Boo the Boob Connoisseur

Zayne

Xavier

Sylus

Rafayel

Valko

chuu's note: xavis one lowk something I did when I was interstate... I would bother my friend who was the floor beneath cos I didnt have enough bread lol (we usually got 1 loaf and split it bw each other cos we were saving money)

© kurapikapikachuu | Please do not feed any of my work into AI. Please do not copy, repost, or translate my work anywhere else.

likes, reblogs and comments are always appreciated <3 lots of love, chuu!

—

“i don’t think this is a good idea,” you stiffly announce, too scared to move a micrometer.

on the other hand, mc proudly surveys the unfamiliar surroundings. “c’mon, we’re already here! it’d be a waste to turn back now. plus, valko spent so much time working on these,” she points at her earring, and your matching one, that she got just for this.

you face is twisted up in disbelief and anxiety over your current situation as you stiffly move your head to meet mc’s determined smirk.

“don’t look at me like that! it’s not like we’re spying on him non-consensually,” mc huffs out, clearly not satisfied with your lack of trust.

willing yourself, you finally allow yourself to relax a bit to glance around the maze-like campus. “but isn’t that exactly what we’re doing?”

“hey!” mc interrupts, smacking your back in an attempt to encourage you to move. instead, you launch forward a few steps, not expecting the sudden assault.

“ack!”

“give me some slack,” she tuts at you. mc smoothly pulls you into step with her since you’re too busy trying to soothe the stinging pain on your back to put up much of a fight.

mc moves to adjust her clothes while she tries to find an excuse to defend herself. “gideon gave us the go-ahead, so technically we aren’t doing anything wrong?”

“we?” you defeatedly sigh out, accepting your fate.

suddenly, a wagging finger is thrusted into your face. you skid to a stop as mc taunts you. “ha, don’t act like you aren’t the whole reason why we’re here, and not to mention how you’re the one who was moping around while stalking caleb’s social media!”

“wait, don’t say that so loud!” you frantically try to calm down mc.

unfortunately, your flustered reaction only fuels her to continue. “not to mention how you would constantly refresh his feed and even—“

“okay, okay! i get it,” you quickly slam your hands together. “i apologize for ever doubting you, my goddess! please take pity on this humble being, oh great one,” you plead with your eyes squeezed closed, head tilted down.

a hand tugging yours apart causes you to snap open your eyes. “hmph, should’ve said that from the beginning,” mc oh so graciously accepts your begging with an amused smirk on her face.

an exhausted sigh escapes your now resigned figure as mc tugs you along. “hey, seriously. don’t worry. it’s probably just a misunderstanding,” mc tries to reassure you.

“i hope you’re right,” you dejectedly sigh. “i just don’t get why he’s acting so weird all of a sudden. we were fine when he first moved to skyhaven,” you exclaim.

mc hums as she listens to you rant. “listen, everyone knows how devoted caleb is. so if anything, this entire thing is probably just him being stupid,” she theorizes.

before you can complain even more, mc quickly cuts you off, “okay, no more stalling! we’re late, and if gideon leaves, we’re actually screwed!”

—

the first thing gideon feels when he finally spots the two of you rushing towards him is relief. the first thing he says is: “what’s up with the get-up?”

gideon carefully analyzes the unusual clothing you and mc are wearing. mc spares no time to show off the face altering technology disguised as an unsuspecting earring that valko gifted her, “wait, watch this.” mc reaches for her singular unique earring, the other pair resting on your ear, and presses it. gideon is stunned when mc’s facial features are slightly altered, but the change is enough to make her unrecognizable at a glance.

“woah,” gideon’s mouth drops open.

beaming with pride, mc’s quickly deactivates the device. “cool, right? we’re gonna use this to spy on caleb!”

confused, gideon blinks at mc and you. “uhh, how exactly is that going to help you hide from caleb?”

“uh, duh. how would we spy on caleb if he always spots us whenever we’re within a 10 mile radius?” mc says like it’s the most obvious thing ever.

still confused, gideon cautiously speaks up, “uh, yeah.” he breaks out of his staring contest with your questionable outfits to dumbfoundedly glance between you and mc. “that’s my whole point.”

now you’re confused too. “what do you mean?” you ask. gideon can only afford to respond with a deadpan stare, as if he’s witnessing the world’s most oblivious and hopeless case.

mc takes offense, and irritatedly lets out, “what’s that face supposed to mean?”

“i-“ exasperated, gideon stops himself to take a deep breath before continuing. “look, you said it yourself. if ‘canine caleb’ can sense your guys’ presence whenever he gets a tiny whiff of your scents, then what’s the point of the disguises?”

a silence breaks out as mc begins contemplating her choices. you, on the other hand, try to defend your boyfriend’s honor. “hey, don’t call him a dog,” you weakly protest, immediately cringing as soon as the words leave your lips.

your embarrassment only gets worse when gideon groans out. “you,” he points at you, causing you to tense up, “cannot be talking.”

your brows furrow as you open your mouth to defend yourself, only to get stopped by gideon speaking up again. “oh, please. caleb not being able to recognize his childhood friend is one thing, but him not being able to recognize his girlfriend?”

you know gideon is completely right, but your pride and dignity refuses to lose. “he’s not that bad,” you falsely, but confidently rebut.

“right,” he drags out, “and i don’t have 10 fingers.” he taunts you by shoving both of his, very obviously, 5-fingered hands into your face.

you’re busy smacking gideon’s hands out of your face when mc lights up. “hey,” she mischievously chirps out, rocking back on forth on the heels of her feet, “why don’t we make a bet?”

when both yours and gideon’s attention is completely on her, mc points at you and declares, “i bet caleb will recognize you before me, and i bet he’ll notice within 15 minutes.”

before you could retort, gideon scoffs, “please, be realistic.” a chill fills the air as gideon’s face darkens. you’re starting to regret making every decision that somehow led you here when gideon raises his hand. “i say 5 minutes,” he narrows his eyes competitively at mc.

“deal. winner gets caleb at their beck and call for the entire day,” the two of them shake hands, both clearly satisfied with and determined to win the reward.

aghast at what just happened, you clear your throat. “uhm, do i not get a say in this?”

mc instantly shakes her head, “no way! you’re just going to cheat,” gideon nods along to her words. “and besides, you already have caleb on a leash, so you winning would be a waste,” mc argues.

“seconded,” gideon comments.

sparing him a quick glare, you cross your arms as you unconvincingly mutter, “i do not have him on a leash.”

mc and gideon don’t waste a second before jumping at the chance to let out their fed-up grievances and experiences of life as caleb’s not-girlfriend.

“please, have you even experienced his non-stop nagging?”

“or getting your socks thrown out because he ‘thought it was trash’ since it was left laying on the floor for too long?”

“how about when i lost my front teeth ‘cause i fell off my bike, and whenever he saw me he would laugh until he couldn’t breathe! not to mention how he told me, with a straight face, that the tooth fairy wasn’t real just because i stole a bite of his ice cream?!”

“you think that was bad? i forgot my keys to our apartment, and when i called him for help, all he said was ‘that sounds like a you problem.’ and then he just hung up!”

“don’t get me started on—“

mortified at their alleged stories, you throw your hands up and shout, “okay, i get it!” you’re met with their smug faces as you defeatedly sigh out, “alright, you two deserve it, but how are you going to get him to actually listen?”

your question only makes mc’s smug look grow even more. “don’t you think the owner should take responsibility over their puppy’s wrongdoings?”

speechless and baffled, you stumble over your words to deny mc’s claims. “i- what?! no, wait,” you quickly shake your arms and head side to side to emphasize your disagreement. “i am not his owner! and stop calling him my puppy?!”

“i’d doubt he would complain about being called—“

“no, no. no,” you huff out in a desperate attempt to end the conversation. “if i agree with whatever started this entire thing, will you please never bring that up again, please?”

—

“what happened to the spying plan? why are we just straight up meeting him,” you question the duo as the three of you wait for caleb’s lecture to end.

mc hums, “there really was no point in spying when we all know he isn’t sneaking around.” she turns to meet your anxious gaze with a reassuring one, “seriously, just talk to him. trust me, it’s the easiest way to put an end to this,” mc hooks her arm with yours as an act of comfort.

closing your eyes, you take a deep breath in as you contemplate mc’s words. “okay,” you open your eyes to reflect her encouraging expression, “i trust you.”

not seeing a need for the disguise anymore, you reach up to take off the earring only to get stopped by mc. startled, you glance at her with an eyebrow raised, waiting for an explanation for her sudden actions.

“wait,” she sheepishly mutters. casting a quick glance at gideon, mc winces at how childish her next words are going to sound. “uhh, can you keep the disguise on, for, y’know, the bet?”

“no way, this is so stupid. there’s no way he would recognize me in this ridiculous get-up,” you complain, but you end up keeping the disguise on anyway. saying that you aren’t curious about how caleb would react would be a lie.

gideon finally tunes in after finishing up his texts with caleb, probably trying to convince him to meet up after his lecture ends instead of heading home. gideon refuses to pass up a chance to chastise caleb. “please,” he shuts off his phone and looks up at you. “i could hand him a strand of your hair and he wouldn’t even blink before figuring out it’s yours.”

“stop exaggerating,” you huff.

mc chimes in, “he really isn’t, though?” you send her a knowing glance, which she shrugs at.

“well, let’s see who’s right,” gideon raises his arm and begins waving someone down. “caleb, over here,” he shouts, effectively grabbing everyone else’s attention.

you’re freaking out, but you’re given no time to calm down when caleb’s annoyingly big strides allow him to reach your small group within seconds. mc has to nudge you free from your tense state when caleb and gideon start chatting. “snap out of it,” mc scolds through gritted teeth, “you’re going to blow our cover. hold out for another 13 minutes.”

unfortunately for mc, caleb’s eyes flit over to politely acknowledge your presences when he does a double take as soon as he looks at you. without meaning to, the three of you, excluding caleb, hold your breaths as you wait to meet your impending doom.

caleb pays no mind to the sudden silence from gideon, and simply tilts his head, squints his eyes, and scans you from head to toe.

the three of you stare caleb down when he decides that his assessment is done, and bends down to be face-to-face with you.

he’s so close that all you can see is his face, all you can feel is his breath softly spanning across your face, and all you can hear is your scarily rapid heartbeat.

caleb quickly darts his eyes to the side, his analytic gaze lingering for a moment before returning to scan your face for a reaction.

unknowingly, your eyes widen with anticipation and nerves at the thought of him discovering the device, and apparently, that’s all caleb needs to confirm his suspicions.

without any warning, caleb reaches for the earring and pinches it between his fingers. you don’t know how he knows about the existence of the device, but you couldn’t be bothered to care when your altered appearance returns to normal.

everyone freezes for a brief moment before the brightest, yet familiar comforting smile breaks out on caleb’s face, but, unfortunately, you’re only spared a brief glance. you’re not even given the time to grieve before you’re once again filled with utter glee since caleb has taken to pepper kisses all over your face.

“hi, honey,” he smiles against your cheek as you let out a content sigh. “what’re you doing here?” he continues attacking your face while you unconsciously move your hands up to grip onto his shoulders. “not that i’m complaining, ‘f course,” caleb snakes his arms around your waist, pulling you closer until the two of you are chest to chest. the new position forces you to practically break your neck to maintain contact due to caleb’s obnoxious height.

“hi, ‘leb,” you mumble out, too focused on attempting to gently push him back to properly articulate your words. “missed ya, so let me see your face, please?”

and because caleb physically cannot go against your words, he relents, despite his desire to not go another second without his lips on you.

caleb concludes then and there that you’ll always be right, no matter what, because your smile that he’s greeted with is a hundred times better and makes him forget about everything. until mc reminds him of her presence.

“wow, and i thought he would’ve pounced on her.” gideon quirks an eyebrow and glances at mc, “if that’s not him pouncing, then i don’t even wanna imagine the real thing.”

annndd the moment is ruined. caleb sighs as he pulls you into the tightest hug possible. your arms are hooked around his waist, squeezing back to replicate his sentiment.

finally sparing the two intruders a proper once over, caleb does a double take at mc. “woah, what’d i miss? identity crisis or…?” he trails off.

scoffing, mc retaliates at caleb’s obvious bias, “your girlfriend, who you’re practically smothering to death, is dressed the exact same, but you’re judging me?”

caleb merely blinks in response, “it’s different.”

fired up, mc jabs at you, only managing to get a solid 4 pokes before caleb flicks her hand away. “see! please. please, tell me you heard that,” she shouts.

laughing, you pat caleb’s back twice to signal him to let you go, which he begrudging does. “yeah, i noticed,” but before you could comfort mc, gideon speaks up.

“too bad you didn’t win, though,” he shrugs with faux pity.

while mc goes quiet, undoubtedly coming up with an alternate plan, caleb has reverted back to showering you in kisses. he only takes a short break when gideon’s words register in his head. “what d’you mean by ‘win?’ what exactly did i miss?” caleb narrows his eyes at gideon.

ignoring caleb, mc comes out of her daze, snaps her fingers, and points at gideon. “if you take revenge for me, i’ll pay you back,” she promises him.

confused, caleb turns to you for an explanation, but he quickly realizes that you’re busy staring off in a different direction. tracing your line of sight, caleb’s gaze lands on a somewhat growing crowd. he totally forgot he was still in public.

softly squeezing your waist, caleb waits to properly meet your eyes before he whispers out, “hey, did you want to head up to my room?”

no matter how many times caleb proves how well he knows you, and how well he can read you, it’ll still render you breathless. “yeah, was it obvious?” you match his tone, but you’re afraid your eyes give away the overwhelming adoration you hold for him.

a grin spreads on his face as he gently shakes his head. caleb begins speaking again, but his slightly overgrown bangs catch your attention instead. “no,” he breathes out, watching your hand rise to brush his hair out of his eyes. reflexively, caleb closes his eyes to relish in the feeling of your hand running through his hair as he forces himself to finish his sentence, “just wanted to have you to myself again.”

still focused on caleb’s hair, you quietly hum, “you always have me, though?” all caleb can muster in response is a half committed huff, trying to disguise his uncertainty with an act of being too distracted by you now scratching his scalp.

unfortunately for him, you know him just as well as he knows you. “caleb,” you softly demand, halting your movements.

realizing he’s caught, caleb slowly opens his eyes to meet your now worried ones. “it’s just,” he pauses to gather his thoughts while moving to grasp the wrist of your hand, still tangled in his hair.

at the sight of caleb breaking eye contact in favor of staring at the floor, you consider speaking up once more, but the feeling of his thumb caressing your pulse point stops you. soon after, caleb confesses, “it doesn’t feel like i’ll always have you anymore.”

your hand falling from his hair, now seemingly frozen in mid-air, is what causes caleb to drag his vulnerable gaze back up. the sight of your crestfallen expression only makes the pit in his stomach grow.

caleb can’t pinpoint exactly when the pit first made its appearance, but he does know it has been lingering ever since he moved to skyhaven—away from you, away from his home. the longer caleb struggled with the anxiety and nausea-inducing insecurity that came with long-distance, the more he believed that just a minute in your presence would relieve him of his pain.

however, now that he’s basking in your affection, caleb has never felt so wrong. so off. if anything, caleb feels even worse, more jittery at the overwhelming, yet completely nonsensical, idea of you finally realizing that he isn’t worth it.

being with caleb already meant that you had to sacrifice the normal couple lifestyle, along with having to put up with his overprotective and unhinged tendencies. and now, as he burns your unreadable expression into his memory, caleb feels as if he’s burdening you with another one of his problems again.

caleb’s mind goes blank as soon as he notices your lips start to part, and his desire to desperately move on, to return pretending as if everything’s okay, takes over. just as he rushes to reassure you, mc’s approaching voice wakes him up from his spiraling state. drearily, caleb tries to clear up the fog by blinking, yet still staring at you, waiting for you to make the first move of looking away.

internally, caleb knows that he’s actually waiting for you to give him an excuse to run away from his feelings. he’s afraid that by being accepting and admitting his flaws, he’ll shatter the dynamic he shares with you. one wrong move, and he throws away his entire life, he loses his reason to live rather than survive.

caleb has been doing just fine his entire life pretending and holding himself back, so he forces himself to believe that there’s no need to fix what isn’t broken. so he ignores the desperate, burning stares you send his way, he forcibly smooths out his tense expression, and he tears his gaze from yours.

if caleb is given the chance to relish in his false reality for a few more minutes, he’ll always take it no matter what.

slightly tightening his hold on your wrist, caleb glances at his forgotten friends, who are now staring at him, clearly waiting for a response from him. clearing his throat, caleb tries to buy some time for himself while he attempts to read the room.

it isn’t difficult to guess what mc had asked him, despite caleb not paying attention, with the cautious and concerned expressions being displayed on both mc and gideon’s faces. “yeah, i’m- uh, we’re,” he fights against his urge to take a peek at you. “yup, we’re fine,” caleb slowly nods out, however, his tone exposes his own uncertainty.

unable to handle the awkward atmosphere, caleb fakes a tense grin. “we’re goin’ to head back to the apartment,” he takes a step back, carefully tugging you with him. caleb doesn’t fail to notice how you’ve fallen completely silent, but your staring hasn’t faltered once.

caleb makes a mental note to thank gideon and mc later when gideon waves him away, clearly sensing caleb’s dire need of alone time with you. “y’know what, you two go on ahead,” gideon eyes caleb’s tense stance and your worryingly lack of expression. “we’re,” gideon moves a few steps towards mc, “going to get food, so see you later,” he trails off awkwardly before pulling mc away.

now left alone with you, caleb wills himself to slowly slide his hand down from your wrist to cautiously hover over your palm. he waits a few seconds, holding in his breath while giving you a chance to pull away. only to let out a sharp, yet somewhat disappointed, sigh when you show no reaction.

caleb’s heart is racing when he risks interlacing your hands together. yet, the pit in his stomach grows when he notices that you’re no longer looking at him, but rather fully avoiding him instead now.

suddenly, the fantasy wears off, and caleb’s desire to reach his apartment in record time fills him uncomfortably to the brim. antsy to start the conversation that he has been dreading up until now, caleb tries his best to mimic his normal, stable everyday voice. “i walked to campus today, sorry,” he pauses to scan your face. “it’s not that long of a walk, but if you’re not up for it, i can—“ caleb can’t help but ramble off when he’s desperate for you to give a sign that you’re still there, present with him, and not closed off from him.

the overwhelming ache from the pit soothes slightly when you give him a taste of mercy through the act of squeezing his hand.

instantly, caleb cuts himself off, his eyes darting to check on you. when he’s met with the same lack of expression, caleb feels the ache spread upwards. “okay,” he says more to himself. “let’s go?” caleb doesn’t really expect a response, but when you grace him with another squeeze, this time slightly stronger and longer-lasting, he wastes no time starting the painstakingly silent walk.

—

the first thing you notice as soon as you step into caleb’s apartment for the first time is that it’s freezing. the second thing you realize is that the apartment is so heart wrenchingly caleb, with hints of gideon plastered around.

it’s absolutely devastating that you can see your presence scattered around the place too, despite never having been there before. you’re trying your best to stop your darting eyes from making contact with every item that holds a memory, but you can’t help it.

the singular, out-of-place, apple shaped throw pillow that you jokingly made caleb promise you to get just because it reminded you of him.

the tv stand that you and caleb agreed on after spending hours on facetime arguing over about 50 candidates just because you sent him one text about not being able to sleep.

the cat shaped mug sitting in the sink, the same one that you sent him a tiktok about. except that exact mug only came in a matching set, so you know that its missing half—the one you called dibs on—is sitting somewhere, collecting dust in the cupboard as it waits for you to claim it.

if your presence was this prominent in their common space, you’re terrified to see how much of you takes up caleb’s room. on a normal day, you would’ve swooned over caleb’s dedication. unfortunately, today is anything but normal, and all you can focus on is the hurt and confusion clouding your mind.

you had convinced yourself that the reason why caleb was pulling away was because he was busy with his academics. it wasn’t him putting distance between the two of you, but rather him putting up this act that everything was okay and perfect. you tried so hard to be understanding when he stopped telling you every detail about his day and began giving vague answers before redirecting it back to you. it hurt when you had to find out he pulled a muscle, 3 days after the incident, through gideon’s close friends story instead of caleb himself.

you chalked it up to exams and midterms keeping him away, but you knew from every story, every post where caleb was tagged in, that he wasn’t studying.

the worst part was that you trusted caleb, and you still do. you know that cheating would never be an option to him, even if his life was on the line, so you could only come up with one last explanation. caleb was losing interest in you.

except, and maybe it’s conceited of you to think so, but you’re willing to bet everything that there isn’t a single universe where caleb would go down that route either.

and with all possible options crossed off, you’re starting to go insane trying to figure out what was going on with caleb. mc, who was a witness to your meltdown, simply asked why you wouldn’t just ask him. it wasn’t as if he ever actually lied to you. however, to mc’s frustration, you adamantly refused, claiming that if acting normal is already making caleb pull away, then being clingy would just make it worse.

on the other hand, mc wouldn’t give up on her belief that she's one hundred percent sure that this is all a huge misunderstanding, and decided to drag the both of you up to skyhaven to end both of your miseries.

when caleb smothered you just like he used to before he left for skyhaven, you were prepared to give mc the biggest hotpot apology ever. but then, it was as if a switch went off. caleb reverted back to his confusing behavior, which only caused your dread to return tenfold.

now, you’re stiffly standing in the middle of, what you presume to be, your future ex’s apartment. you can hear caleb clearly walking around, asking if you want some water. you so desperately want to wait and see if he’ll pull out the missing cat mug, your cup, but you start to shake and you know that your tears will soon follow.

caleb’s voice has never sounded so loud, yet muffled at the same time when he calls out your name again. but all you can focus on is how frustrated you are. there’s nothing wrong, but everything feels wrong.

you’re too caught up in your mind to realize that caleb has quickly made his way over to you as soon as he noticed your shaking.

caleb immediately takes hold of your shoulders, but before he can verbalize his concern, you snap. “what did i do?” tears welling up in your eyes.

“what?” caleb furrows his eyebrows.

irritated at the entire situation, you shake off his hands and start accusing him. “why won’t you trust me anymore? what did i do wrong?”

heart racing at your sudden change and confused about your accusations, caleb is rendered speechless. unfortunately for him, this only enrages you even more. “i just don’t get it. you won’t talk to me anymore. it feels like im holding you hostage in this relationship,” you take a deep breath in, hiccuping in the process. “i’d rather you just straight up tell me that you want space or something, just don’t make me second-guess everything i do,” you angrily croak out, slightly out of breath.

caleb wasn’t expecting this from you, and now he’s panicking, but you give him no time to collect himself. “i feel like i’m chasing a ghost. like i’m trying to fix something that doesn’t even need fixing!” you’re staring him down now, with tears racing down your cheeks. “it’s not fair to me and you know it,” you move to step away from caleb, and that’s when he finally breaks.

caleb falls to his knees, hands desperately grasping on both sides of your waist, head digging into your stomach. “im so sorry,” he breaths out like it's his last, as if he’s suffocating. whether intentional or not, caleb’s grip tightens like he’s terrified at the possibility of you escaping.

“it’s my fault, i’m the problem. i never meant to push that onto you,” he’s spiraling again, and caleb can’t find the energy to restrain himself when he’s so sure that he’s one wrong move from losing you.

“caleb,” you wearingly whisper. unsure whether you want him to stop or keep on going.

“you know that i can’t live without you, right? that i trust you with my entire being?

god, i’m a coward. i was scared.” he allows himself to briefly pull away from your stomach before he immediately tilts his head up, resting his chin on your abdomen. “i was terrified ‘cause i missed you so, so, so, so much, you don’t understand. i know it doesn’t make sense, but,” he gasps for air, tears starting to stream down his face, “i couldn’t stop thinking about you, you’re on my mind every second, and i can’t help but think you deserve more, but i would rather die than willingly give you up, you know that. please, tell me you know that.”

“caleb,” your mind’s spinning, all you can muster out is his name.

“i can’t do long distance,” he finally admits, voice and face twisted up in distraught. “it was manageable back in linkon ‘cause i was there with you, but up here, i can’t do anything. if you’re hurt or in danger,” caleb pauses before he comes to terms with what has been plaguing his mind for months.

“i’m useless,” caleb feels like he’s going to vomit. “i can’t save you or be there whenever you need me,” he forces out. “you deserve someone who can do all of that, but i’m selfish and i can’t bear losing you. i’m sorry, i’m so sorry,” caleb weakly atones, his voice gradually becoming shakier.

caleb’s ashamed at how much of a mess he looks, so he returns to burying his face into your stomach, but he doesn’t regret a single thing. for once, caleb feels like he can breathe without the presence of the pit brewing in his stomach anymore.

the apartment is soon overcome with a vulnerable silence, allowing the both of you a brief second to calm down.

after taking a moment to process everything, you carefully push caleb away before lowering yourself onto your knees too. gingerly, you lift your hands and plant them onto his cheeks. “caleb, please look at me,” you quietly plead as you begin soothingly caressing his now flushed face.

even now, at what he thinks is his lowest, caleb can’t refuse your words, so he obeys. an exhausted sigh escapes his lips as he tilts his head up, and rests his forehead against yours.

you swear you feel your heart swell when you take in caleb’s ruffled and worn-down appearance. whether or not he’s aware of it, caleb’s slightly reddened and puffy eyes are accompanied by a pair of furrowed eyebrows and slightly parted lips. if you weren’t in such an emotionally vulnerable situation, you would’ve been all over him right now. without intending to, you can’t help but let out a laugh at this rare state of his.

quickly pulling yourself together, you finally allow your words to flow out. “you’re an idiot, xia,” you huff out. “you’re saying all this stupid crap about how i deserve someone who’ll always be there for me no matter what, but,” you breath out, a knowing smile stretching across your face.

caleb knows this is the worst timing ever, but he can’t stop himself. his breath hitches at the sight of your oh so familiar smile mixed with your own tears and puffy expression that reflects his. caleb thinks this is what he’ll see when he dies and arrives at the gates of heaven. he’s so transfixed on how perfect you look that he almost misses your next words.

“caleb,” you adoringly whisper out, your smile only growing bigger as his eyes meet yours. “you’re my everything too.”

you lower a hand down to rest on the base of his neck as you lean into his ear. “even if i somehow decide to choose someone else, which is never happening, i will always run to you first for everything. i can’t help it,” you finish off with a peck to his cheek.

the soft puffs of his breath against your neck, along with the ticklish feeling of his fluttering eyelashes, encourages you to go on. “did you forget that you’ve been dropping everything for me whenever i call for you, no matter how minuscule the issue, ever since we’ve met?” you grin at the sound of his satisfied humming against your neck.

you don’t stop the onslaught of kisses as you continue whispering affirmations meant just for caleb’s ears. at some point, caleb rediscovers his strength as he tightly snakes his arms around your waist while shoving his face into your neck.

caleb’s breathing has evened out a while ago, and you’ve completely lost feeling in your legs long before, but you couldn’t care less. you’re pretty sure caleb’s asleep, however, that doesn’t stop you from confessing one last thing. “‘leb,” you slur out, your own voice and body eventually losing the battle against exhaustion. “i don’t know how you can’t see that i need you as much as you need me,” you sigh out, squeezing caleb’s limp body into an even tighter hug as sleep begins to overcome you.

—

caleb was awkae the entire night , refused to move cuz he wws scared that u wld get a moment of clarity if he woke u up trykng to move u to a more comfortable spot, hes tired asf cuz he used his evol to lessen the pressure on u

u start waking up so he carefully releases evol so u dont find out he never actually fell asleep

u wake up n ur neck hurts asf , everhthing hurts, u call out his name n caleb contemplated whether or not he shld pretend to stkll be asleep or to answer u. he ends up answering so at his response u start pulling away but he jst tightens his grip instead. u decide to not put up a fight n try your best to reciprocate by slowly wrapping your numb asf arm around his shoulder where ur fingers start to play w the hair on his nape. after letting caleb avoid the elephant in the room for a few minutes, tou decide to lightly pull away. “my legs hurt, caleb.”

“i’m sorry,” he shudders out against your neck.

“that’s not what i meant.”

“sorry.”

you sigh as your entire body goes slack, and caleb knows that you’re reaching your limit, so he finally concedes and loosens his hold on you.

without waiting, you immediately lean back just enough to see his face. caleb doesn’t know how he looks right now, but at the sight of your face and how he feels, he can tell that he looks like utter shit.

your eyes are darting all over his sullen face. his lips are dry and his eyes are bloodshot and half-lidded with pure exhaustion. instantly, both your hands are on his face, tracing every feature possible. instinctively, caleb croons into your hands, his eyes fighting to stay open and alert.

“did you even sleep?”

not wanting to ruin the moment, caleb chooses to gentle shake his head while reassuring you, “i’m fine. really.”

seeing the doubt cloud your eyes, caleb moves to loosely rest his hand around your wrist, squeezing it as if to beg for you to not bring it up again.

exasperated, you sigh before getting ready to stand up. noticing your intentions immediately, caleb rushes to stabilize your stiff body. you’re hell-bent on making your way to the kitchen, and despite being worried about you and wanting to stop you, caleb forces himself to quietly accompany you instead.

the moment you take a step into the kitchen, you spot your cat mug. the one you didn’t get to see be pulled out from the back of the cupboard. the one caleb abandoned on the counter before the fight—if you could even call it that when the two of you were just bawling your eyes out rather than actually arguing.

caleb watches with wide eyes as you robotically go through the motions of filling it up with ice cold water before shoving it against his chest. “here. drink it,” you sternly demand.

you closely monitor caleb’s every move as he chugs the water. once he returns your mug to it’s earlier spot on the counter, you speak up. “about last night,” you pause for a second when you see caleb tense up. “how can i help you?” you’re hoping he can decipher the look of pure concern you’re staring at him with.

a weak smile forced its way on caleb’s face, “you can’t,” he truthfully confesses. “i wasn’t just rambling last night. it’s really something i have to deal with myself, and i shouldn’t have dragged you into it.” you open your mouth to strongly protest his words, but he gives you a knowing look that makes you hold your tongue.

“i thought i could just wait it out, and everything would go back to normal, but i should’ve known better.” he pushes his hair back before taking a step towards you, his long legs practically leaving no space between the two of you. “i promise i’ll work on it. i won’t run away or hide from you anymore, especially not after last night.” in a normal situation, caleb would’ve already been embracing you, a method he utilizes during disagreements to guarantee your persuasion. but, right now, caleb needs to know that you trust him completely without any tricks or manipulation.

“i don’t think my heart or mind can handle almost losing you again.”

“but you didn’t,” you harshly strain out. closing the gap, now standing chest-to-chest, you roughly grasp onto caleb’s shirt. “why won’t you get it? you could never lose me, caleb,” you firmly state, face scrunched up in frustration.

you rest your forehead against his chest, preparing to reveal the secret that you vowed to be buried with. “ever since you moved here,” you shout, the sudden increase in volume startling caleb a bit. “i wake up and go to sleep worrying that you’ll find someone here who fits into your schedule, who you can see everyday, who will understand you more than i do,” you confess. “i think about all the people here who are cooler than me and better than me at everything, and—“ you cut yourself off at the feeling of caleb’s shaking chest and hand on your waist.

you think you’re going insane when you hear a sound resembling his muffled laugh, so you whip your head up to confirm your suspicions. immediately, you’re met with the sight of caleb’s head being thrown back while he’s trying to stop his laughter with his other hand. before you can protest, caleb’s laughter quickly dies down, and he greets your confused gaze with a beaming smile. “sorry,” he breathlessly lets out as he tries to catch his breath. “i just realized how stupid we are,” he ends with a huff.

you’re too stunned to question whats gotten into him and what he’s talking about. a few seconds ago, caleb looked like he just woke up from the dead, but, now, you swear he’s glowing. taking advantage of your frozen state, caleb quickly leans in, gleefully pressing his lips against yours. as if it was a reflex, you predictably melt into him and his kiss, which makes caleb hum into the kiss as he practically begins vibrating with euphoria.

you have no clue how long the kiss goes on for, but you do know that you’re in desperate need of air. when caleb follows you as you lean away for air, you think you’re going to pass out from asphyxiation right then and there. “caleb,” you panically mumble against his relentless lips.

when he honors your plea and pulls away, you’re left heavily panting as you try to rapidly blink away the slight dizziness that tugs at you. caleb, on the other hand, changes his target to your neck instead. you’re starting to believe mc’s taunts about how caleb doesn’t need air to live, he just needs you.

once you’ve got enough oxygen, you question him, “whats gotten into you?” caleb lets out a sigh of relief against your neck before slowly pulling away and straightening up. a teasing smirk makes its way across his face as he explains himself, “nothin’.”he shrugs, attempting to pull you impossibly closer, “i’m just glad my girlfriend is as obsessed with me as i am with her.”

caleb expects you to jokingly retaliate like how you usually do when he teases you, but instead, he’s met with your serene smile. “of course i am, idiot,” you whisper out. caleb’s knees almost buckle when he feels the intensity of your affection that you hold for him, and him only, in your voice. “i’ve been trying to tell you that for years,” you murmur, leaning up to give caleb a well-deserved peck.

caleb feels like the world’s biggest fool, but he doesn’t exactly mind being the owner of said title if it means getting to be the only one to witness this side of you.

noticing that caleb has finally gotten the idea through his thick skull, and how his adrenaline is nearly depleted, you reach up to begin tracing his under-eyes. “how about we get some sleep, yeah?” you urge, but all you get in response is silence as caleb continues to memorize how breathtaking you look/relish in how lucky he is. “c’mon,” you try again, “i’ve missed sleeping in your bed.”

at your admission, caleb breaks out of his daze, laughing. no longer having to walk on eggshells, he securely interlaces your hands while leading you to his room. “just my bed?” caleb mockingly teases you. at the same time, he tugs at your connected hands to pull you into his side. laughing at his exaggerated puppy eyes, you decide to play along. “yeah, the owner’s too clingy in the mornings,” you pretend to sigh out of annoyance just as the two of you arrive at, what you presume to be, caleb’s room.

however, before you can take a step inside, you’re suddenly being lifted onto caleb’s shoulder. while you squeal at the sight of the world being turned upside down, caleb takes the bait you laid out for him. “really? i’m too clingy,” he drawls out, not struggling one bit when you start flailing around.

once caleb reaches his bed, he carefully tosses you onto it before quickly making his way on top of you, essentially trapping you. “hey,” you yell out, pushing your hands against his shoulders to maintain distance in retaliation. caleb ignores your pushback and instead focuses on proving you wrong. “who was the one always complaining whenever i had to get out of bed?” your arms go slack and your face flushes instantly at the mention of your own clingy moments.

caleb reels at your reaction, only prompting him to continue pushing your buttons even further. “what was it that you would say,” he pretends to think, as if he doesn’t have it completely memorized. you rush to hide your face behind your hands out of embarrassment, but it does nothing to stop caleb. “oh, i remember now,” he leans down before delivering the final blow. “caaaleeeeb,” he pitches his voice higher in an attempt to mimic yours. “come back to beeeeed,” he drags out his words, his lips curling up in satisfaction when he spots your mortified expression.

“or,” caleb starts up again, but he’s met with your hands covering up his mouth. “okay, okay! i get it! no more, please,” you beg. caleb’s eyes crinkle up in delight as he presses kisses against your palm. leaning back a bit, he makes a little space to allow him to taunt you, “i don’t know, you could beg a little bit more than that.”

wrapping your arms around his neck, you pull him down to attack his face with kisses. “i’m sooooooorry,” you mutter out in the midst of your affection. despite caleb seemingly have given up on teasing you any further, you continue on with your kisses.

the sound of his content and soft laughter is what puts an end to your display of endearment. your arms are still encased around his neck when he maneuvers his around your waist as he goes completely lax on top of half your body.

a silence fills the room, occasionally disturbed by the sound of yours and caleb’s synchronized breathing.

you can feel sleep starting to come onto you, so you know for sure that caleb’s on the edge of passing out. “g’night, caleb,” you murmur, carefully moving the arm that he’s not resting his head on to brush his bangs out of his face. “i love you so, so, so much, more than you think,” you quietly confess, your lips pressed against his forehead. you don’t get a response, but you don’t mind.

—

bonus: caleb being at gideon’s beck and call

caleb is slouched against the couch armrest, his legs sprawled open across the rest of the couch as he watches some documentary about planes and jets. you’re resting between his legs, your head, stomach, and hands pressed up against caleb’s chest with his arm wrapped around you. mc has claimed the loveseat and is doomscrolling, one handed, on her phone as she rests her head in her other hand.

you’re so close to falling asleep, and caleb’s hand tracing your spine is only encouraging you to pass out. however, as soon as your eyes close, gideon loudly groans, startling you awake. the jolt makes caleb rip his gaze from the tv to look at you stirring, his hand now motionless on your back.

annoyed that gideon disturbed your sleep, caleb prissily yields to gideon’s obnoxious way of getting his attention. “what’s your problem?” he asks without even glancing at gideon, his attention still on you as you move out of his embrace.

“are you kidding me,” gideon gawks at caleb, who is still actively ignoring him and is now sitting up with you. “you’re the problem! i won the bet, but you won’t do anything i tell you to,” he complains.

at the mention of the bet, mc perks up and drops her phone in favor of playing devil’s advocate. “y’know what, gideon’s right,” she stares down caleb, but he’s still ignoring the ongoing conversation.

you’re too drowsy to participate or even listen to what’s going on around you. the only thing you do take notice of is caleb’s hands soothingly rubbing up and down your arms. however, you’re forcibly included in the conversation when mc shouts out your name. you slowly turn your head to face mc as she teams up with gideon with the sole mission of making caleb suffer. ignoring caleb’s death stare, mc continues to tattle on him to you. “your boyfriend isn’t keeping his promise of being gideon’s servant for a day. after all the work he, we, put in to fix your relationship, don’t you think caleb needs to help you repay us?” mc rambles on, praying that you’re too out of it to realize how flawed her reasoning is.

to mc’s and gideon’s luck, it plays out exactly how they wanted it to. caleb scoffs at the ridiculous situation, and he’s about to shut down the entire thing when you turn back to dazedly blink at him.

“‘leb,” you groggily slur. “do whatever they want, please,” you softly plead, to caleb’s despair.

before caleb can say anything, the duo jumps at the opening. “c’mon, ‘leb, listen to your girlfriend,” mc teases him. “yeah, be a good puppy, won’cha?” gideon’s smirk grows at the sight of caleb’s eye twitching in irritation.

all you can think of is caleb’s soft and inviting bed waiting for you, so you unintentionally sign away your beloved boyfriend to his demise just to be able to sleep quicker. “please, do it for me?” you weakly lift your hand to run your fingers through his hair.

caleb has never despised the hold you have on him until now. despite his entire being against it, caleb begrudgingly agrees with a tense nod. at the sound of gideon and mc celebrating, caleb is fuming and already plotting his way out when you move off the couch.

“thank you,” you lean down to press a grateful kiss against caleb’s waiting lips, but you miss and land near the corner of his mouth instead. caleb doesn’t think his day could get any worse. “‘m goin’ head to sleep, love you,” you mumble as you push away from him and begin heading towards his room without letting him respond.

the moment the door to his room closes, gideon instantly assigns caleb a task. “wow, i’m feeling thirsty after all that. a homemade smoothie does sound pretty nice. could you get on making one?” he instigates.

to gideon’s and mc’s surprise, caleb doesn’t put up a fight as he gets up and heads to the kitchen. caleb’s willingness is what terrifies them.

despite the never-ending sounds coming from the kitchen, the living room is completely quiet. when it’s suddenly silent, the duo tenses as caleb walks out holding a glass of gideon’s smoothie. caleb is smiling, but there’s something off about it, which only makes gideon second-guess all his decisions leading up to now.

“uh,” gideon nervously chuckles, “what’s in it?”

caleb lists off all the ingredients and so far it sounds normal so gideon’s confidence slowly returns/doubt slowly fades. mc holds her breath as gideon takes a sip, and immediately, his face screws up in disgust.

“oh, i forgot. i added some handfuls of ginger last minute ‘cause it’s good for your health. the blender also died midway, so there’s might be some texture too,” caleb reveals with a chillingly calm voice.

despite presenting it as a coincidence, they both know that caleb had planned out every incident. mc tries to hold in her laugh at the sight of gideon suffering, but she ultimately fails when a loud ‘pft’ escapes her mouth. after quickly glancing at mc, gideon sets down the smoothie and pushes it away from him as far as possible.

“okay, uh. y’know what, the laundry needs to be done,” gideon carefully brings up.

caleb’s smile grows even bigger, as if that was exactly what he was waiting for. however, before gideon can take back his words, caleb reassures him, “i’ll have it done.” gideon wearingly watches as caleb disappears down the hall.

mc laughs as soon as caleb’s out of sight while gideon groans and begins regretting everything. “i’m gonna go brush my teeth to get this taste out my mouth,” he sighs as he dejectedly pushes himself off the couch.

as gideon makes his way to the bathroom, he walks by caleb suspiciously holding a tub he doesn’t usually see when he does laundry. skidding to a stop, gideon cautiously approaches caleb and checks in on what he’s doing. “hey, what’re you holding right now?”

caleb’s face lights up as he shows gideon the label, “it’s bleach.” gideon pales at the reveal. “i swear i’ve seen this same stain on your clothes a few years ago, so—“

without letting caleb finish his sentence, gideon snatches the tub of bleach out of his hands. “i’m sorry, you can stop now,” gideon practically begs caleb.

a genuine grin makes it’s way onto caleb’s face. “are you sure? i mean you were suuuupeer adamant about this,” he taunts gideon as he cocks his head to the side.

“no!” gideon hurriedly shouts. “i mean yeah, i’m sure,” he takes a sharp deep breath in. “just go spend time with your girlfriend. she’s leaving soon, and you two just made up,” gideon rushes out an excuse to get caleb far away from his clothes or anything of his.

“wow, thanks dude,” caleb starts heading towards his room. “i’ll remember this,” he says in a grateful tone, but gideon somehow ends up feeling threatened instead.

you’re woken up by the feeling of the bed dipping down. “caleb?” you instinctively call out without bothering to open your eyes.

“hi, honey,” caleb coos as he settles down behind you. “sorry, didn’t mean to wake you up,” he whispers while tugging you back into him.

you hum out in content as soon as you feel caleb’s warmth, wasting no time to turn around in his arms so you can shove your face into his neck. “that was quick. i thought gideon was gonna wear you thin,” you mumble against his neck.

smiling into your hair as he reminisces his schemes, caleb tightens his hold and agrees with you. “yeah, me too, but then he said he wanted me to spend time with you before you leave,” he conveniently leaves out certain details as he recalls the interaction.

despite trying your best to reply to caleb, all that comes out of your mouth is an incomprehensible murmur of pure gibberish. if you weren’t practically passed out, you would’ve been squirming in embarrassment. however, you force yourself to stay awake when you barely catch caleb whispering.

“goodnight,” he presses a kiss on the crown of your head. “i love you so much that it feels wrong to just call it that.”

“me too,” you strain out, desperately fighting against your drowsiness to make sure your words are coherent. caleb wasn’t expecting you to be awake, and the brief second when he tenses up at the sound of your voice exposes him. “i love you so much that it hurts imagining a world without you,” you’re relieved that you just barely finished your words before you’re finally asleep.

campus senior! sylus, who perfects most if not all his performance-based school works. he is famous among teachers for having such diverse set of skills—from art to sports.

campus senior! sylus, who purposely avoids any campus project that involves him singing. no one ever heard him sing except you who dragged him to a karaoke bar after school.

campus senior!sylus, who is never once ordered by a teacher. they'll just choose his classmates except him. on cases where they need his help the most, he is proven to be reliable.

campus senior!sylus, who tutors you. he'd gently tap your forehead. "trying hard to stay awake,hm?"

campus senior!sylus, who saves the day having any school material you need. you can't count how many times you'd borrowed a pen from him.

campus senior!sylus, who acts like he never studies. it's in his choice whether to fail an exam or not, and if he wanted to he would in a heartbeat.

campus senior!sylus, who is never really seen hanging out with anyone except you. "there are lots of acquaintances," he says, ever the popular but distant man. "but have you seen me eating or walking with anyone for more than three minutes?"

campus senior!sylus, who pays extra attention whenever it's your exam season. he'd remind you to rest well, study with him whenever you want to, leave encouraging notes and drinks, and congratulate you after.

campus senior!sylus, your study buddy. "use me. i'll ask you questions and see if you can answer me.

campus senior!sylus, who firmly rejects anyone that confesses their feelings for him. everyone knows you two are dating. how could they not? your desk is full of whatnots that basically scream: he loves you.

campus senior!sylus, who gets along with your friends. yes, you can invite them with him. sylus doesn't mind, as long as that smile on your face lasts.

Some of you are weird. Like, genuinely fucking weird!

I'm talking about y'all who bully and post hate towards certain tags that are completely harmless. Idk wtf is up with the blatant transphobia and biphobia in the Sevika x reader space, but it's infuriating.

Let me be clear when I say that I'm not calling y'all hateful for not liking those fics. Do whatever, or like whatever you want, but when you make the fandom a hostile space instead of simply BLOCKING THE TAGS, then I have a problem.

No one gives a rat's ass that you don't like gp Sevika or bi Sevika fics. Ya wanna know why? Because they mind their business and understand that people will have differing interests. THEY DON'T CONSTANTLY POST AND FLOOD THE TAGS WITH THEIR NASTY WORDS LIKE SOME OF YOU!

All you people do is make this fandom a hostile space!! Is that what you want!? Because when your fandom is dead, y'all will deadass sit in people's faces and ask, "Where are all the writers and creators?" BITCH YOU BULLIED THEM OUT OF THE FANDOM!!

And I know I'm being harsh and mean. Some would say to an unnecessary degree; I know that. I am this way because transphobia is unacceptable. I am this way because I know how it feels to be lowkey iced out of a fandom. To be ashamed of what I like because a group of people thinks that enjoying a tag, that they don't like, a crime. That anyone who likes it is a weirdo and should be bullied off the platform for even daring to make content about it. Meanwhile y'all will let literal predators run rampant and not get HALF as much hate. YALL ARE RIDICULOUS!!

Like, I'm so frustrated to the point of exposing some of you assholes because y'all need to be called out! Y'all may call me too woke and get pissy for being called out, but I really do not care. You can't claim to be an ally but get offended when we rightfully point out your transphobia. Take the information and do better.

Again, let me make myself crystal clear. I'm not calling you transphobic for not liking the tag. I'm calling you transphobic for, and lemme put this in bullet points so you shit-for-brains can actually comprehend the words being typed;

Calling ppl who like the tag "not real lesbians"

Making stupid hate posts instead of blocking the tag

Going under people's posts and spewing hateful comments

Flooding the same tag, YOU HATE, with your hateful bs

That's why I'm calling y'all transphobic. That's why I'm calling y'all hateful. That's why I believe that y'all will be the reason this fandom dies!

YOU. ARE. THE. PROBLEM.

Argue with me if you want. It won't change how I feel about some of you.