Aubrey woke up on Sunday with the same feeling she’d had all week: tired of being tired. She lay on her back staring at the ceiling, trying to pretend she didn’t exist yet. Her phone was somewhere on the floor. Her blanket was half on, half off. Her hair felt like she’d fought a ghost and lost.
She tried sitting up. Her body disagreed.
She stayed still for another minute, telling herself she’d get up “soon,” which in her language meant “maybe before noon if the universe is kind.” It was barely 9 a.m. She had no reason to be awake. No plans. No obligations. No emergencies.
But her brain refused to let her rest.
She reached down, dragged her phone up from the floor, and turned it on with a groan. Notifications appeared instantly. Of course.
Caleb: Morning. Hope today’s easier.
She stared at the message longer than she meant to. He always sounded steady. Predictable. Soft in a way that didn’t demand anything from her.
She typed:
Aubrey: We’ll see.
She hit send before she could talk herself out of responding.
Then another notification popped up.
Chase: If you’re awake, tell me.
Chase: If you’re not awake, wake up.
Chase: If you’re ignoring me, rude.
She rubbed her eyes.
Aubrey: Why.
Chase: I found something.
Chase: It’s either incredibly cool or incredibly stupid.
Chase: You get to vote.
She typed slowly:
Aubrey: I’m not leaving my apartment.
Chase: You don’t have to. I’ll bring it to you.
Aubrey nearly threw her phone.
Aubrey: NO.
Aubrey: Do NOT come here.
Aubrey: I swear.
Chase: Too late. I’m across the street.
She shut her eyes. “I need a new life,” she muttered.
Her doorbell buzzed.
She dragged herself up, tripped over her own pajama pants, and limped to the door. She cracked it open just enough to show her face.
Chase looked at her like she was a puzzle he enjoyed too much. “Hi.”
“Why are you like this?” she asked.
He held up a paper bag. “Breakfast round two.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“No.”
“Yes,” he insisted, pushing the bag into her hands before stepping inside like he’d been invited.
She closed the door and glared at him. “I didn’t say you could come in.”
“You didn’t say I couldn’t,” he said, already in her kitchen.
“I—” She stopped. He wasn’t wrong. Infuriating, but not wrong.
He pulled out a wrapped sandwich. “Eat.”
“Stop feeding me.”
“Make me.”
She wanted to throw something at him. She also wanted the sandwich. She chose the sandwich.
She took a bite and sighed. “Okay. Fine. Whatever. Thanks.”
“Welcome,” Chase said, dropping onto her couch with the confidence of someone who didn’t understand boundaries.
She sat on the opposite side, curling her legs under herself. “What did you ‘find’?”
“Oh.” Chase perked up. “Right.”
He dug into his jacket pocket and pulled out something small. A keychain. A tiny one. A metal basketball with a little engraved number on it.
“What is that?” she asked.
“I found it at the boardwalk.” He tossed it to her lightly. “Look familiar?”
She caught it awkwardly. “Why would it look familiar?”
“Because Caleb has the same one on his bag.”
Aubrey froze.
“What?” she asked.
“Yeah,” he said casually. “He’s had it forever. Like from high school or something.”
She looked at the keychain again. It was scratched, worn, clearly someone had used it for years.
“Why would it be there?” she asked quietly.
“Don’t know,” Chase said. “Maybe he dropped it.”
“And you picked it up?”
“Yeah.”
“And brought it to me?”
“Yeah.”
“Why?”
Chase shrugged. “Felt like something you’d want to return.”
Aubrey swallowed.
Her brain went blank for a moment. She didn’t know what to do with the thought of Caleb losing something personal. She didn’t know why Chase brought it to her instead of directly giving it to him. She didn’t know why holding the object made her chest feel strange.
She set the keychain on the coffee table. “Okay. I’ll give it to him.”
“Good,” Chase said. “He’ll probably pretend it doesn’t matter, but it does.”
Her stomach twisted at the implication.
Chase leaned back, watching her carefully. “You okay?”
“No,” she said honestly.
“Too early?”
“Way too early.”
He nodded. “Want me to leave?”
She looked at him.
He looked sincere.
Not loud. Not teasing. Just waiting for her answer.
“No,” she said quietly.
He smiled. Not big. Not chaotic. Just… warm.
“Okay,” he said. “I’ll stay, then.”
They sat there for a few minutes. Aubrey picked at her sandwich. Chase flipped through her TV options without picking anything.
Then her phone buzzed again.
Caleb: I’ll be around later. Let me know if you want to get some air.
She stared at the screen until the letters blurred.
Chase glanced over, didn’t say anything.
She put her phone face-down.
“I don’t know what I’m doing,” she said under her breath.
Chase didn’t tease.
He didn’t push.
He rested his arm on the couch and said, “You don’t have to know.”
She exhaled slowly.
Her apartment felt too small for all the emotions she didn’t understand.
And the day wasn’t even close to starting yet.
Aubrey eventually forced herself into real clothes—sweats, a soft T-shirt, and a hoodie she didn’t remember buying. Chase stayed on the couch like a loyal but restless dog, switching channels every ten seconds until she threatened to throw the remote out the window.
“Sorry,” he said, not sorry at all.
She tied her hair into a messy bun and grabbed the keychain off the table. It felt heavier than something that small should. She turned it in her hand twice before putting it in her pocket.
“You gonna give it to him today?” Chase asked.
“I don’t know.”
“Why not?”
“Because I don’t know,” she said, louder than she meant to.
Chase nodded slowly, like he understood something she hadn’t explained.
“You want company?” he asked.
“No.”
He raised a brow.
“Okay, maybe,” she admitted.
He grinned like he’d been waiting for the confession. “Cool. Let’s go then.”
“Go where?”
“Somewhere that isn’t your couch.”
She sighed, grabbed her shoes, and followed him out.
The weather was cold enough to make her hands stiff, but not painful. People walked their dogs, jogged, drank coffee. Normal Sunday things. Things she used to want to feel part of but didn’t know how.
Chase walked beside her without his usual bounce. His steps matched hers. She wasn’t sure he was doing it on purpose, but it made her feel less exposed.
“You think he lost it yesterday?” Chase asked casually.
“I don’t know,” she said.
“You think he knows?”
“I don’t know.”
“You think—”
“Chase.”
“Right. Shutting up.”
They reached the small plaza with the bench by the food truck—Caleb’s usual area. It was empty now, just a couple of seagulls judging the world.
“You don’t have to stay,” Aubrey said.
“I know.”
“I’m serious.”
“I know.”
She rolled her eyes. “You’re exhausting.”
“And yet,” he said, “you let me in your house twice in two days.”
She couldn’t argue.
They sat on the bench. Her leg bounced uncontrollably. Chase glanced at her knee but didn’t comment.
After a minute, he asked, “You nervous?”
“No.”
“Liar.”
“Shut up.”
“Cool.”
He leaned back, stretching his arms over the back of the bench.
Aubrey kept one hand in her pocket, thumb running over the keychain. She wasn’t sure why returning something so small felt like handing someone a piece of her spine.
Then she saw him.
Caleb.
Walking from across the plaza, hands in his pockets, head slightly down, looking like someone who carried quiet on his shoulders. When he spotted them, he lifted his head a little.
Chase murmured, “Showtime,” and stood.
“You’re leaving?” Aubrey whispered harshly.
“Yeah,” he said. “You got this.”
“I don’t ‘got’ anything.”
“Too late.”
He walked away before she could tackle him.
Caleb slowed when he reached her. “Hey,” he said, breath visible in the cold.
“Hi,” she said, trying not to sound like a malfunctioning robot.
“You’re out early.”
“Trying something new.”
He nodded once like that made perfect sense.
Caleb looked around, then at her. “Everything okay?”
She swallowed.
“I… found something.”
“Okay.”
She pulled the keychain from her pocket and held it out. “This.”
Caleb blinked.
Then blinked again.
He reached for it slowly, like he wasn’t sure it was real. When his fingers closed around it, his breath hitched—just a little, but she saw it.
“I didn’t know I dropped it,” he said quietly.
“Chase picked it up,” she explained.
“Of course he did.”
Aubrey almost smiled. “He brought it to me.”
Caleb looked up, surprised. “To you?”
“Yeah.”
He studied her face for a moment. Not in a way that made her uncomfortable—more like he was trying to understand something carefully.
“Thank you,” he said. Soft. Too soft.
“It’s just a keychain.”
He shook his head once. “Not to me.”
Her chest tightened so suddenly she forgot to breathe.
Caleb looked down at the keychain again, thumb brushing the scratched surface like it meant something bigger.
“I thought I lost this years ago,” he said. “Didn’t expect to lose it again.”
She didn’t know what to say.
He slipped it into his pocket, then looked at her more directly.
“You want to walk?” he asked.
She nodded.
They walked slowly down the street. Not talking at first. Just matching steps. Her brain kept tripping over itself, trying to process too many things—Chase leaving her to deal with this, Caleb reacting so quietly, the weight of the keychain now gone from her pocket but heavier in her mind.
“You okay?” Caleb asked gently.
Aubrey let out a breath. “No idea.”
He smiled just a little. “That’s honest.”
They walked another block before he asked, “Did Chase bother you this morning?”
“Yes,” she answered immediately.
Caleb laughed. “Sounds right.”
“But he brought breakfast.”
“That also sounds right.”
She shoved her hands in her hoodie pocket. “You two are weird.”
“We’ve known each other too long,” he said.
“Does he always… do things like this?”
“Like what?”
“Show up out of nowhere. Bring things. Insert himself.”
Caleb considered it. “Yeah. That’s him.”
“And you’re okay with that?”
Caleb shrugged. “It’s who he is.”
She couldn’t tell if that made her feel better or worse.
They reached a crossing. Caleb looked at her, waiting for the walk signal.
“You look tired,” he said gently.
She exhaled. “I’m kind of always tired.”
“You don’t have to be alone in it.”
Her chest tightened again—twice in one day.
“That’s… complicated,” she said.
“It doesn’t have to be,” he replied.
Aubrey opened her mouth but didn’t know what to say. The walk signal turned on.
They crossed in silence.
When they reached her apartment building, she stopped. Caleb did too.
“Can I ask you something?” he said.
“Okay.”
His voice dropped slightly. “Did Chase tell you I lost it?”
“He said he found it.”
“And?”
“And he thought I should bring it to you.”
Caleb took that in carefully. Slowly.
He nodded once. “That makes sense.”
Aubrey blinked. “It does?”
“He looks out for people.”
“So do you,” she said before thinking.
Caleb paused.
Then gave her a quiet, small smile that made her heart trip over itself.
“I try,” he said softly.
They stood there for a moment too long.
Not awkward.
Not rushed.
Just… suspended.
Caleb finally stepped back. “Text me if you need anything.”
She nodded. “Okay.”
“Really,” he added.
“I will.”
He turned and walked away.
Aubrey watched him disappear around the corner, her breath stuck somewhere between her chest and her throat.
She didn’t know where this was going.
She didn’t know how to handle any of it.
But she knew one thing for sure:
Something had shifted.
And she couldn’t pretend it hadn’t.
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