Away: A Prequel

Chapter 30

Days after the funeral had passed by, Dex and I sat in the Vaults pub once more; we were planning to go home, once we had sorted what was happening with the house. As we sat in silence drinking our pints, we were approached by Kaleb. I was surprised since he hadn't talked with either of us since I shouted at him and Jesse. He was anxious to approach and was unsure to ask what he wanted to know, especially when Dex raised an eyebrow and glared at him.

"What do you want Kaleb?"

"It doesn't matter, mate; er, you've got enough to deal with at the moment..." Kaleb began to walk away, only for Dex to grab his wrist; he looked confused as he turned back at Dex and me.

"Something's clearly on your mind," I smiled at him, "Something that's troubling you."

"You gonna tell us then?" Dex continued.

"Well, my bird dropped me and she kicked me out of the place before I could get a new place... I don't have anywhere else to go... Could I come back to London with you two, stay with you 'till I'm back on my feet?"

A moment's silence passed as Dex thought on his answer; he didn't exactly know Kaleb now considering the 3-4 year gap of being between London and Wales, and even then he didn't know Kaleb as well as the other lads. He wasn't sure about letting someone who was technically a stranger into our house.

"Alright," He finally told him, "You have your stuff ready to go? We're setting off tomorrow morning."

"Yeah! All ready to go; cheers mate!" Kaleb looked about ready to hug Dex - who frowned at him for even thinking it -.

"Don't mention it." Dex finished off his pint; he glanced at me to see I was smiling, and it caused him to crack a small smile.

The next morning, Kaleb was at our door early; he had gathered his belongings, but where he had spent last night was unknown to either of us. We shrugged it off, wanting to get home and to our own bed. Kaleb jumped into the backseat, throwing his stuff in beside him. Dex and I had just finished putting our stuff into the boot of the car when I noticed Dex stood with his back to us. He stood on the porch of the house, sadly looking up at it.

"I spent so many days of my childhood in this house..." He was quiet as he spoke; his hand was still on the key as it was in the lock, "Not all good, and not all bad, but it was home..."

"You're gonna miss it?"

"Of course I am, I'm reluctant to even leave it..."

"We don't have to leave it entirely..." I suggested; when he glanced at me, I continued, "What if we used this place as a holiday house or something? Rent it out to people when we're not in it?"

"That's a... good idea," He smiled, finally turning away from the door; he turned the key to lock the door and hugged me, "Thanks pet, really cheered me up, that did."

"That's good," I smiled, returning the hug; with his arm around my waist, I led him to the car, "Let's get off home,"

The 3 of us set off for London, most of the drive being quiet; at least with me and Dex, it was. Kaleb was quite the one to talk about pretty much anything. It was clear his constant talking got on Dex's nerves as his hands gripped tighter around the steering wheel and his shoulders hunched a bit. I bit my bottom lip to stop myself from laughing. Suddenly hearing snoring come from the backseat, I saw that Kaleb had tired himself out.

I laughed, placing a hand on Dex's thigh, "Looks like you have a bit of peace."

"Hmm," Dex frowned, though I was sure there was a small smile at the corner of his lips.

Once getting back to London, we felt a sense of home; it was nice to be back in the smoggy city. Getting back to our apartment was relieving, to say the least. I was happy we got to see our pets again. As we entered the apartment, dumping our bags by the door, Cora was seen tending to Toffee. She was giving him his afternoon cucumber.

"Oh, hey guys," She smiled, turning around and closing the cage; she stepped toward us, her interest piquing over the stranger with us, "Good to have you back. Was the journey back alright?"

"Had to take a few detours but yeah it was alright." I told her; I stepped over to Toffee to greet him as he squeaked at me, "It's good to be back home though." I smiled at the guinea pig, talking in a more childish tone, "And it's good to see you too."

"Aw, they were quite good considering they missed their mummy and daddy." Cora smiled.

Hearing Cora saying 'daddy', caused a small blush to appear on Dex's face, especially as he looked at me; he bit his lip, trying to hold back from saying anything. I glared at him as he smirked, shaking my head slightly to indicate that he won't say anything. He quickly walked off, taking our bags into the bedroom.

"Kaleb, you get to stay in the spare room..." Dex led his friend into the undecorated room - we hadn't had a chance to do anything with it but put a bed and some dresser drawers, "Not much to look at, I know; but, the bed's comfy at least."

"Oh, that's good." He smiled, setting his few bags on the floor beside the bed; he glanced around.

"Bathroom's down the hall, on the right and our bedroom is across from that." Dex explained, exiting the room, "Get ya self comfy. We'll be out there if you need us."

I was updating Cora on what had happened over the last couple of months, making sure to get the things that upset Dex out of the way first. I was explaining to her about our idea of keeping his childhood home and renting it out when we weren't there when Dex came back in. Following him, Kaleb entered too and smiled when he looked at Cora. She smiled in return, albeit she blushed a little.

"Are you guys actually gonna introduce me to your friend there?" Kaleb stepped in mid-conversation; his eyes kept on Cora the whole time, causing her to get uncomfortable.

"Kaleb," Dex frowned, seeing what his friend was doing, "This is Cora. She is best friends with Kay, and doesn't much like being stared at."

"Oh, you don't?" Kaleb glanced away when Cora shook her head, "Sorry about that... It's just... you're so pretty."

"Ugh..." Dex moaned causing me to raise an eyebrow at him; he rolled his eyes at the comment Kaleb had made toward Cora.

"You really think that?" Cora looked at him; she felt a bit suspicious of his comment due to not having much confidence in herself.

"I do," Kaleb looked back at her now.

"Oh, that's really nice of you to say," Cora beamed, "Thank you."

"Just tell her you wanna go out with her, dick head!" Dex stepped in, feeling annoyed at how slowly his friend was taking this.

"I was just giving the girl a compliment, Dex." Kaleb frowned at him, "Can I not say that?"

"Whatever, mate." Dex rolled his eyes, strolling over to the birdcages and giving them attention.

As the week went on, it was clear Kaleb was developing feelings for Cora especially as every time she visited us, he flirted with her. Dex eventually persuaded Kaleb to ask Cora out, seeing this as well. Cora was happy enough to be asked out though was a bit surprised he wanted to; she said yeah to a date with him. It quickly turned to a full-blown relationship after that.