Pleased to Meet You, Baby

Dakota;

“Dakota, are you okay?” Caleb asked, astonished that I was even sitting in front of him. When I first saw him I tried as hard as I could to wipe the tears away.

“Yeah, I’m okay,” I whimpered, unbelievably. Caleb crawled closer to me and opened his frozen door.

“What happened?” His voice sounded foreign to me. I bit my lip nervously trying not to cry.

“Nothing,” My voice was shaky. “Nothing happened,” My trembling voice dropped so low, I didn’t even know if he could hear me. My eyes felt hot as they filled with tears.

“Dakota,” Caleb whispered before pulling me into a sitting hug. “Shhh, it’s going to be okay,” He whispered to me as I sobbed into his t-shirt. My cold body melted into his warm one. As much as I didn’t want to admit it, it felt good to be back in his arms. My tried cries began to die down as his fingers grazed my back. When I opened my eyes I noticed clothing and blankets littered on the floor.

“Caleb, what is all this stuff?” I asked him, in a stuffy voice.

“Oh, it’s, um,” He trailed off.

“Are you living in your car?” I asked, almost in disgust.

“Well, I have no where else to go,” He defended himself.

“Jonathan told me you were staying with Austin,” He looked shocked by what I was saying.

“Yeah, but they went to Florida,”

“Caleb, you cannot stay in your car for two weeks,” I sat up.

“I have not where else to go,” He told me again. I paused for a moment.

“Stay with me,” I thought out loud.

“What?” Caleb asked, shocked by my statement.

“Come stay with me,” I said, again. He began to shake his head. “We have an extra room. My mom won’t mind,”

“Um…okay,” He nodded his head. I hugged him, tightly. “Come on, we’ll drive my car,” I nodded in agreement and walked to the passenger side door. After climbing in I looked at Caleb with a smile.

The car ride was quiet, awkward. The only sound was the soft lull of the radio. The time spent away from Caleb had left a large gap between us. I felt him give me a sideways glance.

“So, uh, what were you upset about?” He asked, nervously. I hesitated. “Was it about him?” He asked me, coldly.

Yes. “No,” I lied. He shifted in his seat.

“Dakota, can you tell me what happened, please?” He said, softly.

“I can’t,” I said in a low inaudible voice.

“Why?” He asked while turning on to my street.

“I’m scared,” I whispered. He looked at me, shocked and slowly turned into my driveway.

“Dakota,” Quickly, I unbuckled my seatbelt and ran into my house. Caleb followed hastily behind me. “Dakota, wait,” He said as I ran up the stairs. I felt him grab hold of my wrist, pulling me close to his body. My breath caught in my throat when I felt his stomach press against mine. I couldn’t hold it in any more; I collapsed into him in a fit of tears.

“He told me he didn’t mean it,” I sobbed.

“Who? Mean what?”

“He told me he loved me,” Realization hit Caleb like a ton of bricks.

“Travis,” He sighed.

“I want to believe him so bad,” The tears blurred my vision in the already dark hallway.

“Dakota?” A soft voice asked from above us. Caleb and I both looked up to see Mel standing at the banister, her swollen stomach sticking out of the bottom of her tank-top. “Caleb,” She said, shocked.

“Hey,” He greeted her, softly, pulling his body from mine. I silently wiped the heavy tears from my eyes.

“Caleb, go up to my room while I talk to Mel,” He apprehensively nodded his head, before making his way up to my room. I pushed my hair out of my eyes and behind my ears. I looked up at my confused sister and sighed heavily.

“What is he doing here?” She asked me as I made my way the stairs

“He was living in his car,” I said in a tired voice.

“Are you okay?” She asked, most likely noticing my red eyes.

“Yeah,” I sniffed. “I’ll talk to you about it later,” I told her. “Okay?”

“Promise?” She pushed a piece of black hair from her eyes.

“I promise,” I smiled. “I’m just tired and I have Caleb to deal with,” She nodded and lightly planted a kiss on my forehead.

“G’night,” She whispered before turning back to go to her room.

“Night,” I said as I walked to my bedroom. When I walked in Caleb was sitting on my bed, hunched over, leaning on his knees. “Hey,” He looked up slowly. As I walked over to him he stood up to meet me.

“Dakota, can you tell me what happened?” He asked me lightly.

“Come on,” I said, leading him over to the bathroom.

“Wha- where are we doing?”

“The bathroom connects to the guest room,” I told him as I opened the other door. I walked in and sat down with out turning the lights on. Silently, Caleb walked over and sat next to me.

“Is it my brothers?” Confused, I looked up at him. “The baby,”

“Yeah,” I sighed.

“Wow,” He let out a large breath.

“Yup,”

“I’m an uncle,” He laughed.

“I’m an aunt,” We both stayed silent for what seemed like forever. The only sound was our low, shallow breathing. “Travis cheated on me,” I said, nonchalantly.

“What? With who?”

“Rosie Casey,”

“How did you find out?”

“She called me,”

“Well, she could just be saying tha-” I cut him off.

“She’s pregnant,” My voice was shaky.

“That’s why she’s been out? I thought she had mono,”

“Nope,” My eyes started to fill with tears. “So, tonight I was going to break up with him. When I told him why, he said that it was an accident. He said he loved me and it would never happen again,”

“What a douche bag,”

“Caleb, I can’t break up with him,” I cried.

“Why?” He asked with disgust.

“I think that I’m in love with him,”

“Dakota, he got another girl pregnant,” I couldn’t say anything else.

“It’s late, I’m going to go to bed,” I stood up walked to the bathroom door. I looked back at Caleb. “If you need anything come and get me,” I smiled causing him to nod.

The next morning I woke up to the sound of the shower running. My tired eyes could see the small puffs of steam slip out of the slightly ajar bathroom door. I slowly sat up and ran my hand through my unwashed hair. I walked over to the bathroom and knocked twice.

“Caleb,” I called out loudly. “I’m going to get breakfast. Come on down when you’re finished and I’ll make you something,” I could almost hear his muscles tightening up.

“Uh, okay,” He called back to me, nervous as I stood outside the door. The fresh smell of shampoo invaded my nostrils as I took a deep breath. I pushed myself off the wall and out to the hallway. The late morning sun beamed brightly through my windows as I hopped down the staircase.