Ryan had just closed his case and was looking forward to going home. As he rounded the corner he wasn't sure exactly what he was seeing, but he knew that he didn't like it. He didn't like the sight of Detective Hagen holding Callie's wrist like that and he didn't like the look of discomfort on her face. He did not want to interject yet because he wasn't completely clear that this was bad. As he got closer, however, he heard Callie speak,
"Walk away John."
When he didn't do as told, Ryan decided to step in, "Everything okay here Cal?"
Hagen let go of Callie's wrist and she seemed to relax. "Yeah Ryan, everything's fine. John was just leaving; weren't you John?"
"Yeah, sure." Hagen didn't look too happy with either of them, but at least he walked away.
With Hagen gone, Ryan asked Callie again, "Are you sure that you're okay?"
"Yeah, I am, or at least I will be." Callie forced a smile for him.
Ryan wasn't sure how okay that she really was, but he hoped she was telling the truth. He wanted her to be okay. Ryan really cared about Callie and though he had never admitted it to anyone, but himself, he had what his ten year old nephew would call a 'crush' on her.
He wasn't sure if he wanted to keep an eye on her or if he just wanted to spend time with her outside of work, but he took a shot. "Why don't you let me take you out for a drink? It will help you feel better."
He was happy to see her really smile, "That sounds nice, let's go."
Two hours later as Ryan walked Callie to her front door, he couldn't stop smiling. He really was smitten with Callie and he had had a lot of fun with her. He really didn't want to walk away from her yet. Luckily for him, what he didn't know was that Callie didn't want to leave him yet either. "You want to come in for some coffee Ryan?"
He didn't even hesitate, "Yeah, sounds good."
As the front door led them into Callie's living room Ryan looked around. "You've got a nice place."
"Thanks Ryan, make yourself at home."
Ryan sat down on the couch as Callie handed him a cup of coffee. "So," Ryan started hesitantly, scared to push too far, "if you don't mind me asking, exactly what was going on earlier with Detective Hagen?"
"John and I used to date and he's just having a little trouble letting go."
"What I saw earlier," Ryan told her, "looked like more than just a little trouble."
"He really is a good guy Ryan, he just has some problems," Callie told him even though she knew she was making excuses for him.
"Callie," Ryan told her honestly, "I don't care how many problems he has, nobody has the right to treat you like that."
Callie couldn't help but smile. Ryan was such a nice guy and it was nice to see that he cared about her. "Thanks Ryan. He just kind of freaked out earlier because he thought that I was sleeping with Peter."
"Peter, the money guy from the FBI?"
"Yeah, I told him I'm not. Not that it's any of his business any way," she told him smiling.
Ryan knew that technically it was none of his business either, but he was glad to hear that Callie wasn't involved with Peter. He really wanted to ask her out, but he still wasn't sure that it would be a good idea. "I'm really glad that you were there for me today Ryan," Callie broke into his thoughts. "You're a really great guy. I'm not sure what I would do without you."
He still wasn't sure that he wasn't going to make an idiot of himself, but he decided that he had looked long enough; it was time to finally leap. "Listen Callie, I was hoping that you'd let me take to dinner Friday night."
Callie hesitated just long enough to make Ryan nervous. "You mean like on a date?"
"Well yeah," he said cautiously. Callie was like his mentor at work and he hoped that this didn't make her hate him.
After a couple minutes of silence where Callie seemed to be in thought, she finally smiled, a real smile. "Yeah, Ryan, that sounds really nice."
'YES'Ryan inwardly cheered. He didn't know what would end up happening between him and Callie, but he had taken a chance and he knew that he would never regret that.