Countdown (on hold)

Two years nine months three weeks four days twelve hours fifteen minutes before

We walked around the market before leaving because Caleb had to pick up a few more items. Unlike most of the other shoppers around us, Caleb was patient while waiting in lines and was kinder than people assumed him to be. We walked around the market hand and hand and Caleb introduced me to the shop owners he was friendly with. I thought to myself, I could get used to this, I could get used to being Caleb's girl.

Caleb didn't talk much, but instead took the time to study our surroundings. I took the time to study his facial features and the way he presented himself. Talking to strangers wasn't Caleb's strong suit; he wasn't rude to them but he wasn't as comfortable talking to them as with people he knew. If Caleb knew someone, he would take his time to ask them about their day and how they've been. For someone with a bad boy reputation, Caleb treated his elders and his peers with respect.

While Caleb was talking to one of his mom's friends, I wandered over to a booth a few stalls down that sold a little bit of everything. The owners were a couple, young with a baby sleeping in the women's arms. They smiled at me while I browsed what they had for sale. Between a handful of sewing needles and thimbles, I spotted a dull silver necklace chain. I untangled the chain from the needles and thimbles and pulled it up away from the table. On it hung a small flower pendant made of sapphires. It was simple but breathtaking in its own way. I held it up to my neck and looked in the mirror.

"We'll take it," a voice said behind me. Caleb reached over my shoulder to take the necklace from my hand.

I turned my head towards him. "Caleb..."

He stopped me before I could finish speaking. "Something that beautiful deserves a just as beautiful owner, and since this lovely lady is selling it, you should have it." He paid the women with the baby and came around behind me to clasp it around my neck. "There you go Shay. It looks beautiful on you."

I wrapped my arms around Caleb's neck. Automatically, his arms wrapped around my waist. "Thank you so much Caleb."

"Of course Shay, anything for you." We stayed interlocked in each other's arms for a few more moments, but none of it seemed forced or fake. Caleb's hands moved from my waist to my shoulders. He gently pushed my shoulders away from his body. "Now can we go on our picnic?"

I shifted over to Caleb's side, finally moving out of the middle of the aisle. "We're going on a picnic?" My eyes hadn't looked away from his face, so I caught the second his face quickly fell before gaining a neutral expression.

"If you don't want to go on a picnic we can do something else if you want."

"Actually, a picnic sounds lovely."

I saw the light and smile come back into Caleb's eyes. "Really?" He smiled at me and didn't wait for my response. "I've been wanting to take you on one for a while now but I didn't know if you would say yes." I looked back over at Caleb and saw him looking down at his feet, not looking in my direction.

I grabbed his hand and gave it a squeeze. "Of course I would have said yes. I love to spend time with you."

We were walking aimlessly around the market, not really heading in any particular direction. "I know you do, but I didn't know if you meant it in the same way I did."

In all the time Caleb and I had talked, he had never shown this vulnerable side of his feelings towards me. Yes, he told me he cared about me, but not this deeply or this nervously before.

"Why don't we talk when we get to the park? So that we can look at each other and talk."

Caleb was still looking down at his feet. He nodded, "All right."

We walked the short walk from the market to the park in silence. We did not let got of each other's hand the way there. People looked at us like we were a couple. And it was during those moments that I had realized that Caleb and I were a "we". People who we weren't close with always thought of us as a "we". Even our own families began to see us as a "we".

Once at the park, Caleb let me pick out which tree I wanted to have our picnic under. I laughed and ran under the biggest tree. He laughed and ran after me, careful not to drop anything. I was leaning against the tree trunk. Caleb sat down next to me. We looked into each other's eyes for a moment.

"Hi." He said.

"Hey." I said.

We didn't say anything or do anything else for a moment. I eventually was the one who moved out of our comfortable silence. Caleb was the first one to speak after I shifted over.

"We should get this picnic started before you have to get home." Caleb started pulling a blanket out of his basket. "Here, help me lay it out."

I stood up, brushed my skirt off, and grabbed a side of the blanket. We shook it open and laid it down on the dirt covered tree roots. I sat back down where I was before. Caleb looked at me and smiled as he unpacked the basket. "Is that better?"

I nodded and scooted over to help him. "Thank you Caleb, for this and for the necklace."

"Let's eat and then we'll talk?" He sat down next to me and I moved over so that our shoulders were touching. Every movement he made, I felt through my arm and it went straight to my heart. It felt electrifying.

Spread out in front of us was a small spread of snack foods. Grapes, crackers, small portions of different cheeses, and two bottles of lemonade; all of my favorite snacks. Caleb grabbed one bottle of the lemonade and opened it. "Here," he said, handing the bottle to me, "you like lemonade, right?" He smiled, already knowing the answer.

"Are you kidding me?" I said, taking the bottle from him. "I love lemonade, and grapes, and cheese with crackers. How did you know?"

Caleb opened the other bottle of lemonade and gulped some of it. He wiped the ring of lemonade off of his mouth, and then answered me. "When you spend so much time with someone, you pick up on their actions and their likes and dislikes."

I put the cap back onto my bottle of lemonade and I rested it in the basket. Caleb looked at me, puzzled, but his face broke into a smile when I scooted into his lap and wrapped my arms around his neck for the second time.

"I love you." Caleb murmured into my ear.

I was slightly taken aback, but I didn't skip a beat. "I love you too."

It felt like it was meant to be.