His arm snaked around Calleigh's waist as she sat staring at the stars. Despite her best efforts to be a big girl about it, she couldn't help but let a few tears escape when Eric kissed the side of her head.

"Oh…Calleigh please don't cry" Eric whispered against her hair. "I hate when you cry"

Resilient Calleigh Duquesne that she was, she furiously wiped away her tears and continued to avoid Eric's penetrating gaze. It was a beautiful August night in Miami, unusually cool, the kind you wanted to bottle up for a lifetime. The stars and moon shined with all their glory and it left Calleigh with a sinking and hopeless feeling in the pit of her stomach.

"This isn't fair" she finally spoke, after ten minutes of silence.

"I know, sweetheart, I do and I'm sorry" Eric said, looking directly at her. "I wish I didn't have to leave"

"Why did you decide to go? To TUSCALOOSA?" her voice was trembling, which made her even angrier. Calleigh hated anything that showed weakness, but Eric was her weakness.

"My sister is at the University of Alabama, Cal. I've already lost one and barely had time with the other. I haven't seen my parents in forever. I need to be there for them, until the sting of Marisol's death isn't so sharp" Eric said. "It's a tough situation"

"Maybe we shouldn't be together, then, Eric. Maybe we need to go our separate ways for a little while…I mean you obviously have more important things on your mind and maybe I need to not let this get in the way of my career" Calleigh said.

"Damn it, Calleigh!" Eric threw off the blanket they were covered in. "Don't punish for me for trying to make the right decision!"

"I'm not punishing you, I'm trying to save us from getting hurt…we're not gambling with other people's lives, Eric, we're gambling with our own hearts!" Calleigh said. "And I don't wanna wait for someone who might be totally different when he comes back!"

"Fine…why don't you go crying to your precious Jake and have him make it all better?" Eric spat. "Go be with someone whose baggage free Calleigh, see if I care!"

"Maybe I will" Calleigh said, now crying from the sting of Eric's words. She got up and grabbed her purse, heading for her car.

"Calleigh…wait! Cal! I didn't mean that…" Eric's voice trailed off as she got in her car, firmly ignoring him, and drove off.

Eric threw the blanket on the floor and cursed loudly. This wasn't what he needed, not from resilient, firm and steady Calleigh. He was counting on her to smile knowingly, kiss him and tell him she would wait until he cleaned up the skeletons in his closet.

But it wasn't fair to expect that of her, his conscience nagged. She loves you, Eric. She doesn't want to lose you. She can't always be understanding. Eric willed his conscience to shut the hell up so he could think.

"Hey, man. Rough night?" his roommate and coworker Ryan Wolfe came outside in his boxers.

"Calleigh's pissed I'm moving, and I can't even blame her" Eric rubbed his eyes. "I want her to understand, but I know why she doesn't"

"You gotta look at it this way, man. She thought the relationship was guaranteed- you guys work together so you see each other everyday…it was totally foolproof until you poked a hole in it"

"Thanks, Ryan…makes me feel great"

"I totally understand why you've gotta do what you've gotta do, but maybe you should let Calleigh know you understand how unfair it is to her" Ryan advised. "You're EXPECTING her to understand…that's not fair"

"I know, I know" Eric pulled his keys out of his pocket. "I'll go fix this mess"

"Be careful" Ryan said. "Calleigh can fire a gun"

Eric cracked a smile. At least Ryan was on his side.

Eric pulled into Calleigh's driveway and quietly let himself into her house with his key. She wasn't on the couch watching TV, but Eric knew chances were that she was sitting in her favorite spot at the back of the house- a window seat where he had found her numerous times thinking over a case or reading a book.

Sure enough, there she was, curled up on the window seat. Except this time she was crying, not thinking. And Eric wanted to kick himself, repeatedly, for causing her pain. After all Calleigh hardly ever cried and it was terrifying to Eric that he had enough power over her to make her cry.

"Cal?"

"What are you doing here, Eric?" she said, turning her face away from him. "I don't wanna talk to you"

Eric sighed and sat down next to her anyway. Cautiously, he put his arms around her and instead of resisting like he thought she would, she sank into his embrace. "I'm so sorry I was such a jerk" Eric mumbled into her ear. "I'm such an asshole"

"Yeah, you are" Calleigh said, sniffing. "You're lucky my gun was at home"

"I love you, Cal…I'm sorry I said the things I did" Eric apologized again. "Please forgive me, and then we can work something out?"

"Apology accepted" she said quietly, not sure whether she was doing the right thing.

"Thank god…I wouldn't have been able to sleep tonight knowing you were mad at me" Eric confessed.

"Spend the night here" Calleigh whispered. "With me"

"On the couch?" Eric asked.

"No silly…in bed" Calleigh murmured.

"What are you insinuating, CSI Duquesne?" Eric whispered.

"Exactly what you're thinking" Calleigh said, kissing him.

--

"Natalia! Hey!" Ryan answered the phone cheerfully.

"Hey you…what's going on?" Natalia asked.

"Nothing, just hanging around the house"

"Listen, I need a favor…H wanted private police protection for my sister and I couldn't think of anyone better than you, if you were willing to take a few hours off"

"Of course, I would love to" Ryan said.

"Thanks, that makes me feel about a hundred times better- knowing Anya's safe with you until the trial is over"

"Of course…listen do you wanna grab coffee tomorrow?" Ryan asked.

"Sure!" Natalia said, and Ryan's spirits soared at the enthusiastic tone in her voice. "So I'll see you tomorrow, at Anya's?"

"Yeah, definitely" Ryan smiled, and hung up the phone. He couldn't put his finger on it, but all of a sudden his sprits had soared sky high.

--

Calleigh and Eric furiously kissed as they fell onto her bed. Eric couldn't keep his head straight as he thought about where this could be heading. He and Calleigh hadn't gone much further than some serious make-out sessions, and boy, was he looking forward to this.

Eric kissed her with more vigor and intensity and slowly let his hands trail down her arms. So far, she hadn't made any move to stop him. He slid his hands back up her arms and kept kissing her. Don't be an asshole and push her he reminded himself. Don't mess this up. Her hair fell like a golden curtain around them as they got lost in the sensations.

When he felt Calleigh responding to his quickly intensifying kissing, he slowly tugged her shirt off one shoulder. Immediately, he could smell her body wash and lingering perfume and it was intoxicating.

To his utter surprise, Calleigh did absolutely nothing to stop him. He teased his finger under her fire-engine red bra strap and slowly pulled it down. His head spun faster and faster as he realized that Calleigh was unbuttoning his shirt.

"Cal, are you sure about this?" he asked, breaking away from the kissing temporarily.

"Positive" she breathed.

That was all the assurance he needed from her. He pulled her shirt over her head and traced his thumbs over the swell of her breasts. Her sighs abruptly became moans as he unhooked her bra. As he trailed his kisses down her body, she ran her hands over his now unclothed back.

"Cal, are you absolutely sure? I mean this is going to complicate things so much"

"Eric, you are the only man I know who can find reasons not to have sex" Calleigh laughed.

"No, listen" Eric said. "I love you so much, Cal. I don't want to ruin anything over one night. If this is going to change us for the worse, I'd rather hold off"

"It wont, Eric, I promise" Calleigh whispered. Eric kissed her roughly, and then it happened. They moved in perfect symphony until they fell together. When he opened his eyes, he realized Calleigh was crying.

"Uh oh…Calleigh, did I hurt you?" Eric asked her, his heart pounding.

"No, no it's not that …sorry I just totally killed the mood" she said, but her voice had a little hitch in it as she tried to play it off as nothing.

"Oh no…I know what this is about…this is about me leaving for Tuscaloosa…come here" Eric said. He sat up and draped the blanket around her, holding her tightly.

"What am I going to do without you?" Calleigh asked, wiping her now fast-falling tears. She hated being vulnerable and most of all, crying. Eric was one of the very few people who could make her cry, and she hated that.

"Calleigh…baby I'm so sorry" Eric whispered, holding her tighter. "I wish I could fix this for you…I want to, so badly"

"I don't wanna talk about this…can we just go to sleep?" Calleigh asked, her head pounding from the emotion and feeling running through her body.

"Of course" Eric whispered, letting her settle against him. He stroked her hair till she finally fell asleep, the tears she was crying drying in salty tracks down her face. He couldn't help but feel choked up himself when he thought about leaving Calleigh here, in Miami.

There would be no more surprise kisses in the evidence locker. Or too-long lunch breaks. Or quick make-out sessions in the Hummer. No getting caught by Natalia and Ryan, made fun of by Valera and Sam. No more glimpses of dancing blonde hair or whiffs of her incredibly intoxicating Chanel perfume from across the lab. It was too much, Eric thought. Right now, in this moment, he was going to enjoy Calleigh's steady breathing, her fluttering eyelashes, and her vanilla shampoo. He was going to enjoy her.