lets go crazy till we see the sun [caleb]

[Caleb Blackwood]

Caleb was more than a little taken aback at Julian's sudden burst of maturity, as it was unexpected, especially where Ainsley was concerned. He frowned slightly, taking in his best friend's posture and words and tone he’d said them in, having to swallow back the dry reply he'd already thought up, as it really didn't matter anymore. For a moment, nothing mattered to him except Julian standing there, pretending like he didn't care in that infuriating way he always did, and Caleb nodded absent-mindedly at the floor, expression changing drastically. He was suddenly glad that they had this opportunity to work things out. Julian could be an arse, but he was his arse. He wasn't going to let anyone get between them again and cause another fight - of course that hadn't ever been Ainsley's intention, as it had always been more of Caleb taking matters into his own hands, but it had to stop somewhere. Otherwise they'd end up destroying themselves, and he couldn't bear to ever lose Julian, no matter how much shit they gave each other at times.

"Julian," he began quietly, already making his way over to him as he clutched the two letters anxiously in one hand, "I'm -" the apology wasn't quite formed when he instinctively threw his arms around his best friend without any warning, finding words to not be adequate enough at that moment to express his conflicted emotions. He knew very well that Julian wasn't a touchy-feely person with anyone other than his mother, but Caleb held on firmly to the belief that in the past few years, he'd become the second person that Julian was alright with touching. Caleb didn't even care if he was alright with it right now or not, as he hugged him tightly without the intention of letting go anytime soon. "I'm sorry," he murmured into his shoulder, "For all the complaining I do about you being a dick, I sure as hell can be one, too, sometimes. You got me there. But we'll figure this out, I promise."

He pulled back a bit, then, but left his hands on Julian's shoulders. "Ainsley is -" he paused, struggling to think up a good way to describe it that wouldn't impact Julian too much, but also wouldn't be a lie, either. If he'd still been annoyed, he might have blurted out Ainsley's exact words, as they were still ringing in his mind - You and Julian can both get off your high fucking horses and stop pretending like I need either of you. I’m perfectly fine and content without you both - but that wouldn't work, because he didn't want Julian to react negatively and for him and Ainsley to be back at square one. Or worse, even less than that. He sensed that Ainsley was upset, obviously, but he didn't think she was entirely serious about not wanting to have anything to do with him or Julian. She just needed some time to calm down, and then everything would be fine. Hopefully. “She’ll be alright,” he decided on finally, “But maybe you should write to her yourself. I don’t know. Even if you two are just friends, I don’t want to get between you any more than I already have…”

[Julian Delaire]

Julian blinked, completely startled out of his own thoughts by Caleb launching himself at him in a hug. It wasn't that he'd never been hugged, but it was usually by his mother, and the amount of times he and Caleb had hugged, he could count on one hand. He didn't particularly mind Caleb's hugs the way he would almost anyone else, but it was still not really in his comfort zone and he was kinda confused as to why this was happening anyway.

Staring in befuddlement down at Caleb's head as his friend apologized to him, not entirely sure what he was apologizing for in the first place, Julian carefully brought his arms up to Caleb's back, even as he told him, mostly jokingly, "Mate, you gotta stop hugging me. I have a reputation," which was true. He definitely had a reputation as not the world's biggest fan of hugs - or people - so this was all a little confounding. Caleb, while definitely more of a hugger than him, was still a teenage boy, they were both teenage boys, and hugging was simply not something they tended to do.

Still, he appreciated the apology, especially when Caleb pulled back and he could see how his friend was struggling to be gentle with his words. "Thanks," he added sincerely, untangling himself from Caleb's grasp when he could. Nothing against his best friend, but there was a difference between hugging a pretty girl like Ainsley who was crying onto his shoulder and his significantly taller and significantly less pretty best friend. "I'll -- yeah, I'll write to her. Don't worry, I'll sort it out." Hopefully, he thought to himself. Hopefully any of this was fixable. "We should go eat dinner, though, my mum's waiting."

[Caleb Blackwood]

(OOC - okay this is done i believe because these two are THE BIGGEST IDIOTS EVER wow)