My Atypical Wolf (BL)

Chapter 181: Farewell

Caleb woke up as soon he heard the birds chirping outside mixed with soft snoring noises coming from his mate. He wondered whether he should or not wake him up. Checking out the time from the clock on the other side of the wall he realised it was almost 2:00pm “Ash! Wake up” he shook his mate violently. The flight for Ashton was at 4 o’clock. The airport itself was half an hour away with Car, so they knew if they were to make it they needed to rush.

“You have two hours before you miss your flight sleepyhead! Wake up” Caleb quite literally bonked Ashton’s head.

“Ouch” Ashton winced in pain. “Can’t believe I am getting abused by my mate first thing in the morning” he teased.

“Really?” Caleb scoffed. “You know what, stay back. Seems really convenient to me” Caleb hugged him tighter while Ashton stared at him as if he lost his mind.

“Okay...I gotta go” Ashton pushed Caleb away and started to dress up fast. Without paying much attention, he grabbed whatever piece of clothing he grabbed first. He ended up wearing a brown shirt and a pair of jeans which made him seem a bit odd given how it was not his style and thus left.

Caleb drove him to the airport, going a little over the speed limit whenever he got the chance to make it early. “I know you are not happy about me leaving, but thanks for driving me” Ashton mumbled in the ride.

Not losing focus from the road Caleb mumbled, “You gotta do what you gotta do, I gotta do what I gotta do” He shrugged. Ashton chuckled half heartedly at his response and once more drove off silently.

.....

“I... I planned a lot to say when I decided to drop you off, but you ruined it all by sleeping late, so... I guess I’ll just say bye” Caleb patted Ashton’s shoulder urging him to get going.

“You can always link me,” Ashton smirked.

“It’s not the same”! Caleb whined and looked away. “You shouldn’t have compromised your sleep last night” he huffed.

“Given what we compromised our sleep for, worth it”! Ashton smirk reached its highest intensity.

Caleb shot him a glare, “Just Go. Go! Go! Go!”He pushed Ashton with all his strength.

“Okay, okay, Don’t push me” Ashton swatted away his hand. “Bye”, and planted a swift kiss on Caleb’s lips before running away with a chunk of luggage.

Caleb stood still until Ashton was completely out of sight. He wanted to come back but somehow he found it difficult. Was it really this difficult for Ashton when Caleb left for college? That makes him feel even more terrible.

The whole ride he was fighting the urge to link Ashton as he needed to focus on the road. A part of Caleb made him feel a bit odd that he was so obsessed with Ashton’s departure, or simply Ashton himself. What happened to him? He was a pretty independent guy, then when did he get so obsessed with his mate? And here he thought Ashton would be the obsessed one. Boy was he wrong.

Once he returned he freshened up before lying on the bed. After having a long, long argument with himself he finally linked Ashton, [How far along are you?]

[I think we will land soon, it’s been a while] Ashton replied to him immediately.

“Look at you going on such a big trip all by yourself, when I first met you, you were an awkward 16 year old, and now...” Caleb snorted. “You are taller than me” he groaned.

[Yeah, I grew up] Ashton said softly. [I promise I’ll pay you back every penny I spend on this trip] Ashton admitted.

“Once again, you don’t have to. But, if you really really want to, maybe you can give me something I want” Caleb smirked.

[Like what?] Ashton scoffed. [You literally have everything.]

“I will think of something”. Caleb replied with a smug smile on his face.

“Are you... talking through your earpiece?” Suddenly a voice asked him, making Caleb jolt up. That’s when he realised his roommate, Warren had walked into the room.

“I am actually talking to Ashton” Caleb answered him. “I can link him. You know what it is right?” he asked to which he received a nod from Warren.

[Tell him I said I] Ashton prompted in his head.

“And... Ashton says hi” Caleb chuckled.

“Wow, it’s like you are in a call” Warren snorted.

“It’s exactly like that. Except I can see where he is” Caleb shrugged smugly.

[Okay, I gotta go. We are about to land. I will link you once I have some free time, okay?] he asked.

“Okay” Caleb replied to Ashton before turning to Warren.

“So... like a video call?” Warren suggested.

“Mostly” Caleb nodded. “I mostly see what he sees. I can’t see his face though, unless he is looking into a mirror. Even then it’s odd, it’s like seeing the face of his mirror clone” Caleb shuddered.

“Shouldn’t they be the same?” Warren frowned. “I remember his face is quite symmetrical”.

“Not really” Caleb shook his head. “You will get me if you see it in reverse. He doesn’t take selfies either, so it’s hard to explain what I’m talking about. Caleb chuckled.

“I see,” Warren snorted.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door which was opened by Warren revealing Karolyn, “Hi, I know I’m early, but that class was too boring to sit” She groaned and welcomed herself in. Seeing Caleb she frowned, “What happened to you? Why so grumpy?” She narrowed her eyes.

“Ashton left,” Warren answered on behalf of Caleb before Caleb could say something.

“Left where?” She scowled. “Wait, did he...”? Her eyes started to become round like a tennis ball.

“Not like that”! Caleb screamed as soon as he realised what Karolyn was trying to indicate. “He is just gone for a while”.

“Oh thank god, you scared the crap out of me” Karolyn slapped his arm lightly. “He will be back, why are you so upset?” she frowned.

Caleb shot her a glare before mumbling, “Get out”.

“Actually we were about to leave” Karolyn replied smugly.

“You wanna join us?” Warren offered.

“To where?” Caleb frowned.

“The observatory” Warren informed him.

After thinking for a while he mumbled, “No, it’s alright guys. I don’t wanna be a third wheel” Caleb replied awkwardly.

“Don’t be a baby, just come with us. It will be fun”! Karolyn insisted. “It will help you take your mind off Ashton for a while” She nudged.

“You sure about this”? Caleb asked.

“Yeah. Come with us” Warren insisted as Karolyn nodded her head vigorously. Caleb agreed to go with them as they drove off to the observatory in Caleb’s car.

The whole trip to the observatory took most of their evening. Even though Caleb was worried about having to tolerate a lovey dovey couple he had to admit this turned out to be better than he thought.

There were moments where Caleb felt like the third wheel, but that bare minimum was unavoidable. Caleb felt quite bad for being intruding, and no matter how many times Warren or Karolyn told him that it’s not a big deal, they couldn’t convince Caleb otherwise. That is the sole reason they had to agree to let Caleb pay for the entire day.

Once they were out Caleb decided to take them to one of the fancy bars he had been to recently with his friend from his batch. Warren and Karolyn were excited as they have never been to this side of the town before. While on their 6th drink when only Warren was starting to get drunk a guy approached their table to talk to Karolyn. Before she could say anything Warren spoke in a drunken haze, “She’s taken. Shoo shoo”

Both Caleb and Karolyn ended up breaking into laughter. Once the man left then alone Warren pouted and asked, “What’s funny”? He only got to hear their laughter in response and asked again, “Tell me! I wanna laugh too”.

“It’s you, Warren” Karolyn finally replied to him while Caleb continued to laugh.

“You are so pretty” Warren mumbled in his haze as he looked at Karolyn like he was dreaming or something. Karolyn blushed before looking around and trying to calm down Warren.

“Okay! Before this gets out of hand I think we should leave”. Caleb cleared his throat. Once they were back Caleb decided to let them stay in his room while he headed off to Ashton’s room.

For a while now Ashton has been letting out his smell, even though not at its highest intensity. The room had a tinge of remnant smell. Somehow that remnant scent brought peace to his agitated mind as he took a few deep breaths.

He looked around the place which appeared emptier than usual. Remembering the day before a tiny smile crept up his face Snuggling up on the bed he closed his eyes as he drifted off to sleep after the tiresome day he had.