Through His Eyes

Through His Eyes [18]

Then the three am late-night strolls fell into place.

Next, his car. She'd seen a rattled dashboard. Floyd drove a shiny fucking Toyota.

The cute guy that was surely Caleb's childhood best friend Xander lead her thoughts to that one time she saw a girl sitting across from her soulm-Caleb. It must have been Yasmine. Fuck, Yasmine.

Frankly, she'd never thought about Caleb in any way but platonically before. But now that she knew, things seemed on the verge of changing. It was like when you found out that the shy guy that always sat at the back of the class in Algebra had a crush on you. You'd start to see that person in a different light from then on, pay more attention to them, and maybe end up developing feelings for them in return. Well, she sure was paying attention to Caleb now.

That being said, things weren't simple by a long shot, and this wasn't some moment of epiphany where she suddenly realized she'd been in love with Caleb all along.

In short, she had no idea where to go from here.

"Rhea?"

Her head snapped up at the sound of her own name. She saw that Caleb was looking at her with expectant eyes; he must have asked a question. She blinked a couple of times, trying to snap out of it.

"I'm sorry, what?" she asked distractedly.

"I asked if you wanted marshmallows in your hot cocoa... Are you okay?"

"I'm... fine. And marshmallows would be perfect." She looked him in the eye. "Thank you."

"Yeah, no problem. Care loves them in hers, so I thought maybe you'd want some too."

"No, I mean, not just for the drink. Just- Thank you."

"You're welcome." He passed her a mug full of steaming goodness. "C'mon now, drink up and I'll drive you home before it gets too late."

She gave him a grateful smile and a nod over the mug, otherwise remaining silent. He moved towards the living room with Caroline's mug in his hand and she followed him with her eyes, only to see Caroline had fallen asleep on the living room couch. Caleb picked her up in his arms and disappeared into the hallway, probably to tuck her in.

The hot cocoa thawed her insides, making her rigid posture relax for the first time in what felt like eons. She started drinking in small, cautious sips, which halfway into the drink turned into big gulps. Chocolate always had its miracles, no matter what form it was served in.

When Rhea was a child, she used to have nightmares. She blamed it on that one time she went to see the first Harry Potter movie in the theatres; that stuff was pretty intense for a five year old. For three whole years, whenever she had a nightmare, she padded towards her parents' bedroom and woke her father up. Every single time, her father would get out of bed without complaint, sit her down on the kitchen counter and make her hot cocoa. Ever since that time, hot cocoa had a surprisingly calming effect on her. Now, ten years later, it still made her feel warm inside in different ways, one the result of a hot beverage, and the other the result of Caleb knowing how to soothe her without having that information about her childhood or her fondness of the drink.

Just as she gulped down the rest of her drink, Caleb came back into the kitchen with an empty mug in his hand and a smudge of chocolate across his lower lip. Rhea looked at him, her hand itching to wipe it off. But that was hardly appropriate behavior, so instead she called his name.

"Caleb, you got some..." she pointed at her own lower lip. He sheepishly ran his thumb across his lips while Rhea watched the motion dazedly.

"Got it." He smiled at her, making Rhea's eyes snap up to his. He took her mug from her grasp and placed it in the sink next to the other two, seemingly oblivious. "C'mon lets head out."