@pixiu-palindrome this is for you! I hope you like it!
Summary: you decide to post yourself singing a song, not realizing it attracted the attention of a certain someone…
You’re fingers hurt from playing your guitar for so long. Having not practiced in a while, you lost the calluses on your fingers from playing before.
You wince in pain from pressing down on the strings, holding up your hand to your face to take a look at your fingers. Red and throbbing, you grimaced at them and decided to take a break. Putting your guitar down and getting up from the sofa, you walk over to the kitchen to get some water, realizing that your throat was dry from all the singing you did.
Opening the fridge, you pour yourself a glass and lean against the counter as you sip on it. Standing here in the kitchen, you realize how quiet the house is since Caleb isn’t home.
The reason why you picked up your guitar again in the first place was to fill that soundless void that he so usually filled. He’s been gone for two weeks now, and isn’t supposed to be home in another week. Even though you tried to call each other every night before bed, the Fleet was keeping him swamped, and wasn’t able to speak to you properly in some time. Lately it’s just been text messages, usually of him saying how much he misses you.
“I miss him.” You say to yourself, looking down into your glass, feeling that familiar ache in your chest. You miss his hugs and his teasing, you miss how he cooked meals for you and always smothered you in kisses before bed. The song that you were singing reminded you of him, ‘Ticket to the Sky’ by The Rose. It’s the reason why you decided to learn it in the first place.
Sniffling and willing the tears away, you decided to do something without thinking much of it.
You were going to record and post yourself playing and singing the song.
You wake up to your senses being attacked by a familiar smell. It’s the smell of the breakfast that Caleb always cooked for you. But wait- Caleb isn’t home, at least he isn’t supposed to be, right?
Barely awake and eyes barely opened, you fling the covers off yourself and almost trip getting out of bed. “Agh-!” Your eyes are attacked with morning light as you open the bedroom door and run towards the kitchen.
And Lo and behold in all his glory, is Caleb standing there over the stove. He’s the perfect picture of domesticity, wearing jeans and a t shirt with his apron on over it, humming silently to himself as he cracks eggs into the pan.
“Caleb?” You say out loud, voice still hoarse from sleep.
Caleb turns around at the sound of your voice, his eyes filled with warmth and a soft grin on his face at the sight of you.
He moves toward the sink to wash his hands while speaking. “Morning pipsqueak, you’re right on time, breakfast is almost read-” He doesn’t get to finish as you rush towards him, wrapping your arms tightly around his waist and pressing your cheek against his chest, practically crushing yourself against him.
He lets out a soft, surprised laugh. “Woah, did you miss me that much?
There it is, that soft teasing he always does. Your grip on him gets even tighter, as if to make sure he’s actually here and not a part of some dream you’re having. “You’re home.” You say softly.
His eyes soften at your words, wrapping his arms around you just as tightly and placing a kiss on top of your head. “Yeah, I’m home.”
You close your eyes as you breath in his scent, something warm and intimately familiar, something so uniquely him.
He pulls back a little to look at you. “Come on, let’s eat alright? We can catch up over breakfast. Or, do you want to freshen up first?”
Remembering your disheveled hair and rumpled clothes, you felt like you couldn’t care less at the moment. But you felt like you should before you eat. “Right…let me freshen up first.”
You and Caleb catch up over breakfast, you telling him about what happed the past couple weeks, and him filling you on a few things that have been going on with the Fleet. The both of you are doing the dishes now, you wash while he dries. Caleb insisted that he wash since he was the one that cooked, but told him you don’t mind and it’s only fair since he made breakfast.
Caleb glances over at you as you scrub the pan. “By the way…I saw your post yesterday.” He says it lightly and casually, as if he didn’t just admit that he was checking your socials at unholy hours of the morning. You recorded it earlier, but posted it later on in the night before you went to sleep because you were busy.
“Huh? Oh um-yeah, I did.”
“You sounded amazing you know, maybe you can sing it for me after?”
The pan almost slips from your hand as you look over at him. “What? I mean- sing it for you?”
He laughs at the expression on your face, a combination of embarrassment and reluctance. “Why are you so red? Don’t tell me…are you embarrassed to sing for me?”
You feel your ears and face go up in flames at his words. You turn off the water and turn away from him in an attempt to save face.
Caleb’s smile only widens at your reaction. “Awwwww so you are embarrassed! How cute, but you know…you don’t need to be embarrassed baby.” He says as he wraps his arms around you from behind.
You feel yourself redden even more at the pet name, weakly pulling at his arm in an attempt to pull away before you combust. “Agh- Caleb-!”
“Pleeeasssse? With extra whipped cream and sprinkles with two cherries on top?” He asks as he settles his chin on your shoulder, squishing his face against yours.
How can you deny him when he’s being begging you so sweetly? “Okay okay! Just- let me get my guitar first.”
He lets you go with a shit eating grin as you make your way to the room to retrieve it. “I’m looking forward to it.”
You come back out with your guitar and capo in hand, finding Caleb sitting leisurely on the sofa with his arm slung across the back. He perks up seeing make your way across the room, you sittting down next to him arranging yourself into a comfortable position.
Caleb turns to face you as you pull up the lyrics on your phone, his elbow on his knee and his fist on his face, looking at you with those puppy eyes that always weaken your resolve.
You put your phone between to two of you so you can read the lyrics, feeling like your face is on fire as you inhale and exhale in an attempt to calm your nerves. ‘It’s just Caleb, the person that I’ve known my whole life! No need to be nervous…’
As if noticing your jitters, Caleb gives you a comforting smile and pats you on your knee. “Hey, it’s okay, even if you’re voice cracks and you’re out of pitch I’ll still listen to you with my full attention.”
You raise an eyebrow at his statement; despite his playful teasing, you feel your nerves calm down a little. “You know…I’m starting to think you came home just so you can hear me sing in real life.”
“Orrrrr, maybe I just really missed you and decided it was time to come home.” He says, smiling at you.
“Sure sure.” You’re not convinced, that’s for sure.
“Alright alright, let’s get to business, shall we?” He says as he straightens his back in anticipation.
You clear your throat before you start strumming the intro to the song, taking a deep breath as you begin singing the first verse.
A shadow floats through the sky, the silhouette dims the light
Caleb grins as you start singing the melody, your voice a little shaky at first, but growing stronger as you continue.
Found myself chasing the rails that curved through the clouds
He thinks about how when he was a kid, he always dreamed of soaring through the clouds.
A fleeting whisper in the air
I hear my name as I’m searching for, the entrance, to your world
The fleeting whispers that he would say out loud when you were asleep, as if the darkness could hide all his longing and want. How he was always trying to find his way into your world, a world where it was just the two of you.
My heart’s, taking my breath
Whenever he looked at you, he always felt as if the beat of his own heart would suffocate him.
His eyes always shone like purple amethysts in the sunlight when he saw you.
Your touch, stronger than anything I’ve had
Your touch always grounded him, reminding him that you were always there and that you weren’t going anywhere. How whenever he felt like his mind would spiral out of control, the warmth of your touch always brought him back.
Make a wish here with me right now,
It’s our little secret ride
Let the wind blow your dreams to mine
I felt the warmth of your embrace
Let the wind blow my dreams to yours
This is what I wished for
As you whistle the instrumental, Caleb feels his throat burn with emotion as he thinks about all the wishes and dreams you shared as kids. The little secrets only the two of you knew, how he always wanted to make all of your dreams come true. Your embrace, where it feels like the only place he truly belongs; the promise the both of you made on the train in the clouds, proof of your bond with the matching rings on your wedding fingers. How by making this promise, you already made all his dreams and wishes come true.
A misty smoke in the haze, a gentle flame in our heart
Two hearts that always belonged to each other, constantly burning with a quiet intensity.
Glowing in the dark, below the stars, we ignite
In the dark under the stars, when the both of you let that flame ignite with a burning desire. Soft pants and whispered praises and promises, he always held your body close to his.
A fleeting whisper in the air
I hear my name as I’m searching for, the entrance, to your world
My hearts, taking my breath
Your touch, stronger than anything I’ve had
He looks down to hide his face from you, scared that if you saw the expression he has right now, you would stop playing.
Make a wish here with me right now
It’s our little secret ride
Let the wind blow your dreams to mine
I felt the warmth of your embrace
Let the wind blow my dreams to yours
This is what I wished for
He thinks of how far your relationship has come. From when you first met, to when you grew up together. How you thought he was dead only to find out months later that he was alive and well. Awkward moments and heated arguments, emotions then that were too hard to express into words. Moments where you bared your souls to each other, the weight of love and acceptance you had for him almost more than he can bear, but always wished for more. And now, married and living happily in your own home together, he was reminded of this. That no matter what happened, he would always, be your Caleb. Always.
The song comes to an end as you whistle the outro. You look up to see Caleb’s reaction, only to find him with his face in his hand. You feel concerned as you put your guitar down and scoot closer to him. Was your singing that bad? “Caleb,” you reach out to gently take his hand off of his face, “are you okay? Was my singing that terrible?”
You don’t expect to find his eyes rimmed red and glassy with unshed tears. Panicking a bit, you gently cup his face with your hands. “Caleb, oh my- was it so bad that you started crying?!”
He looks startled at your words. “What? No no no,” he holds your hands that are still cupping his face, “it’s the opposite really, it’s just…” He trails off as he looks down at your lap instead of your face. “I felt so…moved. It…reminded me of us.”
Your eyes widen and soften at his words, your heart swelling with emotion as you get up to hug him, wrapping him in the warmth of your embrace. “Awww, you’re really sappy deep down huh?”
He huffs out a soft laugh at your teasing, encircling his arms around your waist to pull you closer. “Only when I’m with you.”
You smile softly, pulling back to cup his face in your hands again. “You know…the reason why I learned that song in the first place was because it reminded me of you.” You look away from his face to look at your fingers playing with his hair at the nape of his neck, your voice taking on something softer. “I missed you Caleb.”
His eyes take on that teasing glint again. “Oh? Pipsqueak missed me huh? I guess that means you were thinking about me riiight~?”
Your face pinches into a frown. “Of course I miss you, I always miss you whenever you’re gone.”
His eyes take on something more serious and warm as you continue. “There isn’t a day that goes by when I don’t think about you. It’s practically impossible not to, I wouldn’t even try if I could because technically that’s still thinking about you-”
You barely even register what’s happening before he pulls you into his lap and starts kissing you. It’s passionate and urgent, but not rushed, as if he’s savouring every press of your lips to his. He’s kissing you as if he wants to make up for all the lost time where he wasn’t able to hold you in his arms.
The both of you pull back to catch your breath, panting softly as you look into each other’s eyes. Caleb pulls you into a hug as he buries his face in the crook of your neck, his voice taking on something almost reverent. “I missed you so damn much. God- you, you don’t even know how much I did.”
You laugh at the ticklish feeling of his breath on your neck. “Then next time, call or text me instead of stalking my socials at one in morning. It doesn’t matter how late it is, I’ll always answer.”
He laughs softly as if he got caught red handed. “Roger that.” He continues to pepper your face with kisses. “So this is what happens when I’m gone for a longer period of time huh? I wonder how you’ll be if I’m gone for even longer. You become so damn sweet to me.”
You smile. “Maybe it’s because…I love you a little more than you realize.”
a/n: I did not intend to make it this long my gosh😭 I hope this is good! I got a little sappy with this one, I can’t tell if my ass ate with this or not lol. I’ll be writing another fic with all the other li’s in it, I just need to find some good songs that suit them. I have a couple songs in mind, but suggestions are greatly appreciated!❤️ Also, the individual story for each li in the fic probably won’t be as long as this one, but we’ll see! ♪(´ε｀ )
