Pet Names and Friendship

who: Caleb and Jamie
where: their houses (phone conversation)
when: late

It was now Too Late For Housework o'clock, but that didn't stop Jamie. She felt revitalized after talking to Isaac (except horribly guilty, because she was fairly sure she'd implanted the seeds for a mega crush tonight), so now she was cleaning up the mess Chrissy had made. She'd just finished removing the glass from the window frame, very carefully, and now she was putting the bigger pieces in her trash can (still very carefully). She'd turned her PC back on shuffle mode in Caleb's playlist, and it played softly in the background while she worked.

It took him longer than he'd thought to unpack his stuff. He didn't even have much of it, but he'd actually even put up posters and the like, finally giving his room a lived in sort of appearance as opposed to the occasionally occupied storage closet it had looked like before. He flopped back on his bed, which he'd made for once in his life, and stared at the phone. Of course he'd been looking at it on and off all night now, as long as he'd been putting his room away, anyhow. He took Jamie's phone number out of his pocket and looked it over, even if he remembered the number. This hadn't been the first time he'd gotten so far as to take the number out either. Finally, he just said fuck it, picked up the phone and dialed before he could talk himself out of it again.

Her phone ringing for the third time tonight really shouldn't have surprised her, but it did; enough that she closed her hand over the shard of glass, causing it to dig into her palm. Jamie let out a little hiss of pain, dropping the glass, and gazing at her cut in dismay. That was probably a bad sign. Like, Chrissy was calling again bad. Or maybe Isaac had just woken up? She watched the blood trickle down her palm for two rings before she stood up, grabbed the phone and answered. "Hello?" Jamie asked, wariness apparent in her voice as she headed as quietly as possible from her room to the bathroom.

Caleb had been about to hang up when he heard her pick up. "...Jamie?" he asked. It's her cell. Of course it's her. Who else would it be? he rolled his eyes at himself. "Sorry, maybe I shouldn't have called so late." he added, thinking maybe he woke her up or something.

"Caleb?" she asked, incredulous. Okay, weirdest day ever. "No, I'm awake, I just thought it was... someone else," Jamie said lamely, cradling the phone between her shoulder and her ear while she reached for the alcohol to clean her cut. Who the heck had put it on the high shelf, anyways?

He winced a little at how she said his name. Damn. Was he not supposed to call? Did she just give it to him like, out of pity or something and she hadn't really meant for him to do that? "Oh...if you're waiting for a call or something I can just call back some other time." he said. There, you have an out. And I'll just...not call back. Yeah. I'm an idiot.

She rolled her eyes at the ceiling. Boys. "Dummy," she said fondly. "I just... wasn't expecting you to call. At all, actually," she admitted. 'cause I'm crazy and have issues and why would you want to deal with them when you have your own? "It's fine, I'm not expecting any calls." Now what was she supposed to do? Chrissy was out for her blood, and she already had Isaac swearing to help her. How was she going to blow Caleb off without hurting him (or pissing him off)? Ugh, stupid boys. They complicated everything.

Caleb frowned at that up at his ceiling, where he was watching how the paint wasn't cracked anywhere, and that kind of bugged him. "Why wouldn't I?" he asked. Unless you really just mean I wasn't supposed to. Wow, Lockwood, this has been one of your worst ideas ever, and you have had some spectacularly bad ones.

"'cause I've got issues," Jamie explained distractedly. Might as well be honest, right? She dabbed a little alcohol on a cotton swab and dabbed it on her palm, hissing quietly from the pain.

Caleb frowned. "...um...so? So do I, are you okay?" he asked, cutting himself off there. Come to think of it, she didn't sound very okay. She kind of sounded...weird. And you know this how? You've known her all of like two days.

"Yeah, I'm okay." After a moment's pause, she sighed. "I'm cleaning my hand. I cut it cleaning." Jamie closed the bottle of alcohol and rummaged in the cabinet for a band aid. They were out of the cute kitten ones, so she had to settle for plain beige.

"What'd you cut it on?" Caleb asked. He absently bounced one foot that was hanging off the end of the bed, a nervous sort of gesture. "I don't remember there being anything that terribly dangerous in housecleaning activities."

Damnit. Why did people have to ask so many questions? Band aid safely on her hand, Jamie flicked the light off and head quietly back for her room, waiting until she was inside with the door shut before answering. "Broken glass."

Caleb wasn't terribly pleased with the pause she'd had there, and had been about to ask again when she answered him. He was impatient sometimes, apparently. "How'd you do that?" he asked. Yes, he did ask a lot of questions. Quite a lot, actually. "You're okay, right?"

"Glass broke, and I picked it up, and I accidentally cut my hand." She wasn't sure if she was more amused by this conversation, or annoyed. "I'm fine. I'm sixteen, not six. It's a tiny cut, not even that deep. I barely bled, Caleb." Okay, she'd apparently settled for amused. Go her. It was much too late for a phone argument, anyways.

"Well, sounded like it hurt." Caleb muttered. "If you don't want people to be concerned, don't hiss in pain over the phone." he pointed out. "Though I'd want to know, so don't do that with me." he added, because he didn't want her getting the idea that hiding something like that was a good idea.

Jamie rolled her eyes. "I'll keep this conversation in mind for the next time I accidentally cut myself," she said dryly. "I just won't answer the phone until I'm properly bandaged." She knelt back down on the floor, resuming her work in picking up the shards and throwing them in the trash. "What're you up to, then?"

Caleb listened to the clinking sounds on her end. "I don't know. I just finally unpacked my room, and..." Didn't have anything else to do and I was thinking about you and trying not to think about Ten and what the fuck she pulled earlier, in her clueless 'no idea what that might do to someone' sort of way that's the most frustrating thing in the entire fucking world.

"And you totally just stopped speaking," Jamie laughed softly. "I'm not a mind reader, Caleb. What's on your mind? That was a pretty heavy 'and.'"

Wincing, Caleb sighed. "Sorry. I didn't know if I should call or not, really. And now that I have I kinda don't know what to say, because I didn't call for any reason? Like, I don't have anything cool to tell you, or anything. And you're busy now, and so..." And he still hadn't mastered finishing thoughts today. Awesome.

"I'm not busy, I'm picking up broken glass. I can multi task, sweetie pie," Jamie said with another laugh. And hoped he wouldn't hang up over the pet name. "Just talk about what's on your mind," she offered. "I'm a good listener." And what the hell had happened to her pushing him away plan? Oh, damn her girly moments. Stupid crush. Why couldn't he do something insanely stupid or gross?

"Currently I'm kind of wondering what the hell broke because that's a lot of glass I'm hearing." Caleb said. "...and don't call me that." he added for good measure. "I could almost handle anything but that." As long as it wasn't something that you called small children.

"But I'm fond of sweetie pie," Jamie lamented. But it was a little close to what she'd sort of inadvertently chosen for Isaac (sweetie) so a new name might be in order for Caleb. "Honey?" she offered, sitting back to assess her work. Hm, a little over half done. Stupid Chrissy.

"Honey is what married people call their spouses." Caleb said. "So, unless I blacked out today, don't remember it, and you brainwashed me into marrying you at random, and dodged the legal ramifications and everything else...I don't think that one works." he finished. "Though if you did pull off all of that, go you for being an evil mastermind."

She grinned, even if he couldn't see it, and chuckled darkly. "Oh, you have no idea how evil I can be, babe." Eh, that one was a maybe... She resumed her cleaning, picking up the smaller pieces this time. She couldn't risk using a vacuum cleaner with her grandpa asleep, so by hand was her only choice.

"Babe?" Caleb asked, laughing a touch. "Babe. You called me babe of all things." he said. "Is there something inherently wrong with my name, or are you just determined to humiliate me any chance you get?" he asked conversationally.

"It's one of my things," Jamie laughed. "Apparently you don't have any complaints with that one. I'll take that as approval." But she really would miss sweetie pie. That one had made him so twitchy...

"So my incredulity didn't sink in, huh?" Caleb asked. He was grinning though. Now that they were talking-talking, he was a lot less prone to tripping over his words like he had been. "I'm not sure what's wrong with 'Caleb'. It's worked fine for me so far." Though really, 'babe' was something generally reserved for boyfriends, not small children, so it was a step up. Wait. That wasn't good! Shit. Suddenly all of the bullshit he'd been churning over in his mind earlier relating to her was brought right back up. His conversation with Journey...everything. Shit. "You know that's something people call s.o.'s. So what do I call you?" he asked, that sort of coming out of his mouth without it passing through his brain at all.

Her breath caught before she laughed softly. "Told you, babe, I don't date." Even though her heart had skipped a beat at that, and now she was blushing and her hands were shaking just a little... ugh, not good. She settled back on the ground, abandoning the glass shards for now. No way in hell was she cutting her hand again. "Just call me whatever makes you comfortable, I don't mind."

"You finally done? That was a lot of glass." he said again. Because she'd dodged the comment before. What the hell had she broken, a window? "Hmm. I dunno, I'll have to think about it. I could always call you something like Baby." he suggested, completely teasing. There wasn't a chance in hell he could call her that in person and not like, blush himself to death, or keep a straight face, or not immediately flee.

"No, I'm just taking a break... and... um..." Oh God with the blushing! "If you want, but that's a pretty hard core pet name, isn't it?" Jamie asked with another soft laugh. Her stomach was all fluttery now. Stupid crushing. This sucked. And he still hadn't done anything stupid or gross!

Caleb laughed, and didn't say what went through his mind. "Yeah, probably. But then it's not much different than 'babe'." he pointed out. "I'm not sure why babe wouldn't count the same as baby." I need to shut the fuck up about this now. Really, really I do. Why did it seem easier to kind of...flirt with her over the phone? Probably because it meant she couldn't see him, touch him or of course, slap him. "You're not done, what'd you do, break a window?"

"Yep," she said, mildly relieved to be off the flirting. For some reason, him flirting with her seemed dangerous. It was okay in person, because she could get him all red in the face and twitchy, but she could almost hear him smirking right now. And that was... just... yeah. Dangerous, with a capital 'd', and she wasn't going to think about the fluttering in her stomach. He probably wouldn't call her baby in person, right? 'cause then there'd be badness all around... "A window," she agreed.

"What happened? You don't really seem to be the wild and crazy type that's randomly throwing shit around." Caleb said. He was kind of concerned because what if her grandpa had done it? He remembered what she'd said and everything, so that was the first thing that came to mind on that score.

...shit, wasn't this like an exact repeat of her conversation with Isaac? Okay, minus the pet name talk before hand. Jamie frowned at her reflection in the nearby mirror. Wow, I look like shit. She scrubbed at her cheeks for a moment, glad for the temporary halt in conversation, debating with herself on going for the window conversation or the pet name conversation. Both were equally dangerous, but just for very different reasons.

Caleb frowned as she said absolutely nothing for a minute, and he sat up, leaning forward with is forearm on his thigh. "...Jamie?" he asked into the silence, now really worried. What if her grandfather had done worse? Broken lots of things, or destroyed stuff, or...who knew what? Was he a big guy? Could he hurt her without meaning to? "Jamie? You okay? Answer me."

She sighed quietly, scrubbing at her suddenly gritty eyes. "I'm okay. I tripped, and something flew out of my hand and hit the window," she explained carefully, hating to lie but seeing no other choice. Because, yeah, the truth? Fuck that. She'd already told Isaac, and one person was enough. Chrissy would be going on a psycho bitch rampage before the dust settled, and she was already going to have to shield Isaac. Not Caleb, too, Hell no.

Caleb didn't answer as he thought about that. It sounded like bullshit to him, but then again, why would she lie? He couldn't think of any reason for her to. Unless she was just covering for her grandfather or something. "...honestly?" he asked, because he couldn't outright call her a liar or anything, and there was nothing he could do about it really. Maybe he was just being really really paranoid, as he was apt to do in the first place and he was an asshole for doubting her.

Shit. Jamie bit her lip, frowning at her suddenly tense reflection. Oh God, she hated to lie. Hated it, hated it more than anything, unless it was absolutely necessary (like lying to social workers; that she could do). "...no," she admitted quietly. Fuck fuck fuck, why couldn't he have just taken her word for it!?

I didn't think so. he thought, somewhat validated. Though he didn't feel better about it, he felt worse. Why did she lie? "It wasn't anything to do with your grandpa, was it?" he asked, voice light and careful.

"What!? No!" Jamie frown deepened at her reflection, though it was more aimed at Caleb. She probably would have given him a good whack to the head for that. "Grandpa's harmless. Why would you think that?" she asked, incredulous.

He winced. "Sorry, just with what you said today...I don't know, you never know. He might have fallen or done it on accident, not knowing what was going on." he continued, fairly miserable now. For a number of different reasons.

Oh. Sigh. "No, it wasn't Grandpa, he doesn't know about it..." It would just confuse him, or upset him, considering he still adored Chrissy and treated her like she was eight. Jamie bit her lip harshly, ignoring the tang of blood now in her mouth. Her shoulders were locking up again... Today was a very bad day for stress. "I'm sorry I lied, it's not you... It's..." I don't want Chrissy to make your life hell, too.

"What happened?" Caleb asked, voice kind of quiet. Yeah. Worrying. Because she didn't seem like the type to randomly lie about shit, and if it wasn't her grandpa he didn't know...wait.

"Chrissy's room is pink, if you want to go next door and visit her."

And that had better not be the case, or there was going to be even more trouble than before.

"Someone just threw something through my window, that's all," Jamie said quietly, dismissively, eyes darting to the broken glass. And trying not to think about her conversation with Chrissy, because it all still hurt. Even if Isaac had cheered her up, even if Caleb had been making her laugh (and blush) only a few minutes ago... She still felt sick to her stomach, thinking of that conversation. She watched the girl in the mirror's face crumple. I'm not going to cry again. I'm not going to cry again. "It was probably an accident, even," she added as an afterthought, knowing very well it wasn't true. Chrissy had always hated that damned paperweight.

"Because your window isn't right next to another house, or anything. And one that happens to be occupied by someone you warned me about today." Caleb said, gritting his teeth. "Tell me it wasn't her."

"It wasn't her," she said lightly. And now she was cold again. With her free arm, she hugged her knees tightly to her chest, still feeling sick and now a little dizzy. Like the bottom had dropped out from beneath her.

And well, it kind of had the past two days...

Caleb was silent for a minute. "You're a shitty liar." he said, voice quiet. "Were you hurt?" he asked. Because that was more important right now than being mixed up over her lying in the first place, and of course the urge to walk over there, drag Chrissy out by the hair and making sure she was never seen again.

"You told me to tell you it wasn't her," Jamie pointed out, her voice very quiet. "No, I wasn't hurt." Except emotionally, and the whole nearly painful muscle spasm she'd had afterwards. But those didn't count for what he'd asked, in her opinion.

He wasn't necessarily sure about that. He was quiet again for a minute. "You don't think she'll do anything else, do you? You should move your room." he said. Because he was thinking that her staying in a room that might have objects crashing through was a bad thing.

"I don't know." She didn't want to talk about this. She really didn't want to talk about this, because all of the tension had her muscles cording up and her shoulders relocking. Jamie hugged her knees tightly to her chest, too tightly, but she was cold and it was more comforting than the alternative. "We don't have any spare rooms," she said tiredly, debating whether or not to just give him the brush off and hang up now so she could cry herself to sleep.

"So switch with your grandpa." Caleb said. "Chrissy's after you, right? I don't think she'd do anything to your grandpa, and if she did, we're talking legal shit. Did you call the cops on her?" he asked. "Cuz that's vandalism."

"No," she said quietly, though she wasn't really sure what she was disagreeing with. Most of what he'd just said got a resounding 'no' in her head.

"No what?" Caleb asked. "If you haven't called, you should. And you shouldn't sleep in there if she's going to be pulling shit like that, it's not..." he started, obviously getting upset and so he just cut himself off right there.

Her body had reached the point where it was trembling from tension. I hurt. "I'll think about it," she said quietly, after a long moment of silence.

Now he just felt like shit. Hell, she sounded like she might cry or something, and he didn't want to have caused that. Shit. Just shit. "I'm sorry. It's..." go on, say it. "None of my business, I guess. I didn't mean to make you all upset or anything, I...sorry."

"I..." her breath hitched and her voice cracked, on just the one word. God, she was crying again.

I'm acting just like Mom...

Insert mental flailing. A whole lot of it. Like, tons. He stood up and started pacing around his room, not sure what to do. Shit. He'd made her cry now, and how did he fix that? How'd he done it in the first place? So, he did the exact opposite of what he wanted to do, which was he started to ramble. He wasn't really given to rambling, so he wasn't used to it, it was just happening. "I'm sorry, Jamie, just if she's gonna be throwing things in your window, I don't want you to get hurt, what if you'd been standing there? Or sleeping, or something? And she can't get away with that, don't let her terrorize you and not even do anything about it, that's just not right, and I'm really sorry I didn't mean to upset you, I really didn't, I'm just worried now, and I....I'll just...shut up." he said, sighing and sitting back down again. "I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault, Caleb," she managed after several long, awkward moments. "I just... it's just been a bad night," Jamie whispered, nearly inaudible. And everything Chrissy had said was repeating in her head. Self centered, snobby fucking whore.

"I'm sorry." he said, still quietly. He drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly, picturing different ways to murder Chrissy and make it look like an accident. The Melia option was still viable, according to him. "I didn't mean to make it worse. I just wanted to talk to you, I really didn't mean to pry, and...whatever the fuck else I did." Which he was sure there were things.

"You didn't," she insisted, focusing on trying to cheer him up now. "You were just trying to help, and be normal and... I'm sorry." Maybe now he'd understand her issues were abnormal and completely beyond what should be dealt with by any teenager (herself excluded, of course) and he'd ditch her. "I'm not any worse than I was earlier. I was worse earlier," she assured him. "None of this is your fault, it's just... me... and Chrissy. Don't worry, I'm fine." Or she would be in a few hours, after her joints unlocked again.

"I'd believe you if I hadn't heard you crying." Caleb said quietly. "Is there anything I can do?" he asked. "...and no, I'm not trying to rescue you or anything, so you can save yourself the speech, just...anything? I'll do it, promise." he said.

She was too tired and sore for any speeches. "No. Nothing," Jamie murmured. Even if she hadn't been convinced that all of this was her own mess to fix, she wouldn't have been able to come up with anything for him to do... "I suggest not coming around me anymore," she murmured slowly. Giving him another out. And she hoped he would take this one.

No such luck on that. "Naw. Why would I do that? I like you. And I don't scare easily, or y'know. Listen to psychotic bitches on principal. It's a thing. Unless..." he stopped, frowning. He didn't like where his mind had just gone, and he wasn't sure he wanted to say it. But then in the end he did. "Unless you think that if I do stay away from you, that she'll stop terrorizing you. I don't want you to get hurt." Over me. Like you already were. Fuck. He had a sinking feeling in his stomach. A really bad one.

"Hm? No, she won't do that. She's out for my blood," Jamie admitted. "It was bound to happen eventually... This isn't your fault, Caleb. We got into an argument over the phone today after you left, and it wasn't... it went badly. She's still pissed at me, not you."

Hesitating, he felt a rush of relief, but he wasn't sure it was over. Or something. Who the fuck knew. "Are you sure?" he asked, very quietly. If she'd lay off, then he'd...figure something else out. Not necessarily forever or anything, because he liked Jamie, and he knew how spectacularly well he did at staying away when he liked someone. And that was 'not at all'. But that didn't mean he wouldn't take steps of his own. And he probably would anyhow.

She smiled faintly, feeling a little better. "I'm sure, Caleb. She made it quite obvious she plans to make my life a living hell this year and there's nothing anyone can do about it," she said dryly, eyeing the paperweight sitting on her dresser. "And what's this about you liking me, anyways?" she asked lightly. Even if her body was still wound too tightly and she was in pain, she was going to steer the conversation towards something lighter. Happier. So he'd stop sounding so worried (and cute by proxy).

Caleb paused. Had he said that? Erm. Yeah. Somewhere, obviously. He just couldn't remember when. Awesome. "Well, I hung out with you all day, and I called you tonight. If I didn't like you, I probably wouldn't want to talk to you this much, don't you think?" he asked. That was nicely evasive, wasn't it?

Jamie giggled quietly. "Well, that makes sense," she agreed. "I like you, too, then." Too much for my own comfort, actually. Good thing you seem relatively uninterested. Well, compared to Isaac, anyways.

He couldn't help but smile to himself. Which was bad, really. Especially the part where he felt weirdly better after hearing that. Even if she probably didn't mean it like that. He wasn't owning up to it. He already had to Dorian earlier, so really, he wasn't up to confessions right then. Particularly in light of the fact that he didn't at all know what to do about anything yet. And besides. She thought of him like a fucking puppy, not...anything else. Really. "Well, at least that's settled then." he said. "My brother said he's gonna get me a cell phone, so pretty soon I'll actually have a number you might be able to reach me at."

"That's..." She paused, laughing ruefully to herself. Shit, she was digging herself deep with this boy, wasn't she? "That's great," she admitted. She hated calling people, always afraid they wouldn't answer, and he'd sort of implied he wasn't home much earlier. Caleb having a cell meant she might actually call him to talk. "You'll have to call me when you get it so I can get your number."

"I will. You're one of the only people in town I have the number for anyways, so you'll probably be one of the only people I ever call." Caleb said. "But I'll have one, I guess. For...whatever. Freezing to death when winter comes. Something like that."

Jamie laughed again. "So I can call and bug the shit out of you no matter where you are," she teased lightly. Yeah, not that she was a big phone person, even if tonight made it seem like she was. Phones were too impersonal. She liked seeing someone's face, and being able to touch them.

Not that Caleb liked it when she touched him, but...

"Yeah, you'll be able to." Caleb agreed. "Might as well, it's not like I do a lot of anything. I generally just...wander around aimlessly and listen to music. Not the most exciting of activities. At least if you called, I'd be doing something more entertaining."

"Glad to know I keep you entertained, even when I'm having issue related moments," Jamie said lightly. She rose carefully to her feet, grabbed her comforter off the bed and her best pillow, and headed into the living room. Hurray for sleeping on the couch.

"No, that's just being around and um...being a friend, I guess." he said, rubbing at the back of his neck nervously. They'd established that they were cool with one another, but the friend thing was so new to him he still didn't know how it really worked all the time.

Jamie smiled, settling down on the couch and making herself comfy in the dark room. Hm, she'd talked (sung) Isaac to sleep. Maybe she'd let Caleb do the same to her, unless he got bored. She stared contemplatively at the ceiling. "Friends," she repeated, testing the word. It was a big deal to her, even if other people took the word so lightly. "Yeah," Jamie agreed, laughing softly. Yeah, Caleb was a friend. And her first serious crush, too, but yeah, so not saying that out loud. "I've only ever really had Chrissy, so I hope I don't suck. You'll tell me how I'm doing, right?"

Caleb winced faintly. "Well, you're one up on me, then." he admitted. "Remember I was saying I wanted to sort of just...fade into the background here? That's where I was before. I didn't really have what you'd call 'friends'. I had people who wouldn't fuck with me. But not anyone I...hung out with or anything."

"Well, we can practice this whole 'friend' thing together, then," Jamie decided. "And hopefully keep each other from sucking at it too bad." She snuggled happily into her blanket, tucking the phone inbetween her and the pillow. Yeah, she was feeling lots better, even if her whole body was sore and achey. She'd just have to be careful not to strain herself too badly the next few days.

"No promises on my end. There's probably a lot of reasons I haven't had friends before, y'know. Like...I'm moody, have a lot of issues, get cranky..." he listed off. "So I might not do so well. If I don't, just smack me or something." Or she could just look over at him in a certain way and he'd fall over himself to fix whatever he'd fucked up. That worked too.

"I'm fairly sure I can handle that. I did okay today, didn't I?" she asked, smiling at the ceiling. "Even got you to eat ice cream and lay on my bed. I told you it wouldn't bite."

"Like I said, obviously you did something right, I called you." Caleb said. He faintly blushed at the mention of her bed. "And yeah, you held me against my will and it wasn't so bad. Your bed wasn't a horrible place to be, either." And he should have stopped talking before he'd said that last bit.

There was a moment of silence where Jamie had... bad thoughts in mind. And they didn't even come with violent urges, either, which was disconcerting. Finally, she let out a quiet snicker. "Your bad phrasing remains completely awesome."

"Yeah, I should learn to shut the fuck up, I think." Caleb agreed, laughing just a little. And blushing. "Before I say shit like that...In fact, that whole statement should be stricken from the record. Things could be implied by the holding me against my will and liking it too." he added.

"Kinky," Jamie noted with a laugh. "Of course, I'm absolutely tiny compared to you, so I don't see how that would work." She was a little surprised he hadn't just picked her up (which would have been very bad in her world) and moved her when she stood in his way in the kitchen today. Of course, there was the no touching rule he had. That probably explained it.

"I'm sure it would. Erm. Okay, we're just completely striking everything out of my mouth past 'I called you'." Caleb decided. "So. I called you. All is well. And our conversation has absolutely no room for the word 'kinky'." he finished.

Jamie smirked. "Kinky, kinky, kinky," she taunted. Okay, he was still really fun to fluster, that hadn't changed since he'd left the house.

Caleb groaned. "Now you're just being mean." he said. "Unless of course, you're really hinting to me about things, and what you really want is for me to pick up on that, and know that you're secretly a girl who has hidden desires for kinky things." he said. Then again had that moment of 'Why didn't I stop talking earlier?'.

She laughed, a little too loudly, but her grandpa's room was far enough away from the living room that she was okay. "You wish," Jamie teased. "If I had a kink, and no way in hell am I affirming or denying that, I wouldn't talk to the guy I just met yesterday about it over the phone." That would make her a hobag.

Thank fucking Christ. Caleb thought. If she had, he probably would have had to kill himself or something. Because while he was willing occasionally to torture himself with things, that wasn't really on the list. "You keep tellin' yourself that." Caleb teased anyways. "You're the one who started talking about kinks." he continued. Now she just had to slap him down and they could move on.

"Aw, babe, I only started on it because you sound so cute when you're flustered." Jamie smirked. Hell yes, she loved the rare occasions she had to be evil, and Caleb was the first guy she'd ever met where she could abuse her opportunities without fear of him running away screaming.

A whole lot of responses shot through his mind, none of which were appropriate. Even when she was sounding like that. He smirked, shaking his head even if she couldn't see it. "You, are a tease, baby." he shot back at her, because she wasn't the only one who could be unfair. He of course immediately regretted it, too, but he'd said it before the backpedaling instinct had kicked in.

She laughed softly, and oh, yeah, the blushing thing? Twenty times worse than earlier. She snuggled deeper under the blankets, feeling that warm fluttery sensation coming back into her belly. "Okay, you totally just kicked my ass with that one. I have nothing left. You win, Caleb," Jamie said teasingly, her voice soft. He could win the fluster wars... at least, over the phone.

He laughed, grinning impishly to himself. "Caleb 1, Jamie 0." he said, sounding far too proud of himself. "Shouldn't you be getting to bed?" he asked. "It's getting late." And he still wanted to go for a walk. His mind? Reeling. Particularly after earlier with Tensiel and now this? This...flirting? Because...well.. yeah. He was. Even if he was sort of beside himself over it.

"I'll get you back," she warned darkly, but the teasing lilt didn't leave her voice. "You know I will. I totally have the advantage in person and you know it." 'cause she could just hug him and he'd spaz. But that really was mean, and it was an awful lot like cheating... "I'm already in bed, actually," she admitted. "So what, you're going to win one and then run away?" Jamie asked with another little laugh.

....don't talk like that.... Caleb thought, at her tone for the first bit. You just tied the game RIGHT THERE. That teasing, warm, dark lilt to her tone. Yeah. That wasn't at all fair. And so he gave himself a second to recover, and cleared his throat. "I was thinking about it. I have to win where I can." I don't think I'll be doing much of that with you, ever. At all. Ever. Did I mention ever?

She smiled faintly, even though he couldn't see it. "Okay," she agreed, her voice a little soft. "I guess I can let you go with a point on me. 'sonly fair. I can always get you back... tomorrow, maybe," she ended hesitantly, not sure if he would want to talk to her tomorrow. And she ignored the tiny niggle of disappointment she felt over their conversation coming to an end. Which was really bad. She had responsibilities, damnit. She had to wake up early, and clean up broken glass, and feed her grandpa, and call a repairman... Sigh.

Why was it Caleb made her forget she had important things to do and couldn't really afford to be a teenager?

"Well..." Caleb said, drawing the word out. "You might have tied." he admitted. "Maybe. But you can try again tomorrow just to be sure." he added. Was he just setting himself up to hang out with her tomorrow?

Jamie gave a pleased little hum. He hadn't totally shot her down! ...okay, she was having a girly moment, wasn't she? "Um, my afternoon is pretty free if you get bored," she began slowly, ticking down a mental to-do list. Cleaning, breakfast, repairman, lunch... oh. Oh, crap. Lunch.

With Thom and Isaac. ...haha, oh crap. How had she forgotten about that already? "Um, maybe a little after one? ...if you want," she added hastily. Not desperate in the slightest! But... You. Are. A. Hobag.

"I'll probably be up by then." Caleb said. He tended to sleep late. Actually, he felt fucking exhausted right now, but wasn't planning on going to bed any time soon. His head was still too messy, so he was going to be going for a walk. In fact, his mind was already starting to grind around again, spinning his wheels. Shit. "So yeah, sure. Um. Should I just go by your house? Or...?"

"Works for me," she agreed. Hopefully she'd be home by the time he came by. Hm, yeah, she totally felt like a hobag right now... "You going to bed soon, too?" Jamie asked lightly. "You sound pretty tired yourself, babe," she noted lightly.

Caleb wondered if she was actually going to be calling him that now. Ohhh boy. He wasn't going to complain, it was much better than 'sweetiepie', but still. That time she hadn't even sounded like she was teasing him. At least, he didn't think so. Entirely too fucking comfortable with that...yeah. Moving on. "I am. I will in a bit. I was thinking about going for a walk. Clear my head, all that."

Okay, that was not good for her worrying-maternal-batshit-crazy instincts. She sat up immediately. "Wait, what? You're going for a walk this late? After the shit that happened last week?" Jamie half-asked, half-demanded, incredulous. "Tell me you're fucking kidding, Caleb."

Caleb blinked. "...I think that's the first time I've heard you swear..." he muttered, wondering if he just hadn't caught it before, or he just wasn't used to it from her because she seemed to have much cleaner language than he did. And wow was that not the point. "Um....I'm kidding?" he suggested.

She waited half a moment, trying to calm down enough from 'angry' to get to just plain 'mad.' "You're a bad liar," Jamie grumbled, repeating his earlier words to her. At least she hadn't growled at him. Points for her.

"I promise I'll be fine." he said. "I go out walking all the time. And I'm in one piece and everything." he added in a reassuring tone. Alright, so that piece was scarred beyond recognition, but that was hardly the point, now was it?

"That's reassuring, because random shit doesn't happen that might change that," she snapped, irritated. And insanely worried now, oh yes. "You've been lucky so far." God, why was she filled with screaming insane panic now? Her hands were fisted in her comforter so hard her knuckles had gone white. "God, just... be careful." Crap, had the worry seeped through just then? Ugh, such a girl tonight.

Caleb was honestly left blinking. "....you're really worried about me." he said, and his tone was just as mystified as he felt. He couldn't help it, he was a bit blindsided. She was pissed that he might be going for a walk. Woah. That was...he had no fucking idea what that was.

"Uh, fucking duh, Caleb," Jamie noted dryly. She rolled her eyes heavenward. As if it wasn't obvious by the whole swearing thing, and the fact her voice had gone up considerably in volume.

He was still blinking. He opened and closed his mouth several times, not finding words here. He was successfully dumbstruck. Yep. Words weren't working out for him. Because the fuck?!? He was still getting used to the fact that Dorian worried about him. So suddenly having to face up to a very strong reaction from someone else--it hadn't even occurred to him that she'd be worried.

"If you hung up on me, I'm so going to hurt you tomorrow," she warned darkly, frowning at the innocent ceiling. Of course, she could still hear him breathing, so that negated that. But a mild threat might shock him out of whatever stupor he'd worked himself into.

"I didn't hang up." Caleb said, that in fact working quite well. "I just..." Finish a fucking thought already, Lockwood! "It never would have occurred to me that you'd worry." he finally admitted. Pretty much at a screaming lack of anything better to say.

She gave a little sigh as her anger deflated. Right, he was new to this whole friendship thing. Jamie settled back on the couch, trying to resnuggle under the covers. It just wasn't as comfy this time, though... "That's part of the friendship package, babe," she said wryly. "I get to worry about you now. Incessantly."

I'm doomed. was his first thought to that. "You may have to give me a while to get used to that." he said, and he was being utterly honest there, too knocked off balance to feign anything right then. "And maybe not do that, because you're going to give yourself a coronary."

"Because I wasn't doing that just fine before I met you?" she asked dryly. "You saw my little spaz today." And she'd had three episodes like that in twenty four hours. Go her; new record! "I think I can handle worrying about you on top of the rest of my issues just fine, as long as you don't do anything extraordinarily stupid."

Shit. He kind of had a penchant for stupid things. He did them a lot, really. It was just in his nature. He and stupid were synonyms. Maybe she just didn't need to know that. Because from now on? He was soooooo not telling her when he was going out at night. "I think it's a horrible idea." he said. "And seriously, I'm not...no one worries about me. It just doesn't work like that." He cut her off before she could start in again. "But...I'll try."

"Well, I'm worrying about you now," Jamie decided. And it totally wasn't his choice, either. As far as she was concerned, the decision had been made. If no one else was going to worry about Caleb, she would do it. "Trying's all I ask, for now. If you show up late or injured tomorrow, I'm going to hurt you. And if you don't show up at all? I'm going to hurt you worse."

That had him smirking. "Threatening me with bodily harm if I manage to incur bodily harm is a very...interesting choice of motivation." he said lightly. "But duly noted. I won't get hurt, I promise." he added. Not that he thought he wouldn't. Hell, he was kind of in the mood to go looking for trouble, with as much of a fucking mess his head was right now. But she didn't need to know that. He didn't want to piss her off anymore. Saying he wasn't prepared to deal with it was a vast understatement. He hadn't the first fucking clue how.

She sighed, hugging herself and huddling under the covers. Yeah, she really missed the warm fuzzies and the fluttery feeling from earlier. Now she was just feeling tense (though nowhere near how she'd felt earlier) and a little queasy from nerves. "Okay," she agreed softly. "I'm holding you to your word, though." He'd promised, so she'd believe him. So far, she didn't have reason not to trust him.

"Don't worry, okay? I promise I won't even be out long. I just like to go for a walk to clear my head, or I won't ever sleep." Caleb explained. Possibly a little more information than he normally would have divulged, but she's sounded so pissed there for a while, and he didn't want her to be up worrying. "I haven't slept in a while, so I kinda need it. I won't be out long." When had she become his fucking keeper? No really when the fuck had that happened?!?!?!

"Okay," Jamie murmured. "Just be careful." She was beginning to wonder if she was ever going to sleep herself. She was most definitely tired, but... it didn't seem like her brain was ever going to stop buzzing.

"I will be. You'll see tomorrow. Get some sleep, Jamie." Caleb said. "You need it." She sounded like she'd had a shitty day. Shit with him included.

She smiled faintly. Worry usually ran two ways, apparently. Well, it was only fair. "Mmkay, I'll try," she agreed. "Night, babe," she said with a little yawn. Oh, there the fatigue was...

That name was seeming to stick. She'd dropped it in there quite a few times, and sometimes, just...kinda thereishly. Like she wasn't trying to needle him. I'm in trouble. "Night, Jamie." he said quietly in return. "Sweet dreams."

The warm fuzzies were back, so that was nice. She closed her eyes, faint little smile still on her face. "You, too. Be careful on your walk." She waited a moment before closing her phone, dropping it on the floor nearby. Or else was sort of implied at the end of that. She hoped.

Caleb smiled a little, then hung up, drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly in a sigh. I am just fucked. he decided. Completely. Utterly. Just...doomed. Yeah. That was a great word. Doom doom doomed. He got up, sighed, and silently dropped out the window. His head was spinning it's wheels bad, but...things would be worse, he supposed. But he was still fucked.