Neon Lights

41

Promising Rave something like this wasn't on the agenda today. If it had been a few weeks back, perhaps he would have agreed. The frown etched on his lips remained as he looked at his friend. Once upon a time, he would have jumped at that chance. But these past few times with Draven had been different. They had... they were talking in ways that he couldn't have thought they could back when they were together. Callisto could muster up the courage and tell him the things he hadn't been able to before.

And... as much as he hated to admit it, Draven was helping him.

In ways that Rave couldn't.

"You couldn't help me before," Callisto said, carefully.

Rave's facial expressions were perfectly controlled. He didn't let his emotions appear on his face and Callisto couldn't get a footing at why he was asking of him this now. Rave shook his head before he said, "That was... That was a mistake."

"A mistake..." Honestly, he couldn't really grasp this conversation. How could that have been a mistake? Rejecting helping Callisto before telling him that Luna's case wouldn't be entertained just for the party she supported certainly didn't sound like a mistake. "No, I don't think it was."

"Cal," Rave said but Callisto frowned deeper, eyeing him.

"I think it's too late to stop my contact with Draven," he said.

It was clear his friend did not appreciate that. Not when he sighed loudly and tipped his head back, leaning further into his seat. Callisto fiddled with his fingers underneath the table, not liking the conversation he found himself in.

"This isn't going to end well," Rave said. "The way he is, he's going to cause you even more problems."

Callisto ducked his head a little before he looked at his friend in the eye. "I know. I know but there's nothing else I can do, Rave. It's... It's too late."

It was the truth. He was in too deep. There was nothing else he could do.

And he didn't think Rave had any right to tell him otherwise either, not when... No. He wasn't going to put the blame on his friend. Regardless how it happened, Callisto still made the decision to call Draven himself. It wasn't Rave's fault.

Even if it had stung to realise his closest friend denied helping him.

"It's not too late." Rave reached a hand out and placed his palm in the middle of the table. "I can help you, Cal."

"I don't get it," Callisto said, slight frustration leaking into his words. "What made you change your mind?"

A few seconds of silence passed by them before Rave looked at the table. "Because I realised seeing you near him didn't... feel right."

"That's all?" Callisto couldn't grasp why that gave Rave a change of heart. A look from his friend had him pausing in his thoughts. "What?"

Rave stared at him for a second before he pushed himself to sit straight. In the next moment, he got out of his side of the seat and stood at Callisto's side. "Budge in," he said, causing Callisto to furrow his eyebrows.

He hesitated for a second and then did just that, turning to look at his friend with his back now against the wall. Rave turned to look at him then, leaning forward a little. Then in a swift movement, he reached for Callisto's right hand.

His touch was cooler than it would have been if he had been a human, startling Callisto from it. He let Rave hold his hand, confusion whirling in his mind as the tightening touch on his fingers. "Rave?" he said, sitting straighter when those red eyes met his gaze fully. "What?"

"Cal, I care about you," he said, voice low as if he was trying to share a secret between them. "A lot. You're... the only one who I consider as my friend."

These words settled in his mind like a heavy weight. "I know," Callisto said, unsure of what to say to that. With a dry throat at being put right on the spot, he added, "I know, you are too." And Rye, but that wasn't here nor there.

Rave shook his head, ducking his head to look at their hands. The grip on his hand tightened a fraction more. "I want to keep you safe. I know I couldn't before. But... I'll do it. If it means you won't be in danger."

Callisto's heart almost stopped beating when Rave met his eyes again. There was something in them that he couldn't fully grasp, but whatever it was had him wanting to plaster his body against the wall so there was some distance between them. He thinned his lips, searching his friend's face. What could he even say to that?

He opened his mouth but then nothing really wanted to leave his lips. In the end, he could only gently take his hand away from Rave's touch. Curling them into a fist, he placed it on his lap. "Thanks," he said, "I know you care. I care about you. But Rave... I'm... I can't let this go. Luna's so close." There was no way he could drop it now.

Not when he had something to go off on about his sister.

"Whatever it was, I could find it easier," Rave said. "He..."

"He has helped me a lot," Callisto said. "And... I know what you're getting at. I do. But it's too late. I'm sorry."

Rave sighed. "I really don't want to end up being the one to arrest you, Cal."

He would be lying if that didn't scare him.

It was a huge possibility that the longer he was with Draven, the higher the chance was he would end up in something that would put him behind bars.

But Luna was his priority and he would find any way to get to her. Even if it meant he would end up in prison.

He could almost laugh at how he had thought like this. If someone had posed this situation to him a few weeks ago, he would have said he wouldn't ever do such a thing. He liked his safety. He liked feeling safe.

This wasn't him. And he couldn't afford to be that version of him either, not until he got Luna back.

If she even wanted to come home...

"If..." Callisto said, trying to find the right words. "If one day you have to be the one to take me in, then you should do it."

"Cal..." Rave furrowed his eyebrows, unhappiness clear on his face. "You can't just say that."

"I just did." Callisto tried to give him a smile, but it wasn't reciprocated. In the end, he could only say, "I'm sorry, Rave. But I'm sticking by Draven."

And if their friendship had to end right here, right now... then he couldn't blame Rave for it.