Page 90 of Should the Sky Fall

When Dawson goes to check on him twenty minutes later, Cal’s nowhere to be seen. He asks Aubrey, who happily tells him Cal’s taken another dog for a walk.

Dawson has to close his eyes and take a few very long, very deep breaths to keep himself in check. Fucking Cal will give him gray hair. He needs to start doing yoga. Meditation. Anything to be able to deal with him in the long run.

He goes back to work. That counts as meditation, right? Whether it does or not, it helps. He’s mostly calmed down when Aubrey sticks her head through the door some time later.

“Hey, Dawson?”

“Yeah?”

“Don’t panic, but Cal was a little dizzy when he came back, so I made him sit down. He insisted he’s fine and not to call you, but I figured you’d want to know.”

The bottom of Dawson’s stomach drops. He tells himself to keep calm, it’s just some dizziness, like she said. He grabs a few paper towels and dries his hands.

“Thanks. I’m finished for today, so I’ll just take him home.”

Aubrey smiles, holding the door open for him. “Good idea.”

Dawson marches out of there with the sole intention of giving Cal a piece of his mind, but the indignation drains out of him when he finds him. He’s sitting on a bench near the yard and leaning against the wall behind him with his eyes closed. His features are taut with concentration—he looks like he’s doing his breathing exercise.

“Cal? You okay?”

Cal’s eyes drift open and land on Dawson. He grumbles under his breath, looking annoyed. “I’m fine.”

Dawson grunts. “From now on, you’re not allowed to use that word. You clearly have no idea what it means.”

Cal grumbles something again.

“What’s that?”

“I said you’re bossy.”

“That’s right,” Dawson says, rushing forward when Cal starts to stand up. “So you better listen when I tell you to take it easy.”

“I did take it easy. I took breaks.”

“Not easy enough. Come on, let’s go home.”

“Are you finished?”

“Yeah.”

“Oh.” Cal licks his lips. “Can we go to the beach, now?”

“No. We’re going home.”

“But I’m f—” He halts when Dawson glares at him. “I’m okay.”

“That one is banned too.”

“Please?”

“Jesus.” Dawson resists the urge to slam his head against the wall. “We’ll go later, how about that? When you’re rested.”

“Okay!”

The ride home is quiet but quick. They stop for takeout on the way because Dawson can’t be bothered to cook, but Cal doesn’t complain. Dawson can feel him looking at him, and he seems like he wants to say something. Cal lasts until they get home and digs into their styrofoam-wrapped lunch before he speaks.

“I’m sorry about today. I didn’t mean to upset you.”