never figure out: why Caleb even liked her boyfriend. Sure, they’d been friends since childhood, but since then they’re personalities seemed to have changed a bit. At least her boyfriend didn’t count each individual ice cube very carefully. Had Caleb become OCD recently or something? And if something was up with Caleb, wouldn’t he tell his “bro?” She knew that if her boyfriend had known anything about why Caleb was acting so funny, he would have told her. Wouldn’t he? Maybe she should ask next time she saw him.

She’d accidentally startled him, though, as he went searching for the soda in the fridge. At least he wasn’t counting half melted ice anymore. Hesitantly, she approached him when he said nothing was wrong. She glared for a moment or two at “babe” again but tried to ignore it. She bit her lip and leaned against the countertop beside him the fridge as he searched. “I don’t know. That’s why I’m asking. I figure there must be something on your mind if you're… counting ice.” Of course, Caleb had no reason to really tell her an answer unless he wanted to. He didn’t owe anything to her, except for maybe some money for the cheeseburger. He could just blow her off if he wanted, knowing she could never stay mad at him. Of course, that didn’t mean she’d stop asking him about it. She was never one to pester unless she was terribly curious.

Still, there was something off about him even with the smile he gave her. It was almost as if he was forcing he smile. Why would he be keeping something from her, though? Why would he need to keep something from her? Scarlett had always been way too suspicious for her good. As he was rummaging through the fridge for the sodas, her mind was racing. If he was hiding something, that meant it was probably not his own secret to keep. Caleb wasn’t big on secrets of his own, or at least, he hadn’t been for the many years she’d known him. He was usually pretty open about himself. Did that mean it was a friend’s secret? The only real friend he had besides her was his “bro”, her boyfriend. She reached into the fridge and pulled out the sodas, holding them up to show Caleb that they had been right in front of him the whole time. She hadn’t meant to sound snappy, but now she was even more suspicious and worried than ever, “Tell me what’s wrong.”

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