Second chance love

N i n e

Holly had her head in the fridge looking for ideas of what to make for breakfast. She wasn’t a bad cook, but she felt a pressure to get this just right for Caleb. 

“Can I help you Miss Holly?” Holly pulled her head out of the fridge to see Beth watching her from the door frame. 

“Oh Beth! Thank the Goddess you’re here!” Holly ran to the omega pulling her into a huge hug. 

“Are you okay Miss Holly?” Beth giggled at the girl’s reaction. “How can I help?”

Holly reeled off all the breakfast items she could think of while Beth patiently listened and nodded. 

“I’ll take care of it Miss Holly,” Beth said gently, guiding her away from the fridge. “You sit here,” she said, pulling out a stool at the breakfast bar, “and tell me everything about this boy.”

Holly blushed and stuttered, “what? I .. I didn’t mention a boy, what makes you think there is a boy?” 

Beth giggled gently and smiled knowingly. “You always used to get flustered when you would talk about Finn when the two of you first met.”

Holly smiled, remembering the conversations she would have with Beth in the middle of the night when she couldn’t sleep. Beth would always seem to know when Holly woke in the night, and would warm her some milk and add just the right amount of chocolate powder to suit Holly’s sweet tooth. 

Watching Beth potter around the kitchen cooking up a breakfast feast was oddly soothing to Holly. She enjoyed baking occasionally but was never very good at doing more than one step at a time, so cooking a meal was out of the question! 

Holly walked to the picnic area with the basket laden with breakfast goodies that Beth had so kindly and lovingly made. She had a cloth over her shoulder that she would use for a table covering, and a host of butterflies dancing in her stomach. As she lay the table and set out the food and drink, she thought back to when they first met. She could have sworn he had reacted to her in the same way that she did him, but it felt like such a long time ago, she didn’t know if this was something she just dreamt up to appease her desperation for her mate. 

“Something smells delicious,” a voice rumbled from behind her. She was so lost in her thoughts she hadn’t even heard him approach her. She turned to smile at him and realised he wasn’t even looking at the food that she had placed on the table. 

“I, uh, I didn’t make this,” Holly gestured weakly to the table, but Caleb hadn’t taken his eyes of her once. His darkened wet hair was hanging just over his eyes, and she noticed an eyebrow piercing that she hadn’t spotted before glistening underneath. Her hand moved instinctively to push his hair back, but she stopped herself before she moved her whole body towards him. 

“It looks amazing,” Caleb said, still staring straight at her, “perfect some might say.”

The butterflies had multiplied and Holly was starting to feel lightheaded. She stumbled ever so slightly, but before she could put a hand on the table to steady herself, she felt Caleb’s arm snake around her back to hold her up. 

“Are you okay?” The look of concern on Caleb’s face was real, but Holly barely noticed. She was too focused on the sparks emanating between the small of her back and Caleb’s forearm. The heat was intense and only added to Holly’s weakening knees. 

“Let’s get some food into you, hey? Since you laid it out so beautifully,” Caleb guided her to the bench and took a seat opposite her. She smiled at him shyly, feeling a mix of stupidity for her stumbling legs, and giddiness at the contact from him. 

He reached forwards and grabbed her plate and starting loading it up with everything that had been made for them, a croissant, some fruit, scrambled eggs and some toast. He loaded up his own plate with the same again and poured himself a coffee from the pot for himself, before gesturing towards Holly’s empty mug. 

“Oh, no, no thanks, I don’t drink coffee. I’ll make myself some tea instead,” she said, and reached for the second pot. Before she could pick it up however, Caleb was already there, and was pouring the tea into her mug. 

“Milk, sugar?” Caleb asked, and Holly nodded and mumbled “two please.”

Caleb looked up, smiled slightly, but didn’t say anything as he spooned two sugars into her tea and stirred the milk in. He pushed the mug towards her and she picked it up, cradling the warmth in her hands. 

“Thanks,” she smiled at him, trying to remember to breathe at the same time. He winked at her, then began eating his food. 

“Mmmmm these scrambled eggs are amazing!” Holly stifled a giggle. 

“They’re my favourite, Beth makes them so much better than I can,” said Holly, taking her fork and moving hers around the plate slightly. Caleb frowned slightly at the sight, worried that she wouldn’t eat anything, but smiled when Holly put her hand back in the basket and pulled out a bottle of ketchup. She squirted the sauce all over the top of her eggs, looked at Caleb questioningly with the bottle still in her hand and moved it over to his plate. 

“All over or just a squidge?” She asked. 

Caleb mock gasped and clutched his chest, “never all over! What if I get it on something I don’t want? What if I get too much on one section of food? Don’t come to me with that sort of blasphemy!”

Holly couldn’t hold back the giggle that erupted from her chest, and made sure to put the ketchup in just one place on the plate. She put the bottle back down, looked at Caleb and was about to open her mouth to say something when, he started talking. 

“I’m sorry Holly. I know this must be a bit confusing, we both know what’s going on here, but I just want to get my head straight first, is that okay?”

Holly was confused, he was right about that part, but she was also hurt. Was he saying that he didn’t want her?

“Yeah, sure, that makes sense,” she mumbled, putting her cutlery down and pushing her plate away, “I’ll just leave you to it then.”

Before Holly was even stood up straight, Caleb was next to her. 

“Holly, wait, that came out wrong,” Caleb eyes were full of regret as he studied her face. “I want to make sure that this is real first. I need this to be real. I’ve lost everything I’ve ever had and known, everyone I’ve ever loved. I want to enjoy every second with you but I also want to be sure that this isn’t all in my head. I’m not asking you to understand, I’m just asking you to be patient. Can you do that for me?”