It was an invitation he hadn’t been expecting, though, looking back objectively he supposed all the signs of the evening pointed towards this. They’d had a good night together and as it turned out, Marley was a superb date planner - maybe too good, because now Caleb found himself in a position of choice. Say yes and see what transpired. He wanted that, he’d wanted that for a long time, but in the back of his mind there was that nagging voice that this wasn’t real. After all, what could someone like Arielle Berry possibly want from him? He was awkward, shy, quiet and usually his head was either in the clouds or buried in a sketch pad. He wasn’t a jock, he wasn’t popular, he wasn’t complicated. He was simply Caleb - surely that wasn’t her type? Surely this was….some elaborate prank, like something out of a movie that Marley might force him to sit through on a quiet Saturday night. And yet, as he looked to Arielle, her face was serious, sincere, happy almost as she held out her hand to invite him in.
Swallowing hard, Caleb force a smile to cross his lips, hoping she saw that he wanted it too. She was beautiful and smart and yet…delicate. He couldn’t imagine a more perfect girl in the world, and he didn’t want to imagine anyone else. Not right now. Not when they were moving closer, not when his arm boldly pulled around her waist and held her, as if he belonged so close to her. “Are you sure?” His voice came out, barely a whisper at he looked down at the Cheerio, his eyes wide and sober, studying her face with caution and care, so that he couldn’t misinterpret anything she might have to say.
