Chapter 7:
It's a week after her last visit when Lexi decides to visit Caleb in Riverfield again.
She needed a well deserved break from him. In fact, at some point during the week, she contemplated giving up the assignment altogether and never going back to that hell hole again.
She decided against it when she got a very angry email from Professor Collins threatening to cap her grades and kick her off the course for good.
That was just the kick up the backside she needed to drag herself to the sanatorium and meet with the very intimidating yet very attractive psychopath again.
She hesitated to knock on his large white door with a single glass square window, too high for her to see through. Then again, she's always hesitant around Caleb.
It must be something to do with him because Lexi acts like a complete different person around him. Stuttering and quivering like an idiot.
So when he doesn't answer to the knock on his door, Lexi just walks right in all confident and cool, but all that is thrown out of the window when her gaze is met with a very shirtless and a very sweaty Caleb- well more his back than him.
He's doing pull ups on the doorway to his bathroom. But what really catches Lexi's eyes isn't his ripped muscles and not to mention impressive body, not even the massive tattoo of a compass on his upper back. No, it's the dozens of scars scattered around his whole back, along the full length of his arms and everywhere else that isn't clothed. No doubt they're on his the front side of his torso too.
She can't help the pang of hurt that vibrates through her chest and Lexi wonders what they're from, who would do such a thing to him?
The audiable gasp is heard by Caleb who is now aware of Lexi's presence so she doesn't have time to look at his shirtless body properly, gaze locked in his back for only a couple of measly seconds.
She quickly turns her head in order to give him some privacy but more so to calm herself down. "Caleb-I uh, sorry you didn't- I didn't..." She trails off not knowing what to say as she turns her body fully around to face the door.
She can't see the scowl on his face but he gives it to her anyway. "Didn't your parents teach you any manner-" he cuts himself off, sighing.
He shouldn't have said that.
"Knock next time." He seethes as he pulls a white long sleeve shirt on, walking over to the bed and lying down on it.
"I..I did." She whispers, still facing the door, unsure if she should turn or not.
When he doesn't reply and shuffling can no longer be heard in the room, Lexi hesitantly turns and faces him. Only now, all she can see is scars even though a he's now fully clothed and they're no longer visible.
She wants to ask him straight about them, about every single one. She decides against it when she notices the everlasting scowl on his face which amplifies his annoyance towards her.
"Are you just going to stand there? I'm pretty sure we've been through this before. If you're slow, then don't waste my time and leave already." He states, matter of factly avoiding eye contact and staring at the ceiling.
Lexi gasps at his insinuation. "I am not slow."
Caleb smirks inwardly, not showing it on his face. He finds it amusing how easily annoyed she gets.
"I thought you gave up with me, having not been here for about two weeks."
"It's been one week."
He looks at her in a frown. "Really? Huh, time really does go slow in here."
Lexi hopes and prays that he cooperates today. "So, Alexa. What other annoying questions have you got for me today? Am I taking enough pills? Am I delusional? Am I having anymore urges to kill people?"
Lexi's eyes widen at the last question. He's being sarcastic, Lexi. Get yourself together. She thinks to herself.
"Well are you?" She reprimands cunningly, playing along with his game.
The sinister smile is back and Caleb has to press his lips into a thin line to stop himself from smiling fully. Giving her his best glare he simply responds with a snappy "no."
She lets out a breath she didn't know she was holding and sets herself down in her usual place and instead of getting her notes out she gets out a small but wide box, she just faces the chair towards him.
She tries a different approach this time, hoping it would work better than her previous methods and hoping that she'll remember his answers if he does answer at all.
"I got you some pencils." She mutters, putting the small box on his desk, avoiding his gaze.
Caleb raises his eyebrows at her. "The people that work in the campus store said these were the best ones, but I wouldn't know." She murmurs, motioning at the pencils and Caleb frowns.
He is confused enough to sit up on his bed and stare at her in awe. He doesn't think anyone has ever gotten him anything in his life.
She remembered. 'The pencils here are rubbish.' His heart beats a little faster than normal, but he argues with himself that it most definitely isn't because this girl bought him some damn pencils which probably cost 2 dollars.
"What? You don't want them?" She asks in confusion because the look on his face is far from grateful.
Caleb wants to thank her or at least give a smile to show her gratitude, but he can't bring himself to do it, so he simply asks "Why?"
"Why what?"
"Why would you buy them for me?" He asks, frowning.
"They're just pencils." She snaps, slightly annoyed by his reluctance to just take the pencils and let the topic go. "Now, can we start by talking a little about your past?" Lexi tries hard for the question to come out casually and not too hopeful.
"Depends. Can we talk about your past as well?" He quips, quickly.
Absolutely not. Lexi was not talking about her past with this guy. "Why do you want to know about my past? It's not even interesting."
"Well..." He lifts himself up from the bed and walks towards Lexi. A little smirk forms on Caleb's lips when she isn't as cautious or scared as normal when he approaches her. She seems much more comfortable with him than before. "...it's only fair Alexa. You ask me your burning questions, and I ask you ones that I desire to know about you. I'll decide if it's interesting or not." He smiles at her.
He settles down on the chair opposite Lexi, with just the tables length between them. "Besides, when we made the agreement, there was no rule as to what could and couldn't be asked between us."
Now that the proximity between the two is closer than ever before -excluding the time he basically pushed her up against the wall and licked her ear- Lexi sits back in her chair a little.
She regrets her idea of not taking notes because it forces her to make eye contact with him instead of hiding behind her files.
Scanning his face a little as he too sits back in his chair, Lexi's gaze drops to his neck. To anyone, it'd look odd, staring so closely at someone's neck like she has some sort of fascination with that particular body part. But Lexi was checking to see if any scars that had been showing when he was shirtless were visible with his shirt on.
There's none. It seems that whoever gave them to him was careful not to physically scar him in obvious visible places.
Caleb notices her wondering eyes, and he knows very well that she isn't admiring him. "Well?" He asks, crossing his arms around his broad chest.
She sighs after snapping out of her slight daze. "Fine." She says looking down at the table. But only because she really, really wants to know about his scars.
Her eyes flick from the table to his. A ghost of a smile plays at his lips at her surrender. And she's almost certain that after asking this next question, he'll be cold again.
"How did you get those scars?" She whispers. She's not sure if he heard her, even in their close proximity. She can't tear her gaze from him even if she tried so she continues her intense stare off.
For a whole minute, it looks like he's genuinely going to answer. He even opens his mouth, as if he was about to say something, but he cuts himself off by plastering a scowl on his face.
The glare is prominent on his face and it should scare Lexi, but it doesn't. Instead of removing her gaze from his, she continues to hold his gaze, desperate to know what had happened. "None of your business." He hisses in anger.
She doesn't even flinch at his outburst. Her eyes soften at his defensive tone. Whatever it was, he would definitely have a hard time talking about it and Lexi understood that she had no right to ask the question.
But she can't help herself, she really wants to know.
"I-I just thought that...m-maybe if you talked about-"
Wrong move.
"Get out!" He shouts, banging his fist on the table and abruptly standing, causing his chair to fall back.
Lexi's whole body jumps up at the suddenness of his outburst, but she isn't afraid.
For once, she feels sympathy towards the man who had clearly been brutally abused. And she thinks that maybe that's why he turned out like this. Maybe that's why he's done the things he has done and is the way he is.
Lexi isn't making excuses for the man, but if someone had hurt him, then it was understandable why he is always angry and defensive.
So when Caleb writhes in anger, clenching his fists and gritting his teeth, Lexi doesn't back away or leave him. Instead, she walks around the table, carefully and cautiously, tilting her head up and softening her gaze at him.
She's close to him now, almost only a foot apart and able to see little beads of sweat formed around his hairline from his workout. Her actions confuse Caleb but he's still radiating anger. Every muscle in his body is strained and he freezes when a small hand comes up to cup his face.
"I'm sorry." She whispers, gaze not once leaving his.
"You don't have to answer. You don't owe me an explanation at all and I was wrong for asking you such personal questions." She explains softly, gently brushing his stubbled cheek once with her thumb.
And with that, her hand slips from his face and next thing he knows, Caleb is left alone and confused, trapped within the white walls of his room.
• • • • •
A/N: Okay so you guys are amazing!!! Because I already have over 100 votes on this book and I'm only on chapter 7!!!
You guys are the best! Keep voting and commenting your thoughts & we need a shipname for Lexi and Caleb 😽💜