Chapter 65

Chapter 65: Confusing Situation

The summer vacation went by just like any summer vacation would. With an extra shift at the Daily Delights, Ashton kept himself pretty busy. He ran into Caleb from time to time, mostly when he visited the cafeteria during his patrols. Things were a little different now that they were sort of mates and it was a little hard to act normal all the time.

One day when Ashton returned from his job that too after a lot of culinary shopping he was surprised to find a not so unfamiliar scent in the living room. He looked around to find Caleb relaxing on the sofa with both the twins beside him as they watched the movie “The Incredibles”

“Oh my God, they trapped Bob” Ava muttered anxiously.

“What are you doing here”? Ashton who was standing right behind Caleb asked him. Caleb looked above to see Ashton looking at him, “You mum invited me,” he mumbled before getting back to the movie.

Ashton noticed how immersed Caleb was into the movie along with the twins and murmured, “I can’t believe you still like this stuff. I thought you were an eighteen year old”.

Caleb who heard him spang his head towards Ashton, “Okay first of all, don’t you dare judge me for what I like. And secondly... I am nineteen”. Ashton raised one of his eyebrows lightly before Caleb continued, “Yesterday was my birthday”.

“Really”? Ava who heard him jerked up with a big smile. Caleb nodded at her so she jumped and hugged him tightly “Happy Birthday”. Returning the hug Caleb smiled and said “Thank you”. Ariel followed the same suit and once they were done Caleb looked at Ashton, probably expecting a similar reaction like the twins, but instead he got, “At least I invited you on my birthday” along with an eyeroll.

.....

Caleb frowned at him before he said, “So what? If I invited you, would you have come? To the pack house”? Ashton didn’t bother to reply him so Caleb continued, “Besides it’s not like I celebrated or anything”.

“Why”? Ariel asked him with a curious expression.

“I am old enough, I don’t like to celebrate” he chuckled.

“That is so sad”. Ava mumbled. “I am celebrating my birthday till I am eighty”! Both Ariel and Caleb ended up laughing at her.

“Don’t forget to invite me” Caleb winked at her.

Ashton rolled his eyes before heading off to the kitchen. There he saw his mother cooking and asked her with a pout, “Why did you invite him”?

“Well, he is your friend. He should come by more often”. She shrugged as put the ingredients on the pan. “Why didn’t you tell me”? Ashton whined. “I wanted to surprise you. Now go away and let me cook in peace. Your friend is here, go spend time with him instead”. She shooed away her son.

“Nevermind” Ashton sighed in frustration and headed upstairs right away and slammed the door a little too hard. Even Ashton himself wasn’t sure why was he so frustrated he was here. Was he jealous that his sisters enjoy Caleb’s company more than him? Maybe a little bit.

After almost an hour when Mrs Parker was done with preparing the meal, she called for Ashton. After calling for almost three times when she didn’t get any response, Caleb volunteered to go and check personally as to why was there no response. He knocked on the door a little too hard to which he recieved a reply, “Go away”!

Shaking his head, Caleb tried to turn the doorknob and smirked when he was able to open it. “Why the hell are you...” he started to talk but froze mid sentence when he noticed Ashton standing in the middle of the room with hair dripping wet and wearing nothing but a towel. His eyes became almost double the original size and turned around like a reflex.

“What the hell”! Ashton shouted at him and hurried with his dressing up.

“Sorry, I thought you were mad or something”. Caleb mumbled with a tinge of embarrassment.

“I am mad! But I am also changing”. Ashton asserted loudly.

“Sorry... but why are you being so shy? It’s not like this is the first time I have seen you shirtless”. Caleb, who was still facing the other way, rolled his eyes.

“You’re the one who got shy and turned away, what are you blaming me for”?! Ashton retorted. Caleb agreed with the statement and thus turned around to see a fully dressed Ashton. Not that he would admit, but Caleb sighed with relief.

“Why are mad by the way”? Caleb asked while tilting his head. “You really hate me so much that you don’t want me here”? He asked, a little bit loudly.

“I don’t hate you, I just find you very annoying” Ashton mumbled while adjusting something on bed.

“Really? That’s all”. Caleb scoffed. “I don’t believe that. I think you are jealous that your sisters, or in fact your family is fond of me”. Caleb challenged.

“Whatever” Ashton replied flatly.

“Come on, don’t be like that. I am your mate after all, share with me”. He teased Ashton with a naughty smirk. Ashton turned around with an unamused expression which further made Caleb press his lips together as he tried to supress his laughter.

“You know what, you are right”! Ashton spoke up with a sudden change of voice. Caleb was confused for a moment before he heard a big slam next to him. He blinked as he stared at the confidence displayed on Ashton’s face while he brought his face closer to Caleb’s. Caleb tried to back away, but the door was stopping him from doing so, ‘Damn you door’! Caleb shouted in his mind.

“Wh..What are you doing”? Caleb asked him suspicious of his actions.

“You said we are mates, we should do everything mates do don’t you think”? Ashton whispered in a low threatening voice as Caleb gulped. Was the dream he had earlier this morning a premonition?

“I was just kidding...hehe...Calm down”. Caleb tried blocking his advances by putting his hand on Ashton’s chest. That didn’t seem to work, either because Ashton was strong or Caleb really didn’t put much effort on stopping the other.

When their faces were only an inch apart Ashton whispered, “I wasn’t”. Caleb’s hearbeat took a spike and he closed his eyes tightly. Ashton who noticed his reaction smirked, satisfied with his excellent teasing skills. “Be careful the next time you try to tease me”. He said in a normal voice.

Caleb opened his carefully and saw a smirk of satisfaction on Ashton’s lips. That’s when he noticed that Ashton, who was supposed to be a bit shorter than him was actually standing face to face with him. ‘When did he become so tall’? Caleb wondered.

Ashton headbumped him before he whispered, “Belated Happy Birthday”, and pulled away. “Let’s go”. He pushed away Caleb from the door and went downstairs leaving Caleb shocked and confused with the whole interaction that took place here.

Caleb followed him downstairs, but only after taking a whole minute to recover. When he reached the living room, Mrs Parker gave him a suspicious smirk. Once they had their dinner, which was too delicious by the way, Caleb helped Mrs Parker with the dishes.

Once he was done he came back and noticed Ashton was sitting at the corner table trying to solve something. “You want some help”? Caleb offered when he noticed he was stuck on the same problem. “I can’t believe you are studying, you still have weeks before the classes start”. Caleb mumbled.

“I am trying to get a head start. It’s my junior year, I don’t want to take things lightly”. Ashton mumbled.

Caleb nodded at that before saying, “Here, let me show you” and snatched away his notebook. Ashton let him given how Caleb was actually being helpful to him ever since he arrived here. After studying for a while when Caleb was describing an equation, he stopped mid sentence.

“What’s wrong”? Ashton looked at Caleb who was biting his lip hard. “What’s wrong”? He asked again, to which Caleb looked at him and replied. “Its my heat, I should leave”. He mumbled and left without waiting for any reply. Caleb didn’t bring his car or anything so he had to run which was still more time taking than the car.

Ashton followed him with his eyes, until he vanished. “That’s....odd” he mumbled.

“Wanna tell me what’s going on”? His mother who appeared next to him said sternly.

Ashton turned his head around to his mother and scrunched his eyebrows, “What do you mean”?

“Well, I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but I do have good hearing. He is your mate”? She raised her right eyebrow suspiciously. Ashton’s eyes widened a bit once he realized that the conversation he had upstairs with Caleb was heard by his mother. Reluctantly, he nodded.

“So, you guys have...” she trailed off, questioning the status of their relationship.

“I have marked him, but that’s it” Ashton said quickly to avoid any misunderstanding.

“So, you have feelings for him”? She asked him. Ashton, unsure of how to reply to that, simply nodded at his mother because he knew that was what she was expecting. As for feelings, he was a bit uncertain. He liked him more than any one, but then again he barely liked anyone else. And with the bond of the mark, it was actually hard to not be attracted to him physically. He knew there was something between them, but was it because of the mark, or was it genuine is something he needed to figure out.