Disclaimer: I don't own Anything, Nada, Zilch
Spoilers: No major-slight hints of minor plot happenings
Ships: Calleigh/Ryan, minor Horatio/Marisol
Summary: Surprises for the team on Calleigh's birthday.
A/N: in this story it goes that Marisol doesn't die in Rampage but was very ill and survived, other episodes including Rio happened, in my mind as I wrote this. Also I'm saying that some things happened that affected Calleigh and Ryan that didn't happen so just pretend they did.
"Happy Birthday, Calleigh" said Ryan as he kissed her for the billionth time that day and it was still only mid-morning. "Do you want you present now?"
"Didn't you give it to me already?" she thought of the last few hours where neither she nor Ryan had left bed.
"No" Ryan hopped off the bed and began rummaging through one of his bags giving Calleigh the perfect view of his naked backside.
"Nice ass Ryan" she said cheekily.
"I'll take that as a compliment" he replied crossing the room and returning to the warm bed. He held a carefully wrapped box out to Calleigh but when she tried to take it he pulled her towards him and planted a soft kiss on he lips. He handed the present over and she carefully removed the wrapping paper, inside was a jewellery box. When she opened it there was a beautiful emerald green teardrop necklace.
"Oh Ryan…it's beautiful. Thank you"
"It's Okay, here put it on" Calleigh turned around and lifted her hair off her shoulders Ryan picked up the necklace and put it around Calleigh's neck and did up the clasp.
"It is really, really beautiful" said Calleigh looking at the necklace on her neck. She leaned over towards Ryan and planted a kiss on his lips.
Ring Ring"Oh Drat" Calleigh's doorbell ringing interrupted them. Calleigh quickly put on some clothes. "Ryan get dressed, then come downstairs, I'll try and get rid of whoever it is"
"Right"
Calleigh ran down the stairs and caught sight of herself in the mirror, she looked a mess. She opened the door.
"Happy Birthday Calleigh" she looked out and saw the rest of the team. Oh Damn! she thought.
"Sorry Calleigh, Did we wake you?" asked Horatio
"Not exactly" replied Calleigh resentfully, they had dragged her from her bed and now she was going to have to tell them about her and Ryan as well. Great!
"Sorry but Marisol decided you couldn't celebrate your birthday on your own so dragged us all to visit you. We tried to bring Ryan too but he wasn't at home" That's because he's upstairs in my…no our bedroom thought Calleigh.
"Um, Honey can we come in?" asked Alexx.
"Um…Yes, Yes come in" Calleigh opened the door further Damn and Blast now they really have to learn about Ryan and me.
"Would you all like a coffee or something?" asked Calleigh, ungratefully taking on the role of hostess.
"Yes coffee's fine" replied Eric, speaking for the first time "Would you like me to help you?"
"No, I'm fine, find a seat and I'll be back in a minute" Calleigh went into the kitchen and switched on the coffee machine. She was considering going upstairs to tell Ryan that the team were there when the inevitable happened. Ryan softly ran down the stairs shouting,
"Calleigh, Honey who was it?" his voice trailed away at the end as he saw the team with shocked expressions on their faces. They were looking at the usually neat and pristine Ryan with different eyes; he stood there in jeans and a creased shirt from the night before and tousled hair. Ryan nervously ran his hands through his hair as the room sat in awkward silence.
"Ryan, come help with these coffees," shouted Calleigh from the kitchen. Glad of the distraction Ryan quickly went to the kitchen.
"Um, Calleigh what are they doing here?" asked Ryan in a whisper when he entered the room.
"Don't ask me, they invited themselves in, something to do with thinking I was spending my birthday alone, not with my boyfriend" Calleigh had wrapped her arms around Ryan's neck and moved in for a slow kiss.
"Calleigh, will you please stop your coffee machine beeping, it's really annoying" shouted Eric from the sitting room, slightly embarrassed that they hadn't noticed the beeping, Ryan and Calleigh pulled apart and began making the coffees.
"What are we going to tell them?" asked Ryan indicating the rest of the team.
"If they ask, we tell the truth, if they don't let them work it out for themselves. I think they've probably guessed by now, what with two dishevelled people appearing from the bedroom, even people who aren't in law enforcement could work that out" relied Calleigh sounding more confident than she was. Ryan smiled as he laid out the coffee cups on a tray. Calleigh poured out the coffee and placed the milk and sugar on the tray.
"Right, Let's go face the music" Ryan picked up the tray and he and Calleigh walked through to the sitting room. Suddenly the room went quiet and Calleigh could feel herself going red, and stood back, hiding slightly. Ryan handed out the coffees, he placed his and Calleigh's coffee on the table and he started to return to the kitchen but was stopped when Calleigh grabbed his wrist. He turned to look at her and saw she looked like a rabbit caught in headlights and he knew that he couldn't leave her alone with the team not even for a couple of seconds the state she was in. He carefully put the tray on the floor although he knew it would annoy him later and guided Calleigh onto the sofa where they sat his arm around he shoulders her hand resting on Ryan's lap with is hand placed gently on top his thumb softly tracing circles on the top of Calleigh's hand, trying to calm her down. This whole episode didn't go unnoticed by the rest of the team who if they hadn't worked it out yet, had their suspicions confirmed. Ryan and Calleigh were an item
"So…" said Eric breaking the long awkward silence "are you two…together" he as still in disbelief and wouldn't accept that he had really lost Calleigh forever until he heard it from the horses mouth.
"Yes Eric, Calleigh and I are…together as you put it," replied Ryan as he gently squeezed Calleigh's hand.
"Congratulations" said Alexx smiling brightly.
"Yeah Congratulations" repeated everyone else.
"Thanks guys" said Calleigh happily, a grin spread across her face. Ryan see that she was no longer scared removed his hand from Calleigh's and lifted his coffee cup to his lips.
"So what do you want to do for your birthday, Calleigh?" asked Marisol "You have any plans we can gatecrash" Calleigh and Ryan looked at each other
"No, No plans," well not ones they wanted to share with anyone else.
"Ryan, you are a useless boyfriend, you don't have any plans to celebrate your girlfriends birthday, Calleigh, Hun you've got to make him suffer for this" Calleigh and Ryan smiled at being called boyfriend and girlfriend, they had used the terms many times before but only to each other, hearing someone else say it made it seem so right and made them feel that they were accepted, finally, as a couple.
"So Cal, idea's please," asked Eric
"Hey that's not fair, it's my birthday, and you lot should be the ones organising it, not me"
"How about we all go out for lunch together then we can leave Ryan and Calleigh to their own celebrations afterwards" suggested Alexx
"Sound's good, where?"
"There's a nice place down by the beach I've been to a few time, Cal, can I borrow you phone to see if they can fit us in"
" Yeah sure Alexx, go ahead" Alexx went out to the hallway and called the restaurant.
"They can fit us in, in an hour" said Alexx as she returned "But you two might want to get changed" pointing to Ryan and Calleigh who looked at their clothes, they had just put on whatever they found first not expecting to stay in them for long and to be honest, they were a complete mess.
"Give us five minutes to get ready, make yourselves comfortable" said Ryan as he stood up dragging Calleigh with him "What?" he asked, seeing Calleigh's face.
"Five minutes, you bet" she said jokingly "if your ready in five minutes, I'll eat my shield, more like give us fifteen minutes guy's. If you want anymore coffee, help yourselves." They walked out of the room and up the stairs. Once they had gone the team began talking about them.
"I don't believe we didn't notice"
"They look so happy"
"They are meant for each other
"I haven't seen Calleigh so genuinely happy since Speed died"
"They are in love, no questions"
"Yes" everyone agreed with that statement, even Eric who was upset he hadn't acted when he had the chance but knew in his heart of hearts he knew that he wouldn't have made Calleigh as happy as Ryan did.
Meanwhile in their bedroom, Ryan and Calleigh had changed into some smarter, cleaner clothes than before, Calleigh was putting on some make-up and Ryan was combing his hair so that every strand was in the perfect place.
"I don't believe how well they took it," said Calleigh.
"Neither do I, but I think that Eric's reaction was fake."
"You do?"
"Yes, I think he's cursing the fact that he's lost his chance with you,"
"Don't get jealous of him, he's got nothing over you, he's just a friend and he knows that's all he'll every be." Calleigh took a look at her watch, "Eleven minutes, my shields safe this time" she ruffled Ryan's hair.
"You didn't just do that"
"I think I did" She started to leave the room but Ryan was too quick for her and grabbed her waist, she screamed but was quickly silenced by Ryan's lips as they pressed against hers in a passionate kiss.
"Calleigh are you O.K.," shouted Eric up the stairs but Ryan and Calleigh were to engaged in kissing each other that they didn't notice his worried shouts until he knocked on the door. "Cal, are you alright in there?" Reluctantly Calleigh separated from Ryan who began kissing her neck.
"I'm fine Eric, just tripped over Ryan's shoes, Tell the others we'll be down in a minute." Once she was sure Eric was well out of earshot, she spoke to Ryan, "Ryan, Honey, we're going to have to stop, they're waiting for us down stairs."
"Aww, spoilsport," replied Ryan pulling his puppy dogface which he knew Calleigh couldn't resist.
"Don't pull that face on me. You know I can't resist"
"That was the plan" Unable to resist any longer Calleigh resumed kissing Ryan passionately. While they were kissing she took the comb that Ryan was still holding and began combing his hair for him, when they couldn't breathe any longer they broke apart and Ryan studied his hair in the mirror.
"Good job, seeing as I was distracting you, Right let's go" he held his hand out to Calleigh who grabbed it with one hand and her purse with the other and they made their way downstairs.
"I make that twenty minutes and five minutes since you said you'd be a minute, what took you so long? Asked Eric as soon as he saw them, they both started to turn red with embarrassment, Alexx noticing this quickly changed the subject.
"Is everyone ready to go?"
"Yes" was the unanimous answer. Everyone stood up and started to leave,
"Cal, Ryan can I catch a lift with you guys?" asked Alexx as she passed them,
"Yeah sure Alexx" Ryan replied, Calleigh and Ryan followed her out of the house. Calleigh took her keys out and dangled them in front of Ryan.
"Lock the door will you Ryan," she said giving her keys to Ryan.
"But…" started Ryan but Calleigh's look stopped him; she obviously didn't want the team to know everything about there relationship just yet. Ryan took the keys and locked the door.
"I'm travelling with Calleigh and Ryan, You lot follow us" Alexx told the others as she slipped into the backseat of Calleigh's S.U.V. Ryan and Calleigh got into the front, Calleigh in the drivers seat and they started their journey. Once they had left Calleigh's road Ryan broke the silence.
"Cal, why did you make me use your keys instead of mine?" Calleigh looked quickly to the backseat where Alexx was sitting waiting to hear her answer as avidly as Ryan,
"Because…because I don't want them to know about everything we do, if you know Alexx it doesn't matter you're a good friend to the both of us but to Eric and Horatio you're only a colleague Ryan, and I wouldn't be surprised if they made a complaint to the sheriff if they knew everything"
"What is everything?" asked Alexx
"Um…"
"You can tell me, I won't tell anyone if you don't want me to, but it's easier to lie if I know what I'm lying about"
"Ryan moved in last night, you weren't in my house you were in our house," she said stressing the 'our' and smiling at Ryan.
"Congratulations"
"What for?" asked Ryan
"For moving in together and for managing to keep it secret from us for so long, I have one question though how come none of your stuff was in Calleigh's house?"
"That's because it's mostly still in boxes at my apartment. I've moved but the majority of my stuff has to wait until tomorrow to move."
"And your car Ryan, I didn't notice it outside Cal…Sorry your house,"
"Lucky coincidence, it's in the mechanics to make sure it doesn't break down when I'm on as case anytime soon, look Alexx we will tell Horatio and Eric that we're living together soon but not just yet so we would be very grateful if you didn't tell them please"
"I won't, don't worry. Calleigh park the car to the left someplace, we're here"
Alexx was right the restaurant was nice and the food was delicious and the conversation went without hiccups until during coffee Eric spoke,
"So what made you two get together?" he asked. Ryan and Calleigh looked at each other,
"You don't want to know" said Ryan softly,
"Um… Yes we do," replied Eric strongly.
"Well if you insist but don't blame me if you don't like it and believe me you won't like it" began Calleigh; she took Ryan's hand and squeezed it for her comfort as much as his before she launched into the story. "It began as just friends going out for drinks every so often, Ryan needed someone to talk to, a friend and I was the only one, you two have always treated him as if he was Speed's replacement not a real person, That 'Mr Wolfe' thing Horatio doesn't make a person feel accepted, you become more friendly with people you meet in cases than you ever did with Ryan and, sorry Marisol, but with your illness and everything, these two seemed to forget about the both of us unless they needed us professionally. Things have happened to the both of us, when we needed friends and you never seemed to notice so whenever one of us was having a hard time the other cheered us up. It wasn't worth the effort coming to either of you, Eric you've been to my ballistics lab when I've been crying and you haven't even noticed."
"Oh God Calleigh, I'm so sorry, we never realised what was happening."
"That's my point, because you never realised, it was just us two going out and then one day it changed and it was no longer just friends going for a drink but we were a couple going on dates and that's it, it just grew from there" she stopped slightly embarrassed at how much she had told them and how she had spoken to Horatio, her boss! But she was glad to get everything off her chest.
"I'm sorry, both of you, we didn't mean to cause you any harm, I guess we were too preoccupied in ourselves to notice anyone else. We're sorry we didn't notice what was happening," said Horatio truthfully.
"Thanks, but don't cut yourselves up about it, I guess if you hadn't ignored us we wouldn't be together so we should probably be thanking you."
Yes, but…"
"Let's just call it quits, Excuse me, can we get the bill please" Calleigh asked the waitress who passed the table.
"Fine, but at least let us help you move Ryan's stuff in tomorrow,"
"What?" exclaimed Ryan "How did you know?"
"You had some forms on the side table in Calleigh's lounge which indicated that you were moving into Calleigh's soon and given that you both have tomorrow off, I guessed you were moving your things tomorrow."
"Your bill ma'am" said the waitress.
"I'll pay" Eric placing his card on the table "It's the least I can do" he said cutting of Calleigh's objections.
Later outside the restaurant the team bade farewell as they split up, Calleigh and Ryan headed off for a walk along the beach, the rest planning on heading home to leave Calleigh and Ryan to themselves but none of them moved as they watched the couple walking hand in hand laughing at some joke one or other of them had told, both looking happier than the others had seen them for a long time.
"I love it when you laugh" said Ryan as they walked.
"I love it when you laugh too" replied Calleigh, they stopped walking and Ryan moved his hands to rest on Calleigh's waist and turned her to face him.
"I love you Calleigh Duquesne," he said softly as she wrapped her arms around his neck.
"I love you Ryan Wolfe," she said as she closed the gap between their lips and they kissed passionately yet softly and full of love, oblivious to their audience still standing outside the restaurant.
FIN