“If you think we’re safe, then we’re safe,” Caleb tells me. “Should we watch a movie while we wait?”
“Sounds really good,” I tell him. “Can’t remember the last time we watched a movie together.”
“I wanna say it was one of the Fast and Furious movies.”
“Timeless classics. Art.” I pinch my thumb and forefingers together and pinch the tips. “Cinema.”
“You’re not wrong.”
“It’s all those things and it’s family,” I tell him. It’s not a very good Dominic Toretto impression, but Caleb laughs all the same.
We step over Gunner as we head for the small couch and the TV that sits on the wall next to a bunch of glittered knickknacks. Cardboard boxes are still strewn all over the floor, half filled, labeled in Sharpie.
“Do you want me to help pack anything up?” I ask him. “We could do that instead.”
“No,” he says. “Maybe some of this should stay.”
I look away, trying not to blush again, a small smile dancing around my lips.
We sit on the couch. Not too close. Not far away from each other. Caleb reaches over, his fingers grazing the top of my hand. Automatically I’ve turned my hand over, palm to palm, and we sit there for a long minute in silence, just holding hands.
“So it’s okay?” Caleb asks. “Or was it too fast? Too furious? This handholding?”
I laugh again. I can’t remember the last time I laughed this much.
“I don’t know, buddy. Some pretty hot and heavy stuff right here.”
Caleb grins. “So what are you thinking? Fast Five?”
“Absolutely,” I say, “unless you want to go for my favorite.”
“I still can’t believe Tokyo Drift is your favorite. You’re a menace.”
“It’s not my fault you don’t have any taste,” I tell him. “It’s objectively the best in the franchise.”
“I think a lot of people would differ with that opinion,” Caleb says. “Mosly everyone.”
A few minutes later Fast Five is screaming across the TV. Gunner makes little dog sounds as he dreams, his toenails scraping across the floor as his paws wriggle. The rain outside has settled into a steady downpour, none of the tumultuousness of the storm that first crashed across Silverlight Shore.
I don’t know how long it is or how many car chases we’ve watched before I find myself falling asleep. I don’t even bother fighting it. I feel safe. For the first time in a really long time I feel hopeful.
Fourteen
Idon’t know how long we’ve been asleep before a crash against the side of the lighthouse startles me awake. A little bit of drool dribbles down the side of my mouth onto my chin, and I wipe it with the back of my hand, realizing I’ve fully fallen asleep on top of Caleb. My face is pressed into his shoulder.
I stand up abruptly, out of sorts and struggling to realize what woke me up.
“Did you hear that?” Caleb asks sleepily.
“Yeah.” Something about it has my heart pounding. It didn’t sound like anything I’ve ever heard before. It was a wet squelching thunder clap, which makes absolutely no sense. And the deep seated dread in the pit of my stomach along with the tingle of magic climbing up my spine tells me we need to figure out what that was and we need to figure it out fast.
“Caleb,” I say slowly, “I think whatever it was has something to do with what I told you earlier.”
“About Tokyo Drift?” he asks, quirking an eyebrow. His eyes are sleepy but his expression’s playful and I find myself smiling in return even though I’m completely stressed out about whatever the hell it was that just hit the side of the lighthouse. I did not like that sound.
“No, I’m talking about, you know?—”
“Being a witch,” Caleb finishes for me. “Yes, I know. I was just teasing you. Take a deep breath. I’m here. We can figure this out together, alright? You’re not alone.”
