No Midnight Tiptoe
Eric lay on her couch staring up at the ceiling, the sound of his own breathing deafening in his ears. He loved the way that her apartment reflected who she was. It was half southern charm and half guns. Knowing that sleep wasn't going to come easily to him Eric stood from the couch and walked over to her bookshelf. It was lined with How-to books, mystery novels, what appeared to be romance novels, and a few Spanish books on the bottom. He smiled, she probably looked up all the nonsense he'd said to her over the years. The third shelf was lined with trinkets, pictures of Calliegh when she was a little girl, and small mementos he couldn't diagnose the meaning of. He picked up the pictures one by one, each one a window into Calleighs life. One was a picture of her covered in mud from head to toe smiling proudly. In another she was dressed up like a princess twirling around. A third was a picture of her father holding her on his shoulders, she couldn't have been more than three.
He stood again looking around the apartment. He walked over to kitchen and opened the freezer. He grabbed a container of ice cream. He searched around the kitchen for a spoon finding it in the drawer next to the sink. He shoveled the remaining ice cream into his mouth before depositing the container in the trash.
"I said no midnight tiptoe" Eric whipped around to see Calleigh rubbing her eyes, dressed in an oversized t-shirt as if it were pajamas. "And that was my favorite ice cream."
Eric smiled at her. "I couldn't sleep"
"Well yeah I can see that" She said back at him. Eric leaned back against the counter trying to calm his racing heart.
"Sorry I woke you" he apologized, she shook her head.
"You didn't I was up" The two stared at each other in silence. "What were you doing in my bookcase?" she asked nodding her head toward the shelves.
"Trying to get to know you better." He smirked in response she shook her head. She turned and walked out of the room.
"Are you coming?" he heard her call from down the hall, he walked in and saw another bookshelf this one covered just in pictures. Of the team, of her and her friends, of places she had been, but mostly of the two of them. "That bookshelf is for who I was, this one is for who I am." He didn't respond he walked over to the pictures of them together each one bringing a smile to his face. His eyes rested on one in particular. The team had all gone out for drinks and he and Calleigh had been charged with getting everyone home safe. They dropped off Speedle at his apartment and walked out onto the street together. She shuddered and Eric had given her his jacket. She had whipped out her phone and asked someone to take a picture of them. He had slung his arm over her shoulder and she had wrapped herself around his waist.
"I forgot about this." He said turning to face her.
"That's my favorite one." She replied. He looked at her smiling at the memory. "the origin of our midnight tiptoe rule" he laughed and nodded his head.
"It wasn't midnight." He said
"It was cold" She said trying to justify her actions
"It's cold now" He taunted.
"No its not"
"Where's your thermostat?" She laughed at him. He just stared at her. She rolled her eyes and nodded towards her bed. He walked over collapsing onto it his head resting on her pillow. She crawled towards him resting her head on his chest.
"Rules were made to be broken."