Note: Well, here's to the start of another story. :) The end of the series was pretty disappointing in terms of the Eric and Calleigh storyline, so I'd always wanted to see it through. Picks up just after the end of season 10/just after Calleigh adopts the North kids.
Note #2: I didn't remember them ever mentioning Austin's sister's name on the show, so I made one up for her.
Eric could hear nothing but the blaring, rhythmic music from his headphones as he ran through the path along Miami Shores park, could feel nothing but the pavement beneath his shoes, the sweat dripping down his skin, and a slight breeze from the ocean providing just a bit of reprieve from the sun. This was how he liked it when he ran: no thoughts or feelings, just loud music and being completely in tune with every slap of his feet against the pavement.
He was so deeply in his near-meditative state that he almost didn't see her. It was the flash of blonde he noticed first, then her smile, both so bright against the green hill and blue blanket she was sitting on. She looked like she'd come straight from his wildest but most innocent dreams, all dressed down with a white smock top on and jean shorts that showed off her soft but toned legs. The real kicker, though, was her sitting next to that little girl, leaning in and pointing out something in the book they were reading that made Claire smile, both their hair swept into braids – Calleigh's loosely at the side, Claire's into two perfect french braids.
Eric had a rule that he didn't stop when he was running. It was a normal rule. You might wave to an acquaintance, might even manage a "hey" if you weren't pushing the pace and still had your breath. But you didn't stop and talk. Especially not when you were planning to best your current 6-mile time.
And yet he found himself pressing the pause button on his GPS running watch and easing into a walk. As he pulled the buds from his ears and approached them, she looked up and another broad smile spread across her lips.
For the first time in a long time, they hadn't seen each other in days. She'd taken the week off to help with the transition, getting rooms set up, school registrations completed, and just spending time with the two of them.
"Eric, hey."
"Hey." His eyes danced between the two of them and he couldn't help but chuckle a little as Claire's expression immediately changed, her brows furrowing a little as she shyly leaned into Calleigh.
Calleigh laid her hand on Claire's back encouragingly. "Do you remember Eric? You met him a long time ago when we were helping your dad."
Claire glanced at Eric only briefly, quickly turning back to Calleigh as soon as their eyes met. She looked up at her, clearly concerned about this person she didn't trust and silently begging Calleigh to not make her talk.
"Yeah, she didn't want to talk to me then either," Eric said playfully. "Which is a shame because I'm pretty fun to talk to..."
"He is," Calleigh agreed, but Claire was either completely unconvinced or completely uninterested, if not both. "Eric's my really good...friend." Calleigh pursed her lips together at that, meeting Eric's eyes knowingly. It might have been a bit of an understatement, but that's what they were now. Friends.
Eric ran his tongue along the inside of his bottom lip, trying not to smile.
"Claire, why don't you do the next chapter on your own while I talk to Eric for a minute?" Calleigh asked softly. Claire's lips tightened into a complicit smile, answering silently as she pulled the book into her lap, wrapped her arms around her little body, and hovered over the pages.
Calleigh ran a hand along Claire's back encouragingly before she pushed herself up, taking a few steps down the hill until she'd joined Eric.
"How's it going?" he asked now that they had a little more privacy.
"It's really good," Calleigh said, again smiling brighter and different than he'd ever seen her. "She's so shy around new people though," she added softly, hazarding a concerned glance back at Claire she was glad she didn't notice. "She just totally shuts down."
"Not with you," Eric noted, an amused smile creeping across his lips. "She's pretty attached to you."
"Yeah, but she knows me."
"She's been like that with you from the beginning though," he reminded her.
He could remember it like it was yesterday. While Calleigh had talked to Austin, he'd tried with Claire, barely getting her to look at him let alone utter a word. He'd actually been a little offended because kids were kind of his thing. His nieces and nephews loved him, and he could usually get through to the most shut down and terrified kids on the job. But Claire had wanted nothing to do with him, so Calleigh had taken a shot. And he'd watched with awe – discreetly, because Claire kept glancing at him in the hall skeptically – as Calleigh sat down next to her, not across from her like it was an interrogation and not demanding eye contact (probably his first mistake), said something about the butterflies on her dress, and then silently grabbed a piece of paper to draw a pretty impressive butterfly.
Claire had actually smiled and pulled the paper towards her. "Can I keep it?" Claire had asked softly, finally speaking for the first time at the station.
"Of course, it's for you," Calleigh had said. And just like that she'd cracked her open.
"She's been through a lot, she'll open up with time," Eric assured, because he was certain that little girl was in the best place she possibly could be now. Calleigh smiled gratefully, and despite a million reasons why she shouldn't, her eyes fell to his chest, taking in the muscles that peeked out from beneath his tank top, the sheen of sweat covering his skin. His gaze was preoccupied with appreciatively taking in her near-makeupless face, the bright green of her eyes his undoing as always.
"What brings you out of the bay on a Saturday?" he asked, needing to fill the silence before his eyes and heart got him in trouble.
"Austin has tennis here on Saturdays," she said, nodding to the courts in front of them. She glanced back to check on Claire before she fixed her gaze on Austin. "He's actually pretty good. I may be biased already though." She smiled again, slipping her hands into the back pockets of her shorts.
"Maybe. Or maybe you've got the next Roger Federer on your hands." He smiled, then glancing back at Claire. "I should let you get back to her – and I should get back to my run."
"Yeah, of course," she said, glancing at his watch. "Sorry to interrupt."
"You didn't," he assured, holding her gaze. "You did distract me though." He grinned, eyes pointedly dragging over her. Flirting. He was flirting. They never could help it.
"Well then I'm not sorry." She smiled playfully, too. "Hey, you want to come have dinner with us tonight?"
At his immediate hesitance, she clarified, "Just dinner."
And then she pressed her lips together, remembering all the other times they'd agreed to have just dinner or just coffee or just one drink, and yet each time had ended the same. There was the time he'd made her dinner, which had taken a quick and sudden turn to having his way with her on his kitchen table. And then there was the time she'd more innocently invited him over for coffee – less of a commitment there – and yet they'd ended up naked and panting on her couch. That time had been all her. The more recent time they'd actually made it to a bed. A group happy hour had led to a shared cab home and despite quickly and desperately making their way to her bedroom, it was like the alcohol had dulled their guards as well as their inhibitions; repressed feelings and emotions had bubbled to the surface and they'd slowly undressed one another. He'd taken his time with her then, bringing her over the edge twice before their bodies had even joined.
It went without saying that things were different now.
Still, he had his reservations. "I don't want to intrude on your time with them right now," he began, chancing a glance at Claire who was thankfully too caught up in her book to eye him skeptically right now. "Or make her uncomfortable in her new home."
"That's sweet," Calleigh said with a smile. "But we've been together all week, and she's gotta get used to other people." He still looked unsure, so she added, "I'll check with them first. And besides, you should get to know them because I may seriously take you up on that offer to help someday…"
"I hope you do," he assured. "'Cause I was serious. You're definitely not alone."
"I know." She smiled gratefully, touching his arm. "Get back to your run. I'll text you about dinner."
With that, they parted ways and he slipped his headphone buds back into his ears. He picked up his pace to a jog again, trying to get back in the groove, but he still couldn't take his eyes off her. As he continued down the path he'd originally been on, he watched as she parked herself back down next to Claire. That smile he could never get out of the little girl spread so easily across her features at Calleigh's arrival, and she excitedly pointed out something in her book. Just before he followed the curved path around the hill and out of view, Calleigh's eyes met his, smiling from afar at the way he was looking at her.