Dreamtrees

Chase listened to Calvin speak, and it felt like something had been lifted from her, like she had been kickstarted, and her whole mind started to spin. He said forever... he said the bad things too.. he said he loved her.. and she couldn't help but whimper a lot. The word forever seemed to echo around the room. Forever.. that one word and it was like her whole body had been shocked. She couldn't help but kiss him, and when he wrapped his arms around her waist, she could tell he was getting used to her ways of showing her emotions... the first time he had fainted, dead on the spot, fainted, after that he normally fell over, or got really flustered, and would blush a lot, but now.. he was responding, it made her feel a bit better, if not a little bit awkward sometimes. Pulling away carefully she rested her forehead against his chest carefully.

"You mean it Calvin? You really mean it? F-f-Forever.." She said and couldn't help but blush, she had never stuttered like that, but it was kind of contagious after listening to him stutter all the time, before she looked up at him. "I want that too Calvin.." She said carefully, her eyes searching his. "I want that too... I just.. I want you to be happy Calvin..." She said softly and looked up at him. "How can I make you as happy as you've made me?" She looked up at him and carefully smiled for him, a small twinkling finding her eyes, the lost look she had worn before was replaced by a moment of sheer happiness. A moment of pure bliss, he loved her.. he loved her, and she loved him, and he had said the word forever.. he wanted her for who she was, even though she was a broken mess who couldn't stand on her own two feet... he still loved her for it. Suddenly she found his eyes. "How is Katie? Is.. Is she okay? Is Reid taking care of her?"

If it hadn’t been for Chase’s brief encounter with Calvin’s inability to speak fluently, it would not have occurred to the lad that he’d begun to stutter once more. Despite the tingling sensation that was commonly felt throughout his tongue as he stumbled over his “I”s, it often felt far more natural to speak in that chaotic manner than it did for Calvin to think his sentences through in order to form proper sentences. As Chase stuttered, however, Calvin was hit with the realization that he’d infected her after having spoken in a similar way throughout his speech. This awareness brought a vibrant shade of red to the pale skin below Calvin’s eyes. His brief embarrassment gave birth to a small smile, as well; one which told the story of a innocent young man who had far too much energy pent up within him, and who had grown far too nervous during his time spent in that small hospital room in order to gain control over his fumbling tongue.

“Forever and ever,” he assured her, and tapped the toes of his sneaker-clad feet together softly.

For the first time in far too long, as Calvin’s brown irises met with Chase’s he came across a joyous twinkle. It was an expression of happiness which could not be forced in the way that her most recent smile had been. At last, the expression that Calvin had so craved to see upon his best friend’s face had shown itself. What Calvin had feared had been lost forever, had been found, and Calvin could do nothing to prevent himself from cheering aloud. Both corners of Calvin’s crooked smile met with the spectacles that framed his eyes. “Aha! That!” he exclaimed, having forgotten that Chase was incapable of reading his mind, and that this statement would make no sense at all to the female.

“That!” he continued, speaking much in the way that a young child would when reacting to such an overwhelming feeling of relief and excitement. A thought-out statement that had once made sense within Calvin’s mind had gotten lost on its way to Calvin’s lips, it seemed. Originally he’d planned on saying something along the lines of “That smile will make me happy, Chase”, but words had failed him for the near-hundredth time that evening.

In his state of glee, Calvin held Chase at an arm’s length once more and lifted her upward in a way that would have, under ordinary circumstances, resulted in the death of both Calvin and Chase. He spun on the spot before returning Chase’s feet to the stationary ground below once more. If luck was on his side, Chase would not jump to the conclusion that he’d cracked under the pressure of the day’s events, and would see his joy for what it was.

“Mhm!” Calvin replied in regards to Chase’s daughter. “I-I-I asked Reid,” he added, only to realize that this statement had been an incomplete sentence and would not act as a sufficient answer to Chase’s question. “-to watch her. I-I-I asked him to watch Katie,” he corrected himself.

Chase gasped when suddenly Calvin was half yelling and she winced at the loud noise, before she was suddenly flung up into the air and spun around before set back down, a feat she didn't think Calvin was capable, and yet he had just done it, shouting out That, which made no sense.. unless he was talking about her smiling, she had asked what he wanted, and she had smiled, and then he had gotten all happy, so one could assume.. but still, he was so excited, and all she could do was smile even larger, a twinkle that felt like it was growing in size at the very sight of Calvin smiling, the site of him being happy made her happy, and she realized that was what she needed. She needed HIM to be happy, in order for her to be happy, but he needed her to be happy in order for him to be happy... so how would this work?

She needed to get happy... that's how it worked. She needed to smile, and she needed to work out the problems in her head, if only for her beloved Calvin, if only so that he would smile like he was smiling now. When he said that Reid was taking care of Katie, she nodded carefully, but the smile was still there. She carefully reached up and touched his cheek, her eyes searching his, looking past the color and into them, trying to read him, trying to let him know that she was still in there, she had just gotten lost a bit and would need his help to pull herself back together, she just needed help, that was all, and she needed him, she needed him to keep her happy, and she knew it was the best recovery method for her right then.

"Calvin.." she said softly, looking up at him, and smiling. "Take care of her will you? Please? Make sure she doesn't go unloved while I'm... healing.. I just want her to be happy, I want YOU to be happy.. I love you Calvin... I can't go without you okay? Now hold on, that doesn't mean you have to be here by my side every moment of the day... you can live your life.. but.. but... I-I-..." She stopped and collected her thoughts, gently running her finger across his cheek. "I just want you to know that I love you.. and I'm here... I'm always here... even if I don't.. look like it." She said gently, she knew what she had to do to make herself over again, she knew what her mind needed to go through, she knew the damage repair that she needed to fix in her mind, and she was worried for Calvin, and for herself, and her family, she was worried they would forget that she was still in there, just busy.

"I-I-I....may not look like I'm here for a while okay? I might look a little scary... I might not respond much at all.. but.. I'm here okay, don't forget me.. please.. don't let go of me.. I'm here.. I promise." She said and hugged him hard, holding onto him, tears leaking out of her eyes as she held on, taking in his scent, his feel, even the gentle brush of any skin on hers, that made electricity surge through her, made her whole body feel alive, gave her energy that she knew she would need for this next part of her journey.. a journey she would have to take alone.. until someone came along and pulled her out, which she knew was a possibility of needing. "My mind... is gonna go on a vacation okay? But.. But I'm still here.. don't you ever forget that okay? I'm still here... I'm waiting for you Calvin.. if you can just wait for me.." She said softly, her eyes finding his again, searching, hoping he understood.

Only after Chase had finished with her explanation of what would take place during her recovery did Calvin come to the painful realization that she was biding him farewell. So quickly the mood had been changed from one to joy, to one of seriousness that, for a moment, Calvin had found it quite difficult to retain what he was being told. Calvin was being offered a momentary “goodbye”, and as this truth dawned on him, he found himself on the verge of tears. He fought against the salty droplets that started to form at the roots of his eyelashes; Chase hated to see him upset.

There was no guarantee that Chase would return to her original state of wellbeing in a month’s time- or even in a year’s time, for that matter. While Calvin would be permitted to pay Chase visits in her hospital room, there was no promise of him earning a response from her while he spoke to her. In fact, there was a possibility of her forgetting of him completely – a fact that he was reminded of when Chase begged him to keep her in mind as she fought off her demons. Chase had no choice but to wage war against the evil that Felix Barker had fed her, and Calvin could be of no other help to her than to keep her company as she soldiered on. “I have to help you,” Calvin informed her quietly, and ghosted four of his fingertips above the hand that Chase had brought to his cheek. “I promised to keep you safe."

In truth, Calvin was incapable of doing anything of the sort.

“Chase…” Never before had so much emotion been shown through the simple utterance of a name. It was as though Calvin’s love for Chase was bleeding into his voice. “Never,” he assured her, “I could never forget about you, Chase.” Alas, he’d shaken his stutter; when his words were of so much importance there was no room for mistakes. “When you come back, I’ll be right there,” Calvin gestured towards the chair that he’d moved to sit at Chase’s bedside. “I will take care of Katie. Reid will help me – I know he will – and when your all better we’ll get to be a family again.” Calvin made his best attempt at a reassuring smile, but the pain that he’d mistakenly expressed through his eyes prevented the gesture from having the desired effect.

“Forever can wait until you're better,” he whispered gently.

Chase was crying, she didn't want to say goodbye, but she knew that Calvin understood. She knew that what he said was true. "You are keeping me safe Cavin, you are! You always have... you kept me from something a lot worse then what I'm going to go through now.." She said softly, "You kept me from being alone Calvin.. you kept me safe by being there everyday... by helping me.. you SAVED me Calvin... I hate knowing you are upset.. but don't think you can't be upset okay? Everyone needs too... it's okay." She said gently, cupping his cheek and feeling tears falling down her face.

"I'm scared.." She whispered, looking up at Calvin and feeling fear flow through her veins, she could feel herself shaking, and she folded into his arms again. "I won't go yet... I won't.... it can wait..." She said holding him hard, tears leaking down her face. "You've always been there for me Calvin.. and I want to be there for you.. that's why I need you right now... Calvin... you know I need to do this... and.. and, I may not be myself... I may not know you for a while... but when I start waking up.. you have to tell me one thing... tell me that you'll love me forever okay? When you say that.. I might be able to come back... Calvin, I WILL come back.. and I'll come back as fast as I can okay? I'm not going anywhere tonight.. but Calvin... know that when you leave... I'm going to start a journey that you can't come with me... but I will be back, and we'll take care of Katie together... and we can be together forever." She whispered and hugged him tighter.