When Summer makes a bet with his best friend to remain romance free for the summer it seems easy to him. He has rarely dated or had much interest in dating and it's the last thing on his mind right now as he recovers from a bad depressive episode.
S...
I made two collages for this chapter so I'm putting one up here
اوووه! هذه الصورة لا تتبع إرشادات المحتوى الخاصة بنا. لمتابعة النشر، يرجى إزالتها أو تحميل صورة أخرى.
Caleb wakes up the next morning to a very quiet house. There's something about the hush that makes him get ready for the day as silently as he can. The bedroom doors are closed and the rest of the house is empty but through the window he glimpses Sam in the garden. Caleb goes out to join him.
It's still so early that the grass is damp with dew and he shivers when he steps on it. Shark runs up to him meowing in greeting. Caleb picks him up and the cat purrs happily and flops across his shoulder.
Sam looks up from picking vegetables. "Good morning, Caleb."
"Morning," Caleb sets Shark down by the patch of catnip. "Is everything okay? The atmosphere in the house felt off."
"Summer had a meltdown and Ivy was up with him most of the night. They're both sleeping now."
"Is he okay?" Caleb's knowledge on meltdowns is limited. He's done a lot of research this summer and read what other autistic people have said because he wanted to learn more about Summer. But this was still unfamiliar ground for him. Summer's panic attack was easier. Caleb has plenty of personal experience with panic attacks although Summer's had been quite a bit different from his own.
"It will take him several days to recover," Sam says, "and then he'll be okay. Flights are difficult for him and flying back from France on his own was a lot for him to deal with."
Caleb feels slightly uprooted. His instinct when someone he cares about is struggling is to help but Summer doesn't need his help and he doubts he would be very helpful anyway.
"I'm going to make omelettes," Sam stands up with a full basket of vegetables. "Do you want to help me?"
Caleb does. Working in the kitchen always makes him feel better. Sam sets him to work cutting vegetables and he enjoys the repetitive movement.
He and Sam work in silence which is usual for them. Sam was always the quietest of Caleb's siblings which made him the most peaceful to be around but he's the one Caleb has spent the least amount of time with. He moved out around the time Caleb was born and unlike the rest of the family he moved farther away from home so he visited less. Being around him this summer has been nice.
"So," Sam says suddenly, "are you going to tell Summer you like him before you go back to college?"
Caleb almost cuts himself in his shock. "What? How did you know?"
Sam gives him an amused look. "I've known you liked him since you were fifteen, Caleb. You think I didn't see your face when you first saw him five years ago? I wasn't surprised when you later came out as bisexual."
Caleb is too surprised to speak for several seconds. "You've really known all this time? You didn't say anything."
Sam looks thoughtful. "It was your secret. I realized it by chance but you never said anything so I knew you wanted to keep it secret. And you were a kid while Summer was already an adult so it's not like I was going to encourage you."
