Caleb 8 - Moving in
It was a good job that Mary was in my first lesson because I didn't take any of it in. Fortunately, I was able to share her memory of it as we left the classroom and separated to go to our second lesson - one that we didn't share. I managed to concentrate a bit better in my second lesson, and by lunchtime, I was pretty much back to myself.
As I was the first person in, I got lunch for everyone, and so I was waiting at a table with four trays of food when the girls arrived. We sat and ate together and discussed our morning schooling.
"Is Jasper behaving himself?" I asked Jules when a momentary pause in the conversation allowed.
"So-so," she said. "He is not being nasty to me directly, but there are a lot of snarky comments and whispers."
"Would you like me to have a talk with him?" I asked.
"There are other options," said Mary. "For instance, the student counselor might be interested that the guy that was responsible for your trip up to the science building is bullying you."
"Or we could get Grams to have a word with him," suggested Amanda.
Jules looked at each of us as we offered our suggestions. "No, thank you, guys. I can deal with him, but it means so much that I know you are all here for me. As long as I have that, he can't really touch me."
"Then never forget that you do," I said.
Amanda linked her arm through Jules's and pulled her in close. "Are we still going to move into the house tonight?" she asked.
"That's the plan," I said. "As soon as I finish lessons I'm going to go back to my room and pack up my stuff. If you guys can do the same, I'll bet we can be done in a couple of hours. Then we'll load it all into my truck and Amanda's car. We can take our time unloading at the other end, and we can call out for pizza for dinner."
We finished lunch and each went our separate ways for afternoon classes.
Josh was in our room when I got back after class. He looked miserable when I started to pack up my stuff.
"I guess I can't blame you," he said a little morosely. "If I had that place to move into, I'd be out of here as soon as I could."
I looked up from where I had been emptying my desk into a cardboard box.
"Is that a hint?" I asked with an amused expression. He looked a little confused for a second and then realized what he'd said and how it could have sounded.
"Oh, god no," he said. "I wasn't hinting at anything, just saying. I... we, will miss having you around though. Even before we started fooling around, I enjoyed sharing a room with you. God knows who I'll end up with next."
I finished with my desk and moved onto my chest of drawers, packing my clothes into the suitcase I had retrieved from under my bed, plus my holdall.
"Where's Louise tonight?" I asked.
"She's studying," he said. "She has a test tomorrow and needs to get good grades."
"So why aren't you helping her study?" I asked him.
"Because she can't study if I'm there," he said. "We always get kind of distracted."
I smiled at him. "I don't doubt it; she is a beautiful girl. You should hold onto that one tight."
He smiled at me, but I could see there was something else. His aura was dark and subdued - a deep blue color that made me think of sadness. He slumped down on his bed and put his head in his hands.
"I think I screwed everything up," he said sadly. "With you, with Louise. I just don't know what to do."
I sat beside him on his bed. "Want to tell me about it?"
He shook his head. "It wouldn't be fair. I would be laying this all at your door, and it's not your fault. It's nobody's fault, but I just got messed up and don't know what to do."
"Is Louise studying," I asked him, "or did you cry off tonight?"
He looked at me anguish in his eyes.
"Caleb, I don't know what to do. I really fell for Louise. I love her. I can't see any future for me without her in it. She is such a beautiful, thoughtful, sexy, intelligent, wonderful girl."
"I'm not seeing the problem Josh," I said, my hand on his arm. "What is it?"
"
I can't tell him."
I heard the thought as clear as if he had spoken it.
"It wouldn't be fair."
"Josh?" I said again.
He shook his head, but it was too late. Although he never voiced it, I heard his thought loud and clear.
"I love him too!"
Okay, I didn't see that coming. This was possibly the worst outcome I could have predicted, and I had royally screwed up. In involving myself in Josh and Louise's relationship, I had destroyed it. I had no idea what to do next.
I pushed the memory to the twins via our bond, with a plea for help. I was lost.
Mary took charge. She sent Amanda to go get Jules and bring her to my room. She herself went to speak to Louise
I put my arm around Josh's shoulder to comfort him and thought about what feelings I had for him.
I had told Jules that my attraction for Josh was not really for him as an individual, but for him and Louise as a couple. I had just felt that they were so right together that I had felt drawn to the pair of them. Now I had to consider how I felt about them individually.
Josh was a good guy. He was good-looking, yes, but that wasn't that much of a consideration. He was genuinely a nice person. When I had moved into the dorm, he had already been here a week, having come up early, and was settled. We'd hit it off immediately and he'd taken me under his wing, introducing me to people and showing me around campus. He'd introduced me to Louise and they'd both taken me out with them until I'd found my feet. I'd never gotten the feeling from either of them that I was in the way, and I'd never sensed any jealousy from them if I spent time with the other. I had just been adopted into their relationship. Up until a few days ago it hadn't been sexual in any way, just a friendly, relaxed relationship, where two of them would go off and have sex from time to time.
There was a knock on the door, and I let Louise in. She immediately went to Josh and threw her arms around him.
"Oh Josh," she said. "You poor, poor, man. I've really screwed you up, haven't I?"
He looked at her, surprised, as did I. Mary had followed her into the room, and I looked to her.
She smiled at me and shared a memory. Apparently, I wasn't the only one to have been confessed to this evening. Louise had spoken with Mary during the free time they'd both had at the end of the day. Mary had decided to wait to discuss it with all of us until we were in the house. My call for help had prompted a change of plan.
I assimilated the memory.
Earlier that day----
"Mary, do you have a few minutes?" Louise asked as she caught up with her in the corridor. Both had just finished the penultimate lesson of the day and were heading to the library to do some private study in their free time.
Mary looked at Louise, and saw sadness, anxiety and a little fear there.
"Sure," said Mary, smiling. "Here? Or would you rather talk privately?"
"Privately," Louise affirmed. "We could use my room."
Mary nodded, and they walked side by side, in silence, until they reached the room.
"Please," Louise indicated her chair as they entered her room, choosing to perch on the edge of her bed rather than use her room-mate's chair.
Mary sat.
"I don't know where to start," Louise began. "I don't know how much you know about Josh and I, but we met the day he came to PSU. The moment I saw him, I knew he was the one. Don't ask me why. He's good looking in his own way, but there are better-looking guys around; he's in reasonable shape, but again, there are better-built guys here. There was just something about him, something in his eyes, his manner, his personality that spoke to me, and I answered.
"For all the time I have been here we have been together. I knew I loved him, but I had a nagging feeling that although he liked me, he didn't love me. He didn't seem to have the connection with me that I had with him. And I was scared that at some point I was going to lose him.
"When Caleb arrived, and Josh brought him out with us for the first time, I was a little annoyed. I was supposed to be his girlfriend, and he was supposed to be with me, not hanging with his bro, but before half an hour was over, Caleb had won me over. He is such a nice guy and has a way that actually makes you feel good about yourself. I never minded him coming along after that. In fact, I encouraged Josh to invite him.
"I never considered leaving Josh for Caleb. Josh was and is still my man, the one I love, and the one I am going to spend the rest of my life with if I can, but, I'm sorry Mary, I fell in love with Caleb too."
"He's an easy person to love," Mary said.
"Then last week," Louise said, "Josh told me about a dream he had had. Someone gave him an incredible blowjob, and that someone was Caleb. A second before he told me, if you had asked what I would have done if Josh had said that another guy had sucked his dick, I would have told you I would have erupted like a volcano and committed violence on one or both. But the instant he said Caleb's name, I can't describe the feeling, it was like coming home. It felt so right, and HOT.
"Then we had our first encounter. This was before you and Caleb got together. It was amazing. The sex was good, not earth shattering, Caleb had never gone down on a girl before, but it wasn't the physical sex that was so amazing. It was the feeling of rightness, of belonging, of love.
"Being included in your playtime was even better. Caleb might not have known what he was doing, but you certainly do." She smiled at Mary, who grinned back at her.
"But again," she went on, "It wasn't just about the sex. It was that feeling of being part of something much bigger than us. There was still an 'us,' Josh and me, but we were surrounded by something else - something warm, and comforting, and loving.
"Yesterday, at lunch, when you guys said you were moving out, you may as well have gut-punched the pair of us. I didn't know what to say or do. We were happy for you guys; you deserve to be happy, and that house looks amazing, but we had just found ourselves a part of something wonderful and we were going to lose it.
"After we left you guys at the house, Josh and I spoke. He told me that the moment he realised that I was the one for him, the moment that he knew he loved me, was while Caleb and I were on our knees in front of him. He said that he looked down and saw me talking to Caleb while Caleb was blowing him, and he just knew. He also told me, that although he knew that I was the one - that he loved me - that he also was in love with Caleb.
"Now you guys are leaving. I know we will see you at PSU, but it wont be the same. Josh won't be sharing a room with Caleb and I won't see him, or you and Amanda, as often. Because the feelings I had for Caleb seem to have almost instantly grown to include you two as well. I don't know what to do. I don't want to lose Josh, but I think he is suffering worse than me, and we don't want to lose you guys."
Mary put her arms around Louise, who wasn't exactly crying but was pretty close. She gently flexed her power and projected feelings of love and comfort onto her.
"Let me talk to Caleb, Amanda and Jules," Mary said. "I'm sure that Caleb didn't know about this, and I have to say it's a surprise to me too. I should have realised what was going on, but you and Josh were just so horny when we got together, I couldn't see anything else. We are packing our stuff up today and going over to the house. Once we are there, we will get a chance to talk this through between ourselves, and we will come up with something to help you, I promise."
Louise drew back, looking into Mary's eyes.
"I'm sorry," she said. "It's so unfair of me to dump this on you like this, but I really didn't know where else to turn."
