Eric was on his way out walking down the corridors of the lab when he spotted Calleigh further down from him, so he hurried up to catch up with her, calling her out to get her attention so she won't disappear into the elevator before he got the chance to speak to her.
'Hey' she said as she turned round to see Eric hurrying towards her.
'Hey' he replied a little bit breathless.
'Out of breath already?' she teased 'You need to get back to track Delko or you won't be able to catch any bad guys any time soon' she teased with that gorgeous smile of her, filling her face, that always managed to take his breath away.
'Well I just did or rather...we just did' he told her smiling back with a raise of one eyebrow, his eyes twinkling as his smile lit his face.
'What do you mean? I wasn't out on the field today' she told him.
'Well it was thanks to you and your parachute that we managed to figure out who tried to murder Jerry and that it was no accident' Eric told her.
'Oh...that's great' she said as they continued to walk ahead now, getting into the elevator and down into the parking lot where both their hummers where parked.
Things were feeling better again. After being intimately away from her for the last couple of months or rather year since she wanted to put on the breaks with them, telling him that she wasn't sure about them, and that she was scared of tainting their friendship with the way things were getting complicated in their relationship, and how she hated fighting with him, especially after what had happened when he was working for the Attorney General's office, all of a sudden this playful banter started to resurface again and Eric couldn't be more happy about that.
Putting on the breaks in a relationship and going separate ways doesn't make you loose your feelings for the other person, and that certainly didn't happen for Eric, if anything, it made him want her even more. Sure he had one night stands and slept with other women since then, but it was only to try and get her off his mind, in fact he only went in search of one night stands when days were hard and Calleigh was the only thing on his mind. It was hard though, especially after being with her, after wanting her for so long. He had spent years trying to hide the way he felt about her and then when he finally had her, he messed things up, made her feel uneasy, trust issues had to be dealt with again after hiding facts from her, after spying on everyone, including her, and that was something that even though Calleigh herself wanted to move past it, but wasn't that easy to do so as much as she wanted to, and truth be told, Eric couldn't blame her.
'You know what I might go and check on my new boyfriend and check out just how cuter and hairy he is' she told him and they both laughed at that comment. Eric had teased her about having a new boyfriend for her who happens to be cuter and more hairy than she is used to having earlier, and the look that she gave him, made the comment worth it. She just cracked him up.
'Or maybe not' she continued as she caught sight of just how terrible the weather was getting all of a sudden 'Looks like the weather is getting terrible again' she told him.
'Yeah looks like it' Eric replied 'Maybe you should leave hunting for your new boyfriend for some other night' he told her.
'Hopeful?' she asked in a teasing way.
'Well you never know' he replied with a shrug and a laugh, and Calleigh just laughed. She knew that he still wanted to be with her. She could feel the air getting lighter between them, and that just warmed her heart. Ending things between them, never meant that she stopped having feelings for him. She just cared about him too much to lead him on, or be in a relationship where she wasn't comfortable in at the moment, but it never meant that she never wanted to try again, or that her feelings for him had suddenly vanished.
After Jessie had been killed in the lab, Calleigh found herself thinking about her life a lot and the people she cared about, and even though she could have reasoned that life was short and time should not be wasted, the thought of having to deal with losing Eric was something that made her pull back and break up with him, funny as it may sound. She thought that if they were not together anymore, then her feelings for him would calm down, or return to just being friends, and if God forbid anything had to happen, she would have lost her friend not her boyfriend. At the time, that thought sounded right but lately she was beginning to realize that she had been wrong. If anything her feelings grew deeper and stronger for him, even though she tried very hard to not let him see that.
'Yeah who knows' she went on and then they heard a thunder strike and rain started pouring down just like that 'I guess we better get going then, even though there are no tornado warnings but I guess you never know' she told him.
'Yeah you're right. Drive safely Cal' he told her.
'You too' she replied and with that they both walked over to their hummers and hopped inside, but when Calleigh tried to start the hummer, the bloody thing just wouldn't start.
'Oh come on' she said as she heard Eric approach her with his own hummer.
'What's wrong?' he asked her.
'This bloody thing won't start' she replied still trying to turn on the key 'Damn it' she swore.
'Hey just leave it there and I'll drive you home. We can look into it tomorrow' Eric told her as another thunder was heard.
Realizing that it might just be safer to do as he suggested and check it out tomorrow, Calleigh grabbed her stuff and jumped out of her hummer and into Eric's.
'Thanks Eric' she told him.
'You're welcome' he replied with a smile as he put on the gear and made his way out.
It has been a while since he had been to her house and it wasn't because he didn't want to, but simply because it was better to stay away. He had no place being there anymore, although in the last two weeks he ended up going over to her house twice. Calleigh had needed him after watching Austin and his sister walk away from her again, and after what happened four days ago when there was an explosion in the cabana they were investigating, Calleigh had asked him to come over. She was shaken up a little bit by the explosion and had needed some reassurance that he was fine, that she was fine...
'You scared the shit out of me today' she told him as she sat down next to him on the couch.
'Why?' he asked her. The room was dark and there was only the fireplace to light up the room, as they both held a glass of wine in their hands.
'When I woke up after the explosion happened, you were lying on the floor and you wouldn't wake up' she told him 'Thank God Horatio came in when he did' she said.
'You should have saved yourself and got out of the cabana' he told her.
'And leave you there? No way' she said, looking at him like he was insane for even thinking that she could do such a thing.
'Why not?' he asked her.
'Are you out of your mind. I can never leave you behind' she told him.
'But Calleigh it could have gotten worse for you, after the two times you ended up in the hospital because of the fumes, you know that' he told her.
'But I just can't walk out on you' she told him, staring straight in his eyes'Just like I know you can never walk out on me' she told him 'You would have done the exact same thing if the situation was in reverse' and Eric knew that she was right. He would go to hell and back to save her, even if it meant risking his own life.
All the recent events were causing Calleigh's feeling to resurface again. It was like faith was putting them in these situations, where they needed to turn to each other. She was usually better at controlling her emotions but after watching Austin and Patty leave the station to another foster home, and then the explosion in that cabana and Eric passed out while the room went up in flames, Calleigh just couldn't seem to be able to control her emotions. She kept seeing him lying down on the floor, hearing herself screaming for him to get up, calling out for help. What if Horatio hadn't come when he did? What would have happened?
She shuddered and Eric caught that as he glanced her way with a frown 'Are you cold?' he asked her worriedly.
'No...' she sighed. She really didn't want to worry him but now there was no way she could not tell him and truth be told she really needed to get this off her chest 'I have been thinking about the accident in the cabana a lot lately' she confessed 'It's like it is haunting me. I keep seeing you face down while the room burned around us, me screaming for help...' Calleigh told him.
She felt him place his hand on her and at his touch her eyes settled on the contrasting colors of their hands. She missed him, she really did but she didn't want to think about that. She couldn't go there again...not yet anyway.
'I understand...I can't imagine seeing you like that and not being able to do anything about it' he started telling her 'But I am fine Calleigh, I really am. You know I am. I am right here with you' he told her trying to look at her and keeping his eyes on the road 'Speaking of being fine...are you alright?' he asked her.
'What do you mean?' she asked back, knowing full well what he meant. Lately she hadn't been out on the field, and it was only a matter of time before someone really noticed that.
'I noticed you haven't been out on the field much lately, and we could have really used having you out there today' he told her 'Is everything alright? Am I missing something here?' he asked her glancing quickly in her direction.
'I guess it was only a matter of time before you noticed' she started out, and Calleigh could see how he furrowed his eyebrows, already realizing that something was indeed wrong 'I have an open certificate from my doctor to stay off the field for now' she started telling him.
'Why?' he asked her worriedly 'Are you sick?' he asked her, feeling his heart pound heart in his chest at the thought of her being ill.
'I started feeling dizzy a couple of times, and at first I didn't think much of it. I blamed it on missing out on having lunch, you know how it is sometimes, we are so busy we forget to eat altogether...but then I fainted twice...' and Eric almost pressed the breaks in the middle of the road at that.
'You fainted? When? Why am I hearing about it just now?' he asked her, hardly giving her a chance to answer the first question, as questions kept coming out of his mouth.
'It happened twice, when I had been very busy and I forgot to eat. On one particular day you had gone to buy me food 'cause I had forgotten all about eating, so I thought I'd better visit my doctor and he told me that I am suffering from iron deficiency' she confessed.
'Anemia?' he asked her wide eyed 'But you haven't been out of breath' he told her, trying to make sense on why he didn't realize it himself.
'Well I haven't been chasing bad guys a lot lately, but yes I have been suffering from shortness of breath. I noticed that on my daily run, and it got a bit bad during my monthly thing due to blood loss' she told him.
'Why didn't you tell me about this?' he asked her.
She was tempted to tell him because they were not a couple anymore, but she knew that if something had been wrong with him and he kept her in the dark, she would have wanted to know.
'I didn't want to worry you' she replied with a shrug and Eric sighed heavily at that
'So what now?' he asked her.
'I have to eat a lot of red meat and seafood, and he gave me some tablets to help recover as quickly as humanly possible' she told him 'And I have to make sure I do not skip any meals' she continued.
'Oh you won't be skipping any meals, I will make sure of that' Eric replied and Calleigh couldn't help but chuckle as she shook slightly her head at his silliness. She was already imagining him setting alarms to make sure she ate every three hours or him coming buy with packed lunches while joining her during her break just to make sure she is eating.
'What's so funny?' he asked her.
'I am imagining you setting alarms and bringing me lunch just to make sure I eat' she replied.
'You bet I am' he told her.
So lost in discussion, they didn't realize that they had actually arrived in front of her house in Bal Harbour. The weather was getting worse, and just as Eric turned off the hummer, he realized that he had been driving on autopilot somehow. He had absolutely no idea how bad the weather had gotten or how they had arrived here.
'The weather is horrible' Calleigh gasped feeling the same way Eric did. She really hadn't noticed how bad it was raining even though the wipers had been going from one side to the other like crazy trying to keep a clear vision for Eric 'You are not driving back to your house Delko' she warned him 'You're coming inside'.
'Again?!' Eric thought.
'I don't think it is necessary Cal. I'll be fine' he told her 'I drove to here on autopilot, I'm sure I can get home just fine' Eric told her.
'No you're not. You're coming inside and that's final' she told him.
Eric couldn't help but laugh 'Yes ma'am' he replied as he saluted her and Calleigh laughed at his silliness hitting him hard in his upper arm.
Not long after her warning, they were inside, completely soaked. It was as if someone had poured a bucket of water on them or rather buckets. They looked at each other and laughed at how silly they looked. The laughter soon faded though when Calleigh started removing her clothes at the entrance of her house with Eric staring in disbelief.
'What are you doing?' he asked her.
'What does it look like I'm doing?' she replied as she removed her purple blouse. Her black jacket was already piled on the floor next to her legs. Eric was staring at her, feeling completely numb. How was it that she didn't realize what she was doing to him? She is his ex, he saw her naked. She must know that he still wants her, and while all this was going through his mind, her black pants joined the pile.
'Are you just going to stand there all night?' she teased.
He swallowed hard and then cleared his throat 'Well...alright, I'll join in' he told her with a smile but his eyes were still taking her in. Her white laced bra was almost see-through now as well as her matching white knickers.
'I'll go and get you a towel and some clothes' she told him and with that she practically ran to her bedroom.
She closed the door behind her and took a deep breath. She must have hid it well what that white soaked top was doing to her. His nipples were hard and pointed and she could practically make every outline of his abs as his soaked top stuck to his perfect body.
It was only a couple of minutes later, when Calleigh appeared in the kitchen only to find Eric making coffee for the two of them in just his soaked boxers, and this time, Calleigh had the same affect Eric had before. Her mouth went dry and her body ached for him, as her eyes feasted on the sight in front of her. Deep down she knew she missed him, missed this...having him in her house, and just being together, but she was too damn stubborn sometimes to admit it, and admitting it out loud was going to take much more than heavy rain and getting them soaked to admit it.
'I got you a towel to dry up, but I only found basketball shorts and a pair of boxers in your drawer. I'm afraid you don't have any t-shirts left' she told him. His drawer?! That was a tongue slip but the truth was that he still had a drawer with some clothes here for any emergencies, and that was why he ran out of t-shirts because lately they had a couple of unexpected emergencies where he needed to crash on the couch for the night or in her spare bedroom, wherever he preferred. Of course, her bedroom was his first choice, but since that was out of the question, the spare bedroom had to do.
Eric smiled when he realized that he was affecting and his smile grew even wider when he realized that she was going to have to face his bare chest for the remainder of the night. He knew how much she adored touching his abs, he knew the affect they did on her, and now since she insisted that he spends the night there, she was going to have no choice but to stare at his abs and his chest for the rest of the night.
'Are you hungry?' he asked her as he took the towel to dry himself up.
'Not really but I guess I have to eat anyway' she replied 'Let me just put these clothes in the tumble dryer or else you're gonna have to drive bare-chested in the morning, not that the ladies would mind' she joked. Eric was tempted to say something but he refrained instead he made his way to the bathroom to change his now cold boxers.
When Calleigh made her way back to him, she found him in her living room staring out of the window, with the mug of coffee in his hands and the towel thrown on his shoulders for cover.
'Hey' she said 'Are you cold?' she asked him.
'Not bad' Eric replied.
'I'll turn on the fireplace. It should warm up the house in no time' she told him.
Not long after the fireplace was glowing emitting the much needed warmth after that cold unexpected shower they had, and since Eric had taken a while to change his underwear, he was a bit cold.
'You know...if we lived up North where snow was something normal, this would be the best atmosphere. Rain, fireplace, coffee...good company' she told him and Eric turned to look at her.
His smile was warm and there was something she wasn't expecting in it. The way his eyes shimmered, the way he was looking at her, made her insides melt.
'We don't have to be in Alaska or anywhere that cold to enjoy this. We have the rain, fireplace is on, coffee in hands, and you by my side...I say this is perfect even for Miami' Eric replied softly.
She looked away from his eyes then, feeling like it was beginning to make her powerless when the next words slipped out of her mouth.
'You know...' she started but then she stopped as she tried to focus and Eric caught the look in her eyes.
'Calleigh...Are you alright?' he asked her concerned as he took her mug out of her hands and placed both mugs on the coffee table so both his hands were free.
'I'm feeling dizzy all of a sudden' she whispered, careful not to move.
'Here let me help you towards the couch' he told her as he took one hand in his and wrapped the other one round her back, guiding her to the couch in the middle of the living room 'Why don't you lie down and lift your legs up on a cushion? That should help' he told her. She let him help her and settle her down, arranging her legs comfortably on one of the cushions and then knelt down next to her head stroking the side of her face 'Can I get you anything?' he asked her.
'I have my pills in my bag and I need to eat something' she told him.
He got up grabbed a glass of water and the pills from her bag and then slowly and very carefully helped her in a sitting position, resting her back against the back of the couch.
'What do you want to eat?' he asked her.
She took a minute to swallow the pills 'There's some sliced cold meat in the fridge and a bowl of mixed salad. Just put everything on a piece of bread please' she told him.
It didn't take him long to prepare her food, and in just a couple of minutes he was sitting next to her on the couch while he watched her concerned.
'When was the last time you ate today?' he asked her.
'Noon' she replied.
'Calleigh you can't leave your stomach empty for all those hours, and then drive. What if you fainted while driving?' he asked her worriedly.
'That never happened before' she told him.
'Doesn't mean it can't happen' he replied immediately 'Have you passed out while you were on your own before?' he asked her.
'No' she replied 'Eric don't worry' she started telling him.
'But I am very worried about you Cal' he told her.
'And that is precisely why I didn't tell you what was happening, or at least one of the reasons' she told him 'You are going to hover' she stated.
'Calleigh...you should know that you shouldn't be alone when you're having such affects. Things can get worse. Why don't you come and live with me until you're better?' he offered.
'That is not necessary' she replied a little too quickly. The truth was that she was scared of being alone with him every single day. She could feel herself wanting him again, possibly attempt another try for a relationship between them, but she wasn't sure and the last thing she wanted was to lead him on or hurt him. She knew that he had taken it quite bad when she asked to put on the breaks between them. No one had to tell her, but when Eric starts going out every single night, hooking with random girls and coming late to work, that was all the answer she needed. She knew him well enough, and she knew that it was because of her that he was acting this way.
'Please Cal...Listen I know that you might not feel comfortable living with me after everything that has happened between us, but at least consider Natalia. You might feel comfortable staying with her, since there isn't baggage between the two of you, but at least I know that you are safe and in good hands. It doesn't matter that you don't want to stay with me, all I care about is that you have someone to keep an eye on you' he told her.
She took a deep breath then and placed her hand on his 'If there is anyone I would want to stay with or take care of me...it would be you. I won't feel comfortable with anyone else' she told him 'Truth is...I don't want to hurt you or lead you on and I'm afraid that if I stay at your house, and it would be like we are living together again, that things would happen, and I might not be ready or I would be giving you false hope and I don't want that' she told him truthfully.
'Calleigh I am not going to expect anything from you. I just want to be sure you're safe...I just want to take care of you' he told her.
'You know...sometimes I don't know what I would do without you' she started telling him 'As much as I don't want to depend on anyone, it is nice to lean on you sometimes...and I do miss you and worry about you' she told him.
'You miss me and worry about me?' he asked her his eyebrows going slightly up at that statement.
'Yeah I do' she admitted 'I was worried sick about you and Horatio this morning when you went in search of Ryan and Walter' she admitted 'You were heading straight into the evacuation zone, and I wasn't comfortable with that...so I made sure to track your hummer until word came that Ryan was found and you were all fine' she told him.
'Why are you telling me this?' he asked her.
'I don't know' she whispered back as she stared at her empty hands between her legs.
'Calleigh...do you still have feelings for me?' he asked her carefully. He wasn't sure whether she was going to admit it or not but he needed her to say something.
She looked up at him and then smiled 'I never stopped' she whispered.
'Then why aren't we together?' he asked her.
'Because I'm an idiot' she laughed half jokingly and half seriously.
'You're just cautious with your heart' he corrected her 'And mine' he continued as he cupped one side of her face 'I betrayed our trust, and even though you tried to get over that especially after I helped solve the case and helped Wolfe, you needed time...and then Jessie died and it was just too much for you. While some people need someone else to lean on when things get tough, you needed yourself and needed to protect your heart' Eric told her.
'I was scared of having to face the same faith with you. I mean...it could have happened to any of us, and I know I was stupid and it should have made me commit to us all the more but instead I was a coward...I was scared of getting hurt. The truth is...you mean so much to me, like no one else ever had and I am scared of what that would mean if I should ever loose you' she told him.
'Calleigh' he whispered in awe of her confession 'You are never going to loose me. You are my world, and the sun doesn't shine if you're not in it one way or the other' he told her.
'Can you...just hold me?' she asked him softly.
'With pleasure' he replied as he wrapped one arm around her shoulders and pulled her into him, and Calleigh couldn't help but giggle at his reply. She let her cheek settle on his silky caramel skin, her hand on his abs and then she closed her eyes taking this moment in.
'Can we take this day by day?' she asked him, and as they leaned down onto the couch, his arms wrapped around her in front of the fireplace, as she softly settled in his embrace, Eric kissed the top of her head 'Day by day it is' he told her 'Day by day' it is he assured himself.