Caleb knew he wasn’t hallucinating when he saw you giggling for the past hour on your phone. This was supposed to be a relaxing getaway for the both of you. And yet, it seems like he’s the only one relaxing while his Pipsqueak…

Busy texting away someone else?

Caleb wouldn’t mind if his Pipsqueak had fun with someone other than him—though he made sure it won’t happen—but this is just too much. He felt like an abandoned puppy, waiting patiently for a scrap of affection from its distracted owner..

“Pipsqueak, whatchu doin’?” he whined softly, slipping beside you on the sofa bed. Slowly leaning back, he tilted his head, trying to sneak a glimpse at whatever, or whoever, had your full attention. It could’ve been a video of puppies. A meme you both would have laughed at. Something simple, familiar. But Caleb saw it clearly, it was a chatroom. With someone. A guy.

“Pipsqueak,” he said, his voice low, tight. Twice. Thrice. By the fourth time, it was less a nickname and more a warning. But for some reason, you didn’t even flinch. He saw how you just kept giggling to yourself, deliberately ignoring him. Until the silence between both of you started to feel like a crack about to split wide open.

That’s it. No more nice Caleb.

A force of gravity pulls away the device from your hand as it lands nicely on Caleb’s calloused hand. The warmth in his expression is gone, no longer the kind and attentive boyfriend he was once a few moments ago. Replaced by something colder, sharper.

“Who got you so busy? A friend? A coworker? I thought we agreed to no more work on holiday.” he said calmly. Too calm. While his thumb scrolls mindlessly on your chat roll, a force of gravity forces you to keep you rooted in place.

“What’s this? A neighbor of yours?” he stifles a scoff, trying so hard to still be polite and not to sneer at the guy’s profile picture. A series sounds of struggles and whines of protests about your neighbor enters his ears, but he only focused on a word that came out of your mouth: he’s nice.

“Oh, I see. He’s nice. And he calls you Sweetie?” The nickname drips from his tongue like venom. “Is ‘Pipsqueak’ not enough for you, Sweetie?”