its her eyes {caleb}

[alyzia marie chace]

Alyzia had her phone plastered to her ear as she rushed down the streets of Cape May. As fast as anyone in a car with a thousand or so other cars full of out-of-staters could rush. Not that Alyzia was very used to the Cape. She'd only been there about eight hours, which was enough time to get a car, stop at her hotel, and go directly from there to the Cape May County Zoo. They needed her as soon as possible, considering their marine biologist left about a month ago, and the sea lions were ill. But that was all beside the point. The point was that Caleb was on the other line with her, and she was trying to figure out if he was where she told him to be.

"I told you to be on the beach at seven. Are you there? I'll know if you aren't. I have my spies." she teased, about to blare her horn at some New Yorker, but decided against it. She didn't want Caleb to know she was driving and on the phone at the same time. She was going to be late.

[caleb matthew jackson]

Caleb walked along the beach, thinking about the day he'd had and how much it literally sucked. He had gotten up at four in the morning for physical training only to find out that they had moved the time to six instead, which pissed him off because he was already awake. After that, he had time to kill before work so he'd gone to pick up a birthday present for his almost two-year-old nephew Colby, but the store had run out of what he intended to buy and the next shipment wasn't going to be until after Colby's birthday in just a few weeks. Around that time, Caleb was ready to lose it until he went to his sister's place to help out for a little while. Being around his nephew always made him get in a better mood because he was a rambuncious little boy with tons of energy and enthusiasm galore. And now he was talking to his favorite person in the world, Alyzia, on the phone.

He laughed and kept the phone at his ear as he walked in the sand. "Oh I'm here," he replied. "Right at seven, as promised." Alyzia had wanted him to go to his own beach in Cape May while she stood on hers in Florida so they could watch the sunset together. This was something they had done since his departure from Florida just a few weeks prior. He missed her a lot, even though they had only met a few months ago when he went to Florida to clean up some of the oil spill mess. They had met and just hit it off from there. As he walked, he thought of how beautiful she would have looked just walking beside him, but Caleb would take what he could get since they were going to make this long-distance relationship work.

[alyzia marie chace]

Finally the tourists had cleared out enough and Alyzia pulled into a spot at La Mer, her hotel. She jumped out of the rented vehicle and hit the lock button on the remote, sprinting across the street to the beach. She was dodging tourists as she sprinted the distance to the shoreline, still trying to keep her breathing in check so Caleb didn't think she was up to something. See, the thing is, Caleb always knew she was up to something. But Lyz had been pretty sly on this trick, at least she hoped.

"What part of the beach are you on anyway? What do you see? I never know..." Caleb knew she'd never been to Cape May before, so she was hoping he'd describe his location so she could spot him before he saw her. She had every intention of sneaking up behind him if she could. Or... No, she had a better idea. She reached the shoreline and stopped, right before the area that got covered in water by the tide. She didn't want her shoes getting wet. Her eyes looked up and down the beach, trying to see if she could spot him.

[caleb matthew jackson]

Caleb kept walking along the shore, having ditched his shoes in the car anyways. He hated wearing shoes at the beach since he always seemed to get about eight buckets worth of sand in them everytime. The further he walked, he was reminded of how much he loved the beach and why. When he and his sisters had been growing up, their parents had brought them to this very beach to play. His dad taught him to swim in the ocean and how to build sand castles using the wet sand. Catelyn and Corrine had chased him down the beach with buckets of water to dump on him and their parents would watch close by, sitting on lawn chairs while soaking in the sun. Caleb was glad he could carry those things on to his nephew, Colby, and keep those same traditions of coming out there on particular holidays, like Fourth of July and Memorial Day. He and his sisters had agreed to that when they got older.

As Alyzia asked what part of the beach he was on, Caleb looked at his surroundings to see what was close by. "This time I'm pretty close to this driftwood stick fence...looking thing," he said, laughing a little. "I don't know how to describe it other than that." Caleb laughed at himself, mostly for the lack of descriptive skills. He wasn't a writer or scholar, but he prided himself on being able to at least communicate effectively. He stopped and looked out over the ocean for a moment with a smile, thinking about Alyzia. "What part of the beach are you on for you?" he asked, returning her question. "Is it the same one we went to all the time while I was down in Florida?"

[alyzia marie chace]

Lyz listened to his description, and she knew what he was talking about. Turning her head right, she saw the fake pier thing jutting out a bit further down the beach. She walked along it, the sun casting her shadow and the shadow of others along the sand. Finally, her eyes landed on Caleb and her heart fluttered. Oh God, she was really here. With him. She was about to be in his arms. That feeling was so amazing to her. It had been a month and a half since they'd seen each other. They talked every day, and had even been inappropriate on the phone a few times, but that had gotten to the point where it just wasn't enough.

She took some steps away from the shoreline, making sure Caleb wouldn't see her, but she faltered slightly when he asked where she was. She looked around her. She didn't want to lie... "Well, I'm surrounded by sand. And there's a horseshoe crab by my feet. Oh, and the hotels are behind me. And there's this guy standing in my spot... Oh God, look at that... Now my eyes are closed, and I'm pretending I'm holding your hand." The last bit was a lie. She was watching him. "Close your eyes. Pretend with me."

[caleb matthew jackson]

As he talked with Lyzi on the phone, he thought of the first time they met. He had been sent down to Florida in mid-May to help out with the oil spill catastrophe that had happened in early April. While down there, he had been helping clean up some of the animals effected. While working, he noticed a beautiful blonde girl that was directing most of the animals to particular stations to be cleaned off based on the amount of oil they were covered in and the type of animal they were. Throughout the day, he watched as she politely asked people to do what she asked of them while also caring for animals herself, getting down and dirty with the rest of them as they cleaned. One guy in particular, one of Caleb's subordinates in the Coast Guard, began to give Lyzi lip about what he was doing since she had nicely corrected his procedure of cleaning a particular animal. Caleb stepped in and fixed the issue quickly, sending the guy off to do something else. A little conversation ensued and soon enough, he asked her on a date. From there, things just progressed.

When she started to describe her surroundings, Caleb smiled and laughed a little. "I'd go move him from my spot if I were you," he teased gently before she mentioned that her eyes were closed and she was pretending she was holding his hand. As she asked him to do the same, he obliged for her and only her. "I wish I wasn't pretending though," he said softly into the phone. "I wish you were here with me or I was down there with you again." In all honesty, Caleb did wish he was there with her. It was peaceful there, just as it was here. He wanted to be with her in these quiet moments at the end of the day, sharing the last few rays of the sun with her as he held her close. It might've been cliche and stupid to most people, but it wasn't to someone who knew what their heart wanted.

[alyzia marie chace]

Alyzia laughed a little when he said to move whoever was in her spot. "I don't know, she said, her smirk etched into her features. "He looks muscle-y. And he's taller than me. Maybe I'll just hang back." Caleb was only mere feet away from her, but she had to wait until his eyes were closed before she could do anything. When he said he wished he wasn't pretending, she knew his eyes were shut. She knew he'd do the simple task she asked.

"I know," she said softly into the phone. The waves were loud enough that he wouldn't hear her voice. Quietly, she stepped next to him, and looked at his face. A tear slipped down her cheek. Just knowing how close they were made her so happy. She turned away, to speak into the phone so he wouldn't hear her. "I'm pretending I'm kissing you know." she said softly. Quietly again, she stepped in front of Caleb, knowing their height difference wouldn't give away the fact she was in front of him. She could only hope he didn't open his eyes.

[caleb matthew jackson]

Standing there on the beach, Caleb listened as Lyzi described the guy who was standing in her spot, kind of laughing a little. He knew that Lyzi would not even try to take down a guy twice her size. She was smarter than that. Now more than ever he wished that he could be there with her. He thought of all the shared walks on the beach there, the stolen kisses under the boardwalks, the things they shared with one another about life and their families. Caleb told her about his brother-in-law dying overseas, leaving behind his twin sister Catelyn husbandless and their son without a father before the age of two. He had never told anyone about how bad he felt for his nephew and how he felt the need to step up to be there before he met Lyzi.

As Lyzi said she wished she weren't pretending too, Caleb smiled a little. It had been a month and a half, give or take, since they'd seen one another and he knew he would've given anything to see her again. As she said she was pretending to kiss him then, he smiled again while his eyes were closed. "I can almost feel you right here," he said softly. "I would hold you in my arms and never let go if you were really here for me to kiss." Caleb knew he spoke truth. Given the opportunity, he knew he would never leave her or let her go again like they had before. Never again would he let work pull them away from each other. But that was just a wish right now since they were a thousand miles apart.

[alyzia marie chace]

Alyzia's breath hitched when he said he could almost feel her. Her eyes watered with happy tears and a genuine smile planted itself on her face. She could feel her desire for him warm her entire body and she took a step forward, touching his lips gently with her own. She had no idea what his reaction would be, but she knew he'd remember what she felt like. Closing her eyes, she hit the end call button on her phone and put her arms around his neck, so very thankful to be here, to have him in her arms. He felt the same, he smelled the same, and he tasted the same. Her memories had been able to hold her over, but then intensity had faded with the time spent apart. Being with him again though, reminded her of all that.

"Now," she said, sobs slipping into her voice, "I'm burying my face in your neck and taking your phone from you and hanging it up." She did exactly that, pressing the end call button on his and slipping it in his pocket. She felt her tear slide off her nose and onto his shoulder, but she kept smiling and put her arms back around him, holding him tightly. "Then I put your phone away because, God damn it, we're never doing that again."

[caleb matthew jackson]

As Caleb stood there on the beach, holding the phone to his ear, he could remember all the hundreds of times he and Lyzi would go down to the beach in Florida. But most of all, he remembered their last night together on the beach before he returned to Cape May. Neither of them had really wanted him to go. He wanted to stay where he could be with her forever. Even after just a few months of dating, he knew that she was the one he wanted to be with. Her tears streaming down her face that last night was something he had yet to forget because it tore him through and through. It took every strength and commitment to duty to tear Caleb away from her that next morning. Without another word, he heard the other end of the line go dead, but before he could say anything, he felt a pair of arms slip around his neck. Without opening his eyes, he knew that it was her. She was there with him. He recognized the way she felt, the smell from her perfume, and the sound of her voice as she spoke again.

He felt her take the phone away and hang it up while buring her face into his neck, just as she said she would. His eyes opened to see that she was really there. His Lyzi. Looking down at her, he saw how beautiful she really was. Memories did no justice to the real thing. Leaning down, he wrapped his arms around her waist and smiled at her. "Never again," he agreed. His word was as good as a promise. This time, he was not going to let her go or be the one to go. He would find a way for them to always be together no matter what. Putting his finger under her chin, he guided her lips to his and kissed her for the first time in a month and a half. It felt right and perfect.

[alyzia marie chace]

Oh, God, it felt so good to be kissed right and proper. No more pretending. No more staring out at the lonely ocean, hoping for things that might have been. No more hating to hang up the phone because the future was unclear. No more crying herself to sleep because she missed the way he felt around her. No more. They were together now. Just the way they were supposed to be. Alyzia would have been lying to herself if she said she wasn't a little afraid of what Caleb's reaction could be. For days she stressed that he never really went to the beach when she did. Or that he had some girlfriend here that was holding his attention, and he just didn't know how to break her heart. But when she saw him standing there, all her worries went away.

She pulled him as close as she possibly could, not caring that the sun was setting and they weren't watching it. She didn't care that there were a number of tourists looking at them. She was just so happy to be here, in his arms. So happy that she was crying. Alyzia kissed Caleb like he should be kissed, before she broke it with a distinctive sob. She closed her eyes and rested her forehead against his chest, letting her tears fall more freely now. "I didn't realize how hard it was to be away from you until now."

[caleb matthew jackson]

Caleb knew that there would be no more walking the beach at night alone. There would be no more reluctantly hanging up the phone at the end of their conversations because she would be right there with him. It felt good and right to have her there in his arms. The guys he worked with on a daily basis had only ever seen pictures of Lyzi and didn't understand how he could do a long distance relationship with a woman he met over the summer. They said it was too cliche for a thirty -year-old guy, but they didn't know Lyzi. Now they would and would see just how worth it she was. She was his everything an definitely worth the moments apart.

As she kissed him back, Caleb held her close and remembered the familiarity of her touch. He thought of the nights they spent lying in a hammock together under the stars. Everything in his world had been set right. As she broke the kiss and sobbed a little, saying how hard it had been to be apart, Caleb held her closer and kissed the top of her head. "I will never let either of us go through that again," he promised, bringing her gaze to his. His words were his bond and he would not break that. Not ever. "I love you. More than anyone I have ever loved before or will ever love."

[alyzia marie chace]

Alyzia had always had a harder time expressing her emotions than her boyfriends did. She'd only even told one guy she loved him. She'd showed him, and then he left her. That was years ago; she was still in high school then. Ever since, Lyz had been hush hush about admitting her feelings. She knew Caleb's words rang true, that he wouldn't let them be apart again. And it wasn't the first time he'd said he loved her.

She smiled at him when he brought her gaze to his. "I know," she said, nodding. "And... I know it's not what you want me to say, but if you ever get stationed somewhere else, I'll follow you." She wasn't letting him out of her sight again. She already knew she was going to spend the rest of her life with him, as long as he let her. Caleb was her compliment in every single way. He was her other half, the missing puzzle piece, and a thousand other analogies that she couldn't remember at that point. Alyzia pulled herself closer to him, resting her head on his chest, turning it slightly. She took a step to the side, so she could see the sunset. It was perfect. The whole moment was perfect.

[caleb matthew jackson]

There wasn't anything in Caleb's life that he was more sure of than Lyzi. She was the one for him in every single way possible. His parents had been concerned that he wouldn't find someone when he turned thirty since they had been high school sweethearts themselves, but Caleb told them it would happen when it happened. He never expected it to happen when he went to Florida. After returning to Cape May, he told his parents and sisters about Lyzi, which made them all too excited, even if they doubted a long distance relationship would work. However, they had proved everyone wrong. Lyzi was here now and said she would follow him anywhere he was stationed.

Caleb knew that the lives of military families weren't easy and that was part of the reason he had not settled down yet. The last thing he wanted was for his wife to feel alone during the months he would be deployed, if he ever was, but the tone in Lyzi's voice told him that she was serious about this relationship and committed to it just as he was. He held her close and smiled as the sun set over the water. "And I would go wherever I had to in order to be with you," he replied. Caleb would have gone to the ends of the earth for this woman. She was worth it and then some. "Where are you staying here?" he asked, looking down at her. "If you wanted to move in with me, you can." He had no idea if that was too fast but he only wanted to be with her.

[alyzia marie chace]

A happy smile crept across her cheeks when he said he'd go anywhere for her. She knew it was true. Alyzia, somehow, just knew that he'd do whatever it took to keep her. That gave her faith. And that feeling she'd been fighting since he left trickled through the barrier she'd put up, and caused her to tighten her grip around him just a little bit. She wasn't going to let go of him; not this time. She wasn't sure if she'd survive if he left her again, and she wasn't willing to test the theory. When he asked her where she was staying, she lifted her head up, feeling the shift in his own view point.

And when Caleb asked her to move in, her heart skipped a beat. At first, she was a little dumbfounded. She knew she was serious in this relationship, but was she that serious? What a stupid question to ask herself. Of course she was that serious. She had been from the moment he wiped that oil off her cheek. It was a feeling she couldn't explain, but whatever it was, it was stronger for Caleb than it had been for anyone else Alyzia had ever been involved with. "I... I have a room at La Mer booked. I had planned on staying there for however long it took me to find a place." Her bags were already in the room and she'd used the shower after she got off the plane. "I suppose I could check out," she said, smiling at Caleb.

Finally. This was it.