I climbed the stairs to my room, turning on the lights as I went, humming softly to myself. I was wondering where Caleb was since he was usually here most of the time either eating something or just loafing around the house. It was surprising to walk through the door and not see him doing some goofy dance on the sofa or attempting to do Matrix moves off the walls. It was funny to watch him fail.

I opened the door, making sound effects to my movements and turning on the light with a ‘click’. To my great astonishment, the bed groaned and started moving, blankets thrown up to cover the pillow. I stopped for a minute, finger an inch above the light switch as I stared at the bed, trying hard not to burst out laughing at him. Instead, I took a deep breath and screamed “CALEB,” as loud as I could, making him jump clear off the bed and onto the floor, dragging the blankets with him.

“Ow!” but he started laughing shortly afterwards, sitting up and looking at me over the side of the bed. “Dammit Frey. Geeze.” I jumped on the bed, rolling onto my back and sighing loudly. I squeaked as Caleb’s freezing fingers slid into my pants and pulled me off the bed, right onto him. We both grunted, Caleb coughing from his loss of air and I stood up and helped him get to his feet, chuckling as he leaned foreword and put his whole weight on me.

“What are you doing in bed already? It’s barely eight o’clock.” Caleb made a long ‘chuu’ sound and looped his arms around my neck, picking up his feet. Luckily, I was expecting it and had leaned back, pulling up on his pants waistline until he decided the wedgie wasn’t worth it and put his legs up over my hips.

“Well, I guess I was tired. I don’t usually try to get some sleep unless I am.” I gave him the face, the one he said looked like someone was pinching my lip up and my brow down, the one he always returned with an expression like he’d just seen someone break their leg.

“Are you still tired?”

“Yessir.” I chuckled and threw him as best as I could onto the bed, but he still had a good grip on both my neck and waist and I ended up throwing not only him, but myself as well. “Are you gonna stay up here with me?” I looked at him incredulously, smashing his hopeful expression into a pouting one.

“Are you kidding? I’m not tired at all.” Caleb sighed and pushed me off, grabbing the blanket from the floor and flopping back onto the bed with a grumpy look. “I’ll come back up when I’m tired.” I ran out of the room before Caleb could pin me down and closed the door behind me, hearing him flick off the light with an angry growl. Poor guy. Maybe if he didn’t spend so much time doing ‘extreme stunts’ he would have more energy. Or maybe if he slept in once and a while. I still didn’t understand why he insisted on getting up so damn early everyday. If he stayed in bed for maybe just another half-hour… I wouldn’t have to wake up alone all the time. I usually woke up at eight, cold and searching for covers that were always on the empty side of the bed. The side of the bed that Caleb always slept on. He went to sleep alone. I woke up alone. It was usually the way we did it.

I went downstairs, flipping off the lights I had previously turned on until I had set the whole house in shadows. I liked the challenge of navigation in the dark. I liked laughing at myself whenever I ran into a wall or stubbed my fingers trying to search for a doorway. It reminded me of the first time Caleb and I had experimented. It was a strange memory. We had spent about two hours wandering like ghosts in the new house, playing Marco Polo and running into tables and couches until we finally ran into each other, arms wrapped around the others back as we felt around for a face. We were such kids.

I grabbed a sandwich and stumbled out into the living room, putting the plate on the side table and rolling myself over the back of the couch. Even if I turned on the television, I didn’t really watch it. I could hear Caleb up in the room, rolling around and bouncing on the bed or something. He was a loud sleeper. He never seemed to get comfortable ever. Sometimes I had to drag myself downstairs to sleep on the couch because he couldn’t find a spot on the bed and kept head butting me in the chest. It wasn’t unusual for him to get frustrated and slam his pillow in my face or bite my arm or something. And yeah, most of the time he blamed me for it.

I was sitting on the couch, waving a piece of lettuce back and forth with my mouth when I turned and saw Caleb thumping down the stairs with the corner of his pillow gripped in one hand and a fleece blanket dragging on the floor in the other. He walked over, stomping exaggeratedly and frowning, eyes drooping.

With a few swift movements, Caleb had thrown his pillow onto my lap, snapped the lettuce right out of my mouth like a shark, and climbed onto the couch and laid down, his head in my lap. I stroked his short red hair while he closed his eyes and spit the piece of vegetation onto the floor with a loud ‘pew’.

Living together with him was definitely a trip. The first time I’d seen him he was laying on the ground with his legs straight up against a wall as he tried to touch his toes. Every time his legs would drift away from the wall and he would fall with a ‘thump’ back onto the ground. Poor kid. I smiled remembering this, just looking down at him as he blankly watched the television with a depressed expression. One of the first things you realized with him was that he was a pretty sensitive guy. Yet I’d never seen him cry. He would just get quiet and play hide and seek. The first time I found him hiding under the bed, staring at the metal frame with his arms behind his head.

With a small grin I slipped out from under his pillow and pushed myself behind him, grabbing his hand and planting it on my face. He smiled and looked at me, turning around snuggling close. “Thanks, Frey.” I kissed his cheek and went back to watching television, holding my little Matrix lover close.

I didn’t bother waking him up to go to bed; I decided since we were already comfortable I would stay downstairs and sleep on the couch. I was surprised to wake up the next morning warm and comfortable instead of searching for covers.