The Boy Who Cried Beast | ✓

Chapter 25: Written In Permanent Sharpie

Chapter 25

Things got a little strain between Finn and me by the time I curled up next to Callum and waited for the morning. 

Callum knew something was up between us before we even left the cave but I brushed him off and said it was just nerves. 

"Bullshit Everette," He called me out. "Did he do something because I swear-"

"He didn't," I placed my hands on Cal's cheeks, "He just took me by surprise by telling me how he feels." 

His eyebrows rose as his hands went around my wrists and pulled my hands to his chest. 

"And how exactly does he feel?" My eyes drifted to the opening of the cave where Finn and the others were outside preparing to leave. 

My mother always said that she and my dad lacked communication when they met and it caused serious trouble. With that knowledge, I know that talking to Callum was inevitable unless I wanted to create a barrier of secrets between us. 

Under my palm, I could feel his heartbeat erratically pulsing and the sound was like drums in my ear. 

"He said he loved me," I whispered. 

"Loved?"

"Love, present tense." I let my eyes drift behind him so I wouldn't see whatever he was feeling. But that didn't matter because I could practically feel his anxiety and rage. 

He took a minute to speak but when he did his voice was strained, "How do you feel? About him?"

I looked into his emerald eyes and showed my honesty, "He's family to me. Nothing more. I won't lie and say I hate him though." 

His eyes narrowed with uncertainty, "Are you sure?" 

"Of course I'm sure. You're my person." I placed a kiss on his chest where his heart lay. 

The cloud of anxiousness cleared away from his eyes but I could tell he had something more he needed to hear because of the vulnerability that lingered.

His hand rubbed across the back of his neck in his typical telltale sign of nervousness, "What about me? How do you feel about me?" 

My heart lurched in my chest at that question. 

I had no idea how my feelings were not clear to him. 

Well, to be honest, it may not be quite clear to me either. 

But I did know one thing, "Your name is written in permanent sharpie all over my heart Cal. Something that no one has ever done... except for you." 

His eyes searched my own and whatever he saw was good enough because he grinned like the cat that ate the canary. 

"I'll tell you a secret," He whispered in my ear.

"You brought ice-cream and forgot to tell me?" I joked to lighten the mood.

Rolling his eyes he said, "I'm beginning to think ice-cream has at least seventy-five percent of your heart and I'm the remainder." I smirked and gave him a little shrug before he continued. "You're written all over my heart too, not to mention you take up every inch of my brain." 

Oh geez, I think my heart was about to combust. Who even knew that cold thing in my chest could feel so warm. 

We didn't say the three words, but what we said was so much more. 

"If we die tonight, I'm going to be so pissed," I grumbled as I grabbed Cal's t-shirt and pulled him in for a kiss that was over too soon. 

"You're not going to die Princess." He chuckled but I could still see the worry in his eyes.