Caleb
" And we win," I smirk as the scores of the laser tag game popped up on the screen above us.
"Yeah whatever you have the fuckin laser tag god on your team," Tyler pouts. Gabe really was the laser tag master.
I just laugh before glancing down at my watch, we had to be home in like two and a half hours for the party and I still had one last stop to make.
"Okay guys, I'm gonna go, I gotta make one last stop but I'll meet all you at Kane's in a bit" I bid the guys goodbye before running out to my truck.
I could feel my hand shaking as I started the ignition. To say I was nervous was an understatement, I think it was just a combination of things.
I haven't been to the cemetery since we buried him, I owed it to him to go. I think that was the main thing I was nervous about. I was also nervous about how everyone would react tonight, Liv and I both agreed to tell everyone at Dinner. To top all of this off, Bails is coming in.
Before I even knew it, I was snapped out of my thoughts by the reving of a motorcycle speeding passed me. I didn't even realize I was at the cemetery.
Starting my way towards his grave, I can feel my heart rate pick up. My hands grew clammy and I feel myself grow more anxious than I have ever felt in my life. I need to do this.
I quietly sit in front of the grave and take a deep breath before saying anything. I took in everything about it. There were new flowers placed in front of it, presumable by Julia. I knew she came here yesterday. Next to the bunch though, was a shot glass and a single white rose.
"Hey Jordan," my voice was shaky but I managed to smile. I can do this.
"Holy fuck I missed you"
—————
I sat back in my truck with the air blasting for a few minutes. I didn't want to go anywhere right now. It was nice to just get everything off my chest after all these years.
For some reason, that I can't explain, I felt that he was listening. I told him about everything and everyone, from Bailey to Liv to The team to they boys. Hell, even football. I have never felt happier to talk to air.
If I'm being honest that asshole is probably laughing at me for being all cheesy right now.
I finally looked at my phone for the first time within the hour and saw two texts from Liv. She wanted me to meet her at Kane's.
I really hadn't seen her at all today. After we woke up, she went out with Em to look around town while I went out with all the guys.
"Hey I'm almost at Kane's now, are you guys gonna meet me?" I say as I pick up Wes's call
"Guess who we found?" I hear a Tyler yell in the background
"Who did you guys find?" I chuckled as I turn into the Kane's lot.
"Apparently Beck and Bails are here!" Wes yells
"HEY ASSHOLE!" I hear my best friends loud ass voice through the phone.
I could feel my heart speed up. Not at the fact that Beck alone was here but that meant Bailey was too.
"Hey dickhead," I yell back "Get your ass over to Kane's, I'm already here"
"We'll be over in a few, Is Liv already there? I know Em said she had to stop at her moms house but mentioned that Liv went there."
"Yeah Liv is already here, I was just about to walk in," I tell him
"Okay sounds good we'll be there in a few," he says before hanging up, I just switch off my truck before hopping out
Thankfully B wasn't with them. I don't know if I'm ready to see her just yet before I absolutely have to.
On my way in, I stop briefly to admire the motorcycle parked a few places down from where I was. It was a beauty, Dark blue in color with perfect leather seats. It was newer, and obviously well taken care of.
It was one Bailey had always said she wanted.
Walking into Kane's for the first time in years and am instantly greeted with a multitude of people who I've known forever. It was the something I'd always been thankful for growing up in a small town, you were always treated the same. This is one of the few places I can go to and actually be treated like a normal person.
"Two of my kids in one day?" Kane smirks as he walks over "How's it been big shot?"
"Eh, just won a Super Bowl or two, you know, the usual" I grin at him
"Wow humble ass look at you go" Kane pats me on the back "God it's good to see you bud," he smiles
"You too," I grin at the guy ive known my whole life. "How's Laura and the girls?" I still couldn't believe he's got kids now.
"Oh they're good, the gremlins are gettin big," he says about his two little girls. Last time I was here, he only had one and that's was right after she 'd been born. She looked just like him. Now he's married and has another one.
"Yeah I bet, are they comin tonight?"
"Nah your nieces and nefews offered to watch them for the night so Laur and I could have a night to ourselves," he grins "we don't have too many of those anymore,"
"I bet," I laugh with him, he sounded tired but I know he wouldn't trade it for the world. Hearing how he talked about his wife and girls made me that much more to get my own life started, my own family started.
"Listen I gotta finish this shift but I'll see you tonight at the party, I wanna hear all about Chicago, okay kid?"
"Sounds good," I nod and he's walks away
I start to walk around to the other end of the bar but freeze almost instantly as soon as I heard it.
I heard her laugh before I even saw her and my heart dropped. I'd always said I could be in a room of a thousand people and I'd be able to pick her out instantly because of that laugh. I still can. It was Bailey... unmistakably, without a doubt, one hundred percent Bailey-Belle.
I question if I should keep walking or turn right around back out the door...The rational side of me forced myself to keep going around the corner, and at the other end, sure enough stood Bailey on the inside of the bar.
She still looked like her. She was fucking gorgeous.
Her golden hair still wavy and long, now almost down past her waist. Her eyes still held the same fire they'd always had, and her smile, the same fuckin smile I'd fallen in love with.
She had a black v-neck on the fit her perfectly, accentuating every curve of her waist down to her daisy-duke shorts that I'm sure caught the attention of multiple people in this place just like they did mine.
She was smiling and it hit me like a ton of brick how much I'd missed that smile.
It only lasted until she finally noticed me standing there like the dumbass I am and I watch her face drop. She had the same reaction I did. It was kinda comforting knowing she was just as unprepared to see me as I was her, regardless of how much we'd mentally prepared ourselves.
She still took my breath away.
It was like we were the only two people in the bar, the only thing snapping me out of it was my fiancée's voice.
My fiancée. Fuck.
"Hey honey," she greets me cheerily before turning back to Belle "That's my fiancé"
"Hey Liv" I clear my throat as I make my way over to them, trying not to make eye contact with Bails.
Though I tried not to, I still found myself stealing glances over at her. She was smiling at the little girl in front of her now, but it was an uneasy smile. The little girl just laughs before sitting on the bar top in front of her.
I couldn't help but notice the faint similarities between Bailey and the child. She had the same honey brown eyes as Bailey and the same little chin dimple when she smiled. There's no way she had a kid right? Beck would've told me, hell, even Cheri would've told me. I still almsot want to throw up at the nagging thought that maybe this little girl is Baileys.
I cough once again as I sit down seemingly not being able to catch my breath and I notice her look at me again.
"Hey" I say quietly
"Hi" she squeaks out.
I want to say more. Fuck I want to say a lot more but for some reason any and all words are stuck in my throat.
"Wait you two know each other?" Liv starts to question. She really doesn't know how small this town really is, everyone knew each other here. "Well clearly you two do, anyway babe, this is Belles friend Danny and his daughter Danielle. This is my fiancé, Caleb" she states introducing me to the guy sitting two chairs down from her. As he looked at me, something seemed to dawn on him and his eyes shot to Belle just as he stuck his hand out.
"Nice to meet you, Beck's told me a lot" He smiles a genuine smile.
"Yeah you too," I nod, I'd met their other roommate at a game before but not Danny yet. Beck talked about him every once in a while but never once mentioned that he had a fuckin kid.
I feel myself release a breath at the fact that she wasn't Baileys. I know she'd be able to do it, she's a kick ass woman but at the same time I couldn't bear the thought of the hurt she'd gone through at someone leaving her alone to raise their kid.
"I have to go to the bathroom," Liv excuses herself and I just nod.
The little girl, now sitting on the bar, looks over and me a giggles.
"Hi I'm Danielle" she waves over at me
"Hi Danielle, I'm Caleb" I grin at her, she giggles as a result. This kid was beyond adorable, you couldn't help but smile at her. If I didn't already know that Danny was her dad, I would still say She could definitely be Baileys.
I didn't get to say anything else though as all of the guys, including Beck, plus Em burst in the front door.
"Where is she?!" Em yells through the restraunt before she appears around the corner and practically sprints to Belle
"Em!" Bailey screams, the genuine gorgeous smile now back on her face.
"Hey dickhead" I hear my best friends familiar voice behind me, causing me to shift my stare from Bails to her twin.
"Hey asshole" I can't help but smile a so hug him. It's been at least four years since I've seen him. as much as I've missed Belle, it might be possible that I've missed Beck even more. "God I'm beyond happy to see you"
"Me too dude, shits been insane lately" Beck grins before sitting down next to me "Oh you remember Spencer right, he came to the game with me when we went a few years back" He says introducing their one friends Spencer. From what I remember, this kid was beyond genius.
He was standoffish at first but he's actually pretty cool to talk to after he warms up to you.
"Hey Spencer," I greet him with a grin
"What's up Co," He smiles
A minute later Live reappears at my side smiling at the crowd now surrounding us.
"Oh this is my girlfriend Olivia" I smiles fakely as I introduce him to Liv. I quickly glance at Belle to see confusing across her face. I almost forgot how she knew about Liv and I.
"Wait-" she starts to say before thankfully Beck unintentionally cuts her off
"It's nice to finally meet you in person" Beck grins
"You too" Liv greets
"Okay okay, introductions are done. Belle if you don't get your ass over here im going to tackle you" Tyler states doing the puppy dog face
"I'll join him," Wes grins
"Then you'll have both of our asses to deal with," Tyler smirks at her and I hear her laugh at the two
"I don't think you want that," Wes adds to his sentence
She smiles again, really smiles and I have to stop myself from staring as she makes her way over to them and practically jumps into their arms.
"Okay guys, we gotta go set some stuff but I'll see you all back at the house for dinner in half an hour. And please don't be late," Ace grins before sympathetically patting me on the shoulder
"I'm gonna go too, I gotta stop at home, but I'll see you guys in a bit" Belle smiles at Everyone blatantly avoiding my eyes.
"Alright, Love you B!" Arrex yells between chugging his beer
"Love you too, Bye guys" she grins once again before walking out
"So you knew Belle?" Liv questions. Her voice was indifferent, I couldn't tell what she thinking right now. I know we've talked about Belle but very briefly, I never said much about that subject so I'm not sure if she remembers much. Besides, I never really called her Belle when I talked about her, it was usually just Bailey.
"Yeah, for a while actually" I nod
"She was...cute" Liv smiles, it wasn't completely genuine though. While she couldn't read me most of the time, it had always been easy for me to read her "and really sweet"
"Yeah she just kinda talks to everyone. she's always been outgoing," I feel the corners of my lips turn up
"She seemed smart, I don't understand why she'd spend her time working at a place like this" Liv just shrugs, looking around the bar.
What's wrong with a place like this?
Wait does she really think Bailey...
"Wait you think she works here?" I almost start laughing at that notion. Don't get me wrong, there's absolutely nothing wrong with working at a bar, especially Kane's, he and his dad built this business up from the ground to be what it is today. But Bailey, she's saving lives and kicking absolute ass in her field.
"Yeah, earlier she said she wasn't working 'right now' after I asked her for a drink" Liv further explains
"Oh no, she most certainly does not work here," I chuckle. I mean she'd always said being a bartender would be a fun job but there's no way she'd be one. "Liv, shes one of the best trauma surgeons-in-training in the nation," I think Beck said she was only a third year.
"No" Liv starts to laugh "No way,"
"Dead serious. Graduated Stanford top of her class in just two years, and did the same at Stanford Med in three. Her full name is Bailey Belle Kalanski." I explain.
"Wait-" I watch as realization washes over her "She's THE Bailey. Like the first-and-only-other-girl-you've-ever-loved Bailey?"
And there it was. I'd mentioned Bails briefly before, but just in conversation, it was never a subject we stayed on long.
"Uh-yeah" I say hesitantly, nervously scratching the back of my neck
"Okay love birds," Tyler interrupts as both he and Wes make their way over to us "I say shots?" He suggests
"I'm driving bud," I grin at him "I got one in me,"
"We're just practicing for the wedding" Wes smirks at me "It's an open bar,"
They both walk away and I can't help but chuckle at my best friends. Liv can't either.
"So what was it like growing up here?" Liv thankfully changes the subject
"We did a lot," I laugh thinking about all the dumb shit we've done here "We had a lot of parties. We snuck out a few times. We all had a lot of fun together,"
Well, up until we graduated we did.
"I wish I had that growing up. I mean there were parties and stuff but nothing like what you guys had" she shrugs
"None of them were ever huge. Well except Nicos parties, those were always the biggest parties of the year. One party he threw our Senior year, is when Ace and Brett actually met. Bailey was the one who introduced them,"
"Really?"
"Yep, if anyone's asks they credit the beginning of their relationship to Bailey," I grin "She wasn't even supposed to be at the party that night, she basically said fuck you to her brothers and snuck out with Em and they met Gabe and Brett,"
"I can't believe that's her," she shakes her head "Not what I was expecting"
"What were you expecting?"
"I don't know, a bitch I guess, "
"I mean, I haven't talkedy to her in eight years, so she could be, but if she's anything like she was then no she's not, well to the people she likes she's not," I shake my head lightly but after she stays silent I speak again "Are you okay with all of this?" I mean I couldn't imagine her not being okay with it. I haven't spoken to Bailey in eight years. She's the one that has me, and she's the one I'm marrying.
"Uh yeah, I'm good. I mean I would've liked a little more warning but it's fine," she grins "I mean you guys haven't spoken in eight years, so there's really nothing to worry about right?" She smiles at me
"Not at all" I grin as I lean in to kiss her softly "I love you,"
"Love you too Caleb," she just laughs before leaning back in her seat "So Ace and Brett have really been together that long?"
"Yep, they've never broken up, even through college they managed the distance," I grin. It was something I'd always wanted a relationship like theirs.
"That's amazing"
"Yeah it is,"
"Okay guys, we gotta go" Em says, rounding us all up, we had dinner soon and it was supposed to be formal "We still gotta get ready, and Cheri and Kay will literally kill us if we're late"
That, they without a doubt would.