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Caleb took his arm in a grip so tight it was nearly painful, but it kept Bodhi focused and grounded. He led the way into the hall, and neither one of them attempted to communicate as they slipped into the stairwell and made their way down to the lobby.
Chapter13
The rec centerwas right next to his dorm, the buildings sharing a wind tunnel, and Bodhi led the way inside. There were a couple of restaurants on the first floor—a salad place that made him want to gag, a pizza place that only served the Chicago deep dish stuff that he hated, and then the crêperie which he’d eat at all day every day if he let himself.
Bodhi didn’t love it inside the lobby because the smells intermingled with each other, and with the sweat from people upstairs working out at the gym, but it was a safer space than his dorm right then.
“Do you need to eat?”
It took Bodhi long seconds to realize Caleb was asking him a question. He took a breath. He didn’t actually know if he needed to eat. He couldn’t feel hunger in the wake of everything else rushing through him.
Caleb bit his lip, then nodded like he was answering an internal question. “What do you normally order?”
Bodhi’s gaze flickered over to the crêperie, and he tried to lift his hands, but they felt like they were encased in concrete.
Caleb touched Bodhi’s chin, hooking a finger beneath it. “Voice if you need to.”
Bodhi almost laughed. There was some sort of irony that his selective mutism was currently affecting his hands instead of his tongue. Though maybe there was some logic in that now that ASL was becoming dominant.
“Voice,” Caleb signed again. “Please.”
Bodhi licked his lips. “Plain,” he whispered.
Caleb nodded. “Good. You’re so good, Bodhi.”
He shivered all over, his cheeks suddenly too hot. “Need outside,” he voiced again. “Sit.”
Caleb nodded and took a step back. “Meet you there in a few minutes.”
Although Bodhi’s brain felt messy, he was cognizant enough to choose a spot where Martinez would see him when he came out of the building while still being shielded from the surface parking lot where he assumed his grandparents would be heading. But he had a feeling that even if they were booted from the building, they weren’t going to leave the campus.
Not until they got to corner Ravi.
Bodhi had his phone out without really thinking about it. His battery was at three percent, but it was enough to send his brother a text.
Bodhi: They’re here. Don’t come to campus.
Ravi: Why the fuck are you there?!?!
Bodhi attempted to reply, but his phone screen went black and he sighed, tipping his face into his hands. His body shuddered and wanted to cry again, but the meltdown had taken enough of the edge off that he didn’t feel like he was about to shake apart. What he really needed was more sleep, and maybe to rewind time so the morning with Caleb hadn’t gotten so damn ugly.
He startled in his chair when warm fingers brushed the back of his neck, and he looked up to see Caleb hovering awkwardly beside him, holding a tray in one hand. He set it down and Bodhi almost laughed. There was a fucking feast—three crêpes with powdered sugar, one wrapped like a burrito that smelled like scrambled egg and bacon, two iced peach teas, and a couple of cookies wrapped in cling film.
“Hungry?” Bodhi asked.
“I panicked,” Caleb answered.
Bodhi instantly sobered. “Are you okay?”
Caleb looked a little startled, then he shook his head as he fell into the seat next to him. “I’m not having a panic attack. I’m having an attack of guilty conscience and usually my way of making it up to people is by making them food. Or coffee.”
Bodhi instantly softened. He was still frustrated with Caleb, but it was easy to forget that no one could see into his head. That Bodhi and everything that made him who he was, was new for most people. Caleb had been trying so damn hard.
He deserved a bit of grace.
Bodhi took one of the teas and gulped it down. As the cool liquid hit his throat, he realized that he was in pain all over from both tension and from his hangover. The crêpes smelled delicious suddenly and he grabbed one, ripping it in half and stuffing it into his mouth.
He’d always been a chaotic eater and Ravi had always hated him for it. It was leftover conditioning from their grandparents. But instead of looking disgusted, Caleb just looked sweetly amused.
