Dedicated to CoMeFoRmEhOe for messaging me info I needed because I'm lazy to look through past books. Thanks again luv <3

Chapter Fifteen: "The Roof That's On Fire."

"PASS THE PINEAPPLES!" I yelled at Jake who stood at the balcony high above. I had two drinks in my hand, squinting eyes as I tried to find where he was on the large balcony. When I saw his silhouette illuminated by the lights of the house, I hoped he could see my glare.

"PASS THE DRINK!" He yelled back, holding his hand out. He referred to the drink I held with my other hand. The drink he had wanted when he decided that taking my pineapples upstairs when I was tired was a good idea.

Not a good idea.

"YOU TWO SHOOT IN FIVE, STOP YELLING!" AJ screamed at us and I stifled my laughter, holding the drink up in my hand from the car he was standing on meters away.

"Do you want one?" I asked him as Jake disappeared from the balcony.

"Yes, but stop yelling." I tossed it to him, and he caught it, turning back to Giulio to show him what to do. Jake made his way down, holding my small bowl of pineapples the rat had decided to snatch away from me.

"You're so fucking annoying," I told Jake, handing him a drink.

"Me?" He handed me the bowl of pineapples.

"Yes, you, who else am I talking to?"

"You're about to be talking to yourself in point five seconds." Jake started to walk away, and I grabbed him by the arm, whirling him to face me.

"Are you upset because your boyfriend isn't here?" Not sure how it would explain his sudden impulsive behavior to steal my pineapples as a game, but it was clear he was.

"Krystal's gone too." He tried deflecting.

"Yes, but I'm not dating Krystal."

Jake cupped the side of my face with one hand, scrunching up his face. "You'd be a cute couple." He chuckled. "Are you up for dinner tonight?"

"Of course. And cocktails on Saturday?"

"Finally. A night out in the town? I'm ready."

I grinned at his enthusiasm. Glanced over at Giulio who stood on the car next to AJ, the smile on my face faded slightly. Not sure how to describe whatever it is between us but at least he was speaking to me instead of playing games. After that networking night, he returned to normal, omitting the usual flirting which I was heavily grateful for.

Caleb noticed too, constantly pointing it out after every single conversation I had with Giulio.

But you know who else noticed Caleb?

Every time I've hung out with him, it slips my mind that he's a famous writer. The following Monday when I had glanced at my phone I had received a message from my agent that pictures of Caleb and I surfaced the internet.

According to some news, 'Octavia and writer, Romero Henderson were seen eating'. As if never ever did what we were biologically programmed to do in the first place.

Others suggested the possibility that Caleb and I were together, others stretched it a mile a minute by claiming that Caleb was my rebound from my ex. I would never need a rebound. Never.

Caleb had brought over a magazine with a picture of the two of us slapping it on the table in my dressing room. "Iconic duo." He said, crossing his arms with satisfaction all over his handsome face.

I had pushed the magazine back into his hands, not irritated. It was bound to happen if I proceed to spend time with him in public. I was irritated that I hadn't been able to spot out any cameras in the first place. My 'who's stalking me' game was usually on point.

I shook my head from the thought when my phone buzzed in my pocket, bringing me back to the present.

Taking it out of my pocket as people moved around Jake and me, I looked down at the screen and almost dropped my phone out of my hand.

Staring at the suggestion my Apple device had given me, I felt myself freeze.

My eyes are deceiving me. This is a joke. This is a fucking joke.

I don't know how long I was looking at my phone when Jake waved his hand over it. I flinched, moving my eyes to spot a confused expression on his face. "What's wrong?"

I turned my phone, so he could see, and my voice unexpectedly came out hoarse. "Do you think it's him?"

"What the hell?" Jake loomed over my phone and read the text out loud slowly. "Hey Oct, it's K any chance we could talk?" Jake shook his head in disbelief. "Oh, he's delusional if he thinks you're going to talk to him."

Just then my phone buzzed with the number I knew, and I froze. Jake snatched the phone out of my hand, answering the call. "Hello, hi, no she is not going to talk to you. Do not call this number ever again. Adios, cunt."

Jake hung up, a bright smile on his face as he handed me the phone back and I struggled to be still my heart which was racing. The palpitations must not have been good for my body, I had a hard time trying to take in a breath. I moved my eyes up to Jake's, regaining my composure. Trying to regain my composure. Failing to regain my composure when I whispered out, "What the hell?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I was going through my emails that night when I felt my phone buzz again. With Krystal gone in LA and Angie off at an event with one of her clients, I lay sprawled out on my couch with my laptop on my lap, in a huge hoodie and shorts. My hip hop playlist labeled 'leave me alone' was playing on full blast throughout the house. A glass of red wine in one hand that almost fell out of my hand at the sudden buzz.

This was more interaction I've had with my phone that I've wanted to have in a day unless I imitated it.

I slowly pulled my phone out, glancing at the number. This time it wasn't a number I recognized.

I answered the call without saying a word but when the other person said something, I didn't know whether to roll my eyes or groan into a pillow at the sound of his voice. "Octoberr!" He exclaimed.

"Caleb." I sighed but a smile came to my face at the idiot's voice. "How did you get my number? I never gave it to you."

"Angie. C'mon who else would give me your number? Jake is too loyal to you."

"Angie is too."

"Yes, but Angie is Angie," He stated.

I took a moment to realize what that meant. Angie could be at Caleb's beck and call if whatever they had was strong. Angie was a smart woman but when she had a significant other, she could do anything for them.

"Why did you call?" I asked, crossing my legs on my couch.

"I was going to approach you today, but I figured it wasn't a good time since we were working."

"About what?"

"Our little deal." His accent slipped out at that sentence and I sucked in a deep breath, taking a sip of my wine.

"Oh, yeah. Your story." I pulled up my calendar. "Tell me the time and place to meet you."

There was a pause on his side. "It's 1 AM."

I blinked, closing my laptop. "Is that supposed to suggest that I should come and meet you now?"

"Duh." He said in a stupid voice and I rolled my eyes, already putting my bowl to the side and starting to get up. I looked down at my sweats. There was no way in hell he was seeing me in these. Or my hair like this, in this headwrap. No fucking way.

"Send the address through text idiot," I said before ending the call and running upstairs. When I shrugged on leggings and a light sweater, I quickly tried fixing my hair, struggling to tie it up several times when, before I knew it, the hairband snapped. "Oh my-"

Holding in a groan, I grabbed another hairband, cursing the love, hate relationship I had with my hair and succeeded on the third attempt. Fixing wrapping over the front with a red bandana, I looked at myself in the mirror and nodded at my appearance. My phone buzzed a second later with a message from Caleb's number with his address. Staring at the words on my screen I realized his apartment was within walking distance.

Grabbing my earphones and house keys, and putting on some shoes, I left. Plugging my earphones in and trying not to damage my hearing even further by the max volume it was at, I proceeded my walk to Caleb's house.

Me:

Do you have time?

sydney💛:

At rehearsal but I'm on break what's up?

Me:

I got a text today and a call.

sydney💛:

From who??

Me:

Keith

I waited for her response, continuing my walk, and making sure I was aware of my surroundings as my music played at low volume. My music was suddenly cut off when my ringtone blasted, and I answered the call.

"What do you mean Keith texted and called you?" She whispered harshly.

"I mean he texted and called me. I may have deleted his number I know it from anywhere."

"What the fuck?" Sydney exclaimed in a low voice.

"Right," I mumbled. "I was so confused."

"You didn't pick up, did you?"

"No, no," I sighed. "I haven't spoken to him since then, you know that."

"It's just really random that he's suddenly messaged you out of nowhere. I thought he took the hint."

"Maybe he just wants something."

"Like what? You gave of all his stuff back. Well, you had Zen give it to Eugene who transferred it to him for you." Sydney clarified, referring to Keith's close friend.

"Then I don't know," I slid my foot lightly against the sidewalk for a moment before I continued my pace. "He texted once, called twice and I'm already stressed out without talking to him."

"Then don't talk to him." She advised me.

"I wasn't planning on it." I didn't want anything to do with him, I thought as a car drove by me on the road.

Sydney must have heard it too because she asked. "Are you going for a walk?"

"I'm going to Caleb's," I said nonchalantly, my eyes down on the pavement.

"Cal-Caleb? What? What?" She exclaimed. "You're going to his house-are you two-"

"No," I exasperated, I knew she was going to come to this conclusion. "I am not having sex with him."

"Are you friends now?" She questioned.

"We're something."

"Octavia."

"It's hard for me to call someone my friend. You know this, let me live."

"You also think sex doesn't complicate things, but it does."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"Nothing. Just giving you a warning in case this friendship with him turns into 'come over' as a booty call type of thing."

"It's not," I assured her. "We're just talking about his story."

"Oh? So, you two are finally going to talk about that story. You could've talked about it when you were on break at work or at that party or that wholesome time you two spent together just talking and staring at the stars while I kid you not, you could have kissed him right then and there and he would have been fine about that."

"Syd."

"What?"

"It's not like that," I assured her, reaching into my pocket for a candy I had shoved into my pocket before I left.

"You like him."

"No, no, no," At the word like my heart started beating fast. From what I didn't know. Fear, anticipation? I couldn't decipher it but no. If I was certain about one thing it was that. I know it.

"Why do you say no?" She asked as I plopped a candy into my mouth, shoving the wrapper into my other pocket.

"Because I know when I start getting interested in a guy. I'll do the whole flirt thing-"

"You flirt with everybody."

"Unintentionally. But I know when I'm into someone," And when I fall, I fall deep and hard. "Anything I feel towards Caleb is literally sexual attraction."

"Intense sexual attraction."

"Shut up," I told her, playing with the zipper on my jacket.

"All I'm hearing is that you should have mind-blowing sex with the man and then it will be gone."

"Small problem."

"What?"

"He and Angie are together. Well, I don't know if they're together but obviously, they're something." I told her. 

"Oh shit. I keep forgetting about that."

"Yeah."

"Well, wait for that to end." She said and I automatically made a face. 

"No, that's gross."

"How?"

"Angie slept with him and then I just go for him after? No."

"Yeah, that's kind of wack."

"Exactly."

I peered up from my view on the sidewalk, realizing that I was close to my destination. Caleb lived in an apartment complex that screamed wholesome but rich. Judging by the sizes of the balconies and what I could see through the windows, he knew what he was doing when he bought this place.

"I'm here," I told Sydney. "I'll call you tomorrow."

"Alright have fun but not too much fun."

I let out a breathy laugh. "Bye." I hung up, putting my earbuds over my ears as I looked up at the complex. My eyes scanned over the balconies when I could spot Caleb leaning over the balcony of what I guessed was his home. Despite it nearing two in the morning, he seemed wide awake, staring at me with a bright smile on his face.

I fought the need to return it, giving him a two-fingered wave as he pushed off the railing and disappeared inside. About a minute later, he was at the front door, holding it open. "Are you going to wait there all night?"

"Nice to see you too, Caleb," I said, walking in.

I didn't have time to take in the beautiful interior of the lobby when he led us to a staircase. Starting to walk up, the writer looked back at me, a small smile dancing on his lips. "I don't know why I didn't think you'd come."

"You didn't think that? Really?"

Caleb scoffed, opening the door that led to what I presumed was his floor. We walked over to a door where he inserted his key. "Of course, I knew you'd come, what else would you be doing at 1 AM? Come in, come in." Caleb ushered me into his cozy apartment, his hand on my arm as he shut the door behind us. "Welcome to my humble abode."

Oh shit.

I immediately took my Nikes off, ready to test how my socks would feel like against his hardwood floors. His house was clean. In every way possible. And organized. I thought looking at his living room and to spot how his DVD's and video games were organized in the clear glassed shelf that surrounded his television. How his furniture complimented it nicely his wall color. The large window streaming moonlight from the sky straight into the room. Even the way the pictures were hung in his house of paintings, of pictures of him with other people, looked organized.

There was always something about astounding architecture but this, even this did it for me. My lips couldn't help but part as I could spot the terrace through the wide windows attached to his living room. "This is beautiful." I couldn't help but say.

"You like it?"

"Yeah."

I must have been staring hard at his shiny floors because he said, "You're going to slide across my floors, aren't you?"

I gave him a full out smile. "Do I have permission?"

"Kept it extra slippery just because I knew you were coming."

The laugh out my mouth at his words. "I wore my right socks for this."

"Then go off." He encouraged. I took a quick start, loving the feeling of acting like a child when I slid across the floor stopping right in front of his carpet in the living room. I turned back to Caleb who I knew had taken a vide but I didn't stop him.

"Eight out of ten for slipperiness on the Octavia scale."

"I'm honored." He said sarcastically, pocketing his phone.

My hand couldn't help but reach out and touch the walls as I headed back to him. But I stopped moving when my eyes caught sight of a picture of Caleb standing with someone near his height. He wore sunglasses and the person beside him did as well, the two of them grinning in front of a snowy mountain but neither of them was wearing jackets. They looked like they just came from the hottest place possible a d threw themselves in the coldest judging by the shorts and t-shirts on them. "Where was this taken?"

"About a year ago," He nodded towards it. "That's Leo." Ah, his brother.

I inspected Leo a bit. He and Caleb did look very different physically. Despite them both being around the same height, his brother was considered pale next to Caleb tanner skin. Unlike Caleb's wavy hair, Leo, in the picture, kept his hair in a buzzcut.

"Told you we don't look much alike."

"I didn't say I didn't believe you." I pointed out as he led me into the kitchen. I always loved living in apartments, granted most of my life I had lived in one before my parents moved into a house before I moved into high school. But this, this was one the prettiest ones I've ever seen mostly by the decoration. And it wasn't a penthouse. It didn't have to be a penthouse. I needed to get Caleb's real estate agent to be my own.

"Want water? Want anything to eat?" He asked, leaning against the threshold. "I got cereal. From Cheerios to Lucky Charms to Kellogs. Stacked."

I looked over at his assortment of cereal boxes lined up on the counter and let out a soft laugh. "I'm good, Caleb."

"Whatever you say," He pushed off the wall, grabbing the notebook that was on the counter in front of his cereal boxes. Grabbing a sweater, he gestured for me to follow him. "Let's talk outside."

"Why outside?"

"Because outside is where we have our best conversations," He fished a pen out of the pocket of his jeans, slipping it behind his right ear. He narrowed his eyes at me teasingly. "Octavia, it's the 2:04 plan, keep up."

"Didn't think we had a time stamp."

"Me neither," He admitted. "But it's that time every time we talk in this kind of mood so keep up with the plan."

If I wasn't keeping up with the plan, I'd be at home relaxing with my red wine and music. But I was glad I was here. "Where are we going?"

"Roof."

He did not just say roof. He better not have said roof. I refuse to believe that he said roof.

"Excuse me?" I almost took a step back. I wasn't fond of being super high up when there wasn't a wall, a window, or any barrier blocking me from falling.

"The roof," Caleb said slowly, and I noticed the way his tongue peeked out as his expression was filled with amusement.

Glad my slight fear is making you laugh, Romero.

"I really hope you mean roof like your nice terrace with the nice chairs out there where we can literally just chill and not the roof that's on fire in the song."

"The roof that's on fire," Caleb repeated, shaking his head and chuckling in disbelief at my words. "Roof. The latter is what I meant but it will not catch on fire." Caleb said, already making his way to leave his beautiful place. "C'mon October."

Shoving Caleb from behind lightly he laughed, picking up his pace as he shrugged his sweater on. After locking his door, he led me down the hallway, past a couple more apartments until we were almost on the other end. He stopped at a door and the writing on the plaque was in Italian. I looked at Caleb for translation as he fished a key out of his pocket and inserted it into the lock. "Building supply closet basically." When he opened the door to reveal the shelves of cleaning supplies and the ladder attached to the wall on the other side of it, he winked at me. "You make the right friends, you can get into the right places."

"I know that."

"I knew you would understand," He ran a hand through his hair before putting the hood of his sweater up and over his head.

Closing the door behind us, He headed over to the ladder. Caleb made his way up it, pushing the little door up so it split in the middle and I could see the night sky. He glanced over at me. "Coming?"

A part of me was holding back due to the fact that we were going to be on the fucking roof but it was Caleb and although I haven't known him for a long time, I knew he wasn't going to let me fall.

I climbed up after him and he helped me up with a hand. When I steadied myself, I realized that were wasn't even that bad until Caleb started moving towards the part of the roof where you could swing your legs over but if you leaned forward too fast you could fall.

I could see all the way down to where I had been standing in front of the apartment from here. As I moved my head up, the view of the house and the waters a distance away was all I could see illuminated by the lights that of Milan. It was a beautiful sight but I wished there was a railing in front of me that would allow me to stare at it for longer inside of my dinner trying to exit upward. 

I froze and Caleb must have noticed that I wasn't having it when he came right back to me. "Octavia."

"Caleb."

He held onto my arm and started slowly walking me over to where he was going to sit. "You okay?"

"I'm fine," I said defensively.

"You sure?" He narrowed his eyes at me in the process of taking a seat, I felt my heart leap into my chest at the sight all the way down and I swear to God I almost fell over.

"Holy shit, I'm going to fall!" I exclaimed, and Caleb hissed as my nails dug into his arm and he stopped moving to sit down.

"Fuck," He let out a soft laugh. "I learn a new thing about you every time. Fear of heights?"

"Fear of dying." I clarified, looking down, my grip on his hand not faltering for a second.

Caleb clearly didn't know what to do with that information, so he cleared his throat, looking at me straight in the eyes with a serious look on his face. "One, breathe."

Breathe.

Of all the things he could tell me, he told me to breathe.

It's a good thing he's hot.

"Two," I took a dramatic deep breath. "Thanks, idiot."

"Don't be a menace," He made us take a step back, so we were away from the edge. "If you told me you didn't like heights, we didn't have to come out here. Are you okay with sitting away from the edge?" I answered his question by taking another step back and sitting down the gravel of the roof.

Caleb huffed, and I watched him sit and scoot forward until his legs were swung over the and dangling off the roof. Brave, I thought. Opening his book, he glanced at me as I took my phone out, going to my music. "I like the bandana by the way."

"Thank you," I responded, clicking shuffle and Maroon 5 played out. 

"I have the same one."

"I remember." Wasn't hard to forget the night he safely brought my two friends' home after they got completely wasted. Or how he looked that night. "I like red so."

"Red and yellow," He noticed. "What happened to your yellow nails from that night?"

"The role I play doesn't require my character to have yellow colored nails."

"Next time I write a screenplay and you act in it I'll make sure I put in that her nails are only ever painted yellow."

"Noted," I peered up at the sky, watching an airplane fly through it and realized I was thirsty. "I should've taken you up on your water offer."

"I can go get it."

"It's fine, it's fine," I assured him, with my hands out. He was already on the verge of getting up.

"I will."

"Caleb sit down." He didn't have to go through that trouble of getting up and going down the ladder to his apartment. I was even too lazy to get up.

"I can really go get you water."

"If you get me water, I'll make you another the Octavia-"

Caleb sat back down so fast, a part of me panicked because of how close he was to the edge. "Never make that ever again, I'm begging you. I see at a mustard bottle and I literally shiver."

"You're so dramatic." I laughed before remembering something from that night. "Um." I stopped myself realizing I may be taking the conversation from 100 to 0 real quick.

Caleb shifted, putting on leg up and the other dangling off the roof so he could look at me better. "What's up?"

"That night when we're eating. You said something."

"I said a lot of things." He joked.

"Shut up," I muttered, and he cracked a sheepish smile before I continued. "You were saying something about when I asked about your parents and you said that you would start off by saying this is a tragic childhood story."

That smile on Caleb's face slowly disappeared. It didn't morph into sadness, however, he looked like he was expecting this and that made me abruptly speak up. "I didn't mean to kill the mood."

He narrowed his eyes at me, tilting his head in a mocking way. "You sure?"

"I didn't!" I defended, my heart speeding up a little bit.

He let out a little laugh at my reaction. "It's fine, it would've come up eventually. I have an idea."

"This doesn't sound good," I muttered, and Caleb let out a soft laugh, leaning back on the heels of his hands.

"Okay," He looked up at the night sky. "Tragic storytime."

"Tragic?" I stared at him so hard, I thought my head would explode. "Why can't you just say storytime."

"Because we're looking for catharsis from the audience."

"Catharsis? And what audience?"

"Emotional appeal. And you, you are my audience. This is why I said tragic."

"You're unbelievable."

"Start believing," He cleared his throat. "You want tragic storytime, yes or no?"

"I didn't think I was going to come out here to suddenly get sad, Romero."

"You're the one who remembered my little slip about my parents and the word tragic and I'm the one making things sad? Plus, how can anyone get sad when you say my name like that?"

"Stop." I dragged out. "Just tell me a story."

"Tragic story."

"For fuck's sake. Fine. A tragic story."

"I mention my Tia a lot and solely my brother. They raised me. They're part of the reason why I am who I am."

"I noticed." He loved them. I could tell by the way his eyes lit up whenever he had the chance to talk about either.

"Both my parents died."

My eyes widened at the way he said it. As if he had explained it a million times and had to strain himself from further explaining. I started waving my hands. "Caleb, you don't have to explain-"

"It's fine. My mom died from birth complications. After giving birth to me so I never got to know her. My father died when I was a little older, a couple of years later. Heart attack."

He had said it so nonchalantly, I think that was where a lot of my shock was placed. He looked at me with a heavy expression, waiting for my reaction. I reached into my pocket, reaching for one the candies one of my aunties used to give me when I was younger. Whenever I ate them I felt a little better after something happens. I handed one to Caleb while saying, "You better not blame yourself."

"What?"

"For your mom dying. I know many people who would blame themselves and you better not."

Caleb slowly unwrapped the candy revealing the dark red color. He laughed a little, rubbing the material of the wrapper with his finger. "Interesting. Little strawberry wrapper." He plopped the candy in his mouth. "Taste good too." Caleb cleared his throat. "I did for a couple of years. When I was younger, I did." Caleb let out a pitiful laugh.

I unwrapped one of the candies, handing him another one. "How old were you when your dad died?"

"I was five."

I shook my head, putting my phone down to show him that I was flicking through for some music. "And your brother?"

"Nine."

"I'm assuming you two lived with your Tia after."

"I grew up in El Salvador when I was younger as well as Scotland for a bit. Got to know a bit of where my parents were raised before I moved to Canada when I was eleven. We moved there with my Tia. Her name is Maria."

"That also explains your accent."

Caleb scoffed. "I don't have an accent."

"You have an accent."

"You're actually in denial. And you hide it too!" I accused. "Your voice is hot I don't know what you hide it for."

Caleb rolled his eyes. "I sounded like a freak when I was younger. Any video when I was a kid I used to hate when someone would play it because my voice was so gross."

I sat up, swinging my legs slowly over the edge, letting out a breath because it looked like ahis mindset was so dead set on the idea that his voice is weird. "It's not gross," I mocked him. "I'm being one hundred percent serious. You have no reason to hide it."

"Sure."

"Would I lie to you?"

"Yeah-okay, no, you're bluntly honest in every way."

"Exactly, so if I'm telling you your voice is nice then your voice is nice. Case closed."

There was a pause when Caleb looked up at the sky and shook his head. "It's hard to actually want to argue with you when you use that tone, you know?"

I looked down at the ground, and the music that played out of my phone put me in a calmer mood. My eyes stayed on him as he was staring out at the view. "I'm sorry about your parents."

"So am I."

"Do you remember what they were like? At least your dad or any stories?"

Caleb shifted, biting his lip as he thought. It seemed like no one had ever asked him this. "Um, I remember my dad telling me one thing about my mom. It's the only thing I remember he said of her as a person. He told me she owned a restaurant with a couple of her siblings even my Tia Maria. He told me that's how they met, and he said that she made the best food in the entire world. That he was so addicted to whatever she made. I remember him saying he would come back to that restaurant every single day just to eat her food and see her."

I couldn't help but pout at that part of the story. It was so cute.

"And I pieced the story when I was older. My Tia says he was in San Salvador to visit an old friend who had recently moved there. He was supposed to only stay for a week and when he met my mother, he ended up staying there for five months before they knew it, they were pregnant with Leo."

"Oh wow." I couldn't help but smile at that last part. They were lucky to find each other and love each other so much that quick. That love must have been so strong.

"Apparently it caused family drama," Caleb's face was filled with bewilderment. "I can actually imagine the chaos that side of my family came into when they realized my mom had brought home a random white man, who had no connection to our family, no connection to El Salvador, didn't even speak a hint of Spanish, into their home."

"Oh no."

"Oh yes," Caleb confirmed. "And when they found out my mom was pregnant? Ultimate chaos. My Tia says she never saw her mother, my grandma, so angry in her entire life. Had to pressure my parents into getting married as fast as possible. The wedding ended up being a month later."

"Was your grandmother okay with everything after?"

"Apparently they didn't talk as they used to until Leo was born. When my mom announced the pregnancy, she and my dad went to Scotland, so she could meet his family and the wedding was in El Salvador. My Tia said that was the least my mother could do. It was small. It looked wholesome. I have a copy of her and my dad on their wedding day. I'll show it to you some time."

"What happened next?"

"You're eating up this drama, aren't you?"

"Just a little bit," I admitted. It was interesting to know more about Caleb his family. And he wasn't said talking about it. His hands moved animatedly as he spoke, and he had that smile on his face again.

"Well when Leo was born, that side of my family reconciled because who could resist little Leonardo Henderson." Caleb chuckled at that before continuing. My mom moved to Scotland to be with my dad, so Leo was raised there for a bit. Then after she passed, my dad moved us to El Salvador so my grandmother and my Tia could help him with us. He had a four-year-old and a newborn to take care of. My Tia said that it was the right choice to bring us back to them. When my dad died, it was my Tia that thought that we should move back to Scotland and after Scotland and a little bit of schooling, we moved to Canada for a huge change when my Tia got a good job over there."

"Wow."

"Yeah." His Tia did so much for him and his brother I could already tell. He loved her with his whole heart.

"Do you think about them-your parents?"

"Of course. Sometimes when I was younger, I used to imagine what life would be like if they were still alive. I've heard and I know a lot about them and I'm grateful for that. There are some people that never even get to meet their real parents and I've been lucky to meet one, be raised by a good family and good people."

"Well, I think your parents would be proud of their famous writer."

Caleb's head hung low as he said, "I hope they are." I quickly turned to me, ready to turn this topic around. "Do you have any tragic stories to share?"

He just told me all about his parents and he's ready to switch the conversation that fast? I didn't know whether I should hug him.

"Caleb." I started but he took the pen out from behind his ear, tapping it against his notebook. he glanced up at the sky before flickering his eyes to my own. 

"Anything?" He asked.

"Anything truly tragic? No." I sarcastically laughed, then remembered. "I got annoying info to share if you want, though?" 

"Shoot." He leaned in, his posture showing interest. 

"My ex-boyfriend suddenly texted me today."

"Wait what?"

"Yeah."

"What's his name? Doesn't it start with a K...Ken, Kole, Karen-"

I started laughing so hard at that last one. "Karen?"

"I don't know the man's name!" He exclaimed.

I sighed. "His name is Keith."

"Judging by the look on your face, we don't like Keith, do we?"

"No, we don't." I agreed.

Caleb narrowed his eyes at me. "What did he do?"

"He cheated. Social media caught him before I did."

Caleb looked stunned at that information. His mouth was opening and closing like a fish gasping for water before he came to a concluding word. "Fuck."

"Exactly. He was fucking other girls as well."

"Well," He made a face as if he ate something sour. "We don't like little Kenny."

"No, we most definitely do not."

"And he just messages you out of the blue?"

"Yup."

"Did you reply?"

"Jake picked up and said adios cunt."

Caleb grinned. "Love that guy."

When we were quiet for a couple of seconds, I glanced down at the time and sure enough, it was that time. Down to the minute. Right when the song that was playing into the late-night air changed into another. That's when I realized that I was here for a reason and we have yet to talk about it. "Caleb, you haven't told me what your story is about," I mentioned to him.

He leaned back on his hands. "How much detail do you want?"

"What's the genre?"

"Romance." Totally what I need. Exactly what I needed. Might as well have thrown mud in my face.

"Ugh." I groaned out loud and Caleb's eyes went wide.

"You don't like romance at all?"

"Romance is so overrated. Not counting your parents and their love. Just everything else."

Caleb raised an eyebrow, leaning back on his hands. "Jheeze, who stomped on your heart?"

I didn't speak after that. I let the silence and the glare I gave Caleb say everything. You'd think after taking about my unfaithful ex he would understand why.

He cleared his throat, a pained look on his face. "I didn't mean-"

"Romero, what is your story about?" I interrupted, knowing that I hated interrupting people, but I drastically wanted him to move on from what he was trying to ask.

Caleb's eyes shifted in a way that gave me a skeptic feeling. Almost as if he was hiding something from me that I should know. "So, it takes place in the great place that is Malibu."

"Ugh, I love Malibu," I groaned, closing my eyes and almost imagined the sun's rays warming up my skin. One of the only places where I loved the sun. "I love the beach. I miss the beach." I groaned, slowly leaning back to lie down and look up at the stars.

Caleb softly laughed. "I miss the beach too. Ironic, my main lead spends most of her time on the beach."

"Oh yeah?" I asked, looking over at him. "What's she like?"

Here's where things got interesting.

"She's a unique character. Very mature- most times but she has a wild side."

"Describe wild side," I told him.

"You'll see what I'm talking about when I get into it." His eyes shifted in that 'I'm hiding something from you' way once again.

"How can I see when you're not telling me?"

"Anyways-"

Now I got a hint of what he was hiding from me and the reason why he's discussing the story with me of all people. "What's her name?"

Caleb paused. "Um, Olivia."

"Olivia?" I carefully sat up, narrowing my eyes at him. "Caleb, not trying to sound conceited or pretentious at all but it sounds as if you based your character off of me."

"Listen-"

"Caleb!"

"I take inspiration from my environment." He defended himself.

"I'm not an environment, you dipshit! I'm a person."

"You're a good person to take inspiration from." He mumbled.

"How good would I be if I push you off this roof?" I taunted.

"If you push me off, I'm taking you down with me," Caleb said retorted back

"Hmm," I glanced down at my nails. "Wonder how hell would be like with the both of us."

"Why would I be going to hell? I'm an angel. You on the other hand..." He trailed off and I glared at him.

"Don't make me-" Caleb laughed loudly.

He tapped his pen on the gravel. "I found you interesting, so I figured why not base a character off of a Hollywood princess?"

"I'm not a princess."

"Sorry then, a Hollywood queen," He tried correcting.

I pursed my lips at that statement. "So that's why you wanted me to help you with the book. Because I'm in the book?"

"Essentially. That and I know you can give me ideas, rule out what seems stupid and such."

"I'm happy you understand my abilities."

"Well, of course."

"So, she lives in Malibu. She's all that and yada, yada, yada, I know myself well enough." Caleb scoffed at my words as I continued. "You said it's a romance. What's her love interest like?"

"That's one of the questions I was going to ask you. What's your ideal perfect man, Octavia? Or should I say, Olivia?" Caleb had his pen ready in his hand, the tip of the pen pressed against the paper, ready to be used. I glanced down at the pages that were open. I wasn't exactly sure where he was going to write this down due to the lack of space on the pages, but I didn't say anything about that.

He eagerly waited, staring at me intensely.

For fuck's sakes, Caleb stop looking at people like that, I wanted to tell him. It didn't help that with my fear of falling over, despite me being safely away from the edge and major feeling of anticipation racing through me at him looking at me, like that.

I broke my gaze with him, looking up at that star and clearing my throat to regain my composure. I faked a scoff. "Olivia, how original."

"It starts with an O, does it not?" Caleb narrowed his eyes at me, an asymmetrical, amused smile on his face.

"He has to be tall," I told him. 

"Didn't think you'd be into tall dudes," Caleb said sarcastically and yet he wrote that information down. I saw the idea fly in his head as he glanced at me with a teasing smile. "Giulio's tall."

"I didn't find Giulio to be my ideal man, did I?" I rhetorically asked.

Caleb hissed. "Yikes to the man. But what about personality-wise? It's rather obvious you'd like someone who would be appealing, attractive, but what do you want in a personality? I'm guessing smart- like 'I'm going to med school type of guy'?"

"No, no, I mean there's nothing wrong with that. A doctor? Sign me the fuck up," Caleb chuckled at my words. "But also, someone that gets used to my work schedule whenever I have something. It'd be nice to not have someone who would always say I don't have time for them when I have my job to focus on to."

"Understanding," Caleb confirmed, writing down a couple of extra words when I heard him ask. "I'm going to assume that you and Ken or whatever his name is didn't have a good schedule to see each other."

I almost laughed at his intentional misuse of Keith's name. "Yeah, he's an actor too. We broke it off a lot when work got in the way."

"Well, your new man could be an actor but won't break things off with you just because work is too hectic." He muttered his locks over his forehead and covering his eyes.

How did he get the impression that it wasn't me that ever broke anything off with Keith? Keith would consistently bring up the idea of us taking a break and a part of me would only say yes because I knew he would come back.

My tongue dug against the inside of my cheek as Caleb spoke up, running a hand through his hair to push it back. "He has to be funny too. Have to have someone keep up with your humor."

Caleb must've noticed the toll the topic of Keith must have taken on me because he moved from his position. He brought his legs over, shifting back until he was next to me, with his legs out in front of him and his eyes on the sky. He leaned back on his hands, one behind me as he took his hood off, exposing his entire face as he looked at me in my eyes.

"Ken's a dick," Caleb told me. "He's a whole bunch of other things for what he did to you. But don't worry, my Olivia," He teased, and I couldn't help but laugh. "You'll find your love interest one day."

I held my legs up to my chest, my eyes moving from Caleb and up to my star. I was only 24. Although the idea of love aggravated me now, I had time to get past it. "Hopefully," I tore my gaze from the star, looking at the writer in front of me. The writer with nice brown eyes, a wild imagination, and a heart throbbing smile. And I wondered how he viewed the concept of love. But that seemed to be a story for another night. "Tell me more about the story."