The Son of a Preacher

Chapter twenty-two: Darkness starts to consume

Lucas,1986,Huntsville,Alabama

I wake up, trying to figure out where I am and why I'm in such pain. I smile softly, when I realize I'm in the club house. My smile grows even bigger, when I feel someone beside me. Caleb must have sneaked in here while I was sleep. The smile vanishes instantly, the memories from yesterday come back to me. Bringing me back to my harsh reality. Caleb and I would never be able to be happy. I hold in my tears, not wanting to wake Caleb. At least that's what I tell myself, the truth being I don't want him to know what happened. He would insist on protecting me, that's something that can't happen. I can't bring him down along with me, he deserves better than that. I curl back up into him and fall slowly back asleep, trying to enjoy this while I can. 

The next time I wake up,Caleb is awake. He's smiling down at me, with that big beautiful grin of his. Which means, he doesn't know yet. Which means I can hide out , a while longer before he finds out. I just need to figure out a plan of action. 

" Hey there, sleepy head." He grins at me.

" Hey, city boy." I force a smile back at him.

" Where were you last night?" He asks with pursued lips.

" Greg and I were patching things up." I answered in half truth. I try not to wince as I do so. I usually don't lie to him and it pains me to do so. This is to protect him though, so he won't try to be a hero. 

" I'm assuming that didn't go well?" He asks with a raised brow.

" What makes you say that?" I ask nervously. A part of me is scared, that he does know. That he was just acting clueless, waiting for me to tell him. 

" Your eyes are all puffy from crying." He glares, but not towards me. Towards Greg, who he thinks hurt me again. 

" Yeah, I guess we'll never be friends." I try not to cry, at the thought of never patching things up with him.

" Like I said if he doesn't see how amazing you are, then he's not worth it." He leans in kissing my forehead. 

" Can we just spend the day, fishing and playing games." I plead as I close my eyes at his touch.

" Of course, what else were we going to do?" He asks grinning.

" I just want to stay here all day." I hold in tears and force myself to smile some more.

" You got it, it will be a day dedicated to you." He wraps his arms around me and pulls me tightly against him. I get lost in his scent and try to forget my problems.

He takes my hand and we go down to pond. It's getting to cold out to go swimming, so we just grab our crappy fishing poles. We fish for hours and hours. I catch five fish, while Caleb only catches one. I start to laugh at the frustration on his face but stop myself as I remember that I don't deserve too. A fuck up like myself, doesn't deserve enjoyment. After we can done eating, we go sit down to eat. Caleb brought a few snacks from his house, so we decide to just eat those. 

" You better enjoy these snack cakes, I risked my life to get them. " He teases.

" You didn't really risk your life, right?" I ask softly.

" No, of course not." He frowns.

" Are you sure you're okay?" He asks worried.

" Yeah I'm fine." I force a smile.

" I'm just making sure, because I know Greg has been hurting you." He reaches out a strokes my cheek.

" I'm hurt over him now but I'll heal shortly."  I mutter bitterly.