Disclaimer: don't own anything
Authors note: man, my mind is really racing to get all of these plot bunnies out of my head don't you think? I hope you all like this one even though it's written in such a haste and on a slight sugar fed creativity rush.
She couldn't believe it, her husband was once again on a business trip (not that she believed him but working around Cal did make her a great liar). Cal had been there the moment he stepped out of that house. Call it intuition he had said when she opened the door while still trying to deal with the fact that she was going to alone again for the next few days while her husband was off with some other woman. He smiled at her and walked in the house like he hadn't even noticed her doubts and fears. In his hands was a bag of their favourite Chinese restaurant, only the sight of it made Gillian feel a bit better. Clearly Cal hadn't really thought of the fact that his partner was feeling horrible and perhaps wanted to be alone while he set the table for two.
"Are you coming? I brought your favourite."
"Yeah, I'll just go and uhm, freshen up," Gillian showed him a strong smile and walked upstairs. She took a deep breath as she walked past the bedroom she had shared with Alec for so long, where their passion had been the most visible to the both of them even if it wasn't for the world outside that door.
Shaking her head, Gillian just continued her path towards the bathroom where she splashed some water in her face and stared at herself in the mirror. Her red puffy eyes stared back at her, deprived of the hope that once shone in them. She bit her lip and looked away from her reflection. Why had she let herself cry in the first place? It wasn't like she could do anything about her husband right now, he was gone and she hoped he would stay gone this time, alas, that was a hopeless wish since she knew he would come back and pierce through her heart even more with every lie he told.
"Gillian? You okay up there?" Cal yelled up, even if he could hide it well, Gillian heard the little edge of worry in his voice.
"I'll be right down Cal!" she yelled back, she had forgotten he was here for a moment while she walked around aimlessly in her house. Why was he here in the first place anyway? And how had he known when to show up, perhaps he hadn't and just decided to come by randomly. But random wasn't anything like Cal so Gillian couldn't do anything else but wondering how her partner had known she could use a normal night with a friend right now.
Perhaps he could read minds. That had to be it. With those deep hazel eyes he read every lie of any face of anybody in the world. It wouldn't be that weird if he could indeed read the minds of the people around him. Although it would creep her out to even go to work if this was true, the fact that he knew when she was lying was bad enough, if he really could read her mind, then she didn't even want to be around him in case he knew what she all thought about him.
"Hey Gillian! The Chinese is getting cold and if you don't get down within these next 5 minutes, I won't leave anything for you!"
She giggled at his cheery voice, even if she felt so horrible, he could still cheer her up by just acting like nothing was wrong and he was oblivious to the things happening around him. She splashed some more water in her face, dried away the dripping water and then walking downstairs, hoping that Cal had been joking about eating all the Chinese.
"For somebody who's so thin, you sure can eat," she remarked, raising an eyebrow as Cal was already eating out of the carton. Even though he claimed he didn't eat meat he couldn't see, he was sure enjoying his meal.
"If you use your head, you won't get fat even if you eat sweets," Cal shrugged, chewing on his food with a mysterious twinkle in his eyes.
"Why are you here Cal?" Gillian sighed, smiling at him before she dug into her own carton of food, "not that I don't mind but..."
"Just felt like you could use a friend right now," Cal shrugged, placing another bite in his mouth and chewing, thankfully with his mouth closed. Gillian stared at him for a moment, thankful for his skills of being quiet when the time asked for it.
"And no, I can't read minds," Cal looked down to his food, poking it with the fork he held. Gillian looked up fro her own food and stared at him with wide eyes, how did he even know she was thinking about that.
"How do you really know that I was thinking that?"
"You like magic, romance," Cal shrugged, "it's childish."
"Is that a bad thing Cal? Those things make me happy," she grinned, recalling one of their conversations a few weeks back about romance novels.
"No, cause I'm also childish," Cal smirked as he leaned over and picked some of her food and popped it in his mouth, grinning at her as he chewed.
She stared at him for a moment as he once again focused on his own food, muttering something under his breath but clearly letting that British accent of his ring through. She had to admit, she hadn't felt this good in a while and just knowing that Cal was here to cheer her up during one of the darkest nights of her life felt really good. She reached across the table and held his hand.
Cal looked up from his food in surprise and then stared at their two hands before he entwined their fingers in an embrace. Letting a small smile slip onto his lips, he then continued eating his food with more interest than before.
"I got to ask though Cal, and don't you dare to laugh at me mister," she pointed at him and mock-glared as he looked as innocent as he could, stopping with whatever he was doing, "what did u sniff, smoke or swallowed in the past hour that made you so incredibly happy?"
Cal paused a moment, looking thoughtful before taking another bite of his meal and then preparing to answer, "let's see, I just sniffed a bunch of coke in my car before I left and during my trip here I smoked a whole bunch of cigarettes. Oh and let's not forget the 2 or 3 Prozac's I took just before knocking on your door in the first place."
The way Cal said it made Gillian choke back giggles as he looked so serious yet she knew it was all a lie. The mischievous twinkle in his eyes might be invisible for anybody who didn't look for it but she knew it was there and saw it every time they made eye contact. And to be honest, she liked seeing it and tried to make as much eye contact with him as possible.
Stroking over his hand with her thumb, Gillian bit back a bigger smile as he broke their skin on skin contact and started doing the dishes for the meals they had both finished. She watched him, surprised by his kindness and need to distract her from anything that could lead towards her husband. Just thinking about him made her bite her lip so hard that she could taste the copper seeping out of her lip in the form of blood.
"Gillian? You okay there darling?" the sound of him saying 'darling' in his typical accent just made her heart race as she stood up and walked over to him. Placing her hands on his chest, she pushed him against the counter before pressing her lips against his own in a kiss she was sure he wouldn't return. This was something she had to do and he couldn't stop her.
Before she knew it, Cal had wrapped one arm around her waist with his one hand resting on the small of her back while the other one was already on the back of her neck, pulling her closer towards his warmer body as he deepened the kiss. This was something they both had been aching for, wishing for and hoped for, and finally, all their desire was released into that one kiss in the darkened kitchen (since Cal had clearly forgotten where the light switch was, one of these days he's going to forget where his house is, Gillian sighed).
She leaned in closer to his touch as he just kept tightening his grip around her waist. But before she could even go further, Cal broke the kiss and looked her in straight in the eyes. The twinkle that had been there before was gone much to Gillian's surprise but before she knew it, Cal was stroking his cheek and shaking his head 'no'.
"I shouldn't, not like this," he whispered as he looked away from her. She was sure she was about to let tears take over her system again but then realized that he was just putting himself on the backseat again. He didn't want to be the reason why her and Alec would divorce, even if it wasn't, he would feel guilty about it for months on, even years perhaps.
"Cal…"
"Gillian," Cal sighed, silencing her by placing his index finger on her lips. He could still taste a softer version of her lip-gloss on his own lips and refused to lick them even if they were turning drier by the second, "not like this."
"I understand Cal," she smiled, giving him just one more peck on the lips that he didn't return. He did however smile at her and stroked her cheek and placed some of her brown hair behind her ear, something he always did whenever she needed comfort. Gillian leaned into his touch and closed her eyes, smiling.
She finally knew how it felt to be with a person that would put her and her needs before his own. And she really didn't want to let the feeling go.
Once again, I hope you all liked it and please leave me a review to tell me what you think of it? Thanks a lot!