Once inside the house, brief words were shared before everyone separated. Feet moved in all directions with varying post drinking habits.
I glanced down at the boy leaning against me. His eyes would occasionally drift shut before his body jolted, keeping him awake and upright. As sleep called to him more, it's sweet sounds lulling him into a dream state, his body became heavier as he allowed me to hold him up. I helped guide him up the stairs, his sluggish body slowly going through the motions, and towards my room at the far end of the hallway.
My room was small with the double bed taking up most of the floor space, but it was space enough. The clutter that at first glance seemed chaotic and messy, was a collection of items from my childhood home and things I had purchased since moving out. Things that I clung to for comfort when first venturing out in the world, tasting independence for the first time, and those that followed me on my journey.
Caleb drowned in the clothes I had given him, our difference in size made noticeable by the absence of his hands in the hoodie and the bunched fabric gathered around his ankles. He clumsily padded back into my room, his sleepy eyes glancing up at mine with a tired smile on his face.
"Bedtime?" Caleb nodded and I watched as he sank into my bed, taking the left side, and hesitated, my feat naturally drawn to the left as well.
I stepped forwards, turning the bedside lamp on before turning off the main light. The soft yellow glow keeping the room illuminating.
Sleep found Caleb fast, his slow breaths confirmation. I allowed the stead sound to guide me into my own dreams.
<>
Morning came all too fast. My body felt heavy, and my head weighted to the pillow.
I'd turned on my sleep, my body once facing the wall now looking at a familiar figure sat against the headboard.
Caleb's attention shifted to me upon noticing my movement.
"Morning." My voice was groggy with the residue of sleep. Caleb's response was airy, the smile on his face conveyed through his words. Fully taking in his appearance, I concluded the boy had been awake for a while, though he reassured me it hadn't been to long.
"Have you had breakfast?" Embarrassment wasn't a look Caleb often wore, but the pink blush coating his cheeks was a sight I wished to see more.
"I didn't want to go downstairs. Also, it's more like lunch now."
I sat myself up, checking my phone to find it was indeed midday. "Why not?"
"I didn't want to bump into anyone. I thought I'd wait for you. Less awkward."
I was going to make a comment, but his lack of eye contact and still flushed cheeks deterred me. If he was genuinely nervous and embarrassed about that I had no intention to make him feel worse.
"Well, I'm up now, so we can finally get you fed. Do you want a change of clothes?"
Caleb looked down at what he was wearing, the clothes still handing off his frame and smothering his slightly smaller body.
"Nah, I'm good." After a moment's thought he continued, "if that's okay?"
"Yeah, it's fine. You look cute all swallowed up by my clothes." I stumbled in getting my own change of clothes out when I realised what I said, but decided if I act natural, he won't over think anything I had said. Right? Don't panic.
"I didn't realise I was this much smaller than you." Caleb said, and I released a quiet sigh in relief. Overthinking was one of my specialties.
"Seriously? You're just so itty bitty."
"Okay so I'm kind of small, and what?" He huffed. I turned my attention towards him, my clothes tight in my hands as I held them up in a defensive gesture.
"Nothing. I like small people. I can use their shoulders as arm rests."
"You-" I was out the door before he could say anymore.
While our house had two bathrooms, one upstairs and one downstairs, only one had a shower. Mine and my housemates sleeping and showering happens overlapped slightly, but thankfully it hadn't proved to be much of an issue so far.
I stood in the tiled room, the limited storage space packed with an unnecessary number of products we all claimed had some use. Numerous bottles of shower gel sheep pointless when we often just shared each other's anyway.
I was in and out of the bathroom quickly, feeling clean and refreshed. Caleb had made the bed, opened the curtains and folded his clothes by the time I had returned. He all but jumped off the bed once I stepped foot inside.
"Hungry?"
"I thought I was going to die of starvation if you took any longer. You would have returned to my poor corpse."
"Well, that would've been a shame. I hear the smell of death lingers." Caleb snorted at my reply before walking past me, grabbing my arm in the process, and leaving my room. "Alright, alright, I'm coming."
The small smirk he turned to give me made my heart flutter and I looked away in an attempt to calm down. I felt like telling the younger boy off for being so darn cute all the time, it was unfair to my sanity.
Bates was stood in the kitchen when we entered. He was slumped against the counter, cup of coffee in hand.
"Rough night?"
"Be thankfully you don't share a wall with anyone, my god," Bates glared at the counter, "I was beginning to think stabbing my ear was the only escape."
Ollie had brought someone home with him so an educated guess cold be taken on what noises Bates could hear through the wall.
"It gets worse!" He exclaimed, a spontaneous burst of energy filling him, "he came into my room afterwards, stark naked might I add, and asked if he thought we'd want to order takeaway tonight. Like, who does that?"
This wasn't the first rime Ollie had walked into someone's room naked, his nudist nature was common by now. Right after sex was a step too far.
"What if you were asleep?"
"Well, one, how the hell could I have slept through that, two, I was watching Netflix so loud in an attempt to drown out the noise, that he probably heard it. Still not okay. Dude needs to learn some boundaries."
"Love the confidence, not the execution."
"Not at all. Imma go back to bed, see you when I see you."
Once Bates' footsteps had retreated all the way upstairs, Caleb's laugh filled to room, my own shortly following.
Breakfast was quick and easy. We both settled for cereal, a friendly debate over putting in cereal before milk commencing as we made our bowls. When I told him that one of my friends eats rice pops with no milk at all, he stared at me in horror.
After reluctantly letting Caleb clean our dishes once we'd finished, we headed back upstairs. The house was beginning to wake up, murmurs traveling through the walls and steeps echoing in the quiet space. The creaking of wood ground as it roused from its slumber and the two of us retreated to my room, hiding ourselves from the outside world.
"Let's watch a horror film." Caleb suggested, once we'd made ourselves comfortable on the bed, my computer on his lap and Netflix already loaded up. The curtains had been redrawn, the small crack underneath the door, and the computer screen providing the only sources of light.
Weren't horror movies the universal 'make a move' genre, or am I overanalysing again?
"Sure." Unfortunately for the both of us, or, well, me, I was not afraid of horror movies, and it turns out neither was Caleb. As the film progressed our bodies ended up closer together, I could feel the heat from him as our legs brushed against each other, but we didn't get closer than that.
I was okay with how things were. It was more fun watching as Caleb threw the popcorn, that I decided to make while Caleb picked the film, at the screen and shouted profanities at the characters stupidity. For someone born in a heavily religious household the boy had quite the mouth on him.
"Do they all want to die? Is this just a fun game, like hey, who can get killed first? Because I swear, they're idiots. All of them."
"And in this type of scenario what are you going to do?"
He was silent for a moment as he pondered the question. "Maybe I'd find the murder and get myself killed as well. It would save me from watching everyone else's stupidity."
"The only logical decisions."
"Exactly." He said, turning his head to face me and smiling that soft smile.
Yes,I was okay with this. I didn't need more as long as he was here.
--
A/N:
Soooo, Long time, no see and for that I am truly sorry! I've had a lot going on, but i'll try to update a bit more frequently.
I myself also find horror movies stupid. They're so predictable and the characters are really just asking to die, aren't they? What do you guys think?
Also, two different friends of mine have said they had flatmates that wandered around naked. One of which did actually come into her room and sit on her bed after having sex do people are actually that weird.