A/N: Well, here's my Christmas type fic :) Ok this isn't exactly a happy fic, it's kind of angsty I suppose. Mostly from Eric's POV. I hope that you all like it :) If you look up the entire lyrics to the song, you'll find that it fits very well -in some parts-
Disclaimer: I only own the paper that this is written on. The rest belongs to the man. The song is Same Old Laud Syne by Dan Fodleberg.
-&...&-
Met my old lover in the grocery store
The snow was falling christmas eve
I stole behind her in the frozen foods
And I touched her on the sleeve
We went to have ourselves a drink or two
But couldnt find an open bar
We bought a six-pack at the liquor store
And we drank it in her car.
We drank a toast to innocence
We drank a toast to now
And tried to reach beyond the emptiness
But neither one knew how.
Christmas eve was always a time of cheer. But on this occasion, there was hardly much to cheer about. Well in Eric Delko's world, that was. He knew he had lots of things to do tomorrow, so sleep was necessary. But he found his slumber stolen away from him, his mind clouded with images from the recent murder/suicide case. With every blink, he couldn't lose the images of blood spattered walls, and grotesque bodies. Sometime after the 300th turn in bed, he gave up the idea of getting rest. So he trudged over to the couch and turned on the television, in hopes that the droning voices of late night talk shows would lull him to sleep. Although the screen went in and out of focus in tune with his thoughts, it didn't make him any more tired. He let out a frustrated sigh, and turned off the TV, loosing the battle of sleep without much of a fight.
He decided he'd go for a walk, he found that it was a good way to clear his mind. Which was just what he needed right now. With that decided, he threw on whatever clothes that lay on the floor, a coat, and left, locking the apartment door behind him.
The first thing he noticed as he left was the air was frigged. He was thankful for the coat as he walked down the abandoned streets. He gazed with wonder at all of the decorated houses. It always fascinated him how people would go to such great lengths to decorate a simple house. He must have looked like an idiot, walking aimlessly down the roads, mouth half open, looking from house to house. He decided it'd be a good idea to return back home before he got too lost in the maze of streets, roads, and avenues, where every house looked the same.
He walked with tired feet, and found himself at Chrissie's Corner Market. The candies inside the window looked very tempting. He knew how much his nieces and nephews loved sweets, images of surprised faces flashed inside his brain. He chuckled, being the good uncle he was, he decided he'd buy some. The bell of the door jingled as he entered, warm air blasted him in the face. Some old Christmas songs blared from the store speakers. A few grim looking shoppers pushed through the aisles, grabbing their items with a grumble. He grabbed a small hand cart, and went straight to the candy section, grabbing whatever looked good, deciding that he might keep some for himself.
"Well what are you doing up so late Mr. Delko?" A voice called behind him. He turned, wondering who would recognize him out of the merry bunch in the store. His eyes met up with the green spheres of the last person he expected: Calleigh Duquesne.
"Calleigh, hey." He said, smiling. She looked exhausted, but her eyes were very much alive and sparkling. She had on a coat and some clothes on that looked rather disarrayed, as though she threw them on, he couldn't look much different though. But to him, Calleigh would always look beautiful, it didn't matter if she were old and gray.
"Well?" She said, smiling herself, shaking him out of his thoughts.
"I don't know, couldn't sleep I guess." He said with a mirthless chuckle. The images of a girl with lifeless eyes flashed in his mind.
"I know I couldn't either." She said and gestured to a card she had in her hand, she continued "Decided to do some late night shopping, clear my mind. What about you, got a sweet tooth?" She eyed the bag of candy in his hand.
"No, no, I'm getting these for my nieces and nephews." He replied, although, the candy did look very good…
"Right Eric, hiding behind your nieces and nephews, that's very mature." She said with a serious face, although he could hear the joke in her voice.
"What, it's the truth." He said, raising his arms, and in the process spilling out the cart's contents. She let out a laugh. God how that laugh was like music to his ears.
"Wow, that was brilliant." She said, still laughing.
"I know, I'm just full of surprises today." He said, kneeling down to pick up the fallen treats. She knelt down beside him, helping him.
"What do I do with them?" She asked, with a handful of candy canes, taffies, and jolly ranchers.
"Put them back in the cart." He said, doing just that.
"Ew, Eric, and you plan on giving this to your nieces and nephews?" she said exasperated.
"So, they're not going to care, besides, haven't you ever heard of the five second rule?" He asked, shoving the last of the candy into the cart.
"Eric, you know that that's just a myth, right?" she said, standing, and dusting off her pants.
"Come to my house for Thanksgiving sometime, you'll become a firm believer that it is, especially when you get Turkey on the floor." He said. Calleigh looked at him, not sure whether he was serious or joking. She decided joking was the better option, after all, it was better than imagining him eating a bird fresh off the floor.
As though that comment had ended the conversation, he stood, and headed toward the checkout line. She followed behind him.
"Oh, wait, you should go first, since you only have one thing." He said, gesturing her forward.
"Oh why thank you, you are too kind." She said, smiling at him. He smiled back.
After she paid, he put up his hand cart, full of candy. The cashier gave him a look that seemed to say "You've got to be joking". He shrugged and she began to ring up his items.
"So Cal, um, I know it's late, but you want to go for a drink, I know it's not your thing, but I think we both could use one." He said. It was the truth, well at least on his part.
She stared off into space, weighing the pros and cons. "Well" She started slowly, concluding what she wanted more "I don't see why not."
"Great, so… great." He said, not really sure what to say. He couldn't remember the last time he and Cal had gone out, or if they had even gone out at all.
"Yeah, great." She said a small smile on her lips. He knew that her, and the rest of the team, were not going to forget this murder/suicide case so easily.
Finally the cashier finished, after what must have been an eternity. He paid the due, and turned to leave the store, with Calleigh beside him.
He riffled through the bag and grabbed a piece of chocolate, took off the wrapper and ate it. Smiling to himself, ah ectasy.
"I thought you said it was for your nieces and nephews." She said jokingly.
"They are, I'm just making sure they aren't poisoned or something." He said.
"Right, the only poison on them would have to be from the store floor." She said, the store now a ways behind them. They headed in a random direction, looking for an open bar.
"Well, you never know what they put on store floors these days." He said, finishing off the candy. "Besides, there's nothing wrong with eating something I bought." He was joking, of course, and so was she, it was something that he enjoyed doing with Calleigh, something that only they shared together.
"Only if you bought it for someone else." She rolled her eyes and crossing her arms.
"Why does it bother you so much, do you want some?" He said, holding up the bag out to her.
A sly smile formed on her lips "Well, I do like taffy…" She said, taking a piece and eating it.
"Well if it's poisoned, we'll both die now." He said with a chuckle.
"Yeah, well it was worth it." She said discarding the wrapper on the ground.
"Litter bug." He said, but continued to walk.
"Really, well, what about your wrapper?" She said, looking at him. He did his best to hide a smile, knowing he had –tried- to discreetly drop the wrapper a few paces back.
"What about my wrapper?"
"Don't lie to me Eric, I saw you drop it." She laughed at him, and he laughed. "Besides, you're a horrible liar."
"Yeah, I know." He replied, why didn't he and Calleigh do this more often? Then the answer hit him like a ton of bricks. The answer could be said in less than two syllables. Jake. He cleared his throat.
"So uh, how are you and uh-" The name didn't want to come out "Jake." There he said it. He felt like a kid, being all fussy over someone being with a girl.
"We're good I guess, I mean, I'm going to his house tomorrow, you know for Christmas." She said with a soft smile, he was unsure of what she was thinking of. But he realized that he didn't really want to know, after all, what happened between Jake and Calleigh was between Jake and Calleigh.
"That's cool." He said nodding slightly "I'll be going to my parent's house, as I'm sure you guessed." He said.
"Yeah, sounds like fun." She said. They walked up and down the street, unable to find a bar that was open. So they walked more, talking about anything that came to mind; it was also a good way to forget about the horrors that their job somtimes inflicted on them. They looked at the various houses, seeing how people decorated them. Eric found it much more entertaining than doing it by himself. At some point between Second Avenue and east cupcake, they forgot all about looking for a drink, and found themselves just enjoying each other's companionship. Before long, the found their way back to Chrissie's Corner Market.
"Well I had fun Mr. Delko." She said with a smile.
"Yeah, it was, we should do it again sometime." He said, looking into her eyes.
"Definitely." She said, and sighing. "Well I should be heading back, I've got to get some sleep." She said, and as though sleep were a magic word, Eric felt sleep coming on to him too.
"Yeah, I know." He held the bag of now cold candy. "I'll ah... see you after Christmas."
"Yeah." She stifled a yawn "See you after Christmas." She began to leave. He wanted to hug her, or kiss her, or something. But he knew that no matter how much he dreamed, Calleigh was not his girl. With a pang of regret in his heart, and a knot in his gut, he tromped back home. He looked up at the sky, as if for an answer, and saw that clouds had formed in the starlight sky. He pushed all of the images out his brain, images of Calleigh and Jake, images of Jake kissing Calleigh. Images that he knew would not be of him and her together. Rain began to fall, sending a sudden chill in his bones. He walked into the dark, empty apartment, and laid down. He rolled around in his bed. Although the images of the dead family were long out of his brain, images of Calleigh still haunted him. If anything, he was back where he started, it was going to be another sleepless night.
We drank a toast to innocence
We drank a toast to now
And tried to reach beyond the emptiness
But neither one knew how.
We drank a toast to innocence
We drank a toast to time
Reliving in our eloquence
Another auld lang syne...
Just for a moment I was back at school
And felt that old familiar pain
And as I turned to make my way back home
The snow turned into rain --
-&...&-
Ok it's done. By the way, the title, Auld Lang Syne means good or long friendship or fond memories. Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year y'all. Please reivew, I'll consider it a very good Christmas present XD