I don't own any of the Characters here (Except Jessica, Vivian, and Emily.) Please don't sue.
Dedicated to Adorelo : The person who made me go for it!
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Calleigh woke to the melodious chirruping of birds on the tree outside of the bedroom window. She was warm, comforted, so much so that she dare not open her eyes for fear of losing the dream that this fantastic, safe feeling must be. Suddenly, strong arms pulled her close and she found herself not fighting as she would have if she was fully conscious, but snuggling close. She finally wound up the courage to open her eyes, still unsure about if it was a dream or not, if last night had really happened or if she would wake up cold and alone. Unfortunately, the latter seemed to be unyielding in her life. She almost gasped with shock when she saw two big, dark brown eyes gazing back into her own. Eric's eyes.
"Morning." He whispered sweetly. For once she was at a loss for words. She couldn't believe what had happened last night. But for once it was a good disbelief, not the negative disbelief that surrounded every aspect of her existence. All she could do was smile. Terror suddenly gripped her soul. This was Eric. How could she have spoilt what they had? The best friendship she had and she had possibly spoilt it. She could have kicked herself. Eric looked worried. She quickly faked a smile, hoping that he'd just brush her last fearful expression off. She began to climb out of bed, clutching the thin sheet to her. Slowly, she made her way to the bedroom window, her thinking place. She heard heavy footsteps creep behind her and felt warm arms surround her, comforting her once more. He placed a small kiss on her cheek and she couldn't help but lean into his touch.
"What's wrong?" He asked, concerned. She turned to face him, but found herself unable to look him in the eye for fear of bursting into tears. "Look, if this is about something that happened last night, you can tell me. Did I do something wrong?"
"No!" She replied, appalled at the belief that he thought that he had done something wrong, "No. What you did was very, very … right …"
She had barely shut the door before he was all over her again, his hands on her waist, dipping under the hem of her shirt. He pressed her up against the wall, pinning her hands above her head, exploring her mouth with his own. He started to unbutton her shirt, running his hands up her stomach, sliding over her silky smooth skin, over a tiny white scar, over her belly button, all the way to her bra, which he began to hastily undo…
"Well," He chuckled, pulling her out of her memory, "What is it?"
She thought for a moment, but couldn't remember what was really wrong. This WAS Eric. The greatest, most charming, handsome, loving, perfect man she knew and he wanted to be with her, something he made pretty clear last night…
He pulled her close, softly placing a kiss to her forehead.
"I love you." He whispered, almost inaudibly.
"I love you too." …
She'd surprised herself when she had said that; spontaneity was never really her thing. She didn't know, up until that point, just how deep her feeling for him ran. She did love him. So much.
"Calleigh?"
She didn't know what to say. There was nothing wrong. Everything was so right, as if it was meant to be. She looked into his eyes, no longer feeling the desire to cry, and told him the truth.
"Nothing. Everything is perfect."
He smiled and leaned in to kiss her. The sound of a car horn wrenched them out of their dreamlike state. Calleigh's eyes widened in fear and she spun around to take a look out of the bay window. A silver sports car was pulling up in the driveway. Eric unexpectedly got a face full of his trousers, which Calleigh had obviously chucked at him, and was now speedily grabbing some random clothes from one of her drawers.
"What's going on?" He enquired, blissfully unaware. Calleigh dashed into the bathroom and shut the door.
"Eric! Hurry up and get dressed!"
"Who is that?"
He heard her brushing her hair.
"I forgot I'm meant to be looking after my nieces today!" She yelled. He searched his memory for her nieces.
He gazed at all the photos, Calleigh and her father, Calleigh and her mother, Calleigh and her brothers, Calleigh and him… a shelf completely devoted to him, her and the rest of the team. He got up from his position on the couch to take a closer look, to examine the photos. Them at the beach, them at HQ, them at the plaza… the photos just went on and on. He decided to switch to another shelf (A photo of Speed conjured a large lump in his throat.) He looked upwards, three blonde heads catching his eye. Calleigh was at the beach with a young girl, no older than 7 and a baby, a newborn, who both struck a resemblance to her; big green eyes and bright blonde hair. Footsteps behind him made him look around. She was stood in the doorway, head resting against the frame, and an amused look on her face.
"They're my nieces, Jessica and Emily."
"They look like you."
She giggled," They shouldn't. Vivian isn't really my sister, just a good friend."
"Oh…" He looked back to the photo, "They look sweet"…
The downstairs door opening brought him back to reality, and he quickly yanked on his pants, almost falling over in his effort to get them on as speedily as possible.
"Calleigh?" Footfalls on the stairs. Oh sod! He needed somewhere to hide … but where? Under the bed? There's no room… Calleigh was in the bathroom, so that wouldn't work… The Wardrobe!!! Yes! He dived over the bed, his shirt still hung over the end of the bed. He swiftly leapt into the wardrobe, carefully closing the door behind him, recalling why he was going to all this trouble to hide.
"Eric?" She whispered, fearing to wake him if he was asleep.
"Hmmmm…" He replied sleepily.
She sighed, wondering how to put her next sentence in a way that wouldn't hurt him.
"I don't think that we should tell people about us just yet."
He was suddenly wide-awake, staring down at her in shock of what she had just said.
"What? Why? Are you ashamed of me or something?" He asked sounding immensely hurt.
"Oh god!" She sighed, sitting up, burying her face in her hands," No. I would never be ashamed of you. I'm just scared we'll lose our jobs."
"Yeah…" He said, understanding, but still sounding slightly wounded," That doesn't mean we can't tell our friends, though."
"It does," She said quietly," If we tell your parents, then the news could easily get round to Horatio and Stetler. We'll just have to lie low for a while until I can talk to Horatio."
"Yeah, I suppose."
"No one can know. No one."
"Ok."
His promise to lie low resounded in his head as he crouched in the small wardrobe. What he'd do for her… The bedroom door opened, footsteps crossed the room, Eric felt the tension, the fear, pulse through every nerve in his body. He was about to be rumbled, he knew it. Stetler would make sure he AND Calleigh would lose their jobs and it would all be his fault. Suddenly, his ankle twisted and he flew head first into the other wall of the wardrobe, head butting the back of it on his way down. The doors of the wardrobe were flung open and he abruptly found himself staring at a short brunette who was looking at him questioningly.
"Calleigh? Did you know there's a man hiding in your cupboard?" She yelled, as if it was the most normal thing in the world. Calleigh rushed out of the bathroom to find her friend staring at her boyfriend, whom was half hanging out of the wardrobe, a purple bruise appearing on his head. She looked at him, amused, and slowly sidled over, placing her hand on his cheek.
"Why did you hide in the cupboard?" She asked, not being able to help suppressing a small giggle along with it.
"Seemed like a good idea at the time."
She helped him up.
"What is this?" Vivian asked, sounding almost shocked.
"Before I say anything else, I want you to promise me that you won't tell anybody! Not even Jessica!" Calleigh stressed. Eric couldn't see at that point why a seven year old would even listen to information about her aunts love life, but kept it to himself.
"Yeah! Ok!" Vivian squealed, obviously over excited, and jumped onto the still unmade bed, eager for gossip.
"This is Eric…"
"Oh! I've heard sooooo much about you! You'd think the sun shines out of your ars…"
"Viv!!! Sometimes just nodding is Okay!" Calleigh interrupted. Vivian nodded enthusiastically, acting like a five year old who was about to get sweets.
"We spent last night together…" She paused waiting for her to cotton on (She didn't), "Together… In my house… In here … right here…"
Vivian nodded again, but then she suddenly looked puzzled.
"Vivian, get there faster!!!"
Her mouth formed a little 'o' of understanding.
"You two?" she shrieked, only halted by Calleighs hands sudden appearance over her mouth.
"Shhhhh!!!" Calleigh exclaimed removing her hand.
"Tell me everything!"
"Hang on!" Eric intervened," She's not going to tell you about our love life, are you?" He added questioningly to the end of his sentence. Calleigh opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted by a shrill squeal of …
"Calleigh!" A tiny blonde head appeared around the doorframe, smiling widely.
"Not now." Calleigh said, rushing towards the little girl, scooping her up upon reaching the doorframe. Eric and Vivian both smiled wistfully. Calleigh walked through the door and they heard her walk down the stairs, Jessica still laughing in her arms.
"You're a lucky bloke. I know a hundred guys who'd give their souls to be you." Vivian chirped, sliding off of the bed. Eric smiled.
"I'll be back for them about 2ish," Vivian laughed, climbing back into her sports car, "Bye!"
"Bye!" Calleigh shouted to the withdrawing car, tiny blonde baby in her arms. She walked inside her house and shut the door behind her, smiling as she beheld Jessica telling Eric about Osteoporosis.
"What are we going to do today?" Calleigh asked her, interrupting the conversation.
"I've got to go to work!" Eric exclaimed, standing up and making his way to the door. Calleigh followed him, Emily still residing in her arms. He kissed her swiftly on the cheek before whispering, "How old is she?" Referring to Jessica.
"She's smart for her age." Calleigh replied, glancing over her shoulder to Jessica, who was now engrossed in a book marked 'Quantum Physics for dummies'. He scratched his scalp, shocked at a seven year old knowing more than he did.
"Bye Jessica." He said, toward the small figure hidden behind the large book.
"Bye, Eric." She answered. He opened the door and set off to work in his car, not knowing what tragedy the day would bring.
"One Vic, Female, mid thirties, brunette." Frank stated," Car crash, the other driver walked away."
Eric picked up his kit and walked towards Alexx who was examining the body in front of the mess that was the silver sports car that was now lying in a heap in the middle of the freeway. The closer he moved towards Alexx, the bigger the realisation was that he knew the Vic, a short brunette …
"You're a lucky bloke. I know a hundred guys who'd give their souls to be you." Vivian chirped, sliding off of the bed.
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