Gravity Between Stars (Caleb x F!reader)

The Split Sky

The city never slept, but tonight its heartbeat was uneven.
A low vibration rolled through the streets of Linkton, so faint most people would dismiss it as construction or thunder.
You knew better.
Every pulse felt like it was echoing through your bones.
Through him.

Caleb kept to the edges of the street, his body half-solid, half-light, the way he always looked when your worlds started to pull together.
He glanced upward; the neon signs overhead flickered and distorted, freezing mid-glow.

"They're coming through," he murmured.

"Who?"

He didn't answer. His hand brushed yours, warm and solid, and pulled you into the shadow of a closed storefront.
Across the street, the air shimmered. A blur of movement.
Then another.

The first creature slipped from the ripple like smoke given form, all angles and soundless motion. Its outline bent the light around it, too wrong to look at for long. Behind it came more thin, reaching shapes that dragged fragments of static and dust in their wake.

Caleb's arm came up in front of you automatically.
"Stay behind me."

The words were a growl, quiet and absolute.
He moved first. A flash of silver light flared from his palm and the street erupted in fractured brilliance. The shadows screamed, recoiling, but more poured through.

You felt the pull inside your chest again, that strange resonance that tied you to him. The air around you thickened, humming with energy that wanted out.

"Caleb-"

"I know," he gritted, parrying another strike of darkness. "It's happening faster than before."

One of the creatures broke past him, darting toward you. Instinct, not thought, made you raise your hand. Light burst from your fingertips, a wave of shimmering force that flung the thing backward into a wall. The shock burned up your arm, but you didn't care.

Caleb turned, eyes wide. "You can channel it now."

"I didn't mean to!"

"Don't stop."

He sounded almost proud, until a second wave hit. Shadows crashed against him from every direction. The air hissed, the ground splitting under the impact. Caleb staggered, then caught himself, blood glinting along his forearm.

"Caleb!"

"I'm fine," he lied, breathless.

You reached him, pressing a hand to his side to steady him. The touch sent a rush of power through both of you, light colliding with shadow in a blinding flare. For one suspended heartbeat, the city fell silent.

Then the sky split.

A rift opened high above Linkton, tearing across the stars like glass breaking underwater. Through it, you could see another world. His world. Fragmented cities floating in nebulae, the colors too vivid to exist. Pieces of it began falling through, crashing into the streets below.

Caleb pulled you into him, shielding you from the debris. "It's collapsing," he said hoarsely. "Both sides are trying to occupy the same space."

"What do we do?" you gasped.

"Run."

You sprinted together through the warped streets, past frozen cars and half-formed doorways that blinked between realities. The creatures followed, moving faster than shadows should. Caleb's grip on your hand never faltered; every time you stumbled, he pulled you upright, his strength anchoring you when everything else turned to liquid light.

At the end of the block, an abandoned transit tunnel yawned open. Caleb dragged you inside, slamming a field of pale light behind you. The noise outside muffled instantly, leaving only the sound of your uneven breaths echoing off the walls.