(Closed to Gabe - Sirens Gone Wild plot~)

[freefromsin]

Caleb wakes up with the overwhelming feeling that he needs to see Gabe.

It's one step away from thinking Gabe is in trouble, that urgent. There's no explanation, but the panic, the desperation, the longing are a physical ache in his chest that's impossible to ignore. He scrambles from bed, pulling on shoes while stumbling for the bathroom to take a quick piss. He manages a five second teeth brushing, but doesn't bother with his hair. He went to bed in cotton shorts and a tank top and he figures he's dressed well enough, he doesn't have time to change, he has to go.

He slips quickly and silently out of the house. It's pouring but that doesn't stop him from sprinting down the driveway to the sidewalk. It's a brisk five or ten minute jog to Mira's house, and surely the most exercise he's had in awhile, but he hardly notices. He's panting and drenched by the time he reaches their block. Shivering, he rubs a frantic hand over the back of his neck; it's early and he doesn't want to piss Mira's family off by knocking at the door and potentially waking anyone up, but he needs Gabe. Gabe needs him, he just knows it.

After some manic pacing in front of Mira's house, he finally walks to the porch and gives a determined knock. Or two.

...Three when no one answers right away.

Comments

[overdrawing]

Tonight's dreams are about Caleb. They aren't fearful dreams, saturated with all the guilt of previous memories, but something dark and wanting, unfurled in his subconscious where it's safe. It takes him a few minutes to reluctantly extract himself from sleep.

Mira and her parents are out, so he has to be the one to come to the door. Dragging a sleepy hand over his face, he tilts his head, "Caleb?"

[freefromsin]

Caleb's heart bursts with emotion; relief, affection, desire. Forgetting how wet he is from the rain he pulls Gabe into a tight hug. He lets go a moment later, though his hands stay grasping Gabe's arms as though he'll disappear if Caleb let's go.

"I'm here," he says, breathless, shivering.

[overdrawing]

"I was dreaming about you," he blurts. The arms around him catch Gabe off-guard and he suddenly finds himself worried, even as he hugs Caleb back and finds himself terribly reluctant to move away from his warmth. "Are you okay? Is something wrong?"

[freefromsin]

"You were?" Caleb asks in wonder, gazing into Gabe's eyes.

"Nothing's wrong," he's quick to add. "Not now that I'm here." He doesn't have much of an explanation as to why, though. He spreads his palms, shoulders raised in a long shrug. "You...called. You needed me."

[overdrawing]

"I...what?" Something thudded and Gabe reached hatefully inside himself and twisted until that part of him was forced away and the spell was broken. How could he have done that to anyone, but especially Caleb?

"Oh God," he said, shame on his face. "I shouldn't have...I. I think I lured you by accident. Siren song..." He stepped out of the hug, not to reject Caleb but because he didn't deserve it. "I didn't mean to. I'm so sorry! I'd never do that to you!"

[freefromsin]

Something in Caleb snaps and suddenly everything feels much less...intense. He also realizes that he's soaked and minds, shivering from the cold rain.

"I-- did I just run here in a storm and wake you up?" Caleb asks, hardly realizing what Gabe's saying, because a second ago he was half-prepared to propose. He blushes, embarrased. Belatedly, he lets what Gabe said sink in. "Wait, this is because of the otter thing?"

[overdrawing]

"It's my fault," Gabe says, nodding miserably. "I still can't control it and..." And lately, he feels like something in the air has been nudging him into using his powers more without even thinking about it.

Reaching out, he takes Caleb's hand and tries to convey how sincerely he means it. "I'd never manipulate you on purpose like that."

[freefromsin]

Caleb smiles; he's cold and kind of mortified, but the smile is genuine. Gabe doesn't usually initiate touch, and his hand is warm.

"I know you wouldn't," he says, even if he has no idea how or why Gabe could have done something like that at all. Magic, he supposes, like Gabe told him at the beach. "I trust you. No harm, no foul, okay?"

[overdrawing]

Gabe still feels like he's done plenty harm and foul but he chews his lip and nods. "It's just me here tonight. I don't think anyone will mind if I make you a hot drink?" he offers. A hot drink and a towel are the least he can do after his transgression.

Caleb trusts him and look at what he's done.

[freefromsin]

"Thanks," Caleb says, relieved he doesn't have to go back out in the rain. The weather has been kind of crazy lately, and in his haste, he didn't look to see if Rian had an umbrella. "Um, can I borrow some of your clothes, too? I promise I'll get them back to you."

Unlike the sweatshirt he hasn't given back yet.

[overdrawing]

"Of course." He pauses and looks back at Caleb. "I...still have that flannel you loaned me." There's a slight reluctance in his tone; he doesn't want to give it back. Somehow, in the short time he's had it, Gabe has come to think of it as a safe place.

"They have a Keurig, so you can put together any kind of drink you like. They say the kitchen is mine to use, however I like. I don't really though..."

[freefromsin]

"Oh, that's-- you can keep that," Caleb says, trying to keep from blushing. He likes to think of Gabe wearing it, even if he never does.

"Thanks. That's really nice of them." He gives Gabe a tiny smile and shuffles into the kitchen to figure out how to make a coffee.

[overdrawing]

Gabe pauses, surprised but grateful, "Are you sure? I know you don't have a lot of stuff right now." But he wants so badly to keep that shirt, to wrap it around himself and pretend that things are okay.

"They're too nice to me," he admits. "I don't think I do enough to earn it."

[freefromsin]

Caleb looks over his shoulder with a smile. "Yeah, I'm sure. I still have your sweatshirt, so it's a fair trade. Besides, I like my clothes baggy." Which is probably the only reason his flannel even fits Gabe, who's so much taller than he is.

"Sometimes people just like to be nice, Gabe." He picks out a little flavor cup and turns the machine on.

[overdrawing]

"Oh, I wondered what I did with that," Gabe says, smiling faintly. It's hard to suppress the mental image of Caleb in a sweatshirt that's too big for Gabe. On his friend, it must drown him. "You keep it too."

[freefromsin]

"Okay," Caleb says, grinning. "I promise I won't keep what I borrow right now, though. I probably shouldn't take all your clothes." He pulls the wet tank top over his head, grateful to get the cold, chafing piece of clothing off.

[overdrawing]

"Good, because I don't have that many to borrow." He has five days' worth of clothes that he cleans fastidiously, often in the sink of the guest room's en suite so as not to occupy their laundry room unduly.

He's about to say as much and then Caleb stands there shirt less and Gabe has to bite his lip for a second.

[freefromsin]

Caleb is just innocently waiting for a dry shirt, that's all.

...Okay, so maybe he knows what he's doing, and maybe he just likes flirting with Gabe. But it's totally harmless. He smiles, conveying the harmlessness of no shirts.

"If there's a dryer I can use, I can even get the clothes back to you before I leave." He takes hold of the waistband of his cotton shorts like he's going to take them off now, too.

(He isn't, but he wants to see if he can make Gabe blush.)

[overdrawing]

Gabe's mouth goes a little dry and he hurriedly looks away, busying himself with getting clothes. He can feel it now, curling in his stomach, that he wants and he cannot act on this. It's a sin and, worse, Gabe doesn't trust his powers not to flare up. If he accidentally coerces Caleb into something because of his own flawed nature, he doesn't think he could live with himself.

"Yes, it's right here. Follow me." Gripping them a little too tightly, Gabe pushes a pair of pajama pants and a t-shirt at him.

[freefromsin]

"Thanks," Caleb says, keeping his gaze locked on Gabe's as he slowly takes the clothes from him. Gabe isn't very good at hiding anything, and it only makes Caleb want him more. But he can wait. The last thing he wants is for Gabe to freak out again and run away. He only hopes that by the time Gabe is comfortable with himself, he'll still like Caleb.

Caleb follows him to the laundry room and closes the door behind him so he can change clothes and toss the wet ones in the dryer. He returns, padding out of the room in too-long pants and a baggy shirt, hair damp and mouth curled in a lazy smile.

"Is the coffee ready?"

[overdrawing]

"Yeah it's there," he starts, trying to compose himself as he goes over and retrieves Caleb's cup. In the space it takes to turn back and face him, Gabe thinks he's affected a transformation. Caleb is in pajama pants that hang off him comically, but there's something about his smile...

"Caleb, please don't look at me like that," Gabe pleads.

He already lured him once. If he loses control, he won't forgive himself.

[freefromsin]

Caleb stops in his tracks. He blinks, caught off guard, and his smile dims. "Like what?" he asks. He hadn't been trying to flirt or look at Gabe in any certain way this time.

[overdrawing]

"Like..." Like he wants Gabe. His whole stomach tightens and he shakes his head a little. "I already lured you here. I-If you look at me like that, I might do it again."

It's a weak excuse for his own lack of restraint and he knows it, but the idea that he might lose his grip and hurt Caleb makes him feel ill.

[freefromsin]

Caleb's eyes seach Gabe's face. "I don't get it. I'm already here. What, you're gonna lure me five feet closer?"

What would happen if he did? All Caleb could really remember from earlier was that it had filled him with an urgency to see Gabe, how could it affect him any further if he was already in the room? Was there more to it?

[overdrawing]

"More like what if I lured you into kissing me or something? What if that's what I did...before." It's the first time he's really alluded to their night in the hotel room. "If I force you to feel something and it's not real that..."

That would make him despicable.