Sky Full of Stars
31
It's Casey's last day in Dallas and it's also happens to be an off day for the boys so the four of them spend the whole day together at Tyler's, since his place is bigger than Calista's. Jordie conveniently has somewhere else he has to be and so can't spend the time with his friend whom he rarely gets to see anymore and maybe Calista is a little bitter about it but she says nothing so that she doesn't ruin it for anyone else. They all go out to dinner before his flight and Jordie actually does join in on that, but he brings Bethany with him, and it ends up being super awkward for everyone but her and Tyler because they don't know what happened the other night.
The Benns say their goodbyes outside the restaurant but Calista and Tyler drive him back to the airport and after the guys shake hands, Tyler goes over to stand by the wall out of the way and out of earshot to give them some privacy. Casey watches him walk away and Calista watches her brother until he finally looks back at her and sighs.
"Well, this trip has definitely been....enlightening."
She winces a little. "More than you ever wanted to know about me, eh?"
"You've been through a lot of shit, Cali. And every time you just keep coming out of it stronger. I'm proud of you. Cori would be too." Calista tears up at the mention of her sister and shakes her head but Casey grabs her by the shoulders to make her look directly into his eyes. "She would. And I think she'd like Tyler too. He's a good guy and I'm happy for you."
"Thanks, Case."
"You know, awkward as it may have been, I'm glad I came. I know you don't need my blessing or my permission or anything but...meeeting Tyler definitely made me feel better about you and him. I only want the best for you and he's got a good shot of being the kind of guy you deserve. Even after all that shit from before."
Calista smiles a little. "Sounds like you might have a little bit of a crush on him yourself."
"I just learned a lot when we talked."
"You talked to Tyler? When?"
"Oh, you were asleep."
"Casey!" she scolds, looking back over her shoulder to where Tyler is standing off to the side, his hands shoved into his pockets as he just watches people walking back and forth. "I swear, if you-"
"I didn't threaten him with physical violence, if that's what you're worried about," he scoffs in return, unamused. "Although I could kick his ass, and he knows it. It wasn't like that though. He asked me if I'd hear him out on a few things, so I did. And I liked what I heard."
"What'd he say?"
"None of your beeswax."
Calista rolls her eyes and Casey just grins at her before glancing down at his watch. "Shit, okay, I gotta get going. C'mere."
He pulls her into a tight hug and she's hesitant to let go of him, just because she knows it'll be a few months before she gets to see him again, and he does eventually end up having to physically remove her arms from around his waist. He kisses her forehead before he reaches down to grab the duffel at his feet and then he waves to Tyler as he turns to walk away, down toward the escalators. Tyler rejoins her, slipping an arm around her shoulders and pulling her into his side as they both watch Casey until he disappears from view.
"Come on," he mutters, nudging his nose against her temple. "Let's go home."
It's quiet on the ride back to their building with the exception of her mix cd playing on low in the background and she doesn't feel like going back to her empty apartment tonight so when they arrive back to the parking garage and step onto the elevator, she presses the button for Tyler's floor then leans back into his side without a word. Marshall is excited to see them both when they reach the apartment and he follows right on their heels as they head upstairs and down the hall to the bedroom. Calista sheds her jacket and crawls into the right side of the bed (her side, as it's become alarmingly quickly) as Tyler shuts off the lights and strips out of his jeans before joining her.
"This sucks," she says quietly, once he's climbed in next to her and there's no sound in the room save the quiet hum of the heating unit.
Almost immediately, he wraps an arm around her and pulls her back into his body, nuzzling his face in the crook of her neck. "I know."
"Of course you do," she mumbles, running her fingertips lightly up and down the arm pinning her to him. "You guys are away from your families most of the time too. I'm just being dramatic."
Tyler chuckles lowly into her ear, sending goosebumps erupting all over her body. "You're not being dramatic. You're right. It's really hard and it never gets easier, no matter how much you do it."
She sighs heavily, lacing her fingers with his. "It sucks."
"It sucks," he agrees softly, and he presses a kiss to the back of her neck, tightening his hold on her before he settles in and gets comfortable enough to go to sleep. Calista can feel when his breathing finally evens out and even though she's exhausted, she can't fall asleep until she gets the text from her brother that his flight has landed back home.
--
She's not there when Tyler wakes up but after dragging himself out of bed and down the stairs, she's not too hard to find, sitting on the kitchen floor playing with Marshall. There's various breakfast ingredients and pans spread out across the counters and his stomach rumbles at the thought of food but then he gets caught up watching her, how she talks to the dog the same way he does while she scratches him behind the ears and how she squeals when he licks her right across the face. Tyler laughs and that's when they notice him for the first time, Marshall bounding over to him excitedly and Calista looking a little guilty.
"You're not supposed to be out of bed," she says, standing up and going over to the sink to wash her hands. "I was going to have breakfast ready when you woke up but I got distracted by your mutt."
Tyler crouches down to pet Marshall, grinning. "C'mon babe, don't act like you don't love him as much as I do. I saw you."
"Mmhmm," she grumbles, grabbing a spatula from the utensil drawer. "Oh well, I guess it's the thought that counts, right?"
"Right," he agrees, and as she reaches up into the cupboard for a bowl, she feels his arms wrap around her from behind. She sets the bowl down on the counter and turns around to face him, the smile automatically hitting her lips when she sees the one on his. "Good morning," he mumbles as she drapes her arms over his bare shoulders to play with his hair where it's getting a little long at the nape of his neck.
"Morning," she replies softly. "Sorry about breakfast."
"Well maybe we can do it together and you can teach me your ways."
"Hmm, and then maybe you can bring me breakfast in bed."
"Exactly," he grins, leaning down to kiss her.
Calista tangles her fingers in his hair to pull him closer and it doesn't take long for his hands to move from their safe position resting at her sides to dangerously low on her back, fingertips digging in as he holds her tightly to him. He's got her pinned against the counter with his hips and the longer he keeps her there, the more she can feel him growing harder between them. Marshall decides he is starved for attention and he worms his way in between them, weaving in and out of their legs and huffing noisily. Tyler breaks the kiss, laughing as he looks down at the dog and gently pushes him away with his knee before he goes back in for more but Calista puts her finger up to his lips to hold him off, hoping her face and chest aren't as flushed as she feels like they are after all that just happened.
"I have to get started and now you're distracting me."
"So we'll go out for breakfast later," he tries but she just shakes her head and grins at the little pout on his face.
"Don't you give me that look, Seguin. This is me trying to do a nice thing for you."
"I know a few more nice things you could do for me."
Almost as soon as the words leave his mouth, they both burst out laughing at the truly awful line. "Oh God," she sighs. "That was terrible."
"It was," he agrees, grinning and ducking his head down to rest his forehead against her shoulder. "Sorry."
"Mmhmm."
Tyler looks up and plants a quick kiss on her lips before he lets her go completely and turns around to look at all the things she has laid out on the counter. "Okay, so what do we do first?"
Calista talks him through everything they do but Tyler isn't the most focused student and he insists on having a little fun by making a mess during his cooking lesson. By the time they've finished preparing everything and are sitting down to eat, they're both half covered in a light dusting of flour and so are the entire kitchen and Marshall, who leaves giant paw prints as he treks across the powder spilled on the floor. Instead of spreading the mess into the dining room, they sit together at the counter to eat and Tyler makes all kinds of yummy noises, raving about what a great cook he is while Calista just watches him and smiles as she takes little bites of her pancakes.
It takes another full hour to get the kitchen back to its original pre-cooking cleanliness and then they go their separate ways, Tyler upstairs to take a shower and Calista back down to her apartment a few floors down. She shakes her head and sighs when she sees herself in her bathroom mirror, flour all in her hair and a smear of it on her face from where Tyler had brushed his thumb across her cheek. She feels like she uses her time pretty efficiently but by the time she's showered and dried her hair, Tyler has already texted her that he's done and that he's on his way down so she needs to let him in. She makes sure the towel is securely tied around her body before she leaves the bathroom to go open her front door for him and she can feel his heavy gaze on her before she scurries back down the hall to her bedroom to finish getting ready.
She turns her music on low as she applies some powder and mascara before she pulls on a flowy top and some jeans and when it occurs to her that she doesn't know where he's taking her so she doesn't know what kind of shoes to wear, she heads toward the living room to ask him. As soon as she's out of the room where her music is, she can hear him talking and at first, she thinks maybe Jamie stopped by or something but then the other person speaks and it's a voice she doesn't recognize; even more, it's a little crackly like it's coming through a speaker.
"Dude I've never heard you talk about a girl like this before," the guy says and she guesses it's one of Tyler's many friends she doesn't know. She peeks her head around the corner to see Tyler lounging on her sofa with his feet up on the coffee table and his phone right in front of his face. She can see the guy on his screen but he doesn't look familiar to her either.
"Well, I've never felt like this about a girl before."
"Are you-....are you serious right now? Haven't you only been dating for like a month?"
Tyler shrugs his shoulder even though the other person can't see the movement. "About a month, yeah."
"Segs, come on!"
"I'm serious, man. I don't know, I think I might even be in l-......Well-"
"Do NOT fuckin' tell me you were just about to drop the 'L' word!!" Tyler stays silent and Calista suddenly feels light headed, leaning her back against the wall for support because she definitely wasn't expecting that. A forced laugh comes through the speaker. "Jesus. She must have some kind of magic pussy or something."
"Brownie," he warns. "Don't."
Calista's heard of this Brownie person. He's Tyler Brown, one of her Tyler's good friends who was supposedly looking forward to meeting her but right now, she's not so sure she likes him very much.
"What?"
"Don't talk about her like that."
"Dude, I'm just saying."
"Well, I wouldn't even know anything about that, alright?"
It's dead silent for a moment before Brownie makes a noise that's something like a mix of surprise and protest. "Are you fucking with me? Like, am I being pranked right now? You haven't even fucking slept with her yet???? Who the fuck are you, man?!"
"Shut the fuck up," Tyler retorts, and he sounds a little put off like he's annoyed with his friend. Calista feels the same. "I'm not rushing it, Brownie. I told you, this one is different."
"Different like she won't put out for Tyler Seguin?"
"I'm gonna fuckin' murder you."
"I'm just kidding. Jesus, Segs, calm the fuck down."
"You don't understand, man," Tyler sighs, exasperated. "I'm doing everything I can not to fuck this up."
"So you're trying really hard not to be a normal dude 'cause you don't want to scare her off."
"I don't know, it's like I don't even care how long it takes. I'm not bored, even without the sex part. And I'm not gonna pressure her anyway, I'll wait as long as she wants. It's worth it."
"I can't believe you're trying to tell me you might love this girl and you haven't even fucked her yet."
"It's not always just about sex, Brownie. There's a whole lot of other stuff too."
"How would you know? It's never been more than sex for you."
"The right girl can change the way you look at things."
"You sound just like my dad, bro."
"Shut up," Tyler snorts. "I gotta go, she'll be done getting ready soon."
Calista takes that as her cue to tiptoe back down the hall to her bedroom and she stays there for another five or so minutes just trying to stay calm, her shoe choices no longer at her mind at all. She feels a little shaky and nervous to face him now but she takes a few deep breaths, grabs a random pair of heels from her closet, and heads back to the living room, this time making her presence known by plopping down in the chair to slip on her shoes. Now Tyler's just lying there with his phone resting on his stomach and his arms folded behind his head, a lazy grin on his face.
"You look gorgeous."
"Ooookay," she laughs, feeling a little bit awkward, and she gets up from her chair, holding out a hand to him. "Come on, let's get this show on the road."
He takes the hand she's offering and gets up from the couch to follow her out but just before they reach the door, he spins her around to look at him and takes her face in both his hands, leaning down to peck her lips. "Really," he insists. "You do."
The Benns say their goodbyes outside the restaurant but Calista and Tyler drive him back to the airport and after the guys shake hands, Tyler goes over to stand by the wall out of the way and out of earshot to give them some privacy. Casey watches him walk away and Calista watches her brother until he finally looks back at her and sighs.
"Well, this trip has definitely been....enlightening."
She winces a little. "More than you ever wanted to know about me, eh?"
"You've been through a lot of shit, Cali. And every time you just keep coming out of it stronger. I'm proud of you. Cori would be too." Calista tears up at the mention of her sister and shakes her head but Casey grabs her by the shoulders to make her look directly into his eyes. "She would. And I think she'd like Tyler too. He's a good guy and I'm happy for you."
"Thanks, Case."
"You know, awkward as it may have been, I'm glad I came. I know you don't need my blessing or my permission or anything but...meeeting Tyler definitely made me feel better about you and him. I only want the best for you and he's got a good shot of being the kind of guy you deserve. Even after all that shit from before."
Calista smiles a little. "Sounds like you might have a little bit of a crush on him yourself."
"I just learned a lot when we talked."
"You talked to Tyler? When?"
"Oh, you were asleep."
"Casey!" she scolds, looking back over her shoulder to where Tyler is standing off to the side, his hands shoved into his pockets as he just watches people walking back and forth. "I swear, if you-"
"I didn't threaten him with physical violence, if that's what you're worried about," he scoffs in return, unamused. "Although I could kick his ass, and he knows it. It wasn't like that though. He asked me if I'd hear him out on a few things, so I did. And I liked what I heard."
"What'd he say?"
"None of your beeswax."
Calista rolls her eyes and Casey just grins at her before glancing down at his watch. "Shit, okay, I gotta get going. C'mere."
He pulls her into a tight hug and she's hesitant to let go of him, just because she knows it'll be a few months before she gets to see him again, and he does eventually end up having to physically remove her arms from around his waist. He kisses her forehead before he reaches down to grab the duffel at his feet and then he waves to Tyler as he turns to walk away, down toward the escalators. Tyler rejoins her, slipping an arm around her shoulders and pulling her into his side as they both watch Casey until he disappears from view.
"Come on," he mutters, nudging his nose against her temple. "Let's go home."
It's quiet on the ride back to their building with the exception of her mix cd playing on low in the background and she doesn't feel like going back to her empty apartment tonight so when they arrive back to the parking garage and step onto the elevator, she presses the button for Tyler's floor then leans back into his side without a word. Marshall is excited to see them both when they reach the apartment and he follows right on their heels as they head upstairs and down the hall to the bedroom. Calista sheds her jacket and crawls into the right side of the bed (her side, as it's become alarmingly quickly) as Tyler shuts off the lights and strips out of his jeans before joining her.
"This sucks," she says quietly, once he's climbed in next to her and there's no sound in the room save the quiet hum of the heating unit.
Almost immediately, he wraps an arm around her and pulls her back into his body, nuzzling his face in the crook of her neck. "I know."
"Of course you do," she mumbles, running her fingertips lightly up and down the arm pinning her to him. "You guys are away from your families most of the time too. I'm just being dramatic."
Tyler chuckles lowly into her ear, sending goosebumps erupting all over her body. "You're not being dramatic. You're right. It's really hard and it never gets easier, no matter how much you do it."
She sighs heavily, lacing her fingers with his. "It sucks."
"It sucks," he agrees softly, and he presses a kiss to the back of her neck, tightening his hold on her before he settles in and gets comfortable enough to go to sleep. Calista can feel when his breathing finally evens out and even though she's exhausted, she can't fall asleep until she gets the text from her brother that his flight has landed back home.
--
She's not there when Tyler wakes up but after dragging himself out of bed and down the stairs, she's not too hard to find, sitting on the kitchen floor playing with Marshall. There's various breakfast ingredients and pans spread out across the counters and his stomach rumbles at the thought of food but then he gets caught up watching her, how she talks to the dog the same way he does while she scratches him behind the ears and how she squeals when he licks her right across the face. Tyler laughs and that's when they notice him for the first time, Marshall bounding over to him excitedly and Calista looking a little guilty.
"You're not supposed to be out of bed," she says, standing up and going over to the sink to wash her hands. "I was going to have breakfast ready when you woke up but I got distracted by your mutt."
Tyler crouches down to pet Marshall, grinning. "C'mon babe, don't act like you don't love him as much as I do. I saw you."
"Mmhmm," she grumbles, grabbing a spatula from the utensil drawer. "Oh well, I guess it's the thought that counts, right?"
"Right," he agrees, and as she reaches up into the cupboard for a bowl, she feels his arms wrap around her from behind. She sets the bowl down on the counter and turns around to face him, the smile automatically hitting her lips when she sees the one on his. "Good morning," he mumbles as she drapes her arms over his bare shoulders to play with his hair where it's getting a little long at the nape of his neck.
"Morning," she replies softly. "Sorry about breakfast."
"Well maybe we can do it together and you can teach me your ways."
"Hmm, and then maybe you can bring me breakfast in bed."
"Exactly," he grins, leaning down to kiss her.
Calista tangles her fingers in his hair to pull him closer and it doesn't take long for his hands to move from their safe position resting at her sides to dangerously low on her back, fingertips digging in as he holds her tightly to him. He's got her pinned against the counter with his hips and the longer he keeps her there, the more she can feel him growing harder between them. Marshall decides he is starved for attention and he worms his way in between them, weaving in and out of their legs and huffing noisily. Tyler breaks the kiss, laughing as he looks down at the dog and gently pushes him away with his knee before he goes back in for more but Calista puts her finger up to his lips to hold him off, hoping her face and chest aren't as flushed as she feels like they are after all that just happened.
"I have to get started and now you're distracting me."
"So we'll go out for breakfast later," he tries but she just shakes her head and grins at the little pout on his face.
"Don't you give me that look, Seguin. This is me trying to do a nice thing for you."
"I know a few more nice things you could do for me."
Almost as soon as the words leave his mouth, they both burst out laughing at the truly awful line. "Oh God," she sighs. "That was terrible."
"It was," he agrees, grinning and ducking his head down to rest his forehead against her shoulder. "Sorry."
"Mmhmm."
Tyler looks up and plants a quick kiss on her lips before he lets her go completely and turns around to look at all the things she has laid out on the counter. "Okay, so what do we do first?"
Calista talks him through everything they do but Tyler isn't the most focused student and he insists on having a little fun by making a mess during his cooking lesson. By the time they've finished preparing everything and are sitting down to eat, they're both half covered in a light dusting of flour and so are the entire kitchen and Marshall, who leaves giant paw prints as he treks across the powder spilled on the floor. Instead of spreading the mess into the dining room, they sit together at the counter to eat and Tyler makes all kinds of yummy noises, raving about what a great cook he is while Calista just watches him and smiles as she takes little bites of her pancakes.
It takes another full hour to get the kitchen back to its original pre-cooking cleanliness and then they go their separate ways, Tyler upstairs to take a shower and Calista back down to her apartment a few floors down. She shakes her head and sighs when she sees herself in her bathroom mirror, flour all in her hair and a smear of it on her face from where Tyler had brushed his thumb across her cheek. She feels like she uses her time pretty efficiently but by the time she's showered and dried her hair, Tyler has already texted her that he's done and that he's on his way down so she needs to let him in. She makes sure the towel is securely tied around her body before she leaves the bathroom to go open her front door for him and she can feel his heavy gaze on her before she scurries back down the hall to her bedroom to finish getting ready.
She turns her music on low as she applies some powder and mascara before she pulls on a flowy top and some jeans and when it occurs to her that she doesn't know where he's taking her so she doesn't know what kind of shoes to wear, she heads toward the living room to ask him. As soon as she's out of the room where her music is, she can hear him talking and at first, she thinks maybe Jamie stopped by or something but then the other person speaks and it's a voice she doesn't recognize; even more, it's a little crackly like it's coming through a speaker.
"Dude I've never heard you talk about a girl like this before," the guy says and she guesses it's one of Tyler's many friends she doesn't know. She peeks her head around the corner to see Tyler lounging on her sofa with his feet up on the coffee table and his phone right in front of his face. She can see the guy on his screen but he doesn't look familiar to her either.
"Well, I've never felt like this about a girl before."
"Are you-....are you serious right now? Haven't you only been dating for like a month?"
Tyler shrugs his shoulder even though the other person can't see the movement. "About a month, yeah."
"Segs, come on!"
"I'm serious, man. I don't know, I think I might even be in l-......Well-"
"Do NOT fuckin' tell me you were just about to drop the 'L' word!!" Tyler stays silent and Calista suddenly feels light headed, leaning her back against the wall for support because she definitely wasn't expecting that. A forced laugh comes through the speaker. "Jesus. She must have some kind of magic pussy or something."
"Brownie," he warns. "Don't."
Calista's heard of this Brownie person. He's Tyler Brown, one of her Tyler's good friends who was supposedly looking forward to meeting her but right now, she's not so sure she likes him very much.
"What?"
"Don't talk about her like that."
"Dude, I'm just saying."
"Well, I wouldn't even know anything about that, alright?"
It's dead silent for a moment before Brownie makes a noise that's something like a mix of surprise and protest. "Are you fucking with me? Like, am I being pranked right now? You haven't even fucking slept with her yet???? Who the fuck are you, man?!"
"Shut the fuck up," Tyler retorts, and he sounds a little put off like he's annoyed with his friend. Calista feels the same. "I'm not rushing it, Brownie. I told you, this one is different."
"Different like she won't put out for Tyler Seguin?"
"I'm gonna fuckin' murder you."
"I'm just kidding. Jesus, Segs, calm the fuck down."
"You don't understand, man," Tyler sighs, exasperated. "I'm doing everything I can not to fuck this up."
"So you're trying really hard not to be a normal dude 'cause you don't want to scare her off."
"I don't know, it's like I don't even care how long it takes. I'm not bored, even without the sex part. And I'm not gonna pressure her anyway, I'll wait as long as she wants. It's worth it."
"I can't believe you're trying to tell me you might love this girl and you haven't even fucked her yet."
"It's not always just about sex, Brownie. There's a whole lot of other stuff too."
"How would you know? It's never been more than sex for you."
"The right girl can change the way you look at things."
"You sound just like my dad, bro."
"Shut up," Tyler snorts. "I gotta go, she'll be done getting ready soon."
Calista takes that as her cue to tiptoe back down the hall to her bedroom and she stays there for another five or so minutes just trying to stay calm, her shoe choices no longer at her mind at all. She feels a little shaky and nervous to face him now but she takes a few deep breaths, grabs a random pair of heels from her closet, and heads back to the living room, this time making her presence known by plopping down in the chair to slip on her shoes. Now Tyler's just lying there with his phone resting on his stomach and his arms folded behind his head, a lazy grin on his face.
"You look gorgeous."
"Ooookay," she laughs, feeling a little bit awkward, and she gets up from her chair, holding out a hand to him. "Come on, let's get this show on the road."
He takes the hand she's offering and gets up from the couch to follow her out but just before they reach the door, he spins her around to look at him and takes her face in both his hands, leaning down to peck her lips. "Really," he insists. "You do."