Burn

I rolled over and stretched, shielding my eyes from the bright sun coming in through the curtains. Slowly opening my eyes, I focused on the wall I was facing, looking at the posters that adorned Caleb's room.

Caleb's room.

I sat up immediately, the blood rushing to my head and little spots forming in front of my vision. I grabbed my head and squeezed my eyes shut, willing it to go away. "Ughhhhh."

I suddenly realized I wasn't wearing my clothes from the night before, but instead a long t-shirt that had The Rolling Stones logo on the front. The same shirt Caleb was wearing last night.

I could feel the bed sheets against my naked legs and went into instant panic mode. I got ready to scurry out of bed to gather up my clothes but a strong hand grabbed my wrist, pulling me back. Caleb sat up from his spot beside me, rubbing his eye with his free hand. His hair stuck out from all places on his head and he was in nothing but a pair of briefs.

Tears welled up in my eyes at the realization of the sights around me. I snatched my arm out of his grip and looked around for my pants in the mess of clothes strewn on floor. "Vi, wait." he said hurriedly.

The tears leaked out onto my cheeks as I bent down to slide my jeans on. I saw him out of the corner of my eye rush to pull a shirt over his head and find a pair of pajama pants. "I have to go." I choked out, reaching for the door knob. I couldn't believe my self. I was completely disgusted.

"Vi, just wait a second okay?" he pleaded, grabbing my wrist once again. I whirled around to face him. "Wait for what, Caleb? For you to tell me all about how much of a drunk slut I was last night? About how I came onto you and you just couldn't say no--"

"Viola listen to me!" he raised his voice, tightening his grip on my wrist. I completely lost it, crumpling against the door and closing my eyes. Tears slid down to the curve of my chin, dripping off and onto the floor. "Viola." Caleb pleaded. "Nothing happened."

I opened my eyes, looking into his hazel orbs for the first time all morning. A flashback of how they burned with so much desire the night before entered my mind and made me sick to my stomach. He released my wrist from his hand and brought both of them up to my face, wiping away some of the tears with his thumbs. "I promise you. Nothing happened between us."

"I remember kissing you, Caleb." I mumbled, trying to look away from him but he held my face firmly in place. "Yes," he replied softly. "You kissed me. And you took off all your clothes. And then you starting crying and I held you until you went to sleep."

I stared at him silently, a million thoughts wracking my brain. I willed my cheeks not to burn with embarrassment at the things I probably told him while I was in that state. He tucked my hair behind my ears and leaned in towards me, lowering his voice. "And I kissed you back, Vi. But I would never take advantage of you. I'm sorry."

I shook my head quickly. "Don't be sorry..."

He glanced down at my lips, nervously licking his own before his eyes darted back to mine. His thumb slid slowly over my bottom lip, causing them to part voluntarily, and I let out a small sigh. That one little look sent me ablaze again and I could feeling the adrenaline start to course through my veins. I put my hands on both sides of his face and tried to pull him down to me, but he stood solid as stone. I frowned, trying once more but he shook his head and removed my hands from his face, pinning them at his sides.

"Viola do you see how you just acted because you thought we slept together? Do you really think that's a good idea?" he asked softly. I glanced away from him, trying to gather my thoughts. Yes, I was upset, but that still didn't make the feelings Caleb gave me in the pit of my stomach go away.

I shook my head. "I thought that I'd become..." I trailed off. Caleb pulled me in for a tight hug, and I felt his lips in my hair. "I don't think you could ever be that." he reassured me, finishing my train of thought. He kissed the top of my head before pulling away.

"So Viola Lion, how about some breakfast?" he said, touching my hair in its very messy bed-head state. I smiled at the old nickname he'd given me, because I always woke up looking like a jungle cat when I went to sleep with it down. I still had that fiery feeling in the pit of my stomach, but I tried to extinguish it for the time being.

I nodded, opening the door to his room and headed into the kitchen. Alex was the only one in the living room, scrolling on his phone as he relaxed on the couch. "Where's Joel and Rose?" I asked -- almost afraid of his answer.

"Hmph." he looked around, as if just noticing they were missing. "I honestly don't know."

"I have an idea." Caleb said, and he walked over to the spare bed room and knocked on the door cautiously. After three tried, we heard Joel yawn and call out, "What, man? I'm trying to sleep."

"Is Rose in there with you?" Caleb asked. We waited in silence for a few minutes before she called out quietly, "Yeah."

I let out a loud sigh. At least I wasn't the only one making mistakes last night. But then again, it wasn't really a mistake. I did have feelings for Caleb. And I was almost positive he still had some for me, too.

Alex stood up from his spot on the couch and stretched before walking to the door and slipping his shoes on. "I think I'm gonna leave, you guys. I was supposed to meet Callie to go to breakfast today. Little did I know I was gonna get wasted and oversleep our set time."

He grinned sheepishly and I laughed. Callie was Alex's long-time girlfriend, and also the third musketeer to mine and Rose's duo. "Tell Callie I said hey. And that we need to hang out!" he nodded, and I saw him do a double take as he realized the shirt I still had on. He looked from me to Caleb, who put up both of his hands in defense.

"It's not even like that." he answered before Alex could question. He just shook his head in response. "Hey, it's none of my business man."

He lifted up a hand to wave goodbye before he quickly slipped out the door. I sat down in a kitchen chair dejectedly, pinching the bridge of my nose with my index and thumb. I heard Caleb open a cabinet door before he sat two pills and a glass of water down on the table.

"These might help. If I have a headache right now, you must definitely have one."

I smiled weakly at him before popping the two small, white pills in my mouth. Caleb watched me from his stance against the counter, his expression unreadable. I wanted to help make breakfast so I got up and began to walk towards the refrigerator, but when I passed Caleb he grabbed me and pulled me to him, pressing me against his body.

"I know what I said about earlier." he said breathlessly. I felt one hand slide under his t-shirt I was wearing and come to rest on my hip while the other cupped the side of my throat. The skin contact was enough to make my breath hitch instantly. "But that doesn't mean I don't want you, okay?"

My lips parted anxiously, waiting for him to kiss me. I wanted to make the first move, but I didn't want to get rejected again like earlier in his bedroom. His eyes darted from my lips to me eyes repeatedly, as if he was making sure this was the right decision, before slowly leaning down to me. He kissed me softer than he ever had, making me press against him ever more and reach up to wrap my arms around his neck.

His one hand resting on my hip slid upward, pushing my bra up until he was cupping my bare breast. I sighed into his mouth, pushing against him, wanting to be closer. His mouth moved from mine to my neck, nipped and sucking where he knew would get a reaction out of me.

"Caleb," I pleaded quietly, moving my head to the side so he could get better access. My hands trailed from around his neck to his hair where they tangled themselves in.

Our high came crashing down when Rose rounded the corner with beer bottles stacked in her arms to throw away. They all fell onto the linoleum with loud clinking sounds as her eyes widened at the sight of Caleb and I in the kitchen. "Whoa." she whispered. We immediately broke apart and my face burned from embarrassment.

"Rose? You okay?" Joel called, rounded the corner right after her to see what the loud crash was. He stopped immediately in his tracks too and took in the shirt I was wearing of Caleb's. His eyes trailed upwards to the slightly pink marks on my neck and it looked like his eyes were going to pop out of his head.

I felt extremely sick to my stomach for the second time that morning.

Joel's dismay quickly turned to a smug look of content and he clapped his hands a few times. "Well now I know I'm not the only one who got some last night."

I couldn't even roll my eyes at the comment before they were glued to Rose's face. We were have a silent conversation while Caleb tried to convince Joel nothing happened.

She looked at Caleb and then at his shirt I was wearing. She raised an eyebrow.

I replied by shaking my head and combing my hair back in frustration.

She nodded slowly, understanding that I had no idea what I was just doing either.

I looked from her to Joel, and she glanced down at the ground, biting her lip. I frowned.

"Stop doing that weird, silent girl-talk junk you guys do." Joel said, moving between us and blocking my view of Rose. She smacked him in the back on the head playfully and grabbed his hand. "Come on, you idiot. Let's finish cleaning up the spare bedroom."

"We'll start breakfast." Caleb replied, crouching down on the floor to retrieve the bottles that had fallen out of Rose's hands. I began pulling ingredients out of the cabinets, trying to clear my still fuzzy head. We worked quietly beside each other, speaking only when we needed to ask the other for something. Even though I could feel the tension in the air between us, I could also feel the electricity. In awkward situations I was still attracted to him. It was light last night had reignited all these unknown, hidden emotions and now they were here to stay. I just couldn't decide if it was a good idea to keep acting on them or not.

"We don't have to talk about it if you don't want." he commented quietly as he flipped a pancake over. We locked eyes for a brief second before returning to the food we were cooking. "Even though I feel like we need to."

"I don't know what this means any more than you do, Caleb." I said quickly, wanting to change the subject. Our fragile friendship was on the line with all this fooling around. I felt like things wouldn't be the same after this morning and last night, but I couldn't date him again. I knew I couldn't.

He frowned as he poured more pancake batter on the griddle, but didn't comment on what I said. We were almost done making breakfast when he spoke up again. "We don't have to do anything about it, Viola. We can just keep things the way they are and see where it leads us, okay?"

"Okay." I agreed, and smiled weakly. I put the plates out on the table and filled four glasses with ice. Caleb leaned up against the counter again, watching me work with approving eyes. I walked over to him when I was done and he wrapped his arms around my waist. He bent his head down and touched his forehead with mine, his hazel eyes burning into my green ones.

"Just because there's no label doesn't mean anyone can have this." he murmured, referring to someone else holding me like he did. He poked me in the shoulder playfully to prove his point. I smiled widely and leaned up to peck his nose. I wouldn't dream of it."

"Joel! Rose!" I called, taking my place at the table. Caleb sat beside me and began to pile things onto his place and I mimicked him, making sure to grab lots of bacon.

Joel bounded to the table and plopped in his chair, rubbing his hands together greedily. "You guys are the best." he said before piling things on his plate. Rose wandered in after him, sitting down in the chair across from mine. Caleb's little table wasn't used to being full, and all of us kept bumping knees as we shifted in our chairs.

When Caleb and Joel launched into a conversation about a concert they wanted to go to, I found myself admiring his profile. He was due a haircut soon, but I liked the way his long bangs flopped into his face when he looked down. Joel said something ridiculous, and Caleb threw his head back in laughter, showing both sets of his beautifully white teeth. I smiled too, seeing him smile, and took another sip of my drink.

Rose cleared her throat quietly and locked eyes with me. I could tell there were so many things she wanted to say, but all she did was shake her head. I had a feeling after we left I was going to get an earful.

Caleb looked at me curiously, as I had returned to staring at him. "What?" he asked, smiling. I shook my head quickly, snapping out of my trance and returning his smile. "Nothing, sorry."

He quirked an eyebrow in response but said nothing, and turned his attention back to Joel. When everyone was finished, I gathered the plates and began filing the sink for things to be washed. Caleb and Joel retreated to the living room and Rose came over to stand beside me so she could rinse.

"Did I miss something last night?" she asked quietly. "I could have sworn when I went to bed you and Caleb were still friends."

I shrugged, trying to hide my flaming cheeks. I handed her a clean plate and began washing a bowl, hoping she would take the hint I didn't want to talk about it. But I forgot I was talking to Rose.

"Hello?" she questioned, raising her eyebrows. "Do you think this is a good idea, Viola?"

I thrust some clean utensils in her hand as I looked her straight in the eyes. "I don't know!" I confessed, and it came out louder than I'd intended. I lowered my voice before trying again. "I mean, Jesus, Rose. How can you question me about anything when you make mistakes with Joel constantly?"

A look of genuine hurt flashed across her face. "I didn't sleep with Joel last night!" she whisper-yelled, snatching a plate out of my hand. I threw the rag into the sink and faced her. "And I didn't sleep with Caleb!" I countered.

Her expression softened instantly. "You didn't?"

"No." I answered, turning back to the dishes. "According to him, I tried to. But he didn't want to."

"I didn't either. I just didn't want to sleep by myself."

I pursed my lips, trying not to laugh at her obvious lie. She gave in, a smile spreading across her face. "Okay. So I kissed him. Once."

"Oh whatever!" I laughed, flicking water at her. She dipped her hand in, flinging droplets at my face in return.

"Hey, no messing up my kitchen!" Caleb said, leaning on the door frame and grinning at us playfully. I flicked water at him, splattering the front of his white t-shirt. His mouth dropped open and he ran at me, scooping me up and throwing me over his shoulder easily. He turned around and began walking to his room, ignoring my protest and throwing up a peace sign at Rose. "I'll be back in a couple minutes."

Joel whooped as he passed him on the couch. "Caleb, my three-minute man!"

I heard Rose snicker from the kitchen as Caleb responded, "Oh, Viola knows its way longer than that." I could feel my cheeks burning hotly from embarrassment as he stepped into his room and shut the door behind us.

Oh I knew. I definitely knew.