Everything Happens At 2:04 AM

Chapter Twenty-Three: The Human Race Depended On Your Procreation.

This is a lengthy one, get settled.

Chapter Twenty-Three: "The Human Race Depended On Your Procreation."

"YOU SAID ROOF," I muttered to Caleb, tapping my foot against his nice floors at his suggestion.

I made sure to appear at what he considered our time, taking a much-needed walk over to his place. Krystal and Angie were both still awake at this hour. They both asked me where I was heading out when I had slipped into Nike shoes by the front door. When I said Caleb's, they both weren't fazed. I wouldn't be either. Caleb and I worked together, and we were friends, hanging out outside of the workplace was normal.

"It doesn't matter if it's on the roof. All that matters is that we are outside. It's a warm May night, come on October," His brown eyes lit up as he grabbed a pair of Nike slides for me, putting them on the ground. "You see what I did there? With the months?"

I slid my feet into the slides as he wore his own shaking my head at his words but not helping my case when I cracked a smile. "Shut up."

He grabbed my hand, pulling me onto the terrace of his apartment. In the middle of the terrace, there was a table with chairs surrounding it. Low lights hug on the wall of his apartment, illuminating outside well enough for me to see the box on the center of the table. I couldn't help it when my lips parted in surprise. "A puzzle."

"Yeah," Caleb shrugged as if it was nothing. How could it be nothing if he remembered what I had told him? "Conversation may be a little heavy tonight, so I thought I'd get something to keep us occupied."

He was really going to make me talk about this. About Keith. Oh, God. I knew Caleb wouldn't pressure me into saying something I didn't want to speak about, but he knew I was going to tell him. Angie was right. There was something about this man that made you want to tell him everything and he wouldn't hold it against you. He wouldn't even judge you for it. He'd just listen because he wanted to.

Staring up at him, I really wondered why I disliked him so much when we first met. And yet here I was, at 2 in the morning on his terrace with his hand in mine.

Development? I think the fuck yes.

"Caleb-"

"C'mon," He squeezed my hand, dropping it as he made his way to the table. "Play the tunes. It's never a night like us without music playing in the background and you singing like I can't hear you."

I sighed, deciding to just go with his antics as he took a seat next to me, opening the box. "Okay, what do we do first?"

I narrowed my eyes at him after flicking through my phone to find the playlist I liked listening to whenever I was with him. "You've never done a puzzle." It should've been said as a question but by his tone, I had to let him confirm my statement.

He's never done a puzzle.

If he tells me he's never eaten pizza before, I'll walk out of here, I decided.

"I don't have the patience to ever actually sit down and do one," He explained, rubbing his hands together. "But I'll do it tonight. So, what first?"

"Um," I played a song, putting my phone down on the table. "Find all the edge and corner pieces and we can make our way from there."

Caleb started to dump out the entire thing and my eyes widened. "STOP!"

"What?"

"Honey," I said in a voice meant to baby him and he rolled his eyes in annoyance. The annoyance faded fast due to the small smile on his face. "Relax. Take a moment to get a good look at the puzzle so you get a sense of what we're dealing with."