A couple of hours had passed since Sheena had left and it was now close to one in the morning. Caleb had gone to the bathroom; rather distraught the guys tonight just wouldn't let up about him leaving Sheena and now they were so drunk they were practically incoherent. His buzz had long left him and now his drinking just made him more depressed, feeling that he should have stopped when Sheena left, he stared in the mirror in the bathroom sink. Caleb bent down and rinsed his face off with icy water. He couldn't help but think of where his life was right now and the only thing, he didn't like was Sheena, but the others were right unless he did something extreme, she wouldn't let him go. He didn't know what he was going to do. Caleb dried his face off and walked out into the hall. There were a couple of people waiting to get into the bathroom, he smiled at them as he passed them still keeping up his image and went downstairs. Casey and Jonathan were making out heavily on the couch and Isaiah sat on the loveseat across from them, looking uncomfortable. Casey and Jonathan had been drinking heavily in the last two hours and were both extremely drunk as well at this point. Caleb knew they weren't going anywhere tonight and was waiting or Jonathan to ask him if he could use the guest room. Not that he minded them using it, but there had been times in the past when Caleb had gone in a day later and found a pile of puke in one of the corners or on the bed. Caleb walked over to the loveseat Isaiah had been sitting in the middle but moved over as Caleb approached. Isaiah smiled as Caleb sat down but his smile faded quickly, able to tell that something was bothering him.

"Come on, baby. Let's go upstairs," slurred Jonathan, "Caleb, we're using the guest room. I'm too drunk to go home." Jonathan stood up slowly and helped Casey stand up.

"Yeah man, I don't care. Just don't puke in there this time…" Caleb paused for a few seconds, "… please."

"I won't buddy, I promise." Jonathan and Casey stagger upstairs supporting each other and clumsily taking each step slowly. Casey flashed a smile at Isaiah as they staggered out of site up the steps. Isaiah let out a small sigh in frustration.

"Well, I guess there goes my plan!" Isaiah leaned back and looked over at Caleb who was already looking at him with a questioning look on his face.

"What was that?"

"I was, uh, gonna stay with Casey tonight, but I guess not."

"Oh that. No worries. You can stay here. I'll drive you home tomorrow." Caleb watched Isaiah's features almost light up as he spoke, thinking that he was probably just thankful he wouldn't have to walk home.

"Are you sure? Thanks, dude. I don't wanna be any trouble," said Isaiah looking down at his drink. Caleb looked at the drink Isaiah had in his hand and was pretty sure it was the same one he had gotten out of the fridge at the first of the night.

"Bah, no worries. It's not like I have to worry about gas money. Just look around." Caleb paused for a moment and glanced around. There were several people passed out around the room, none of them he knew. Chris, Mike and Andrew were sloshed, and each had some random girl hanging off of them. The music playing was something he wasn't familiar with all he could tell was that it was hip hop by the beat and the lyrics, it was playing quietly, and the remote to stop it was sitting on the table in front of him. He made up his mind that it was time to stop this he wanted some peace and quiet for the rest of the night, he wanted to sleep. "Man, I think it's time for this thing to end. I'm not in the mood to deal with this many people right now." Caleb stood up and put a smile on his face as he picked up the remote, he pointed the remote toward the sound system and switched off the music. Everyone in the room stopped what they were doing and looked at him, most of them had a look on their face where they seemed to know what was going to happen. Caleb put his hands up and shrugged his shoulders. "Alright, guys. Been great, we all had fun, but I'm tired and I trust y'all on the field but, quite frankly, not in my house without me watching. Party's over!" Caleb dropped his hands to his side and put the remote back on the table.

"Awe, man," said Mike disappointed.

"That sucks," said Andrew as he turned his attention to Caleb. Chris walked over to the two of them with a girl hanging off of him and took the last drink of the can of beer he was holding.

"No worries, guys. Party's not over, we're heading to my house," Chris called out, "Just grab your liquor and let's move out." The people that were left started to file into the kitchen to get their alcohol. Caleb had to wake up the rest of the people he didn't want anyone left in the house that he didn't know when he finally got to sleep. He leaned into Isaiah, so he could hear him over the sound of people getting ready to leave.

"Man, can you help me wake up the people that are passed out?" he asked. Isaiah nodded and stood up to help him. Caleb walked over to a boy who was passed out on the ground behind the couch and nudged him with his foot, the person opened his eyes and sat up confused at the commotion that now went on around him. "Hey man, party's over. Time to go." The person rubbed his eyes and stood up quickly.

"Awe man, really sorry, Caleb," he said sounding tired. The person stood up and headed out the door. Isaiah walked over to a person who had passed out on the step and bent down to tap him on the face.

"Hey, Caleb says the party's over," he said quietly trying not to startle the person too much, "We have to take off." Isaiah rested his hand on the person's head and shook him lightly, he looked up at him not saying anything but giving him a strange look then got up and left. Caleb walked over to a girl that had passed out against the door and bent down. He had a bit of worry whenever a girl had passed out at the parties knowing what most teenage boys were like, particularly Jonathan. He tapped her shoulder, and she opened her eyes and smiled at him, he recognized the girl from the kitchen as she opened her eyes.

"It's time to go everyone is going to Chris's house if you're going to keep partying otherwise gotta leave," said Caleb. The girl smiled and reached up and touched his face.

"Can't I just stay here with you," she asked. Flattered, Caleb smiled back at her but shook his head no.

"You know I can't," he whispered. She put her finger on his lips and nodded.

"I know… Sheena." The girl stood up and braced herself on Caleb's shoulder then, cradling her forehead, walked out the door. Caleb walked upstairs to make sure no one was in the bathroom or hallway, he didn't think he would have to worry about his bedroom, so he didn't bother. He walked into the bathroom there were two people, a guy with his head hanging over the toilet and a girl kneeling beside him rubbing his back.

"Is he okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, he just had a little bit too much, and he mixed," the girl explained.

"Okay well the party's over when he's done you guys should head out everyone is going to Chris's if you're planning on still partying," said Caleb, "Otherwise you ain't gotta go home, you know the rest." The girl smiled at him fully understanding what he meant.

"No problem we'll clear out." The guy took his head out of the toilet and wiped his mouth, he braced himself on the toilet and stood up. Caleb watched as he flushed the toilet and went to the sink and rinsed out his mouth. The two of them walked past Caleb and headed downstairs. Caleb followed them and could see Isaiah leading one more person out of the house. Isaiah walked over to him and smiled.

"Did you check the bathroom?" asked Caleb.

"Yeah, no one was in there." Caleb walked to the kitchen, he passed a few faces as he went in and almost everyone had cleared out. He checked the fridge; all of the alcohol had been taken. He walked out onto the pool deck from the sliding door in the kitchen that had been carelessly left open. No one was around to be seen on the back part of the property. He walked down off the deck and walked around the outside of the house seeing as he headed toward the house that several cars were still pulling out. He had hoped that there had been enough designated drivers but doubted the thought afterwards. He walked back into the house through the main door passing the last of the people exiting the house. Isaiah was sitting on the couch as he walked in, he stood up and walked over to Caleb. "That's everyone." Caleb smiled at him feeling a weight lifted from his shoulders. It appeared that just as quickly as the event had begun it was over.

"Man, you wanna get some air or something? I'm going to open the doors for a half hour or so and let the air out." The air in the house smelled strongly of alcohol, cheap perfume and cologne, and sweat and it was making Caleb slightly sick to his stomach.

"Okay. Yeah, sure." Isaiah could see that Caleb wasn't feeling the best the stress from the situation with Sheena had been showing on his face all night. They walked into the kitchen; Caleb propped the door open with a chair to let the air flow through. They walked out onto the deck overlooking the pool and Caleb put the screen door across. The two of them walked over to the railing overlooking the backyard. Caleb looked at Isaiah the slight wind that blew was causing the tips of his hair, which wasn't held by the gel, to move quickly. The once warm night air was now cooled slightly to the point where it was still comfortable and quite refreshing. "So, are you okay?" asked Isaiah.

"What?"

"It's obvious that this whole thing is bothering you, Caleb." Isaiah turned to face the house and leaned back resting his shoulders on the railing. Caleb could feel that he was about to lose the plug that he had on his emotions all night and felt bad that Isaiah was the person who would get the brunt of it.

"Man, I just don't know what to do about her anymore. Everything I do just seems to piss her off," he explained, "I can hardly even say a word and she's jumping down my throat." Isaiah stared at Caleb with a compassionate look on his face sympathizing with him.

"I don't know what to tell you, dude. I know the other guys are always after you to leave her and all that, so I'm not going to tell you that. But, in the end, you've gotta do what you've gotta do to keep you happy. If you're not happy, then it's not worth it, right?" Everything Isaiah said was analyzing their whole situation and hitting his feelings right on the head.

"Yeah, that really gets annoying. Like I don't know that she's difficult. I know she loves me but…" Caleb drifted off mid-sentence not sure of what he was about to say. He looked away then looked back at Isaiah hesitating to finish the thought.

"… Do you love her?" Isaiah asked, looking him in the eye and asking what he knew Caleb was hesitating to say.

"Of course, I do." Caleb looked away and the doubt was shining through in his voice like the sound of fluorescent light in a quiet room. Isaiah looked at him and was able to hear it.

"I can hear the doubt in your voice when you say that. You need to be sure after three years." Isaiah was right, and he wasn't sure anymore.

"Well, I know I did when we first started, but you're right. Lately, it's really hard to tell sometimes." Caleb shook his head as he spoke. "Sometimes, I think she just wants me for sex and money." Isaiah let out a sigh and looked away clearly uncomfortable. "Oh, sorry. I guess I got too comfortable. I'm not sure if it's the alcohol making me like this or if it's just the fact that I can talk to you." Caleb rested his hands on the railing and leaned forward in a stretch looking down at the boards of the deck. The ten beers he had managed to down throughout the night were making themselves known now. "Man, I'm so drunk. I shoulda stopped when she left. Felt good at the time, though." Isaiah's uncomfortable feeling seemed to quickly fade as he changed position, leaned forward on the railing again and looked to his side at Caleb.

"Well, either way, dude, I'm always open for a chat for the most part."

"I don't see why we never really talked before." Caleb took the same position as Isaiah supporting himself on his elbows and hanging his hands over the pool.

"Well, you're the popular "Captain of the football team" and I'm the guy people call "fag". The high school hierarchy won't really let us be friends, right?" Caleb didn't like hearing that something so stupid was not "letting" them be friends.

"Hey man, we're friends, and I hate hearing people call you that. It's gotta hurt." Caleb's emotions had finally come to an ugly head, and he couldn't contain them any longer as he forced his smile and held back tears at the same time. Isaiah smiled at him; he was trying to hold back the excitement that Caleb considered him to be a friend until he saw the look of desperation on Caleb's face.

"Whoa, are you okay?" he asked standing up straight.

"I don't know anymore, man. This whole Sheena thing…" Caleb trailed off.

"Caleb don't worry about it. I'm sure she loves you. People only get mad cuz they care, right?" Isaiah took a single step closer wanting to reach out and touch him as he could almost feel Caleb's emotions flowing through him.

"I guess." Caleb looked down at the pool Isaiah noticed tears falling from his face.

"Man, you need a hug or something," Isaiah laughed nervously almost wanting to kick himself for making light of the situation. Caleb nodded at him but didn't say anything, Isaiah was slightly caught off guard not expecting any type of an answer. "Okay." As Caleb stood up from his position, he could feel the tears flowing from his eyes as he lost control of his emotions in full. Isaiah opened his arms to him, they embraced, and Caleb buried his face in Isaiah's shoulder. Isaiah's touch brought Caleb so much comfort as he cried into his shoulder, it had been so long since anyone had hugged him. Caleb felt Isaiah's hands rubbing his back but still holding him tightly. Caleb moved his hands along Isaiah's back as he breathed in deeply, inhaling part of him. Everything just seemed to feel so right this way, it was all pointing Caleb in the same direction.

"Thanks," Caleb whispered. Isaiah stood with his arms around Caleb, it was all like some dream was slowly coming true, though he couldn't help but feel he had taken advantage of an unpleasant situation. Isaiah rested his cheek against Caleb's head, he breathed in deeply the smell of Caleb's shampoo and cologne filled Isaiah's nose. The warmth of his body against him made him feel so happy he almost wanted to cry. He tried his best not to read too far into it, but even if this was all that happened tonight Isaiah could go home the next day and feel happy for helping Caleb through such a challenging time. Also knowing that Caleb considered him someone he could talk to made him happy beyond what words could explain.