Caleb is the cat in the hat (worth_therisk) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2019-04-25 05:45:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, caleb rivers, hanna marin |
Who: Hanna Marin and Caleb Rivers
What: Coffee
Where: Coffee shop
When: Wednesday, April 24
Rating/Warning: Low/none
Status: Complete
Caleb didn’t exactly dress up for work. He usually wore jeans and a t-shirt. Which was actually what he was wearing today as well. But he had thought about his clothes a little bit more given he was meeting Hanna for lunch. He chose one of his better t-shirts - a black one, with his green jacket over it. He knew Hanna cared a lot about fashion. Caleb didn’t exactly care about looking fashionable but he did at least want to look good for Hanna.
He snuck out of the office a little bit early, wanting to get to the coffee shop before Hanna. No way was he going to run the risk of her buying anything. Even if they were just meeting for a quick lunch, it was still a date in Caleb’s mind. He stood outside, next to the door, leaning slightly against the building hands in his pockets as he waited for Hanna to arrive.
Hanna was a little slower off the mark than normal that day considering she was still recovering from being knocked over on Monday and spraining her ankle. Thankfully Doctor Handsome has been there with his warm hands and careful ministrations to let her know nothing too serious had happened, and he took her to get a bandage for it, teaching her how to wrap her foot so that it was supported. But it had also come with strict instructions not to wear heels for at least the next week which was already murdering Hanna.
So she’d chosen a skinny-jeans-and-ballet-slipper combo which was still cute as anything but didn’t require her to wear heels. She would have preferred a little lift; after all she was super short and being around Caleb she didn’t want to be her true midget self, but she supposed it could have been worse and she could have broken something.
As she moved carefully - and with the tiniest of limps because she was trying to hide it - towards the coffee shop, her expression lit up when she saw Caleb leaning against the wall, hands in his pockets and looking his general, handsome (and cute, so cute) self.
“Hey,” she greeted, coming to a stop beside him. Her weight was shifted so she was using her good leg more than her sore ankle, even if she was going for subtlety. “You’re early.”
A smile spread clear across Caleb’s face when Hanna arrived. “You’re beautiful,” he responded before taking a moment to fully take her in. That was when he noticed the shoes. No heels. Yes he had only seen her twice, but both times she had been wearing heels. And there was the comment she made on their date. So the fact that she wasn’t wearing heels at the moment was a bit surprising. That was when he noticed what appeared to be tape on her foot.
The smile disappeared from his face, brow furrowed in concern. “Are you okay?”
Hanna felt her cheeks flush at the compliment and she ducked her head to hide the wide smile that pulled across her lips, pushing her hair behind her ears and taking a moment to just breathe through her initial butterflies-in-the-stomach-the-size-of-m
She glanced up again, in time to see the smile fading as his eyes swept over what she was wearing and it took her a moment before she pouted and rolled her eyes, looping her arm around his and tugging him gently in the direction of the door so they could at least get inside and sat down before she recounted the Tale of the Jerk.
“I’m fine, it’s a long story,” she told him, smoothing her hand down the front of his jacket. “I like this. The colour suits you.”
Caleb felt warm under Hanna’s touch. Small smile forming back on his face, though that look of concern in his eyes was definitely still there. With her arm looped around his, he made his way to the door, making sure to open it for Hanna as they made their way inside.
“It’s a story I want to hear,” Caleb replied sincerely. But first there was the matter of ordering food. He stepped in line with Hanna still on his arm. No way was he about to let her go.
“Thanks,” he added to her compliment. “I guess your fashion sense is rubbing off on me.”
Hanna rolled her eyes fondly and patted his chest again, leaning against him as they waited in the line and she thought about what food she was going to eat. This time there would be no massive slice of chocolate cake. The more she thought about that first meeting the more mortified she was that she’d just sat and eaten in front of him. She certainly wouldn’t be doing that again in a hurry.
“I work my magic quick,” she told him with a sage nod, though the illusion broke a second later when she laughed and shook her head. “It’s not me, besides, I told you that the whole… ripped-jean-and-hoodie look works for you.”
Caleb couldn’t help but grin at her compliment. “You did mention that,” he replied with a laugh of his own. Though his stomach did a little flip. He knew how important fashion was to Hanna, she was studying it after all. And yet she seemed to like his lack of fashion sense. Even liking how it worked for him. It probably wasn’t that big of a deal, but it still meant something to Caleb.
They reached the front of the line. Caleb went with just a plain black coffee. He didn’t need anything fancy, though he would add some cream and sugar to it. And one of the prepared sandwiches, turkey and swiss. He pulled out his wallet ready to pay for his and Hanna’s order.
Hanna chewed her lower lip as she looked up at the menu, debating the merits of a salad (since it was coming up to summer, after all) or something that was actually going to make her feel like she’d had something to eat and wasn’t predominantly made out of something that was fed to rabbits.
She went for an iced caramel macchiato and asked for the chicken and cheese panini - and for it to be warmed up, of course. She wasn’t about to eat something that would give her bad breath either, since she was pretty sure in her purse she had hard-shell candy and no gum, so nothing fishy or with onions in it for her, thank you very much.
Seeing Caleb getting his wallet out - again - she arched her eyebrow. “Are you ever gonna let me pay for something?” she asked, unhooking their arms just so that he could pay for their drinks. She rested her hands on the counter, keeping the weight off her foot. Paying for one game when they were at the boardwalk didn’t count.
Paying for the game counted to Caleb. Even if Hanna didn’t think so. “I am the one with the job,” he reminded her getting some cash out of his wallet. He didn’t have a credit or debit card. If he was going to stay in one spot, he had to keep a low profile. Or maybe he was being paranoid and they didn’t care enough to actually come after him. But it was better to be safe than sorry.
He left the change in the tip jar, slipping his wallet back into his pocket. Caleb chose to wrap his arm around Hanna’s waist as he led her to a table. Once they reached a table he held a chair out for her. Maybe he was being a little over the top, he didn’t exactly do the whole dating thing, but he was pretty sure holding chairs and doors was what he was supposed to do.
Hanna opened her mouth to argue that she was the one with rich parents but closed it again when she decided that, following their text conversation, that probably wasn’t something that she should even unintentionally rub in his face. After all, as much as her father had married the worst woman in the history of women she still had a dad. And a mom. And her mom was demonstrably more awesome than some other moms that she’d seen or heard about. She knew how lucky she was.
“When I graduate I’ll get a job,” she told him matter-of-factly, though she had no idea what that might be or even how she’d go about getting a job that she wanted. “Am I allowed to pay for stuff then?” She nudged him gently, even as he led her over to a table and pulled a chair out for her. She looked pleased and embarrassed all at the same time but sat down, letting him even push the chair in before she rested her arms on the table and tilted her head up at him. “Thank you.”
Caleb grinned at her taking the seat across as they waited for their order. “So you’re staying we are still going to be…” he paused briefly not exactly sure what the right word was. “Hanging out.” Should he have said dating? But this was only their second date and he wasn’t even sue Hanna was considering it a date herself. “When you graduate?”
The barista called his name and Caleb shot up. No way was he about to let Hanna walk anymore with her hurt foot. Though even if her foot was perfectly fine he still would have gone to get their order for them. He grabbed the sandwich, coffees and panini, he walked over to the little cream and sugar area pouring some cream into his coffee and grabbing a sugar packet before making his way back over to Hanna.
Hanna’s eyebrow lifted, “Do you wanna not be hanging out in a couple months time?” she challenged playfully, though before he could answer the barista called their order up and even as she’d started to move, Caleb was already on his feet and disappearing, boots carrying his cute butt over towards the counter. She tipped her head to watch him walk away, lower lip between her teeth but caught herself- looking back at the table, then at the ceiling, tapping her fingers against the wood so that she didn’t get caught staring.
When he returned with their orders on a tray, she helped him take various bits and pieces off and drew her drink closer to herself, followed a moment later by the plate with her panini on it. It smelt good, which was always a good thing. They’d even thought to put cutlery on the tray for her, which was even better because her manicure was too cute to ruin by getting food stuck under her fingernails.
Caleb would like to be more than just hanging out in a couple months. But he felt that was better left unsaid for now. The point was Hanna still saw him in her life when she graduated college. And that thought made him feel warm.
Once they were settled with their food Caleb brought the conversation back to her foot. Because there was no way in hell he was going to let that drop without finding out what happened. She was hurt and he wanted to know why.
“So,” Caleb said dumping the sugar into his coffee. “What happened?”
“Hmm?” Hanna asked, playing with her fork, tapping it against the edge of the table before she realised he was talking about her foot and apparently not answering her question about graduation. Well, that was fine, she assumed the answer was yet but she’d find out one way or the other in a couple of months. “Oh, I mean it’s really nothing,” she tried to reassure but there was an adorable crease between his brows and the look of concern on his face even as he poured an unhealthy amount of sugar into his coffee was touching.
She sighed, “I was at the park on Monday and some jerkhole shoved me. Apparently the rest of the entire empty path wasn’t enough for him.”
Caleb could feel his blood begin to boil. Someone had shoved Hanna? What kind of asshole would do something like that. The rage was probably evident on his face too. But he didn’t care.
“He did what?” Caleb asked through gritted teeth. He took a breath trying to let the anger he felt subside. “And you twisted your ankle?” He asked getting back to the story, the rage was still in his tone, but at least he looked a little bit more calm.
Hanna reached over the table, catching his fingers with hers and squeezing gently. “I yelled at him,” she said, “I mean he had headphones in and probably didn’t hear me but I still yelled. If I see him again I’m gonna hit him with my bag.”
She retreated back to her cutlery, fingers a little cold from where she had let go of Caleb and the warmth of his skin. She curled her hand around her coffee, replacing the cool from the lack of contact with the cold of her drink instead.
“Yeah, I fell over and-” she rolled her sleeve up, showing Caleb the scrape on her arm, too, “hurt my arm and I got a grass stain on my shirt. And twisted my ankle, yeah. Thankfully someone was there and he stopped to help.”
The asshole was lucky that Caleb wasn’t there. He probably would have done a lot more than yell, or hit him with a bag. He was glad though, that Hanna stood up for herself. He could just picture her yelling at the guy. But still, Caleb couldn’t shake the feeling of wanting to protect Hanna.
He smiled slightly. It seemed like she was more worried about the grass stain than the actual injuries. Which was kind of cute, but also worrisome. “What happened to your arm?” Caleb replied resisting the urge to take her hand back. Instead he picked up his sandwich taking a bite.
“Well, there was a spiky bush in the way when I fell,” she said with a pout, “which just helped to ruin my shirt.” It wasn’t like she couldn’t just go and buy another one, replace the stained one, or she could just wash it but the idea of doing that and trying to get the stain remover right wasn’t massively appealing. Not when she could just buy a new top. It was approaching summer, all the fashionable, cute fitness gear was out anyway. “Since I got blood and grass on it.”
“I’m sorry,” Caleb said frowning. “Doesn’t sound like you had a very good Monday.” He wished he could have been there to help he out. But he was glad someone had at least.
He took another bite of his sandwich washing it down with some coffee. “I hope the rest of your week has been better.” A change of topic seemed like a good idea or else Caleb would just continue to get pissed off. He was already having to keep himself from asking more questions about her arm. And more importantly about the asshlole - like what he looked like.
“Well, today’s looking up,” Hanna said pointedly, smiling at Caleb as she sipped at her drink. “I met someone for lunch.” Her tone was amused and teasing as she looked away to start cutting up her panini, pleased when she checked and there were definitely no onions. She didn’t mind them in cooked meals but didn’t they belonged in non-cooked foods. And generally not in meals you ate at lunchtime. “How was your weekend?”
Caleb couldn’t help but smile at the comment. His stomach doing another flip. He was making her week better. He never really made anything better for anyone before. Plus he liked being able to make things better for her.
“Yeah?” Caleb questioned going along with the joke. “Anyone special?” He bit down on his lower lip, his foot tapping Hanna’s lightly under the table aiming for the one that wasn’t hurt. “My weekend was good. I went on a date with this amazing girl on Saturday.”
“Yeah,” Hanna responded in kind. “I mean, the guy’s super cute,” she enthused, winking at Caleb. “And he’s a total gentleman, not like the last guy I went to lunch with back at home.” She tipped her head, knocking Caleb’s foot right back, ducking her head coyly. She could feel her chest flushing a little with the playful back and forth and Caleb calling Saturday a date. She knew it had been but it still felt great hearing it from him anyway. “You did? How’d that go?”
He bit down on his lip again, a smirk forming on his face. “Super cute, huh?” he teased though he could feel his cheeks getting warmer. “Sounds like I was right, some guys aren’t all drama.” It was good to know though that he wasn’t like the guys back home. Hanna hadn’t talked all too highly of them when they first met. He would hate to remind her of them.
“Pretty well,” Caleb replied smirk still on his face. “Best date I’ve ever been on.” Granted it was the only one really but the point still remained. Hanna was the only girl he actually wanted to take out on a date. “I’m hoping to take her out again this weekend.”
“All guys cause some drama,” Hanna told him, pleased at the way his whole expression had lifted and brightened. She knocked his foot again. “But not all guys are all drama, all the time.” She was glad that Caleb seemed like the type that had no drama following him around, just a nice guy who didn’t have too much baggage or a random mean, secretive streak that would come to haunt her later on down the line.
She felt her eyebrows lift and she bit her lower lip to try and dampen the smile that was widening out of control over her face. She ducked her head again and pushed her hair back behind her ear again, a nervous habit she’d never quite been able to shake.
“You think she’ll say yes?” she asked, “If you had such a great time, I can’t imagine she’ll say no.”
Caleb didn’t have a mean streak. But he did have a past. One that he wasn’t all that proud of. He did what he had to to survive. Now he was turning his life around. Or at least trying to. Leaving that past in the past. Though he knew if things continued with Hanna like they were he’d have to tell her about it. He didn’t want a relationship full of secrets.
“You know I’m going to prove you wrong,” Caleb promised with a grin taking a sip of his coffee. “I hope so,” he added in response to her question. “Hanna,” Caleb started locking his eyes on hers. “Will you go out with me this weekend?”
“Big words,” Hanna replied, “you might be setting yourself up for a fall.” After all, her dad had been the only other man that she’d loved and he’d broken her heart when he broke her mom’s. And though she didn’t to judge everyone based on her limited experiences it was hard. Especially since the boys she’d dated back home were toads.
At his question, she folded her arms on the table and leaned forward a little, meeting his eyes and nodding her head, reaching across the table again to touch his wrist, just fleetingly. “Caleb,” she replied, “I’d love to.”
“I appreciate the faith you have in me,” Caleb replied. Though he didn’t think he would ever do anything to hurt Hanna. Not intentionally at least. His smirk changed into a large smile at Hanna’s response. “Looks like she said yes,” Caleb finally replied getting back to joking.
Hanna laughed, “She’s clearly insane,” she teased in response before she went back to her panini, wanting to get some of it into her at least before it went cold. She did glance up at Caleb every now and then, though, unable to keep the small smile off her face or her eyes off him for too long.
“Clearly,” Caleb replied taking another bite of his sandwich. “She should have gone with the super cute guy you had lunch with instead.” He knocked her foot again before focusing on his food, though like Hanna, Caleb also couldn’t seem to keep his eyes off her more than a few moments.
Hanna snorted. “She’s pretty lucky anyway,” she reassured. “I mean, my super cute lunch companion is pretty amazing,” She’d chosen companion because… was this a date? She wasn’t sure, it sort of felt like one but it also didn’t; they weren’t dressed up and doing something that was date-y, but it felt right. It felt comfortable, and spending time with Caleb felt safe and comfortable and Hanna liked the way it made her feel.
“What do you wanna do this weekend?”
Again Caleb felt his cheeks getting warm at Hanna’s compliment. Although he was a little bit nervous around her, the good kind of nervous. It also felt right, like this is where he was supposed to be. “You know,” Caleb said picking up his coffee and taking a sip. “I think I’ll let you pick this time. I don’t want to ruin any more of your outfits.” Especially if she had already had her shirt ruined a few days ago. Not to mention the tights and her shoes.
“You didn’t ruin anything,” Hanna pointed out, quite seriously. “My shoes survived, though they’re still a little sandy and I have no idea how my tights got a ladder in them, but they did so they just had to go.” She shrugged, “And I had a really nice night, Caleb. I had fun. So what if I lost a pair of tights?”
He appreciated that she was trying to make him feel better. And he knew they both had had a good time the other night. But he still felt a little bad about her clothes. “I did too,” he replied choosing to focus on that part. “And I can’t wait till the next one.” A brief pause, he took a sip of his coffee. “Though I do think you should know that I’m considering this a date too.” Even if it was more on the casual side.
“Three dates in a week?” Hanna asked, “Aren’t I lucky?” And she was, and also surprised. Maybe she’d have to call her mom and tell her about Caleb earlier than she was planning to. It had been a while since she’d done the dating thing properly, and she thought it was probably a really good thing that he wanted to see more of her in a short space of time. And he was good company, he was cute and he was such a gentleman that Hanna wasn’t about to shoot that down.
She tilted her head, “Do you think lunch dates fall into a different kind of bracket than, like, evening dates?” she asked, hair being swept behind her ear once more. She glanced at the time, wanting to make sure they had enough time to keep talking, because the hour was rushing by which was totally rude, if you asked her.
Was that too much? Caleb didn’t care. He couldn’t get enough of Hanna. He was enjoying getting to know her. The real her. Though he liked dream!her a hell of a lot too. But he hadn’t thought much about dream!Hanna since he met Hanna a little over a week ago. Real!Hanna had been consuming all his thoughts.
“I don’t know,” Caleb replied honestly. “This whole dating thing is new to me. A date is a date, right?” Though he would be sure to make the weekend more special and not have a time limit on the date like today did thanks to his job. But whatever, at least he still got to see Hanna. Even if it only was for an hour.
Hanna lifted her eyebrows in disbelief when Caleb said that he was new to dating. That surprised her a little, considering how handsome and charming he was. It was a surprise to her that he was admitting that he hadn’t really done the dating thing. “Yeah,” she conceded, swallowing the piece of food she had in her mouth, knocking Caleb’s foot under the table again, “a date is a date.”
“And unfortunately,” Caleb said finishing off the last bit of his sandwich. “This one has to end. I have to get back to work.” He frowned at the thought. Not that he didn’t like his job, but he didn’t exactly want to leave Hanna. “I’ll see you Saturday?”
Hanna nodded, “See you Saturday,” she agreed, “Seven?” Because at least it was a good idea to agree what time they’d be meeting. “And since you’re letting me pick where we’re going…” she hummed, eyes bright and playful, “bring a hoodie.”
She was disappointed that their lunch was over, but it had been nice, short and sweet, she thought, which was a good thing. And they’d talked a little more. It was no long stroll on the beach while they shared deep secrets but that wasn’t everything that was wrapped up in getting to know a person.
“Enjoy the rest of your afternoon, okay?”
Caleb was also disappointed that lunch was done. He couldn’t seem to get enough of Hanna. But at least he had gotten to see her for a little while. It beat not seeing her at all. “I’ll pick you up at seven,” Caleb replied standing up. A hoodie he could definitely do. That was like half his wardrobe.
“Thanks,” Caleb said walking over to Hanna. “You too.” He bent down and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek, because it just felt wrong to kiss her in some way before her left.