A Harsh Perspective

who: caleb and jamie
where: jamie's house
when: afternoon: after this scene

The groceries were put away in blissful silence. It hurt to see Isaac. It hurt to know he hurt, and that she'd done that to him. And it hurt because, other than telling him and Caleb about each other sooner? She wouldn't have done anything differently. She didn't regret Friday. She only regretted that anyone had had to get hurt.

Jamie headed into the living room, fully intending to go throw herself into bed and sleep for several hours, but she saw someone sitting on the porch. A familiar someone. A someone who didn't look happy. Fuck. Of course. Best way for her boyfriend to meet Isaac? Isaac coming out of her house. When she'd told Caleb he was the only boy to ever come inside. Best. Day. Ever.

She kicked off her sandals and headed out onto the porch, sitting down beside him without a word. Really, what could she say?

I should have left. Caleb immediately decided, because when she came out and was suddenly sitting there, he realized just how unprepared he was to deal with her. How amazingly, massively unprepared. As in he couldn't think of a single fucking thing to say. He'd turned off his mp3 player before, the earbuds where over his shoulder, and he'd been staring down at the hematite, running his thumb around and over the smooth, glassy surface. The motion stopped when she was present, and he could see her distorted reflection in it. He didn't say anything because so many things came to mind all at once, and none of them he deemed even the slightest bit acceptable.

Jamie let the silence hang as she considered what to say. Really, the only acceptable thing? Start at the beginning. So that's what she did. "I felt a lot better when I woke up this morning," she began softly. "Cleaned my room, vacuumed the living room... Then I noticed we were running low on some stuff, so I went to the store." And that alone would upset him. "I ended up getting too much, like I always do, and I was a few blocks away when I got tired. I sat down to rest for a minute, and then Isaac showed up."

And rescued you. You know, Jamie, for being a girl who doesn't want to be a damsel in distress you sure as fuck put yourself into the position where someone has to all the goddamn time. he thought, the bright, sharp stab of anger in him thought. He didn't say anything though. Nope, not a word. "You should be in bed." he said, hoping his voice didn't sound as tight to her as it did to him. He set the rock down on the step between them, needing to not have it right then.

"I will in a minute," she murmured, reaching up to tuck back a strand of hair. This was important. Honesty? Important. "He picked up some of the bags and walked me home. I got sick. Ran to the bathroom, puked. He brought me a glass of water." Jamie's eyes grew distant as she thought of what to say next. I started crying because of the hurt I caused him? I apologized for it?

Inadvertantly, he might have bailed her out. "I didn't ask you for an explanation." he pointed out quietly. He hadn't. Really, her starting to tell him what had happened felt to him like excuses. Or covering. Or something. He didn't know what, exactly. He also was completely aware of the fact that he was probably being unfair and paranoid. That knowledge, however, didn't actually do anything to alleviate the feelings he was going through.

She looked over at him, confused. "I want to be honest with you. If I had been up front with you and Isaac about each other in the first place, things would have been better for all of us." She didn't reach out to touch him, even though she wanted to. He didn't look like he was in any sort of mood to appreciate it. "And I figure you sitting on the porch means you ran into him on his way out... or something else is wrong. Is something else wrong?" she questioned, her voice quiet. "Has anything happened since Saturday night?"

"No." he said. "Yes. I don't know." Caleb was glad she hadn't done anything like reach out to touch him, because he very well could have bailed right then and there. He was fully back to twitchy on that right at the moment, so yeah. Hands to herself was a good thing. "Yeah, I ran into Isaac." he finished. Do you realize what you just sounded like there? 'If I had been up front with you and Isaac about each other in the first place' Jamie, that sounds like you were going for both of us. Do you think at all before you open your mouth, or are you naturally just this manipulative? his mind added unhelpfully.

The confused look remained, because... well, that's how she felt right about now. Confused, on a massive scale. She kept her hands folded tightly in her lap, brows furrowed lightly. And she was back to having no clue what to say. Again. "Has something happened? Are you all right? Are your brothers all right?" she asked uncertainly. Because 'no. yes. i don't know.' was not exactly a forthcoming answer. It worried her.

"I'm fine, so are they." Caleb said. "My friend Ten isn't. After you called the other night to tell me what happened to you, she was brought home...hurt." Yeah, how did one put 'attacked by a demon that close to gutted her' and not panic someone? "She'll be okay, it's just fucked up and I can't say I'm dealing spectacularly well with it. But, whatever, I don't really want to talk about it."

"Tensiel? From the party?" Jamie questioned, instantly worried anyways. That sweet little girl? She instantly felt very uneasy. His unwillingness to talk about it either meant he was really upset with her... or it had something to do with Other. Other, and sweet little Tensiel had her stomach doing nauseating flips, so for once, she was praying Caleb was just pissed with her.

He nodded. "She'll be okay." I just had to stitch her stomach shut again. And I won't exactly be forgetting about that any time soon. "I don't want to talk about it." he added again, quietly. "That's why I didn't say anything before."

Jamie clenched her fists and set her jaw, looking away. She didn't want to let it go, because it was obviously bothering him, and that bothered her. But they were back to that unhappy area, where she didn't want to push him, didn't want to risk upsetting him and send him running away. "All right."

He nodded, sort of in thanks, but more because he didn't have anything to say out loud. "You should go back to bed." he said softly after what seemed like a long time. It probably hadn't been, but it definitely felt that way. Obviously, if she was up going to the store and entertaining guys in her house(her room?) she wasn't so sick he had to bring her to the doctors. So that was answered.

She stared out at the street. Her fists stayed clenched tightly, nails biting into her palms. Now what did she say? 'I don't want you to leave'? 'Are you staying'? 'Leaving so soon'? Yeah. Right. Because those didn't all sound horrible in her head. She chose silence instead, mulling over her options.

He let her. He couldn't force her to go back inside, now could he? And he wasn't going to repeat himself again. He looked down, then finally turned his gaze on her. Brown eyes settling there, they remained, though they were unreadable. All the things that were going through his head weren't anything he could say. Hell, he couldn't even figure out how to describe how he felt right then. Nothing seemed to be in working order.

The silence stretched on, until finally, she rose to her feet. "All right. D'you wanna come in for awhile?" she asked lightly, her tone carefully neutral. It was the only thing she could think to say. She wasn't sure it was the right thing, but she couldn't very well just walk in the house and shut him out.

No. I want to get the fuck out of here. I want to not be confused about you all the time. i want to not feel like I've been fucking suckerpunched because I don't know if I can trust you. I want you to want to be with me, and not have your fallback guy coming out of your fucking house when I'm so much as not around for ten minutes. Caleb thought. All of that ran through his mind quickly, firing through and really? Anger was giving way to what felt too much like depression. Far too much, because he'd been there. He knew what that felt like. He looked up at her, and didn't say anything, hoping that he didn't look as vulnerable as he felt right then.

She stared at him quietly, catching the look in his eyes. Her own grew soft and sad. But she wouldn't touch him, not yet. She didn't feel like it was okay to do that yet. "I'm thirsty," she decided aloud. "I'll get us something to drink before I go back to bed. Tea sound good?" Jamie offered him a tiny, though reassuring smile. "I have to stay hydrated anyways, right?"

"You also have to stay the fuck in bed when you're sick, not go running around town, and not stay up later to do something like make tea." he said, this coming out automatically. He stood up, though in total honesty he didn't know if it was to leave or go inside. He couldn't have said which way was up on good authority. All he knew was everything felt wrong.

She tilted her head to the side, dark eyes staying soft. "The tea is already made, Caleb," she assured him gently. "I made it this morning, before I went grocery shopping. Iced tea."

"Whatever." he said, looking away. He wanted to kick the stupid rock he'd brought for her, and wished he'd thrown it when he'd had the urge to about five hundred times while he'd sat on the porch. Now it just seemed stupid, and he didn't want it there anymore. He realized he was upset now, and he was starting to really make that obvious, the kind of numbish confusion stage fading some to give way for other things. Shit, that just wasn't good.

Jamie crossed her arms over her stomach while she watched him. She was having that strong urge again, to make the hurting stop. And he was obviously hurting. This wasn't like with Isaac, where leaving things be was simply the best course. With Isaac, nothing she could say would end well. She would either be leading him on, hurting him further, or lying. With Caleb...

Her eyes drifted from him down to the hematite he'd brought, and she smiled faintly. Even under these circumstances, it still made her happy that he'd brought this. She leaned down and finally picked it up, running her thumb along the surface. It soothed her. Her eyes moved back up to lock on him. "Talk to me," she encouraged softly.

"I have no idea what to say right now." he said softly, looking firmly away from her. He was barely audible, and completely honest. So for a second there, it was in his voice, how thrown he was, and her soft smiles and all that other shit was doing nothing to help him. Because she very well could do the same things with Isaac, who had apparently just been in there with her.

"Okay." She kept her eyes focused on him, thinking. "If I go in to get us something to drink, will you still be here when I come back?" she questioned. She genuinely wanted to know; not just because she didn't want him to leave, but because she didn't want him to take off right now without at least being able to say good bye to him. "You can still come in, too, if you want. Invitation still stands."

"Obviously that invitation's been extended farther than me." Caleb said, before he could stop himself. He would have felt better about it if it had come out sounding pissed off, but it really didn't. Tone-wise, it was really unreadable, bothered but unclear which end of the spectrum it fell under. "I should go." Talking right now might be the last thing either of them needed.

She didn't flinch, because, really? He was totally justified in saying that. "Isaac's never been here before, Caleb. It's highly unlikely he'll be here again, because he didn't leave here with us on cheerful, friendly terms," she explained patiently, softly, genuinely calm. Steady. Her thumb ran lightly, smoothly, over the hematite, and she wondered if it was odd to think it was somehow helping her keep her cool. "It was a stupid coincidence. I pushed myself too hard, too soon, and he wandered by to help."

"He didn't exactly look all bent out of shape to me." Caleb said. "He seemed fine, in fact." Except for the first few moments. As he remembered that, he thought maybe she might have been right, and his perceptions were skewed. The guy had just covered well. "Whatever, nevermind. Not really the point. You couldn't have called me? Or anyone else to help you out? I'm pretty positive if your grandfather can go out and do whatever it is he does all day by himself, he could handle going with you to the store for a little while. You can't for two seconds just...listen to me about anything? This is what I keep talking about, you taking care of yourself, or more specifically, your utter lack of regard when it comes to you. It's fucked up, it's stupid, and more than that it's dangerous. You say that you don't want to be some fucking damsel, but you sure as hell put yourself into that position as often as fucking possible."

Now she winced, but he was still justified. "I know, Caleb. It was really stupid of me to go out today. I thought... well, I really thought I was fine. I felt so much better this morning, I just wanted to get things done... and I overdid it." Jamie sighed, dropping her eyes back down to the porch. She really couldn't defend herself when it came to the shopping. It had been a foolish mistake, but she'd just been so relieved to be coherent and able to walk about on her own, she'd just wanted to go outside... "I'll rest. And do you really want me to call you the next time I need to go shopping?" she questioned, raising her eyebrows curiously.

Caleb shot a Look at her. "Am I terribly prone to saying shit I don't mean?" he asked. That's your job. You seem to be full of placating bullshit, stuff you just say because you're constantly worried about hurting anyone's feelings. I don't know if you have it in you to just be honest, to level with me. He also noticed she'd utterly ignored his point about how she didn't take care of herself and put herself into the position where someone else had to take care of her. It was something he really wanted to get into, because he didn't think she saw it. Maybe she just thought that not doing it deliberately was okay. As long as she wasn't actively seeking out someone to take care of her in a bloodsucking, manipulative way, that it was fine. He just didn't know how she could not put together the fact that if she never took care of herself--she was ensuring someone else was going to have to do it.

"No, you're not." She sighed again, looking away from him and out at the street. "You know how you've never had anyone to worry about you?" Jamie asked quietly. "Well, I've never really had anyone I can rely on. I grew up on my own, I've spent the past four years on my own. So more than half my life? On my own. It's weird for me, okay? It's going to take longer than five days for me to think 'oh, I need to go shopping, so I should call up my brand new boyfriend and drag him to the store with me'." Don't get defensive, damnit. It won't help. Who that thought was aimed at, she couldn't really be sure.

"Well for being on your own for so long, you do an amazingly shitty job of taking care of yourself. Part of being strong and having all of your shit together is making sure that you're okay. You don't do that. You say you try to keep everyone else around you happy and going and you take care of them but you can't if you can't keep yourself going. All I've seen of you since we met is you going out of your way to make sure you're as run down as possible. I don't know what you're trying to prove or who you're trying to prove it to, but it's not working, whatever it is." Caleb said, voice even but quiet. Not even someone happening by would have heard him, and he also managed eye contact again. He felt strongly about this, which was clear there in his gaze. He paused, then decided to put it into perspective for her, since he thought she was probably the type who needed the example. "If I really did need you for anything? With the way you've been?" he shook his head. "I couldn't even ask." Like I didn't tell you about what happened to Ten.

...that? Hurt. Hurt. He couldn't have hurt her more if he'd physically struck her. Jamie's eyes dropped back down to the porch, and her face grew pale. Speech wasn't an option. It was a crushing, horrible sense of failure, like nothing she'd ever felt before. She took a small, defensive step back, not sure what else to do.

He drew in a deep breath, and let it out slowly, then walked closer to her. "You think you can hold up everyone else but you can't, if you can't even hold up yourself. I couldn't...I couldn't ever lean on you when I know you're already crashing. Can you understand that?" he asked. He almost touched her, half reaching out, fingers nearly brushing her arm, but not quite. "Do you see what I'm really talking about now?" Because he really didn't think she had before.

She made a tiny, almost inaudible noise in the back of her throat, her gaze still locked on the ground. "Yes," Jamie whispered, voice small.

He felt bad then, like he was just hurting her, but he couldn't not say it. It was hard for him to stand back and watch it, when it was so amazingly fucked up. Either way, he did step close enough to tug her against him, arms going around her. Hopefully, she really did get it. That she wasn't just saying that to get him to shut the fuck up, or so they would stop having the same goddamn conversation over and over and over. God, he hoped this was going to be the last time. He was beginning to loathe it.

She was amazingly glad he'd done that, because she desperately needed it right now. Jamie buried her face in his shoulder, sliding her arms up to wrap around his neck in a loose hug. She felt cold inside, painfully numb. I've gotta fix it... I have to be better...

Caleb drew in a deep breath, tried not to tense up, and he rubbed her back a little bit. She still felt warm to him, overheated a little, probably light fever. Giving her a few minutes like that, he then started slowly backing them towards the door, so he could get her back inside. That seemed like a good idea. Get her inside, get her to lay down...after that his planning stages failed him, but if he could get those first two things done, he would figure out the rest.

She walked backwards with him those first few steps before drawing away to open the door. Jamie headed inside and hesitated just inside the doorway, glancing towards the kitchen. After a long moment, she shook her head and headed back towards her bedroom without a word. She settled down on her bed, plopping back onto the mattress to stare up at her ceiling. The hematite stayed clutched tightly in her hand.

Caleb followed her, though he wasn't sure what to say or do now. He didn't even have bad ideas popping up, he had nothing. It was disconcerting to say the least. Usually he had ideas of some description. But not now. Not with her like this. When she laid down, he didn't know what to do with himself, so he reached up to rub absently at the scratches around his eye, looking sort of everywhere but at her.

Jamie worried her lower lip between her teeth. Lots of things to say to break the silence ran through her head, but they were all... bad. She couldn't think of anything to say where she didn't have at least three valid reasons to not say it. "The furniture doesn't bite." She sighed immediately after the words left her mouth. Probably not the best thing to say. But it was better than nothing, and nothing was all she had otherwise.

He took that as a cue that he shouldn't be fucking hovering, which he realized he was doing after she spoke. So he sat down on the computer chair, looking over at her. Wow was he ever still at a loss for anything to say. Feeling like he should have more, or something better, or a direction to go...something and not having it left him unsettled.

As the silence stretched on, Jamie pushed herself back up to sitting. She looked at him thoughtfully for a long moment before dropping her gaze back down to her hands, where the hematite lay. She moved it slowly, watching the way the light reflected off its' surface. "I think I'll be better by tomorrow, so I'll take that as my day off I missed yesterday," she murmured softly, more thinking aloud than anything. She couldn't stand the silence.

He nodded, acknowledging what she was saying. He couldn't help but feel like she was placating him, though. Like 'oh, pissed him off, better tell him what he wants to hear so he knows I'm paying attention and being a good girl'. Cynicism was high up on his list of things to infect his brain today. He usually was anyhow, but today it was so much more pronounced.

She toyed awkwardly with the hematite, keeping her eyes locked on it. "You don't have to stay here." Because it was becoming increasingly obvious, in her mind, that with her? Was the last place he wanted to be.

He sighed, leaning back in the chair and he stared at the ceiling. "So you're just...not going to say shit about what we were just talking about? Going to ignore?"

Jamie's brows furrowed. "I'm not ignoring it. I don't... You have no idea how much it fucks with my head to know that I'm so broken that I can't even be there for my boyfriend. I can't stand it. I feel like a complete and utter failure right now." She took in a deep, shaky breath. "But what can I say? That I'll magically get better? Talk is cheap. Why the hell would you believe me? I wouldn't believe me."

He sighed and scrubbed his hand over his face, headache settling in. "Did you not see it?" he asked. "Jesus, Jamie, it's like I met you and you were fine, then you randomly lost your shit completely. Like you're running yourself into the ground deliberately. Do you know what that does? What kind of position that puts me in? And you for that matter?"

"Don't be my crutch, Caleb." She bit down lightly on her lip, frowning down at the carpet. "I wanted equality. That's still what I want, for both of us. I don't want you to save me if I'm being a stupid bitch. If I keep being a stupid bitch, if I don't change, dump me," Jamie stated bluntly.

"I just don't get what's going on." he said, looking over at her and trying to keep himself from bailing again. Because he really wanted to. "I don't--you say you don't want anyone saving you or rescuing you and yet you've pretty much turned yourself into the epitome of a helpless damsel. How does that work? And you're right about the equality thing, that's what I want too. That really doesn't work with things like they are now."

She pressed a hand to her forehead, feeling a headache of her own coming on. "I don't know," Jamie muttered. "It's just... since Wednesday, since I talked to Chrissy, when she broke my window? Maybe I let the shit she said get to me too much. Stuck up bitch who cares more about her own problems than other people. Think I'm better than everyone else. Entitled, self centered, snobby fucking whore..." She scrubbed at her eyes furiously with the back of her hand. "Yeah. She got to me. I don't... I don't think I've acted like me since."

He listened to that, and that actually made some sense to him. It didn't necessarily make it better but it at the very least gave him a starting point so to speak. It gave him a Point A. Where things went and crashed down and dropped into total screaming insanity. Or something, he didn't know. "I know this probably doesn't help but it seems to me like you're different."

"I feel different. I feel insecure, and I'm doubting everything I'm saying and doing, and I've never acted this way before," Jamie stated quietly. She hated it.

"You really don't seem like the girl I met." Caleb said. He quirked the faintest of little smiles that didn't last long. "Even on the beach. There was kind of something about you." She'd caught his attention, he'd wanted to go back for her. Try to get her out of the situation with Chrissy, though Journey had talked him out of it. He wasn't usually given to being a hero at random.

She smiled faintly, but it didn't quite reach her eyes. "I want to be that girl again. That girl knew what she was doing. This one..?" Jamie shrugged her shoulders, smile fading completely. "This one is acting too much like her mother."

Gaze on her, he didn't say anything for a long moment. He couldn't say she wasn't being like her. He didn't know her mother and all he knew was what she'd told him. And granted, she'd told him a lot, but still. Not experiencing things for himself meant he wasn't exactly an authority, now was he? "You did have a confidence about you." he offered, because that much he was an authority on.

"It was one of my things," Jamie agreed softly, smoothing her thumb over the hematite. "And it feels like I let Chrissy take it from me with her passive-agressive-psycho-bitchiness."

"First of all, you can't let her do that. I mean, by now, she knows that I'm dating you, or whatever we're calling it. If she pays the slightest bit of attention, she should. I'm here enough, and it's not like we bothered shutting the curtains or anything. And she hasn't done anything. Basically? She can fuck off. She's not worth it. She's not worth you." Caleb said firmly, eyes ticking towards the window then back to Jamie.

Jamie tossed the stone in the air, catching it with her other hand. "Dating, or whatever we're calling it?" she asked wryly. Wasn't that confidence inspiring. "I'm sure she knows. I don't care that she knows, Caleb. The whole town knows at this point, I'm sure, and that's fine. Our relationship isn't bugging me," she stated firmly. "The things she said that are bugging me the most don't have anything to do with you." She tossed the stone again, snatching it from midair this time. "What bothers me the most is the faint possibility that she wasn't just spewing passive-aggressive bullshit to hurt me, and that I really might have let her down. And now, I'll never know."

"I'm pretty positive that she's just a stupid fucking bitch, and anything out of her mouth can be automatically discounted." Caleb said immediately. "Come on, this is the girl who hit you. What exactly could she possibly have to say that would hold the slightest bit of weight?"

"Best friend, eight years, knew me better than anyone else, excuse me for my loyalty." Jamie sighed, squeezing her eyes tightly shut. "Even if it is stupid loyalty now that she's a psychotic whore."

"Yeah I know she was your friend, but she was a psychotic whore before now, and you knew that too." Caleb pointed out. "It's not like you didn't. I know you were trying to help her, but you are aware that she was a complete bitch before she smacked you. Just because she was your friend before doesn't mean she knew anything about what she was talking about. What you just told me? I don't think you're any of those things."

She sighed, pulling up her uninjured leg to tuck it underneath her. "And I didn't, either, until she said them. And then I started doubting myself. I know it's stupid," Jamie muttered. "I feel like I'm just going around in circles, repeating myself. I don't want to feel like this anymore. I hate being insecure. I hate it!"

"Is there anything I can do to help?" he asked. He couldn't really think of anything. How did one hand out damaged confidence? He sure as hell couldn't think of anything. But then he was at a loss lately, seemed like on a constant basis. He was still in fact, twitchy over Isaac. What had happened with them? Was he going to be back? Did he have any right to be weird about that?

She smiled faintly, shaking her head. "No. I'm not even sure what I can do. Maybe it's a time thing." She held up the hematite, letting it catch the sunlight streaming in through her window. "Sweet of you to ask, though," she murmured. "I guess the question is... are you willing to stick around for that girl I was last week?"

He honestly didn't know on that one, but he couldn't say that. For one thing, he felt responsible, so he couldn't tell her anything of the sort. She was already knocked off balance, and he was sure if he up and took off, it would just make everything worse on her. By now he felt like he had to take care of her, so...witness him sticking around. Caleb nodded. "Yeah." he answered. "Do you like it?" he asked, gesturing towards the rock.

Jamie nodded, smiling faintly. "Yeah, I do." And then she tossed the stone at him, hitting him square in the chest. She focused her gaze levelly on him, squelching down her own thoughts and emotions because what she was about to say? Could potentially suck very much. She didn't want any expression on her face or in her eyes influencing his answer. "I don't want you to stick around unless you want to, Caleb. The last thing I want is to be an obligation. That's not equal. That's you suffering." She waited a beat, then added softly, "I'm giving you an out, babe."

He grabbed the stone, and reached out to set it on the desk. "I'd take it if I wanted it." he said. "So don't worry, okay?" he asked. "Lay down already." he added, reaching out to push her over, though he did it in a gentle sort of manner. "You're supposed to be resting. Remember?"

She let him push her over, a wistful little smile on her face. God, she wished she could believe him, that he wasn't here out of some twisted, fucked up obligation. "Yes, sir," she said lightly, her tone teasing. "Resting. I do remember something about that. I thought being in bed would count, but apparently it does not."

"Nope. You have to be laying down." Caleb informed her. Then he stood up and started tugging the covers over her too. "And you have to be snuggled in, and...all taken care of. Do you want anything?" he asked. Shifting his focus helped. He knew after he took off from here he'd be grinding everything over in his head again, but for right now he could happily repress.

Jamie squirmed out from under the covers before he could pull them up. She was too clothed to be comfy under the covers right now. Honestly, what she wanted was mindless snuggling. But saying that out loud, after the weird day they'd had? Nuh. Uh. "I'm okay," she assured him instead.

He narrowed his eyes down at her. "Oh?" he asked. "I'm pretty sure that's huge on the list of getting you non-sick and all better and all that. There's supposed to be warmth and all that shit." he continued. "It's in he handbook." What handbook who the fuck knows.

She reached up to prod him between his narrowed eyes, a little smile on her face. "I have too many clothes on for snuggling into my blankets," she explained. "You want me to start stripping?" Jamie asked patiently, eyes dancing with humor.

He smirked at her. "Well, I've heard worse ideas." he said. Because if she was going to tease him? He was teasing right back. No way around it. That and at least this felt more normal for them. The give and take, back and forth.

Her eyebrows rose, and she tried to look unaffected. Except she was laying down, and he was leaning over her and smirking. So yes, there was blushing going on. "You've already seen me naked. Don't think I won't do it."

Caleb laughed a little, then leaned over her, pressing a kiss to her forehead. She definitely felt like her fever had gone down. She wasn't nearly as bad as she was yesterday. So that was a plus. His mind started whispering things like 'Did Isaac do this with her while he was here?' but he tried to shut it the fuck up. "Yeah, but you're sick. I doubt you'd have the energy to try to jump me."

She smiled faintly. "You'd be surprised, but I'll behave myself." She did slide her arms around his neck and pull him down to plant a soft kiss on his cheek. "You know, I have very little idea of what we talked about yesterday, but I do seem to recall that I owe you meanness, sometime in the future," she remarked, dropping her arms back down to the bed.

He had propped his hands on either side of her when she'd tugged him down, and he stayed there for a moment. "You don't remember?" he asked. He wasn't at all sure if that was a good thing or not. Probably a good thing. He could just keep everything they'd talked about in mind, and just...not tell her. Yeah, that was a plan. He flashed a grin at her. "I think I'll just keep things to myself then...you don't owe me meanness. That's just the delirium talking."

Jamie shot him a Look for that. "You said that yesterday, too, and I disagreed. I remember that. And I remember we talked about your furniture fetish, but I can't remember your explanation," she said with a little pout. "And I bit you, too. And growled." But she couldn't remember why, except that he'd deserved it.

He leaned down and gave her a little kiss, then pulled back up again. "The rest will remain a mystery." he informed her. "If you can't be bothered to remember our conversations..." he continued, obviously teasing.

She wrinkled her nose up at him playfully, then reached up to slide her arms back around his neck. "But I had a fever, and I was a very sick girl," Jamie pointed out solemnly, her eyes dancing. "And here I am, being all good and resting in bed, and you won't even tell me about your immovable objects fetish? Don't make me bite you, mister."

Caleb smirked again, then leaned closer once more. "That might not be the best deterrent for me, you know." he pointed out. "Yes, you're being good, yes you're resting, and that's great. But you still have to get better. You're not completely good yet, now are you?" he asked. "Nooo, you're not. So I'm not entirely sure the best conversation for us to be having is this one."

She shivered, just a little, leaning up to give him a sharp little nip on the neck. "Now see what you've done?" she murmured. "Had to go and bite you and everything... And I believe you may have taken advantage of me in my poor delirious state yesterday. Did you get all sorts of secrets out of me, and now you don't want to share? That's quite mean of you, Caleb."

That was just unfair of her. He really had to protest because of the totally horribly unfairness. It sent a shiver through him, and he half leaned in closer for a second. In towards her neck, where he drew in her scent. It wasn't quite the same, considering she was still sick and that kinda helped out his disposition a bit.

She was strongly tempted to bite him again, but she didn't. She tilted her head back invitingly instead, leaving things up to him. One of her hands slid up to play with his hair, her fingers threading gently through the locks at the base of his neck.

High up on his list of things Jamie did that weren't fair--trying to seduce him while she was sick. High up on his list of things that were a bit sick and wrong about him--and he had a long, long list--it was kind of working. He kissed her neck, then made a solid effort to pull back away from her. Making out was awesome and he was certainly a fan, but she was ill. "You need your rest, Jamie." he said quietly.

Jamie kissed him on the cheek before he pulled away, letting her arms fall back to the mattress. He'd chosen, and she wasn't going to fight him on it. "I wish you'd believe me when I say I really do feel better today," she murmured.

"You had to have Isaac walk you home and help you with your groceries because you couldn't hack the walk back." Caleb pointed out. "That doesn't exactly sway things in favor of me believing you that you're fine. So--get your rest. I'll be back tomorrow." he promised. "Now, before I take off so I know you're getting some sort of rest, is there anything I can get you?"

She offered him a faint little smile, shaking her head. "I'm fine, Caleb. Really, I'm nowhere near as bad as yesterday. I'll take a nap, and if I get hungry or thirsty or bored, I'll be able to get up and get it. I have these things called legs, you see, and they seem to be cooperating today, as long as I don't do stupid things like walk to the grocery store and go shopping," she said, a teasing lilt to her voice.

Caleb made a show of looking down her form to said legs. "I noticed those before." he commented. "Okay, fine, I was just checking." he added. "I figure since you're sick I could wait on you today, but if you don't want to take advantage while I'm willing, that's your loss." he teased her back.

"I already tried to take advantage, and you weren't willing," Jamie pointed out with a tiny smirk, her eyes dancing with amusement.

"You are sick." Caleb said, shaking his head and pulling back. "Get rest and stop being feverish, then you can work on seducing me again." he said. He crossed his arms, shaking his head at her with an amused expression. "What are you, a bunny?" he teased.

She laughed, shaking her head. She propped herself up on her elbows, smiling sheepishly. "No, I think it's your smirk, and the leaning over me, and you smelling so good. And I do still remember what happened Saturday in the bookstore," she admitted. It had been on her mind pretty heavily Saturday night, and then again when she'd woken up this morning. "Is it a crime to be easily distracted when it comes to my boyfriend?"

He pretended to think about it. "No, I guess not." he conceded, like he was giving her a whole lot. He remembered the book store too. Not the best thing to be thinking at the moment, really. "I'll keep all of that in mind, though, just in case I need to distract you again sometime. When you're all healthy and not at all sick." he added. Pausing, he sighed and leaned over to give her another little kiss. "Get sleep. I'll talk to you tomorrow."

She kissed him back quickly, smiling faintly. "Okay," Jamie agreed. "I'll rest." After a moment of quiet, she dropped her eyes away from him to gaze at her feet, wiggling her toes. "Please be careful," she said quietly.

"Careful?" he asked, mildly confused. "Sure. I'm always careful." he added. He wasn't quite sure where that had come from, what had prompted the statement. Particularly with the look on her face when she said it.

Jamie nodded, looking back up at him with a warm, relieved smile. "Okay." It was still weighing on her mind, what he'd said earlier; that he couldn't ask her for help right now, even if he needed her. It worried her. But if he said he would be careful, then she trusted he would be careful. "See you tomorrow."

He nodded, still a bit mystified on what she'd meant, but she looked like she felt better for what he'd said, so he was going with that. Caleb smiled at her, a soft, genuine expression for a moment. "Sweet dreams." he said, then turned to head out.