Page 72 of Habibi: Always and Forever

And before we could pick apart that statement, we were back outside almost in the blink of an eye.

“What the f—” Caleb started, but he turned to look back at the Charm Café at the same time as me, and he paused.

I couldn’t blame him. Where there had been a café only moments ago was now only bricks and a blackboard sign that directed people to the nearest bar in white chalk.

“What just happened?” I asked.

“Beats me,” Caleb said and took a cautious lick of his apple pie. “But that’s some killer ice cream.”

“You’re going to eat that?” I raised an eyebrow, and he shrugged.

“Why not?”

“It could be poisoned?” I said as if he didn’t know that already.

“Meh, there are worse ways to die than by ice cream.”

He did have a point, but still.

“Is it…true? What he said? Are you worried about falling in love again?”

Caleb stopped licking and looked at the ground.

“It’s hard not to. After everything that’s happened to me.”

I reached for his hand, and he let me take it after a moment’s hesitation.

“Hey. I know you’ve been through hell and back,” I said. “But…I really…I want to be with you.”

“That’s not what I’m worried about,” he said, shaking his head and looking up at me. “I know you do. I can feel it, remember? It’s the after I’m worried about. Things have a way of going…wrong for me.”

“I’m so sorry,” I said, remembering what had happened to his ex and how it had set him on a path of revenge. “What happened to Jin was truly awful. But it won’t happen to me.”

He laughed, but it was a sad laugh. It was a sarcastic laugh.

“You don’t know that. You probably won’t have the choice.”

He had a point there, but even so…

“Sweetheart, choice is all I have from now on. And I choose to be with you. And I choose to promise you that I’ll do everything in my power to protect this.

To protect you. What we have. I know I don’t remember the relationship we had before, but when I’m with you, it feels right.

It feels…good. I know I’m terrible at putting these things into words, but I mean it.

I want you, Caleb, and I want to spend the rest of my days being with you, looking after you, showing you that love doesn’t have to end in heartbreak.

“This is all new to me, but I know we are meant to be together. I mean, why else would we have fallen for each other twice? It’s fate, but also our choice to accept it and make it our destiny. Because I know we’re destined to be together forever, if we choose to be.”

A tear formed at the edge of Caleb’s left eye, and it ran down his cheek, but I caught it before it dropped to the ground.

I was immediately inundated with pain and sorrow, but also something more. Something better. Passion and love and something that made me want to burst at the seams. That filled my lungs and head with happiness.

It was hope. Caleb’s hope.

“If you want this silly man standing in front of you asking you to help him navigate this new feeling called love, then…hello! I’m here. Ready to love you with all my being. Again.”

“Oh, Wade!” Caleb chuckled, but it quickly turned to crying, and soon he was a blubbering mess all over my chest.

But I didn’t mind.

I had him with me, and that was all that mattered.

“It’s okay.” I rubbed his back with my free hand and soothed him for a moment, staring passersby be damned, until he came up for air and wiped his face.

“Why can’t we have a normal date?” he asked, half laughing, half crying.

“What?” I said. “You mean normal couples don’t have their memories wiped and bodies puppeteered by evil vampires before they can be together?”

“Not exactly, no,” Caleb shook his head with pressed lips that almost looked like a smile.

I wiped his eyes again and kissed the tip of his nose before I joined him at his side and we walked down the market in pursuit of our next adventure.

Which probably included a bar and a lot of alcohol that was followed by more food, and somehow we ended up at the cinema, stuffing ourselves silly with popcorn and Coke and holding hands, like normal couples did.

And later, we made out in the dark theatre, like normal couples did.

And we went home, where we made love to each other, as normal couples did.

And we woke up next to each other and shared a coffee, like normal couples did.

“See? We can be normal,” I told him when we took a shower together.

He sighed and got lost in my embrace as he shared more of his hope and comfort with me, like normal couples did.

Well, mostly normal couples.

And by the time we were ready to go our separate ways and get on with work and life and responsibilities, I still had his hope like a shielding layer underneath my skin, strengthened by my own.

And I knew that somehow, even though we still had hell to get through and make it out of, we somehow would be okay.

Maybe have a happily ever after like they do in movies, even.

And if not…

Well, if not, I’d fight tooth and nail to make it so as I lived and breathed. Because Caleb deserved to be loved. And so did I.