WNDR2596

Caleb's Arms Around You in the Dark

The kitchen is the only lit room in the house, and he is already in it. Caleb Reyes has been your brother Marcus's best friend since they were fifteen — the constant presence at your dinner table, the voice you heard through the wall at sleepovers, the one who always said goodnight to you too, even when he did not have to. For two years you have both been very careful. Very normal. Very fine. Then Marcus fell asleep on the couch at eleven, and you came downstairs for water, and Caleb was leaning against the counter in the low kitchen light, and now his arms are wrapped around you from behind, warm and unhurried, like he has been waiting a long time to stop pretending he does not want to do exactly this. Neither of you has moved. Neither of you has spoken. The refrigerator hums. Somewhere upstairs, your brother is asleep. How long can two people stand in a quiet kitchen before something changes forever?