AN: This is a one-shot that stands entirely on its own, but I might add more later on. I have a feeling I might come back to this universe at some point. As usually I have tweaked some facts to better fit my story, fun fun!
—
He was rushing through the busy streets of D.C to make it to the Jonathan Adler store in Georgetown before it closed for the night, he had to park a while away but he figured he could use the walk. Clear his mind. It was a beautiful Wednesday afternoon in late August, he was on his way to buy a wedding present for his goddaughter's wedding the upcoming weekend. It was very last minute, but the team had been in San Diego up until three days ago when they had to go straight to Atlanta for a new case, he just hadn't been able to find the time. He was looking forward to the wedding, it would be a welcomed break from staring into the abyss of human depravity.
As he walked through the door he immediately spotted the blond woman standing at the far end of the store, she was talking to someone he couldn't see. Of course, it was just his luck to run into her when shopping for the wedding. He knew she was invited to the ceremony, after all Nicole was her goddaughter too. He put his sunglasses in his pocket and walked to face her.
«Fancy seeing you here.» His voice was somewhat hostile, but he managed to force a smile.
She turned around, a similar forced smile on her face.
«David.»
«So I see you're stealing my gift idea.»
«She registered here David, I got here first and I'm not stealing anything.» She crossed her arms and glared at him. «I'll get this, thank you.» She had turned to the salesperson, the young woman walked away to deal with the purchase and left them alone together.
«I can help you find something else if you'd like.» Her voice was softer and her face looked somewhat friendly.
«I'll just look around, thank you though.» He didn't want to spend a single minute more than he had to in her company.
«Fine. I'll see you tomorrow.» She smiled gently at him before she walked away.
He woke up the next day before the alarm went off, he hadn't been able to sleep much. Nicole getting married brought up all sorts of feelings in him. He'd held her in his arms the day she was born, had been to as many birthdays, school plays and graduations as he could. There had of course been some events that he'd missed due to work, but he'd tried his hardest to make it every single time.
He was a little nervous about the speech, he'd given plenty of speeches over the years and he was pretty good at it, but this one was different. He wanted to let her know how important she was to him, and how much he loved her.
This was an emotional day, and to make matters worse his ex-wife would be there. He'd gotten used to having to accept Erin at work, mainly by avoiding her as much as possible and leave Aaron to deal with her on a day-to-day basis. But he didn't have Aaron or anyone else to push in front of him in his personal life. Over the years they'd seen less and less of each other. It was 20 years ago, why couldn't he just let it go? He tried to convince himself it was because she had been the one to walk away and he hadn't gotten the closure he needed. She'd just gotten up one day and told him she couldn't do it anymore. He blamed himself for the longest time, how he was never home, how he forgot things and took her for granted. By the time he realized all this, by the time he'd grown up, she was long gone.
She had remarried after a couple of years, had three children and then divorced two years ago. He didn't know if there was anyone new in her life, but he guessed he'd find out soon enough.
The ceremony was beautiful and he cried with pride when Nicole walked down the aisle with her father, his best friend. He'd even forgotten about Erin for a while, he hadn't seen her on his way in so he figured she arrived later and was probably sitting behind him. As they exited the church he looked around to see if he could spot her. She was sitting just a few rows behind him, she looked right at him as he passed by and he pretended not to see her. She was sitting next to Steve, and Dave couldn't help but notice that he had his hand on the small of Erin's back. He felt his blood boil, he'd just hosted the annual poker night a few weeks ago and clearly the man hadn't had the guts to tell Dave he was dating his ex-wife.
They were all standing outside the church after the ceremony, Dave had to take a few deep breaths before walking over to the group where Erin was talking to someone he didn't recognize. He wasn't sure why he was this upset, Erin was free to date whomever she'd like. But matters of the heart aren't always logical, and even though he hated to admit it, he still felt something for her. When she was married he'd somewhat gotten used to the pain, it was this new feeling of not knowing that got to him. After she divorced Bill he always assumed she was spending most of her time at work, and then whatever time she had left she'd spend with her kids. The fact that she could be dating again hadn't really crossed his mind until now, and he didn't like it one bit. With Carolyn he'd never been jealous, they've kept a friendship after their divorce. With Erin it was the complete opposite, they'd become estranged instead.
He shook hands with a lot of people he hadn't seen in years, and then nodded briefly to Erin. She looked slightly taken aback by the unfriendly greeting, but quickly schooled her features. She knew him well enough to see that he was upset about something, and she didn't want to poke the bear. It agitated him that she seemed so unfazed by everything, but he figured his best option would be to ignore her as much as possible. His strategy seemed to work well, until he realized he was seated next to her at the dinner table. Had it not been for the fact that he was attending a wedding he would probably try to switch seats, or talk to the host about the seating arrangements. Deep down he knew he had to pull it together, and when it was time to sit down for dinner he was calm enough to pull out the chair for her and force a smile.
After dinner came dancing, and it should have been easy to go back to ignoring her again. It was just that she seemed to be everywhere his eyes went. He was dancing with someone's great-aunt, she smelled like mothballs and stale cigarettes, and she moved like the 85-year old that she was. Dave was having such a miserable time that when Erin appeared out of nowhere and asked if she could have the next dance, he was actually happy to see her.
It wasn't until he saw Steve at the bar clearly flirting with a young brunette he felt he had to say something.
«Please tell me this your idea of a bad joke Erin.»
«Excuse me?»
«Are you really here with Steve? You had to bring the one man that you knew would get to me? He's my friend Erin.»
«Oh, excuse me Mr. Caveman. I didn't know I had to ask your permission for these kinds of things. Steve is my friend too, remember?»
«You know he's a womanizer, right?»
«Is the pot calling the kettle black? Really David?» She laughed a cold, bitter laugh, but continued to dance. He pressed her closer to him, he was a little surprised that she let him. He liked the feeling of her body so close to his.
«And just for the record, I'm not dating Steve. He just happened to sit next to me at church.»
He felt strangely relieved and then quickly chastised himself for letting it get to him in the first place. She was free to do whatever she wanted. Of course he had no right to tell her anything, he knew that.
«I'm sorry, I don't know what's gotten into me. I think I'm getting old, weddings make me sentimental.»
«Just dance with me.» She put her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes. The music was slow and gave him the perfect excuse to hold her closer. He could smell the scent of her perfume and feel the softness of her hair against his face.
The reception was coming to an end with the cutting of the cake, and they were sitting next to each other in a small group of old acquaintances. They were talking about old times, people they used to know and how life had treated them over the years.
«Do you want me to drive you home?» Dave turned to Erin.
«You live on the other side of town Dave, that would be silly. I'll take a cab.»
«It's really no trouble. I'd like to make sure you get home safe.»
She didn't answer, she just looked at him with a slight smile and nodded. His stomach made a summersault, and the feeling of her knee brushing against his thigh as she got up from her seat made his heart skip a beat.
The drive to her house was quiet and much shorter than he wanted it to be.
He got out of the car to walk her to her house, and just as she unlocked the front door he put his hands on her shoulders and kissed her. A big part of him expected her to slap him, but instead of pushing him away she leaned into the kiss. It started out tentative and cautious, but it got desirous and impatient before he even knew what was happening.
They stumbled through the door and he pushed her gently up against the wall, his hands traveling up and down her body. Holding her face between his hands he paused to look at her, her cheeks were flushed and her lips a little swollen. He felt a sudden rush of emotions, it was a precious feeling of finding back to something he'd lost a long time ago.
«We probably shouldn't do this David.»
«Maybe I'll just have to work a little harder to convince you then.»
She laughed sweetly as he captured her lips in another kiss. He quickly pushed the front door shut with his foot.
—THE END—