Caramel
Rating: K
Spoilers: Lost Son, Hell Night (sort of)
Summary: Halloween tradition
Disclaimer: Not mine, don't sue
Author's note: You decide who it is
Calleigh didn't have many holiday traditions. She didn't have that many good holiday memories, either. And those scattered ones she retained generally involved copious amounts of alcohol on the parts of others, and the more than occasional fight. With her parents it was mostly verbal, but once the uncles accumulated…. She'd driven three people to the hospital on separate occasions between the time she got her license and when she left for college.
But her own was her favorite. Halloween was a holiday that involved not family but strangers visiting for as long as she'd've liked most of her relatives.
So ever since she was old enough to use the stove, she made caramel apples. Her mother helped at first, after Calleigh walked to the store for the ingredients, but she caught on quickly and had made her own every year after the third that night.
She had made multitudes this year. Most would go into work with her the net day – 'hope they don't melt – for her co-workers and lab techs who helped her vocational world turn. It was part Halloween treat, part celebration of the closing of the Hills case, and, because of her mental links, partly for Speed. He'd caught her with one on break last year and after finagling a bite – and complimenting the chef – strongly requested one the next year, please.
Most would go to work with her tomorrow, but the one she picked up – caramel with an additional drizzle of chocolate – would be dedicated to him. She closed her eyes and took bite.
Her boyfriend took that moment to move from his seat to stand just in front of her. He loved the smile she wore at times like this, genuinely relaxed and happy. He waited a moment longer. "Any good, Cal?" her blue eyes shot open. She swallowed and nodded. Even after one bite much of her mouth was covered in caramel, as were her hands. "Can I try?" he asked.
Her look read 'of course, silly' and she said, "help yourself," gesturing to the grid of confections on the counter beside her.
Instead he leaned in and kissed her.