I went back up to my apartment and washed my face. I stared blankly at myself in the mirror, wondering in sorrow at what I had become. My face was pale and my eyes were hollow and tired. The circles under my eyes were more prominent than ever. I looked sickly, even though I felt perfectly fine.

Serena's words resonated through my mind as I walked out of the bathroom and pulled out my laptop. While I waited for Caleb to arrive, I idly searched the internet for cheap textbooks that I would need for the fast-approaching semester. I couldn't wait until the semester was over. Then I will have graduated and be on to bigger, better things. College was getting boring. I wanted to go out and start a career.

Thinking about this reminded me of my camera. I had been so busy with the diner situation and the Caleb-Serena drama that I hadn't had time to take pictures. I went to my closet and pulled out the black camera bag. I unzipped it and gingerly lifted my camera out of the bag.

"Hello, old friend," I whispered to it. Turning it on, I pointed the lens at the sliver of the night sky that was visible from behind the curtains that covered the windows. I snapped the picture, capturing the scene in its essence, just the way I loved.

My phone buzzed on my bed. I got up and looked at it. It was a text from Caleb.

Caleb: I'm here.

I picked my phone up and answered.

Nicole: I'll be down in a second.

I carefully packed my camera away and put it back on its shelf in my closet. I grabbed my coat and phone and bag and started to walk out the door. I stopped when I was about to close the door and went back inside. I grabbed my camera bag from its shelf and shouldered it. Then, I walked out the door into the brisk winter air.

Caleb was parked in front of the apartment building, his headlights the brightest form of lights in the dark. I climbed into the passenger seat, glad that his heat was on.

"Hey," he said.

"Hey," I replied.

And then we were off, driving into the dark, dark night.

"You told everyone I was in the hospital," I said, breaking the silence.

"Was I not supposed to?" he replied.

"They already worry about me enough as it is, so it really wasn't necessary," I said.

"But you have good reason to make them worry," he said.

"I wish I didn't," I replied in a hollow voice.

"Who would?" he said, not taking his eyes off the road.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"You showed me La Bonne a while ago and said that it was one of the places you always go to at night when you can't sleep. Now I'm going to show you a place that I always went to when I couldn't sleep," he answered.

"Went to? You don't anymore?" I asked.

"Not as often," he answered.

"Why not?" I asked.

"Because it's a bit far out from town," he said. I nodded and leaned back in the comfortable car seat that was now so familiar. We remained silent the rest of the ride. As Caleb drove further and further away from Berkeley, the places around us blurred together. After about two hours, Caleb started slowing down. I looked around and realized that we were on a bridge. Sitting up, I saw that it was the Golden Gate bridge.

Caleb drove into the city of San Francisco. Even this late at night, the city was alive. Cars were driving around, people were walking the streets, and music could be heard pumping from nearby clubs. But we continued driving on, going into the heart of the city.

He eventually pulled over on the side by a rather tall looking building. He parked and we both got out of the car. There was a meter and Caleb and I fished around our pockets looking for change. After paying the two hour meter, I followed Caleb to the base of the building. Looking around, I searched for a sign that told me what the building name was. I couldn't find one, though, and figured that it was probably written somewhere on the building instead of at the base.

"Caleb, what are--" I started, but he put his finger to his lips, silencing me. He beckoned for me to follow him. Eyeing him curiously, I walked forward. Caleb went around to the side of the building, which had an unattractive view of the side of the building next to it. He went up to the door and peered in. Then his hand went to the door handle.

"Are you trying to break in?!" I hissed. He gave me an annoyed look and rolled his eyes. "Caleb! I will not commit a crime with you," I said.

"Will you keep it down?" he hissed back. I frowned and stayed silent, feeling uncomfortable. I had never taken Caleb to be a criminal.

To my surprise, he extracted a key from his pocket and jammed it into a keyhole. The door unlocked and he pulled it open. I stood where I was standing, slightly in awe. He turned around, waiting for me to walk in. I stepped into the heated building and he let the door shut behind him. Turning, he locked the door with the same key.

"How do you have a key to this place?" I asked, keeping my voice low. We were immersed completely in darkness. The only light that was available was filtered in from the streetlamp outside.

I jumped as I heard the sound of footsteps and a cascade of light that belonged to a flashlight fell on us.

"Oh God," I whispered.

"Hey! Who's there?!" we heard a man bellow. I let out a stream of curse words in my mind, paralyzed by fear. What had Caleb gotten us into?

"Relax, Stan. It's just me," Caleb said, his face calm. The light from the flashlight went to his face as the man reached us. I took in the man's appearance. He was wearing a navy security guard uniform, had a sturdy looking night stick in his holster, as well as a gun.

"Oh. Caleb. I was just about to come and open the door for you," he--Stan--said.

"That's all right. I found the key," Caleb replied.

"Oh. Is this your friend, then?" Stan asked. Caleb glanced at me.

"Yeah. This is Nicole," Caleb answered. Stan reached out a chubby hand to me. I grapsed it lightly, trying to force a smile. At the moment, I was thoroughly confused as to what was happening. How did Caleb know this security guard? Why did he have a key to whatever building this was? What was this building?

"Nice to meet you, Nicole," Stan said. I nodded and looked at Caleb.

"We'll be here for a few hours. Is that all right?" Caleb asked as Stan handed him a spare flashlight.

"I'll be here all night. So it's fine with me. Just don't wander," Stan answered.

"We won't," Caleb said. His hand found mine and took hold of it as he began pulling me further into the dark building. "Thanks, Stan!" Caleb called out. The man raised a hand in acknowledgment before turning towards to the door to check if it was locked properly. Caleb turned back to me.

"I'll answer all your questions in just a bit. Follow me," Caleb said. I nodded. He turned the flashlight on and we walked to the elevators. While we waited for it to come down, I looked around.

We were in a room with a high ceiling and medium sized orb-like chandeliers that were currently turned off. All around were elegant mahogany desks with plush seats in front of them. The floors were a shiny marble and the whole place had a very spacious look to it.

The ding of the elevator indicated that it had arrived. The doors slid open and we stepped inside. Thankfully, the lights in the elevator were still on. Caleb pressed the '40' button, which was the highest number. The doors closed and we rode up silently.

When the elevator stopped moving, the doors opened to a vacant floor that was made entirely of glass windows. Caleb pulled me by the arm towards a door that was at the far right. He opened it up and a blast of sound and cold air hit me. He led me up the short staircase and we emerged at the top of the building. We were on the roof.

I followed Caleb to the ledge of the building. We were very high up. The city below looked minuscle, as if I were a giant looking at a miniature replica of a model city. The car headlights twinkled below in a blur of colors. The noise of the city was barely audible at our height. The air was chilly up here, the wind biting at our faces. I pulled my coat around me tighter and blinked away the tears that formed in my eyes from the cold.

"You want to go inside?" Caleb asked, noting the shiver that ran through my body at that moment. I shook my head. I wanted to stay out here, to look at the world from a new perspective. He pursed his lips and looked at the city down below. We stood next to each other in silence for a few moments, gazing at the night life that continued below us.

I pulled my camera out of my bag, making sure to hold it securely in my numbing hands. I put the strap around my neck and angled the camera so that it pointed at the base of the building across from us. The building had dark glass that was almost mirror-like and reflective. Zooming in closer with the impeccable range my camera got, I snapped a picture of the life as seen from the reflections in the building. The cars and people were distorted in the windows of the building, but that's how they appeared to me in real life. Distorted people and shapes living distorted and ordinary lives.

"How long have you done photography?" Caleb asked.

"I always loved art, ever since I was a child. I picked up a camera when I was a freshman in high school. There's something refreshing about looking at the world through the camera lens. You notice things that you wouldn't normally notice," I answered.

I looked at him. His cheeks were slightly pink because of the cold. His dark hair was a tangled mess as it blew in the wind. His green eyes, though, they raged on and on and on...

"My dad used to own this building. Up until about six years ago," he said, his gaze lingering on me for a fleeting second before he looked back down at the city. I sucked in a breath. He was going to tell me his story.

"Come on," he said, taking my hand and leading me to the corner of the building, where there was a sort of seat-like structure right by the ledge. We climbed onto this and sat facing each other. The faint sounds of the city below us danced around in the wind.

"This is an law firm, called Johnson and Sons. It used to be an insurance agency called MTS Insurance. Matthew Thomas Shaw Insurance. Guess who Matthew Thomas Shaw was?" Caleb said.

I looked at him. He rested his arms on knees, which were drawn up. His head rested on the wall behind him. The pale light from the city cast a glow on his face, illuminating all of his features.

"It went bankrupt. My father took a trip to Las Vegas with my mother for their anniversary and he was exposed to gambling. He decided he liked it and continued doing it, slowly betting away all of his money and losing. It came to a point where he himself had gone broke. He took part in a risky business endeavor to expand the company, but it failed. Instead, he lost all of company's money, it was bought by the law firm, and my father resorted to drinking away all of his problems," Caleb explained.

I bit my lip, narrowing my eyes. I had been right about Caleb. He did have a rough life.

"Our family went through a really rough time after that. My mother tried to get a job, but she never got to finish her business degree since she got pregnant with me when she first met my dad. Nowadays, there aren't very many stable jobs unless you have a good degree from a big university. She didn't, so she worked as a janitor at the new firm that bought my father's business. That's how I met Stan. I used to come here after school and watch my mom as she cleaned the floors and wiped the windows and took out the trash. I remember I would get so mad..." he trailed off, turning his face so that he was looking out into the distant night sky.

He was silent for a moment, emotions flitting all across his face rapidly. I saw anger, remorse, guilt, fury, sadness, nostalgia, love. The storm of emotions I had always seen running through his eyes were now out in the open. Almost fifty stories from the ground, he was finally opening up, releasing his emotions into the air.

I turned my camera on again and quiety captured those emotions.

"She kept the household going with her shitty paycheck for about three years. But then she started getting sick. The company didn't provide for good enough protection for its employees and Mom got exposed to bleach a few too many  times. Her hands started aching and she developed arthritis in them. Her hair started thinning and she got really thin. She used to be so beautiful, Nicole. She was a real goddess when she was young," he said, his eyes distant.

I swallowed, wanting to ask the question that was at the tip of my tongue. Caleb glanced at me and seemed to notice and understand.

"She's still alive. But she's weak," he told me. I looked down at my hands, breathing a soft sigh of relief. At least he still had his parents.

"My father's still alive, too. And he's still the drunk he became after he lost everything," Caleb added, his tone bitter. He sighed and ran a hand over his face.

"Liam was diagnosed with leukemia about a year and a half ago. The doctors luckily caught it in its early stage. But unfortunately, his situation is getting worse. Treatment is expensive and surgery is even more expensive. Since my father and mother both don't have jobs, I took it on myself to work. Problem is, I haven't graduated from school yet, so no one is willing to hire me," Caleb said.

I saw his Adam's apple bob up and down as he swallowed. This was difficult for him to recount. He turned his head so that he was looking directly at me.

"If he dies, it'll be my fault," he said.

I looked at him sharply, narrowing my eyes.

"You can't possibly think that," I said, finally finding my voice.

"I can because it's true," he replied.

"Caleb, it's not your fault. You didn't give him the cancer. You're doing everything you can-" I started.

"But it's not enough!" he shouted, his voice echoing around us before being whisked away by the wind and disappearing. "He's getting worse! The doctors are saying that he's getting dangerously close to the stage where it's incurable. He can get better right now. He can still be cured. But I can't pay for it. I have no money!" he exclaimed.

"I love him more than anything in the entire world. If he dies..." he trailed off.

He clenched his fists so hard that his knuckles turned white. His expression turned livid. His eyes burned fire.

"If my fucking father never gambled his money away, my kid brother would have a chance at life. My own fucking father isn't doing anything to get back on his feet and save his son's life. He doesn't give a shit about him or any of us because he's so fucking pissed all the time," Caleb said bitterly, his words dripping with venom and hatred.

"Then it's his fault, not your's. You can't blame this on yourself," I said in a soft voice.

"I'm just as bad because I can't doing anything, either," he replied, looking away from me again.

I put my camera down and moved so that I was right in front of him. I leaned forward on my knees and reached out, placing my fingers on his cheeks. I gently turned his head so that he was looking at me. I could see the pained expression in his eyes, the tortured look on his face. He really thought it was his fault. He closed his eyes, hiding his emotions under his heavy lids.

I traced the dark circles under his eyes with my forefinger. I brushed his hair back behind his ears, and ran my fingers over the stress lines that seemed to be permanently etched into his forehead. As I brushed my thumbs against his cold cheeks, he opened his eyes, engulfing me in a field of green. He placed his hands over mine and then drew me close to him, enveloping me in his warmth. His strong arms encircled me, holding me close to his body.

"Liam is going to make it through this. He's going to get better," I whispered into the night air.

"You're supposed to say that," he replied just as gently. I shook my head.

"I'm saying it because Liam has a chance. You can't give up on him. Things are going to work out," I said. He shook his head, still not believing. "Levi didn't have a chance, Caleb. He was dead before they brought him to the hospital. You have to hold onto that chance, however far away and unattainable it seems. Because at least he has that," I said softly.

I pulled away from him and he looked at me, a distant expression on his face.

"If this place holds such horrible memories for you, why do you keep coming back here?" I asked. He swallowed, his thumbs stroking my wrists where he held them.

"Because I need somewhere to let my thoughts out. Berkeley's such a small town. If I let them loose there, the whole town will burn down," he replied.

"I want to come with you," I said.

"What?" he asked.

"Whenever you come out here, I want to come with you," I said.

I saw a sense of relief and calmness flood his face. He brought his hands up to my face and cupped my cheeks. He leaned forward and kissed my forehead, his lips lingering at my cold skin for a few moments before he pulled away again. I felt my heart racing and a drumming thump in my ears as my own emotions began swirling out of control. Caleb seemed to notice this and he leaned back against the wall again.

I looked at him through my own pained eyes before taking a breath of cold air. I moved so that I was sitting next to him on the ledge. He put his arms around me and I rested my head on his chest. And we sat like this for a few hours, in complete silence, waiting for the sun to rise up and clear away all the mess and confusion that we had released into the night air.

__________________________________________________________________________

A/N: I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack! Who missed me? It's ok to admit it. I missed all of you. My lovely little fans. =)

There's Caleb's story for you. Was this chapter worth the wait?

I think I failed all my finals. Just kidding. Aced 'em! (Except for one)

How on earth am I going to piece together all these problems and solve them? I guess you'll find out in the next few chapters!

Show me that you're still with me and VOTE! Bring this story back to #8 on the Adventure List. That's your challenge. Whatever it takes. The more votes I see, the fast I'll update, if that's incentive enough for you. =P

PS. Yes the song is a Drake song. I'm obsessed with it at the moment. The music in the background is spectacular. Listen to an instrumental version if you have the chance.

XOXO