Morningside
Date: Saturday, November 17th
Time: just before 9:00am
Location: Stella and Caleb's flat
Characters Involved: Caleb Moore, Stella Sinistra
Rating: PG
When Stella woke up, it took a few minutes for her brain to process exactly how she was feeling. She was in bed, with Caleb curled up behind her, one arm and one leg draped over her. This was perfectly ( Read more... )
Time: just before 9:00am
Location: Stella and Caleb's flat
Characters Involved: Caleb Moore, Stella Sinistra
Rating: PG
When Stella woke up, it took a few minutes for her brain to process exactly how she was feeling. She was in bed, with Caleb curled up behind her, one arm and one leg draped over her. This was perfectly ( Read more... )
Comments 137
His eyes popped open and he was assaulted by a feeling of panic when he could see no sign of her. It took another few moments for him to figure out that he hadn't been dreaming, that Stella had been there when he went to sleep, despite the fact that she wasn't there now.
Caleb's heart was pounding wildly in his chest as he rolled out of bed, not quite awake as he ran his fingers through his hair, looking around the room.
Had she changed her mind? Had he done something inappropriate in his sleep?
He sat down heavily on the edge of the bed, burying his face in his hands, cursing himself softly under his breath.
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Rushing over, Stella knelt in front of him, putting her hands on Caleb's knee.
"What's wrong, Caleb?" She asked, frantically. "Are you alright?"
Problems were not what they needed any more of this morning!!
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Why he wanted to cry now of all times, he couldn't have said, but he was afraid to speak, knowing his voice would crack and he'd most likely end up a babbling mess. Instead, he focused on getting himself under control before pulling back and smiling shakily at Stella.
"Morning."
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She let Caleb pull her up, wrapping his arms around his neck as he clung to her. When he pulled back, smiling, Stella responded with a very confused look.
"Morning. But, Caleb, what happened?" She was worried again- apparently she was only allowed a brief respite from being concerned about Caleb. She settled her hand on the side of his face, trying to search his eyes for some clue as to why he had looked so distraught.
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"I think," Stella began slowly, stopping to think for a moment. "I think we should stay right here, for a little while, since neither of us has to get up. Then we can eat something, and I'll cut your hair." She paused, meeting Caleb's eyes again. "Then, maybe, we can see how we're feeling? But I like the idea of bringing work back here," she quickly added, not wanting him to think she wanted to be away from him. "But since we're going slowly, perhaps just wait and see how we're doing?" It was so strange, feeling this nervous around Caleb- they'd been so comfortable together, right from when they'd first met. Being awkward and strange around each other was just that- awkward and strange.
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Knowing he had very little choice in the matter, he gave Stella an odd little smile. "Whatever you want to do," he said, forcing himself to relax. "Anything in particular you want for breakfast? I don't actually know what's in the house, but I can pop round the grocer if we need to."
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"I'm not really hungry right now," Stella said, settling her head on Caleb's shoulder and snuggling in a bit closer. "I think I just want to stay right here for a bit." For all that she wasn't sure about, there was one thing that was certain- she felt safer, calmer, and happier when she was in Caleb's arms, and was planning on staying there as long as she possibly could.
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He tried to focus on the moment, on the fact that he had Stella in his arms and she wasn't going to leave him, but he couldn't just ignore the odd tension between them. It wasn't anything they'd ever had to deal with before, and he was quickly realizing that he had no idea how to cope with it.
Caleb was also terrified they wouldn't be able to get past it, that they could never get back to where they were. Suddenly, he felt as though there was a rock in his stomach.
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When it came time to part for their separate errands, Caleb balked a bit. He could see the nervousness in Stella's eyes, and couldn't help but wonder if she was afraid he wouldn't come back.
He wrapped his arms around her, hugging her tightly. "I'll be back home as quick as I can," he promised, wishing that it didn't need to be said at all. "Though sending me out on my own means when I get back, the freezer is going to be bursting with ice cream," he teased, wanting to see her smile.
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Nearly sure.
There was one very small part of her mind that insisted on doubting him. Stella tried to ignore this, but it was there nonetheless. She did appreciate his slight teasing, though- he was trying to make this as easy as possible, and she was glad for that.
"Ice cream is good," she smiled, trying not to think of the evening the House-elves had served ice cream for dessert and she'd nearly burst into tears. Starting off towards the castle, Stella turned around before she'd heard Caleb apparate away. "See you soon," she called back towards him.
It didn't take Stella long to get back up to her office, collect the piles of parchment that needed marking, shrink them down to a manageable size, and Floo back to their flat. The silence that greeted her made her feel a bit nauseous, reminding her far too much of the empty flat she'd come home to the morning after the FullTaking a deep breath to calm herself, Stella walked over to the ( ... )
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"I'm home," Caleb called, quickly unshrinking the grocery bags and setting them on the counter. Grabbing the flowers he went in search of Stella.
He found her at her desk, grading papers. Smiling, he walked to Stella and presented her with the flowers. "Roses for my Stella Rose," he said, leaning down and kissing her softly before straightening up again. "So how are the future witches and wizards doing?" he asked, nodding toward the papers.
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"They're beautiful," she said quietly, taking the flowers. "And the young witches and wizards are doing just fine. A bit less detailed than usual, but that's to be expected." After all, it couldn't have been difficult for the students to notice that their professor had been- rather distracted, to say the least, for the past few weeks. It was not a surprise that some of the students then felt that their work could be a bit distracted as well.
She hadn't jumped or panicked at the small kiss Caleb had given her, which she took as a good sign. "So we have food, now?" she asked cheerfully, rising from her chair to find a vase for the roses. "And ice cream?"
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The rest of the afternoon passed very quickly- Caleb checking in on her every 30 minutes or so, rubbing her shoulders or just encouraging her to relax. Before Stella knew it, the pile of parchment had almost completely disappeared, and Caleb had started turning lights on so she could see the last few papers.
"Almost done," she said when he came to check on her again. "Thank you for letting me do this. I can relax more knowing this is all finished."
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Seeing that she only had a few things left to grade, he kissed the top of her head. "I'm going to work on dinner. It should be ready when you finish up."
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It only took about 20 more minutes for Stella to finish off the last few pieces of parchment, but after she marked and recorded the last grade, she neatly re-stacked all of the parchment, shrinking it back into a manageable pile and moving it into a bag at her feet. She smiled at the now-empty desk, pushing in her chair before joining Caleb in the kitchen.
She could already smell the wonderful scents of cooking wafting towards her, and though it was welcome, it made her heart ache a little bit. She had missed this far more than she had admitted, even to herself.
Smiling as she entered the kitchen, Stella quietly walked up behind Caleb, settling her hands on his waist. "Smells wonderful! What are we having?"
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He reached across the table, taking Stella's hand again. "You just want to see how big of a dork I was as a kid don't you?" he teased. "All gangly limbs and bad hair."
Caleb thought for a moment, then laughed. "So not much has changed actually."
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"That's it," she smiled a bit nervously, hoping her surprise wasn't showing on her face. "Gangly and crazy hair that still needs cutting." They hadn't had a chance to do that today, with Caleb insisting that she work on schoolwork instead. "We'll have to do that after dinner, too."
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"Right, haircut," he said, running his fingers through his hair, checking its length. "If you don't mind, it really does need a trim. I don't want it short, just, not so long. If you want to wait though, we can do it tomorrow, or I can go get it cut somewhere."
He didn't want Stella to feel like she had to do it, but he would rather she did it than anyone else.
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Dinner seemed to move more slowly than usual- it seemed hard to come up with neutral things to talk about, though they did manage to settle on a color to paint the kitchen, and decided to work on that over the next weekend. Finally, though, their plates were clear, and Stella started on her usual job of washing the dishes as Caleb packed up their few leftovers. Like the earlier sight of Caleb cooking, it was familiar and home-like, and set Stella a bit more at ease than during their stilted dinner conversation.
After the kitchen was cleaned up, Stella summoned a towel and a pair of scissors and glanced over at Caleb.
"Alright, have a seat," she smiled, gesturing to the chair in front of her.
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